Real Fault Section Estimation in Electrical Distribution Networks Based on the Fault Frequency Component Analysis

Abstract

: Fault location in electrical energy distribution networks is an important task, as faults in distribution grids are among the main causes of electricity supply disruption. Fault location in the distribution systems, however, is a challenging task because of the topology of the distribution networks, as well as the main and side branches. Therefore, it is necessary to address these challenges through an intelligent approach to fault location. In this paper, fault location in electric energy distribution networks is addressed considering the changes in fault distance and fault resistance in the presence of different fault types. A new method for fault location is developed for conditions where the minimum information is available and only information at the beginning of the feeder is used. This facilitates wide adoption of the technique as it does not require significant investments in instrumentation and measurement. The proposed intelligent method is based on the impedance and transient state estimation. This technique employs a specific impedance analysis for determining possible fault locations considering the unbalanced performance of distribution systems, distances, and different fault resistances. To determine the real faulty section, real fault frequency component analysis and the simulated faults at possible fault locations are used. At this stage of the process, it is possible to eliminate multiple estimations with the help of comparison and identification of the similarities. Therefore, a real faulty section is determined. It is observed that some conditions of electric energy distribution networks affect the accuracy and performance of the proposed method significantly; thus, a detailed investigation is conducted to neutralize these conditions. Simulation results and calculations based on MATLAB along with a practical test of the proposed method in power network simulator confirm a satisfactory performance.