TITLE : POWER LINE FAULT DETECTION

Introduction and Relevance:

The project deals with the detection of transmission line fault and the place where the fault
has occurred. With conventional methods we can not find the location, whereas in the
proposed project location detection can be done. Certain faults like open, short and location
of fault can be analyzed in the proposed project.

The following are basically the transmission line problems.

1. Open Circuits
2. Short Circuits
3. Noise Addition in Lines (voltage variations)
4. Load Mismatches (Reflections)

Different types of transient phenomena occur on the transmission line. From these transient
phenomena, faults on transmission lines need to be detected and classified accurately, and
cleared as fast as possible. In power transmission line protection, faulty phase identification
is very important items which need to be addressed in a reliable and accurate manner.
BLOCK DIAGRAM

This part is used only from

demonstration prospect to
show the continuity in the
conducting cables.

Relay Switches for

(electromagnetic) Demo
Controlled
Continuity

Electrical rails

Voltage A B C
Variations A,B,C are tower
areas

Signal
Control Monitor Unit consists of Isolations transformers, DC
Conditioning Converters etc to make it compatible for uC Interface

MICROCONTROLLER LCD 16 X 2
Analog to
Digital
Conversation
Logic
Converter GSM MODEM

SIM Card Interface

Approach

The voltage magnitude measurements can be continuously done. To demonstrate these variation, we
will change the voltage and convert it to direct current and condition it appropriately as per
requirement for the ADC and continuously monitor it and if at any point of time, the voltage drops
or goes beyond permissible ranges, a message will be sent to the base station indicating fault voltage
variations. Along with it the signal lines are also continuously monitored and are continuously
checked for open or short and if at any state, these exceptions occur, the same details along with the
area where the fault has occurred will be sent to the base station. The AC signals cannot be
interfaces with the controller directly and hence isolation transformers and DC Converters will be
used. To how the demonstration, a relay will be used to cutoff transmission. At any point if the
authority wants to check, the same can also be done by half duplex communication via GSM. The
details will be continuously displayed on the LCD.

The ADC that will be used will be of 10 bit resolution. This in itself poses a challenge as we intend
to do it on an 8 bit controller. The resolution of this magnitude can give better accuracies but also
has problems with respect to noise. The noise reduction techniques will also be used. The interface
for the LCD will be parallel. We intend to use a alphanumeric LCD. The GSM modem will make
use of UART (Universal Asynchronous, receiver, transmitter). There are different standard AT
commands with which the GSM will operate. The commands will be generated via microcontroller.
Power supply required for the project will also be designed.

Nature:

Hardware : 70%
Software: 30%

Tools Used

Hardware:
Design and Simulation – TI TINA or relevant
Microcontroller – 16F877 8 bit Microcontroller
LCD – 16X2 alphanumeric-HD44780 Controller
Signal Conditioning – Needs to be designed appropriately.
Debugger – ICD2
Programmer – Serial
Power Supply design – Includes Stepdown transformers, rectifiers, filters, regulator circuits etc.
Software

Simulator – MPSIM
PCB Design – Express PCB
IDE- MPLAB