Paper accepted for presentation at the 2011 IEEE Trondheim PowerTech
Fault location in combined transmission lines
using PMUs for recloser control
P. Eguia, Member, IEEE, I. Martin, I. Zamora, Member, IEEE, R. Cimadevilla
Abstract-- In general, there is a growing trend towards the
installation of underground cable to replace overhead lines,
completely or in certain sections, resulting in combined
transmission lines. The present protection practice for faults in
the underground section of these lines is based on protecting the
cable with a line differential relay, which blocks the reclose order
issued by the protections installed in each line end. This paper
discusses the replacement of the line differential relay by a fault
location algorithm added to the line end relays. The algorithm is
based on the measurement of synchrophasors at each end of the
line to allow or cancel the reclose order, depending on the faulted
section. The new algorithm has been validated by extensive
simulations using Matlab and by laboratory tests.
Index TermsCombined transmission line, Fault location,
PMU, Synchrophasor.
I. INTRODUCTION
D emand for electricity is increasing day by day, causing a
steady increase in the construction of new transmission
lines to serve new consumption areas. However, there are
places where, for various technical, environmental or safety
requirements, it is necessary to replace the overhead line by an
underground cable, resulting in what is known as a combined
transmission line. The vast majority of combined lines are
formed by 80% overhead section and 20% underground
section [1-2].
Faults in the overhead section of a combined transmission
line are usually transient faults, therefore, the protection relays
at each line end trip the line to isolate the fault from the rest of
the network. After a short time period, when the fault has
disappeared, the relays reclose the line. However, when the
fault occurs in the underground section, it is usually
permanent, so a reclose of the line could cause further
damage. In addition, reclosing the line poses a public safety
issue, since many failures are caused by people working with
machines near the cable. Therefore, the key of reclose
This work was supported in part by the Basque Government under Grant
Research Group Ref. IT532-10.
P. Eguia is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of
the Basque Country, Bilbao, 48013 SPAIN (e-mail: pablo.eguia@ieee.org).
I. Martin is with the University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, 48013
SPAIN (e-mail: i.martin.gonzalez@gmail.com).
I. Zamora is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of
the Basque Country, Bilbao, 48013 SPAIN (e-mail: izamora@ieee.org).
R. Cimadevilla is with ZIV P+C, Zamudio, 48170 SPAIN (e-mail:
r.cimadevilla@ziv.es).
978-1-4244-8417-1/11/$26.00 2011
operation of combined transmission lines is to locate the faults
accurately, and to correctly determine the faulted section.
In transmission systems consisting of an overhead line in
combination with an underground power cable, the main
problem in the fault location techniques is the unequal
impedance of the positive and zero sequence impedance of the
underground cable and overhead line. In addition, the surge
impedance of the cable is about 10% of that of an overhead
line. Since zero impedance changes with the complexity of the
underground cable, a fault location algorithm developed only
for overhead lines cannot be used directly for underground
cables. Therefore, a rise of accuracy in terms of fault section
discrimination and fault location in combined transmission
lines is more and more requested from the utilities [3].
Present fault location methods, which are used to locate
faults in combined transmission lines, can be classified into
two general categories: impedance-based methods [4-8] and
travelling waves-based methods [9-11].
Related to the methods that use phase measurements, [4]
proposes a method using current and voltage measured at the
relay point. From those magnitudes, the algorithm uses the
differential component of DC offset, which can be extracted
by Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). By the detailed analysis
of such derivative value, it was found that the maximum value
of the derivative can be used to determinate the faulted
section. In [5], the algorithm requires phase measurements
data from one end of the transmission line and the
synchronized measurements at the most far end of the power
cable. Fault location is derived using distributed line model,
modal transformation theory and DFT. The proposed fault
location algorithm of transmission line ended with cable
requires the three line voltages and currents at the terminal
end of the cable in addition to the three phase voltages and
currents at the terminal end of the transmission line.
In [6, 7], methods based on Neuro-Fuzzy and Adaptive
Network-Based Fuzzy Inference Systems are presented. These
methods use fundamental component of three phase currents
and zero sequence current for fault type classification, faulty
section detection and exact fault location. Finally, [8] presents
a method based on mean square value of the difference
between incoming and outgoing three phase currents of each
of the three sections of the combined line. These differences
are compared against threshold setting values. The transient
currents are processed by Discrete Wavelet Transform multi-
resolution analysis. In order to find out the faulty phase, the
absolute sum of the Wavelet Transform coefficients of the

third level is computed over one cycle of power frequency.
Related to methods based on travelling waves, it has to be
considered that faults can occurred in either the overhead line
or cable sections of a transmission line. In each case, the wave
propagates with different speed and consequently different
reflection times will be detected. Thus, [9] presents a fault
location method that uses fault clearing transients instead of
fault-generated transients without utilizing line or cable
parameters. Because of using the fault clearing transients
instead of the fault-generated transients, the common
problems of the travelling wave methods are eliminated. This
method is applied on voltage samples taken from the sending
end of the cable. After that, actual wave speed in the cable and
overhead line sections are calculated without using the
parameters of the cable and overhead line, and fault location is
calculated accurately. In [10] a smart reclose scheme in
combined lines is presented, which needs an exact fault
location. This scheme conjugates derived voltage module
method and traveling wave method. Derived voltage module
method is robust and traveling wave method has a high
accuracy, so this method has both advantages in the process of
fault location. Finally, in [11] a new Hilbert-Huang Transform
based criterion for fault location in combined transmission
lines, based on traveling waves, is presented. This method
does not need synchronizer, and can ignore the influence of
transition impedance and reflection wave from the node.
Additionally, it is interesting to highlight that some of the
methods presented have been developed for fault location in
combined transmission lines with only one section of cable at
the end of the line [4-7, 9] and others have been developed for
fault location in combined transmission line with two sections
of cable or a section of cable between two sections of
overhead lines [8, 10-11].
However, all of the methods developed suffer from a lack
of precision or are very expensive. Therefore, this paper
proposes a new method to protect a combined line, based on
traditional distance relays complemented with Phasor
Measurement Units (PMU). These units make synchronous
measures of the voltage and current at each line end and send
them to a fault locator. In [12], a fault location algorithm is
proposed that also uses the voltages and currents measured by
a PMU at each line end, but the algorithm applies only to
uniform transmission lines.
The algorithm proposed in this paper applies to two
terminal combined transmission lines with three sections. The
main objective of the algorithm is to correctly identify the
faulted section and block the reclose order from the relays,
should the fault occur in the underground section. The
algorithm has been implemented in Matlab, tested by
simulation, to evaluate the influence of measurement errors,
and tested in real time in various laboratory tests with two
PMUs and relay test equipment.
The paper is structured in five sections including this
introduction. Section II contains the development of the
algorithm. In Section III the performance of the algorithm to
different fault types with different fault resistances is
2
analyzed, including the influence of measurement errors.
Afterwards, Section IV describes the laboratory set-up used to
test the algorithm in a real time environment along with the
results of the tests. Finally, Section V contains the main
conclusions of the work presented in the paper.
II. PMU BASED FAULT LOCATION ALGORITHM
The proposed fault location algorithm uses the direct
sequence voltage and current synchrophasors, measured by
two PMUs located at each line end. By using only the direct
sequence there is no need to determine the fault type, since the
direct sequence component exists in all faults. The algorithm
only locates the fault, and so, a fault detection method has to
be previously used to initiate the algorithm.
The algorithm has been developed for a combined
transmission line with three sections, as shown in Fig. 1. Each
line section is modeled as a distributed parameter line to take
into account the charging current of the line. This model
relates the voltages and currents at each section end with (1).
Overhead Cable Overhead
Vl Zl
Line 1 Line 2
Zr Vr
Fig. 1. Combined transmission line with three sections
VS = A VR + B I R
(1)
I S = CV R + D I R
where A, B, C and D are the model constants, VS and IS are
the voltage and current phasors at sending end of the section
and VR and IR are the voltage and current phasors at the
receiving end of the section. The model constants depend on
the length (L), the surge impedance (ZC) and the propagation
constant ( ) of each line section, and are determined using
(2)-(6).
z
ZC = (2)
y
= z y (3)
A = D = Cosh( L) (4)
B = Z C Sinh( L) (5)
C= 1 Sinh( L) (6)
ZC
where z and y are the direct sequence impedance and
admittance, respectively, per unit length of each section.
Because the direct sequence impedance and admittance of
the line is different for the overhead and the underground
sections, the fault location algorithm has to use different
circuits depending on the faulted section.
A. Fault in the first overhead section
When the fault is in the first overhead section, the circuit to
use in the algorithm is shown in Fig. 2, where the overhead
section has been divided into two sections separated by the
fault point.
 3

I1L I1R2 I1R1 I1R I 1L1 = A1 I 1R C1 V1R (14)

A1 B1 A1 B1 Ac Bc A2 B2
V1L V1F V1R2 V1R1 V1R
C1 D1 C1 D1 Cc Dc C2 D2 With V1L1 and I1L1 known, (15) allows determining the
dxL1 (1-d)xL1 Lc L2
voltage at the fault point.
Fig. 2. Positive sequence network for a fault in the first overhead line section
V1F = Ac'V1L1 Bc'I 1L1 (15)
The voltage at the fault point can be determined using the
direct sequence components of the voltages and currents of where Ac and Bc are unknowns determined with (4) and
each line end. Starting from the local end of the line, using (5) with a length equal to dLc, being d the fault distance in per
(7), the fault voltage is determined with the positive sequence unit and Lc the length of the cable section.
synchrophasors measured at the local end. Repeating the process from the remote end of the line, the
voltage and current phasors at the receiving end of the cable
V1F = A1'V1L B1'I 1L (7) section can be determined using (16) and (17).

where A1 and B1 are unknowns determined with (4) and V1R1 = A2 V1R B 2 I 1R (16)
(5) with a length equal to dL1, being d the fault distance in per I 1R1 = A2 I 1R C 2 V1R (17)
unit and L1 the length of the first overhead section.
An equation similar to (7) can be obtained starting from the With V1R1 and I1R1 known, (18) allows determining the
remote end of the line. Using (8)-(11), the voltage and current voltage at the fault point.
phasors at the other end of the first overhead section can be
determined. V1F = Ac' 'V1R1 Bc' 'I 1R1 (18)

V1R1 = A2 V1R B 2 I 1R (8)

where Ac and Bc are unknowns determined with (4) and
I 1R 21 = A2 I 1R C 2 V1R (9) (5) with a length equal to (1-d)Lc. Equating (15) and (18)
V1R 2 = Ac V1R1 Bc I 1R1 (10) results in an equation with d as the only unknown. Solving
I 1R 2 = Ac I 1R1 Cc V1R1 (11) this equation for d gives the distance to the fault.
C. Fault in the second overhead section
With V1R2 and I1R2 known (12), allows determining the When the fault is in the second overhead section of the
voltage at the fault point. line, the circuit to be considered in the algorithm and the
equations are similar to the ones used when the fault is in the
V1F = A1' 'V1R 2 B1' 'I 1R 2 (12) first overhead section, exchanging the local end voltages and
currents for the remote end ones, and vice versa.
where A1 and B1 are unknowns determined with (4)
D. Algorithm application
and (5) with a length equal to (1-d)L1. Equating (7) and (12)
results in an equation with d as the only unknown. Solving When applying the fault location algorithm, the first thing
this equation for d gives the distance to the fault. to determine is whether the fault is in the cable section, to
decide whether or not to abort the reclosing cycle. Therefore,
B. Fault in the underground section once a fault is detected, the calculation of the fault distance is
When the fault is in the cable section, the circuit used in the done assuming the fault is in the underground section. Solving
algorithm is shown in Fig. 3, where the underground section the equations for this section, the value of d is determined.
has been divided into two sections separated by the fault The following three possibilities exist:
point. - d is between 0 and 1. The fault is in the cable and an
I1L I1L1 I1R1 I1R order to block the reclosing cycle is issued.
- d is less than 0. The fault distance is determined again
A1 B1 Ac Bc Ac Bc A2 B2
V1L V1L1 V1F V1R1 V1R using the equations for the first overhead line section. If
C1 D1 Cc Dc Cc Dc C2 D2
the new value of d is between 0 and 1, the fault is located
L1 dxLc (1-d)xLc L2
in that section, otherwise, the fault will be out of the line.
Fig. 3. Positive sequence network for a fault in the cable section
- d is greater than 1. The fault distance is determined again
using the equations for the second overhead line section.
Operating in the same way as for the overhead section,
If the new value of d is between 0 and 1, the fault is
stating from the local end, the direct sequence components of
located in that section, otherwise, the fault will be out of
the voltages and currents at the sending end of the cable can
the line.
be determined using (13) and (14).
However, in a real application, the measurement errors of
the PMUs will produce an error in the location of the fault.
V1L1 = A1 V1R B1 I 1R (13)
 4

Faults in the cable section close to the cable ends could be due to the smaller length of the cable. However, absolute
wrongly detected in the overhead sections, due to errors have similar values for the three line sections. Results
overreaching and under reaching effects. To increase the for double phase and double phase to ground faults are
security of the fault location in the cable section, in order to similar.
block the reclosing of the line, the value of d has to comply
with (19) for faults in the cable section. TABLE II
RESULTS FOR FAULT LOCATION IN THE FIRST OVERHEAD SECTION WITHOUT
MEASUREMENT ERRORS
k1 < d < 1 + k 2 (19)
Fault Type Fault Location (p.u.) Location Error (%)
Actual Calculated Relative Absolute
Where k1 and k2 are two constants that have to be 0.1 0.1000 0.0010 0.0008
determined by simulation for each combined transmission line 0.2 0.1999 -0.0051 -0.0041
to protect. 0.3 0.3000 -0.0019 -0.0016
0.4 0.4000 0.0011 0.0008
ABC
0.5 0.5000 0.0034 0.0027
III. ERROR ANALYSIS (RF = 0)
0.6 0.6000 -0.0031 -0.0025
To evaluate the accuracy of the algorithm different faults 0.7 0.7000 -0.0048 -0.0039
0.8 0.8000 0.0036 0.0029
have been simulated using Matlab/Simulink for a combined
0.9 0.9001 0.0051 0.0041
transmission line formed by the conversion to cable of a small 0.1 0.1001 0.0076 0.0061
middle section of a 95.8 km 400 kV overhead line. The 0.2 0.1992 -0.0846 -0.0682
parameters of each section of the line are given in Table I. 0.3 0.3000 0.0002 0.0002
0.4 0.4001 0.0104 0.0084
AG
0.5 0.5000 0.0046 0.0037
TABLE I (RF = 0)
PARAMETERS OF THE COMBINED TRANSMISSION LINE 0.6 0.6001 0.0090 0.0072
0.7 0.6999 -0.0141 -0.0113
Overhead Section 1 (69.1 km) 0.8 0.8000 0.0029 0.0023
Z1 (/km) 0.0717 + j0.4135 Z0 (/km) 0.3029 + j1.2471 0.9 0.8998 -0.0193 -0.0155
Y1 (S/km) j2.8 Y0 (S/km) j1.97
Cable Section (3.9 km) TABLE III
Z1 (/km) 0.0121 + j0.1573 Z0 (/km) 0.1089 + j0.0484 RESULTS FOR FAULT LOCATION IN THE UNDERGROUND SECTION WITHOUT
Y1 (S/km) j87.9 Y0 (S/km) j87.9 MEASUREMENT ERRORS
Overhead Section 2 (12.8 km)
Z1 (/km) 0.0717 + j0.4135 Z0 (/km) 0.3029 + j1.2471 Fault Type Fault Location (p.u.) Location Error (%)
Y1 (S/km) j2.8 Y0 (S/km) j1.97 Actual Calculated Relative Absolute
0.1 0.0996 -0.0430 -0.0020
0.2 0.2004 0.0416 0.0019
The line has been modeled in Simulink/SymPowerSystems 0.3 0.2981 -0.1893 -0.0086
and different fault types (ABC, AB, ABG and AG) with ABC
0.4 0.3993 -0.0650 -0.0030
different fault resistances (0, 10, 50 and 100) have been 0.5 0.5008 0.0791 0.0036
(RF = 0)
0.6 0.5976 -0.2404 -0.0109
simulated, for fault distances from 10% to 90% of the length 0.7 0.6991 -0.0863 -0.0039
of each section. For each fault, the voltage and current direct 0.8 0.8016 0.1623 0.0074
sequence phasors at each line end have been determined. 0.9 0.8984 -0.1623 -0.0074
To evaluate the performance of the algorithm two errors 0.1 0.0992 -0.0799 -0.0036
0.2 0.1991 -0.0851 -0.0039
have been evaluated. The relative error measures the location 0.3 0.2966 -0.3357 -0.0153
error in relation to the length of the faulted section (20) and 0.4 0.4014 0.1379 0.0063
AG
the absolute error measures the location error in relation to the (RF = 0)
0.5 0.5001 0.0134 0.0006
length of the line (21). 0.6 0.5990 -0.0996 -0.0045
0.7 0.6979 -0.2058 -0.0094
0.8 0.8028 0.2847 0.0129
Actual distance - Calculated distance 0.9 0.9027 0.2697 0.0123
relative error = (20)
Lenght of the faulted section
Actual distance - Calculated distance For single faults to ground, Table V shows the results of
absolute error = (21) the algorithm for faults in different locations of the
Lenght of the line
underground section with different fault resistances. The
A. Fault location without measurement errors effect of the resistance is to decrease the accuracy of the
Initially, the algorithm has been tested with the phasor location, but the relative error for fault resistances up to 100
values calculated with the Simulink model, without taking into is lower than 1.4%, and the absolute error is two orders of
account the measurement errors of the PMUs. Tables II to IV magnitude lower. Results for other fault types and other faults
contain the results for three phase and single phase bolted locations in the underground section are similar. For faults in
faults. Relative errors for faults in the underground section are the overhead sections, the effect of the fault resistance is
greater than relative errors for faults in the overhead section, lower, as can be seen in Table VI.
 5

B. Fault location with measurement errors

TABLE IV
RESULTS FOR FAULT LOCATION IN THE SECOND OVERHEAD SECTION In an actual implementation, the voltage and current
WITHOUT MEASUREMENT ERRORS phasors used as inputs for the fault location algorithm will
have errors due to the internal measurement process in the
Fault Type Fault Location (p.u.) Location Error (%)
Actual Calculated Relative Absolute PMUs. So, it is necessary to take into account these errors to
0.1 0.1002 0.0166 0.0025 evaluate the performance of the algorithm.
0.2 0.1998 -0.0223 -0.0033 Phasors calculated with the Simulink model have been
0.3 0.2998 -0.0228 -0.0034 modified to include a typical 0.2% measurement error in the
0.4 0.3998 -0.0249 -0.0037
ABC
0.5 0.5002 0.0163 0.0024
module and a typical 0.5 measurement error in the angle.
(RF = 0) The worst case has been considered in the evaluation, with
0.6 0.5999 -0.0102 -0.0015
0.7 0.7001 0.0074 0.0011 positive errors applied to local phasors and negative errors
0.8 0.8001 0.0056 0.0008 applied to remote phasors. A detailed analysis of the effect of
0.9 0.8999 -0.0067 -0.0010
0.1 0.1001 0.0108 0.0016
each measurement error for the location of faults in each
0.2 0.2001 0.0141 0.0021 section of the line can be found in [14].
0.3 0.3002 0.0199 0.0030 In summary, measurement errors have more influence in
0.4 0.4003 0.0294 0.0044 the location of faults in the underground section than in the
AG
0.5 0.4998 -0.0189 -0.0028
(RF = 0)
0.6 0.5994 -0.0560 -0.0084
overhead sections, due to its smaller length. Errors in phasor
0.7 0.6999 -0.0114 -0.0017 modules produce an overreaching effect, causing faults close
0.8 0.7997 -0.0327 -0.0049 to the far end of the cable to be located as faults close to the
0.9 0.9000 0.0045 0.0007 near end of the second overhead section. This effect is only
important for faults to ground with low resistance values.
TABLE V
RESULTS FOR AG FAULTS LOCATION IN THE UNDERGROUND SECTION
Faults with a resistance value greater than 10 are correctly
WITHOUT MEASUREMENT ERRORS detected in the cable section, due to the under reaching effect
caused by the fault resistance that compensates the
RF Fault Location (p.u.) Location Error (%)
measurement error effect.
Actual Calculated Relative Absolute
0.2 0.1991 -0.0851 -0.0039 Errors in phasor angles have more influence in the
0 0.5 0.5001 0.0134 0.0006 performance of the algorithm than errors in phasor modules.
0.8 0.8028 0.2847 0.0129 The overreaching effect is greater and increases with the value
0.2 0.1961 -0.3869 -0.0176 of the fault resistance. A large number of faults in the cable
10 0.5 0.4986 -0.1430 -0.0065
0.8 0.8009 0.0920 0.0042 are detected as faults in the second overhead section.
0.2 0.1906 -0.9430 -0.0429 To compensate the effect of measurement errors, instead of
50 0.5 0.4967 -0.3296 -0.0150 feeding the fault location algorithm with voltage and current
0.8 0.7931 -0.6852 -0.0311 phasors measured during the fault (fault values), better results
0.2 0.1889 -1.1133 -0.0506
100 0.5 0.4869 -1.3057 -0.0594
are obtained feeding the algorithm with fault voltages and
0.8 0.7872 -1.2765 -0.0580 currents offset by their pre-fault values (pure fault values).
So, in a practical application, the algorithm calculates the
TABLE VI fault location using fault values and pure fault values. Using
RESULTS FOR AG FAULTS LOCATION IN THE FIRST OVERHEAD SECTION pure fault values gives, in general, better results for all types
WITHOUT MEASUREMENT ERRORS
of faults, but for faults with low resistance values the results
RF Fault Location (p.u.) Location Error (%) are better if phasor fault values are used.
Actual Calculated Relative Absolute In order to select the phasor values that give better location
0.2 0.1999 -0.0051 -0.0041
results, a small error in the module and phase of each
0 0.5 0.5000 0.0034 0.0027
0.8 0.8000 0.0036 0.0029 measured phasor is applied to the input values. The fault
0.2 0.2000 0.0009 0.0007 location algorithm is applied using fault values and pure fault
10 0.5 0.5000 -0.0018 -0.0015 values with and without errors and four fault distances are
0.8 0.8001 0.0096 0.0077 calculated. The method that produces the lesser dispersion
0.2 0.2003 0.0333 0.0269
50 0.5 0.5001 0.0141 0.0114 between the distance calculate with and without errors is the
0.8 0.8001 0.0106 0.0086 one chosen as the most correct.
0.2 0.2002 0.0230 0.0186 With this approach, the influence of measurement errors in
100 0.5 0.5006 0.0580 0.0467 the location of faults is reduced to a minimum and faults in the
0.8 0.7998 -0.0236 -0.0190
underground section are correctly detected, as can be seen in
Table VII for three phase and single phase bolted faults. For
The results of the evaluation without measurement errors
three phase faults, the algorithm chooses phasor fault values to
are in close agreement with the results reported in other papers
determine the fault distance, while for single phase faults, the
for other types of fault location algorithms for combined
algorithm chooses pure fault phasor values.
transmission lines [7-9], [13].
 6

TABLE VII IV. LABORATORY TEST

RESULTS FOR FAULT LOCATION IN THE UNDERGROUND SECTION WITH
MEASUREMENT ERRORS
A. Test Setup
Fault Type Fault Location (p.u.) Location Error (%) To evaluate the performance of the algorithm in real time, a
Actual Calculated Relative Absolute closed loop test system has been designed to reproduce the
0.1 0.1148 1.48 0.0671
0.2 0.2157 1.57 0.0713
faults studied in Matlab. Fig. 4 shows the components of the
0.3 0.3137 1.37 0.0622 test bench.
0.4 0.4150 1.50 0.0682 Relay Test Set
ABC
0.5 0.5163 1.63 0.0740
(RF = 0) VaL, VbL , VcL VaR, VbR , VcR
0.6 0.6134 1.34 0.0609 IaL, IbL , IcL IaR, IbR , IcR
0.7 0.7148 1.48 0.0671
0.8 0.8176 1.76 0.0799
0.9 0.9144 1.44 0.0654
0.1 0.0101 -11.01 -0.5002 PMU L PMU R
0.2 0.0942 -10.58 -0.4808 GPS Clock
0.3 0.1921 -10.79 -0.4905
0.4 0.2972 -10.28 -0.4674 IRIGB IRIGB
AG
0.5 0.3963 -10.37 -0.4714
(RF = 0) V1L, I1L V1R, I1R
0.6 0.4955 -10.45 -0.4749
0.7 0.5948 -10.52 -0.4780 Serial RS232 Serial RS232
0.8 0.7001 -9.99 -0.4539
0.9 0.8003 -9.97 -0.4530

Fig. 4. Laboratory test bench

For single phase to ground faults, the relative errors
increase as the fault resistance increases, as shown in Table The voltages and currents recorded at each line end, from
VIII, but the absolute errors are lower than 0.9% which means the Simulink line model, are played on a Mentor 12 relay test
that the algorithm locates the faults in the whole line with a set, from EuroSMC, which feeds two PMUs. The PMUs are
high precision. Results for double phase faults with and prototypes made by ZIV, based on the ZLV line distance relay
without ground have greater errors than for three phase faults with IEEE C37.118 synchrophasor measurement functionality
but lower than for single phase to ground faults. included. Data acquisition is synchronized by a GPS clock,
from ZIV. Each PMU sends synchrophasors at a rate of 60
TABLE VIII
RESULTS FOR AG FAULTS LOCATION IN THE UNDERGROUND SECTION WITH
frames/s to a PC running an application developed in Matlab.
MEASUREMENT ERRORS The Matlab application has been developed to manage the
communication with the PMUs via RS-232, decode the
RF Fault Location (p.u.) Location Error (%)
synchrophasors measured by each PMU and apply the fault
Actual Calculated Relative Absolute
0.2 0.2157 1.57 0.0713 location algorithm. The application uses a Graphical User
0 0.5 0.5163 1.63 0.0740 Interface (GUI), shown in Fig. 5, to manage the data
0.8 0.8176 1.76 0.0799 acquisition process. If a fault exists in the combined line, the
0.2 0.0882 -11.18 -0.5080 software indicates the faulted section and the fault location.
10 0.5 0.3913 -10.87 -0.4940
0.8 0.6944 -10.56 -0.4801 Also, the software records the calculations for each
0.2 0.0658 -13.42 -0.6101 synchrophasor frame during the entire simulation.
50 0.5 0.3733 -12.67 -0.5760
0.8 0.6712 -12.88 -0.5853
0.2 0.0085 -19.15 -0.8704
100 0.5 0.3092 -19.08 -0.8674
0.8 0.6122 -18.78 -0.8537

Fault location in the overhead sections of the line is less

affected by measurement errors. Relative errors are less than
1.4% for the worst case (single phase to ground in the second
overhead section with 100 fault resistance) with absolute
errors one order of magnitude lower.
Finally, the results of the error analysis allow determining
the value of constants k1 and k2 of equation (19). k1 accounts
for the under reaching effect and k2 for the overreaching
effect. From Table VIII, a value of 0.135 for k1 will be
sufficient to correctly locate single phase faults with fault
resistance values up to 50. For k2, a value of 0.018 will be
sufficient to correctly locate three phase faults with low fault Fig. 5. Fault location application developed in Matlab
resistance values.
 7

B. Test Results important, but the algorithm locates correctly the faults. For
The same faults analyzed in Matlab to evaluate the example, for a bolted single phase fault located at 80% of the
performance of the algorithm have been reproduced in the cable length, the distance calculated is greater than 1. But
test. As the fault location algorithm is executed every time a taking into account (19) and the value of k2 obtained in the
new synchrophasor frame arrives, the distance value shown in error analysis (0.018), the distance calculated is less than
the tables is the mean value of the distances calculated during 1.018 and so, the fault will be correctly located in the
the fault. underground section.
Tables IX and X show the results obtained for three phase
TABLE XI
and single phase to ground faults in different locations of the
TEST RESULTS FOR AG FAULTS IN THE UNDERGROUND SECTION
overhead sections. The error values are in accordance with the
values obtained in the theoretical evaluation using Matlab. RF Fault Location (p.u.) Location Error (%)
Actual Calculated Relative Absolute
TABLE IX 0.2 0.4762 27.62 1.2556
TEST RESULTS FOR FAULTS IN THE FIRST OVERHEAD SECTION 0 0.5 0.7814 28.14 1.2791
0.8 1.0046 21.51 0.9777
Fault Type Fault Location (p.u.) Location Error (%) 0.2 0.3911 19.11 0.8687
Actual Calculated Relative Absolute 10 0.5 0.6796 17.96 0.8164
0.1 0.0956 -0.4426 -0.3564 0.8 0.9898 18.98 0.8627
0.2 0.1947 -0.5341 -0.4301 0.2 0.3422 14.22 0.6464
0.3 0.2946 -0.5437 -0.4379 50 0.5 0.6010 10.10 0.4589
0.4 0.3941 -0.5949 -0.4791 0.8 0.7821 -1.79 -0.0814
ABC 0.2 0.2531 5.31 0.2414
0.5 0.4940 -0.6042 -0.4866
(RF = 0) 100 0.5 0.3799 -12.01 -0.5460
0.6 0.5948 -0.5228 -0.4211
0.7 0.6973 -0.2659 -0.2142 0.8 0.8393 3.93 0.1786
0.8 0.8004 0.0425 0.0342
0.9 0.9010 0.1027 0.0827 The test results show that the main objective of the
0.1 0.1027 0.2749 0.2214
algorithm, which is to block the reclose order to the line
0.2 0.2021 0.2118 0.1706
0.3 0.3018 0.1824 0.1469 breakers in case the fault is in the cable, is achieved.
0.4 0.4001 0.0093 0.0075
AG
(RF = 0)
0.5 0.4997 -0.0262 -0.0211 V. CONCLUSIONS
0.6 0.6000 0.0021 0.0017
0.7 0.7004 0.0422 0.0340 In this paper a new fault location algorithm for combined
0.8 0.8032 0.3153 0.2539 transmission lines has been presented. The algorithm uses the
0.9 0.9055 0.5520 0.4446 positive sequence voltage and current synchrophasors
measured at each line end, and its main objective is to detect
TABLE X
TEST RESULTS FOR FAULTS IN THE SECOND OVERHEAD SECTION
faults in the underground section of the line, in order to block
the reclosing cycle of the line circuit breakers.
Fault Type Fault Location (p.u.) Location Error (%) The algorithm has been tested for several fault types in
Actual Calculated Relative Absolute different fault locations along a combined transmission line
0.1 0.1031 0.3088 0.0461
0.2 0.2045 0.4493 0.0670
and the results are in close agreement with the results
0.3 0.3036 0.3649 0.0544 published in the literature for other fault location algorithms.
ABC
0.4 0.4029 0.2923 0.0436 An error analysis has been conducted to study the influence
0.5 0.5052 0.5196 0.0775 of PMUs measurement errors and it has been detected that
(RF = 0)
0.6 0.6052 0.5196 0.0775
0.7 0.7050 0.4972 0.0742
angle errors affect the most the performance of the algorithm.
0.8 0.7975 -0.2477 -0.0370 In order to cope with these errors the algorithm must be
0.9 0.9028 0.2814 0.0420 supplied with the voltage and current synchrophasors offset
0.1 0.1245 2.4532 0.3660 by their pre-fault values.
0.2 0.2242 2.4173 0.3606
Extensive simulation and laboratory test results show the
0.3 0.3214 2.1440 0.3199
0.4 0.4305 3.0494 0.4549 algorithm correctly detects faults in each line section, and so,
AG
0.5 0.5096 0.9562 0.1427 it can be used to block the reclose order to the line breakers in
(RF = 0)
0.6 0.6296 2.9579 0.4413 case the fault is in the cable, contributing to a more
0.7 0.7241 2.4067 0.3590
economical solution for protecting combined transmission
0.8 0.8248 2.4795 0.3699
0.9 0.9221 2.2096 0.3296 lines.

For faults in the underground section of the line, the errors
are somewhat greater than the theoretical values obtained in [1]
the Matlab studies, as shown in Table XI for line to ground
[2]
faults. Relative errors are greater for faults with low fault
resistance values, and the overreaching effect is more
VI. REFERENCES
Comparison of overhead lines and underground cables for electricity
transmission. Cigre WG 21/22-01. Paris 1996, paper 21/22-01.
E. Peschke and R. von Olshausen, Cable systems for high and extra-high
voltage, Ed. Pirelli, 1999

[3] J. Amantegui, I. Zamora, G. Nicolau, J. Galletero, J.A. Gonzalez, J.L.
Martinez, S. Marin and J.M. Roca, "Protection of overhead transmission
lines with lengths of cable (in Spanish)", presented at XI Encontro
Americano da CIGRE, Paraguay, 2005 [Online]. Available:
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ac_2005/b5_10.pdf
[4] J.B. Lee, C.W. Ha and C.H. Jung, "Development of digital distance
relaying algorithm in combined transmission lines with underground
power cables," in Proc. 2001 IEEE Power Engineering Society Summer
Meeting., pp. 611-616.
[5] M. Gilany, E.S.T. El Din, M.M. Abdel Aziz and D.K. Ibrahim, "An
accurate scheme for fault location in combined overhead line with
underground power cable," in Proc. 2005 IEEE Power Engineering
Society General Meeting., pp. 2521-2527.
[6] C.K. Jung, K.H. Kim, J.B. Lee and Bernd Klckl, Wavelet and neuro-
fuzzy based fault location for combined transmission Systems,
Electrical Power and Energy Systems, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 445454, July
2007.
[7] J. Sadeh and H. Afradi, A new and accurate fault location algorithm for
combined transmission lines using Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy
Inference System, Electric Power Systems Research 79, pp. 1538
1545, 2009.
[8] A. Elmitwally, S. Mahmoud, and M. H. Abdel-Rahman, Fault
Identification of Overhead Transmission Lines Terminated with
Underground Cables, in Proc. 14th International Middle East Power
Systems Conference (MEPCON10), Egypt, December 2010.
[9] I. Niazy, J. Sadeh and E. Niazy, A New Single Ended Fault Location
algorithm for Combined Transmission Line Considering Fault Clearing
Transients without Using Line Parameters, in Proc. 25th International
Power System Conference, 2010.
[10] Z. Xin, L. Wang, H. Jiang, B. Chai and Jun Yang, Smart Re-close
Scheme of Combined Overhead Line with Underground Power Cable,
International Conference on Power System Technology, Hangzhou
(China), October 2010.
[11] W. Yang, Z. Xiangjun, Q. Xiaoan, Z. Zhenfeng and P. Hui, HHT Based
Single Terminal Travelling Wave Fault Location for Lines Combined
with Overhead-Lines and Cables, International Conference on Power
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[12] H. K. Zadeh and Z. Ki., Phasor measurement unit based transmission
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8
[13] E.S.T. El Din, M.M. Abdel Aziz, D.K. Ibrahim and M. Gilany, "Fault
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[14] S. Lopez, J. Gomez and R. Cimadevilla, "Applications of synchrophasor
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Brasil, 2007.
VII. BIOGRAPHIES
Pablo Eguia (M09) was born in Bilbao, Spain, on July 1973. He received the
M.Sc. and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of the
Basque Country, Spain, in 1998 and 2007. Currently, he is Assistant Professor
in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of the Basque
Country. His current research interests include power systems analysis and
simulation, integration of distributed generation and power system protection.
Iigo Martin was born in Bilbao, Spain, in 1984. He received the B.Sc degree
in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of the Basque
Country, Spain, in 2007 and the M.Sc degree in Industrial Organization from
the same university in 2011. In October 2009 he joined AvanGroup, Erandio,
Spain, as a junior engineer, where he develops software projects for industrial
applications.
Inmaculada Zamora (M03) was born in Zamora (Spain). She received her
Electrical Engineering and PhD degrees from the University of the Basque
Country (Spain) in 1989 and 1993. She is currently a full time Professor and
Dean in Department of Electrical Engineering (University of the Basque
Country). Her research activities are concentrated in Electric Power Systems,
Transients Simulation, Fault Analysis, Transmission Line Thermal Rating and
Microgeneration.
Roberto Cimadevilla graduated in Electrical Engineering from the Superior
Engineering College of Gijn, Spain in 2001. He later obtained a masters
degree in Analysis, simulation and management of electrical power systems
from the University of the Basque Country, Spain. He previously worked for
Red Electrica de Espaa (REE - National Electric System Operator of Spain)
as a Protection Relay Engineer. Roberto is with ZIV P+C since the beginning
of 2003 as an Application Engineer, being responsible in this area for the
development of a new distance relay, a new transformer differential relay, a
phasor measurement unit and a line differential relay. He has written several
technical papers, most of them presented at international conferences. He is a
regular member of the CIGRE B5/D2 working group.