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Abstract— Modern electric power systems are witnessing restoration [2][3]. Although fault location methods have been
deployment of an increasing number of distributed renewable proposed in the past, challenges still exist.
energy resources. Reliability of grid infrastructure plays a key Most of existing methods are impedance based [4]-[8]. The
role in increased use of renewable energies. Fault management is authors of [8] proposed a fault location method for distribution
a key function in reducing outage time and increasing system system based on symmetrical component analysis using
reliability. In the past, various fault location methods have been measurements at the substation and DG sites, and considered
proposed for electric power distribution systems. Most existing uncertainty related to load and fault conditions. Wavelets
fault location methods are applicable to single faults and require analysis technique is used in [9][10] for locating faults.
a number of measurements. This paper proposes new algorithms
Machine learning approach is adopted in [11] that uses
for locating simultaneous, multiple faults for distribution systems
measurements from smart meters across the power grid.
using limited number of data. The method utilizes the voltage
measurements taken from the systems. Bus impedance matrix
Recently, the national grid have witnessed a trend of
techniques is harnessed to establish the connection between the integrating more renewable energies including solar, wind, etc.,
fault locations of multiple faults and the measurements. The into the grid. Such integration has the following impacts.
distinct features of the method include no need of fault type Distribution system is traditionally designed and operated as a
classification, consideration of shunt capacitance of long feeders, radial system. Although feeders may be reconfigured using
applicability to any type of faults, and suitability to systems with sectionalizes or breakers for improved reliability, each feeder is
distributed generations. Evaluation studies have shown still operated as a radial system during normal operation. With
promising results. The methods can be integrated into existing more renewable energy being integrated, many of which is
distribution management system for enhanced fault management distributed, dubbed as Distributed Generation (DG), the
capability for power systems with distributed renewable energy distribution system is no longer radial. The power flow
sources. becomes bi-directional, which means that the power does not
always flow from upstream to downstream, but may flow in
Index Terms-- distributed generation, fault location, power reverse direction. Presence of multiple sources in the system
distribution systems, renewable energy, simultaneous faults will therefore alter the voltage and current profile during a fault
in comparison with presence of only the substation source.
I. INTRODUCTION Another challenge is that DG output may be intermittent and
Electric power distribution systems serve to deliver power rapidly varies over time. Treating it as constant in fault location
to the end customers and faults occurring on any section of the algorithm design will lead to inaccuracy.
distribution systems will interrupt service and cause In addition, multiple faults may occur simultaneously in the
inconvenience or even huge cost to customers. When a fault system, and there is a need for efficient methods to handle this
occurs, protective relays and associated circuits breakers or situation, which can provide reliable fault location estimates
reclosers promptly and selectively open certain parts of the even when the power grid is not equipped with a lot of
circuits according to prescribed design to isolate or de-energize measuring devices.
the faulted component [1]. The rest of the systems will continue This paper aims to propose algorithms to handle multiple
operation. Some loads will be interrupted due to opening of faults for distribution networks with DGs. Section II presents
breakers. To recover power to those interrupted customers, it is the proposed methods. Section III reports evaluation studies,
essential to locate and repair the faulted component first. followed by the conclusion.
Although system reconfiguration may recover partial II. PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR LOCATING MULTIPLE
interrupted loads, full restoration of power will count on repair FAULTS
of faulted component. Therefore, accurate location of faults
plays a pivotal role in speedy maintenance and fast system
Section A presents the basis for the proposed multiple fault
location methods by examining a single fault, and Sections B,
C and D describe the proposed fault location methods for : the transfer impedance between fault nodes and source
simultaneous, multiple faults. nodes;
A. Basis for fault locaiton : the driving point impedance at the fault nodes;
=[ ] (10)
The fault location algorithm, based on voltages and currents
measured at the sources including local substation and DGs, is
illustrated by examining a fault on a three phase feeder. The = (11)
method will be applicable to single and two phase feeders as
well. No fault type information is required. Without losing The complex power consumed by the fault resistances is
generality, it is assumed that there are three sources, with a bus obtained as
number , , , respectively, and that all sources are three
] {( ) [ ∗
phase. Each source bus consists of three nodes. For example, =[ ( − )] (12)
bus consists of three nodes , , and , corresponding
to phase a, b and c, respectively. It is emphasized that these where, “*” denotes complex conjugate.
assumptions are merely for the sake of easier illustration of the It follows from the reactive power consumed by fault
method and the method will be applicable to a network with resistances being zero that
any number of sources which can be single phase, two phase ( )=0 (13)
or three phase sources.
The current injections to the network include the line where, Imag(.) yields the imaginary part of its argument.
currents at the sources and the fault currents. Therefore, the
voltage during the fault at bus can be written as Given the voltage measurement during the fault at bus and
= − (1) currents at sources, Equ. (13) contains only one unknown
=[ ] (2) variable: the fault location. The bus can be a source bus or
where, any other bus, and most likely be the source bus since the
is the voltage during the fault at bus ; the voltage of each method requires source currents. The Newton-Raphson
node is denoted by , , ; technique can be applied to solve the fault location. The
is the transfer impedance between bus and buses derivation holds for any type of fault with unequal fault
= { , , }; resistances.
is the transfer impedance between bus and fault bus ; Alternatively, by assuming voltage measurements from
is the current injections by sources at buses , consisting of two buses and are available, the voltages during the fault
phase currents at each source bus. For example the source at are given by
bus has current injection , and for phase a, b and = − (14)
c, respectively;
is the fault current at the fault bus flowing away from the = − (15)
network, comprising , and for phase a, b and c,
where, and are voltage measurements at buses
respectively;
and .
T represents matrix and vector transpose.
⋯ It follows from the two equations that
⋯ − =
=
⋯ − (16)
(3)
The fault location is the unknown variable contained in the
= (4) equation, which can be estimated based on Newton-Raphson
technique.
In general, when measurements from more than two buses
=[ ⋯ ] (5) are available, optimal estimation theory can be used to detect
= (6) possible bad measurements and enhance fault location
Equ. (1) is rewritten as estimation accuracy.
= − (7) B. Overview of the proposed methods for locating multiple
Then, the fault current is derived as faults
=( ) [ ( − )] (8) This subsection presents the general ideal of the proposed fault
The voltages at the fault nodes during the fault is given by location algorithms to locate multiple, simultaneous faults on
= − (9) distribution systems. Fig. 1 illustrates a scenario involving two
where, simultaneous faults.
: the voltages at the fault nodes during the fault, comprising
, and ;
, : transfer impedance matrix between bus and
, bus and , respectively;.
= −[ ][ ] (18)
(28)
Now assume that the voltages at two buses and are
known. The following two equations are obtained: The following equations are obtained considering that the
= −[ ][ ] (19) reactive power, i.e., the imaginary part of the complex power
consumed by the fault resistances is zero,
= −[ ][ ] (20) ∗
= 0 (29)
or ∗ (30)
=0
= − (21) Then, the two unknown fault locations can be determined
by solving this set of two real equations.
An alternative solution is described as follows when more
Where, measurements are available. Now assume that the
, : the voltage during the fault at bus , , measurements from another two buses and are known.
respectively; The following equations are obtained:
, : transfer impedance matrix between bus and ,
bus and , respectively; = − (31)
, : transfer impedance matrix between bus and
, bus and , respectively;
= , : the voltage preceding the fault at bus , ,
− (32) respectively;
, , , : transfer impedance matrices.
Case type Fault Fault section, FL Fault FL Case Fault Fault section, FL Fault FL
number and fault (p.u.) res. Esti. type number and fault (p.u.) res. Esti.
type (ohm) err. (%) type (ohm) err. (%)
Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, AG) 0.4 10 0.61 Single Fault 1 (1-2, AG) 0.4 0.06
faults 50
Fault 2 (5-6, BG) 0.6 5 0.37 fault
Fault 3 (8-11, AG) 0.5 5 0.07 Single Fault 1 (8-11, AC) 0.3 1 0.26
Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, BC) 0.8 1 0.01 fault
faults Fault 2 (8-11, AG) 0.2 5 0.11 Single Fault 1 (5-8, BCG) 0.7 [1,1, 0.10
Fault 3 (13-16, 0.7 [1,1, 0.03 fault 50]
ABC) 1] Single Fault 1 (8-9, BG) 0.3 30 0.04
Multiple Fault 1 (2-5, ABCG) 0.6 [0.5,0. 0.02 fault
faults 5,0.5, Single Fault 1 (13-14, 0.6 [1,1,1, 0.01
20] fault ABCG) 30]
Fault 2 (5-8, BCG) 0.6 [1,1,2 0.05 Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, AG) 0.6 1 0.02
0] faults Fault 2 (13-15, BG) 0.5 10 0.12
Fault 3 (18-20, CG) 0.5 10 0.01 Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, BG) 0.6 5 0.04
Multiple Fault 1 (5-7, AB) 0.3 1 0.02 faults Fault 2 (5-8, AB) 0.7 0.5 0.02
faults Fault 2 (8-9, BG) 0.2 5 0.07 Multiple Fault 1 (2-3, BC) 0.4 0.5 0.12
Fault 3 (11-13, 0.9 [1,1, 0.16 faults Fault 2 (5-8, ABC) 0.6 [0.5,0.5 0.03
ABG) 20] 0.5]
Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, AC) 0.2 0.5 0.01 Multiple Fault 1 (2-5, CG) 0.6 20 0.25
faults Fault 2 (5-6, BG) 0.7 5 0.20 faults Fault 2 (11-12, AG) 0.7 30 0.52
Fault 3 (13-15, BG) 0.5 10 0.23 Multiple Fault 1 (8-11, AG) 0.5 50 0.44
TABLE II presents the fault location results obtained by faults Fault 2 (16-18, 0.8 [1,1,1, 0.05
Type 1 algorithm using voltage measurements from bus 1, 8 ABCG) 10]
and 20 and currents from all sources, for cases involving three It is noted that to pinpoint single faults, voltages from one
simultaneous faults. Again, accurate results are obtained. bus will suffice. For example, using voltage from bus 1, the
fault location results for the first five cases listed in TABLE IV
can be obtained, and the estimation errors are 0.01%, 0.08%, matrix singularity occurs and no solution is identified. The fault
0.11%, 0.05% and 0.11%, respectively. type and location are not shown. The last column shows the bus
from which voltage is taken. Type II algorithm does not yield
TABLE V presents the fault location results obtained by solution to these cases either.
Type 2 algorithm using voltage measurements from bus 1, 8
and 20 and currents from all sources, for cases involving three TABLE VII. CASES WITHOUT SOLUTION DUE TO INSUFFICIENT
simultaneous faults. Very accurate results are achieved. NUMBER OF METERS
TABLE V. TYPE 2 ALGORITHM - FAULT LOCATION RESULTS Case Fault Fault section Meter
number number placement bus
USING VOLTAGES FROM BUS 1, BUS 8, AND BUS 20
1 Fault 1 (2-5) 1
Case type Fault Fault section, FL Fault FL Fault 2 (8-11)
number and fault (p.u.) res. Esti. 2 Fault 2 (2-5) 1, 3
type (ohm) err. (%) Fault 3 (8-11)
Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, AG) 0.4 30 0.60 3 Fault 1 (5-7) 1, 6
faults Fault 2 (8-11, BG) 0.6 10 0.44 Fault 2 (8-10)
Fault 3 (18-19, CG) 0.5 50 0.42 4 Fault 1 (1-2) 1, 10, 14
Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, AB) 0.8 0.5 0.02 Fault 2 (11-13)
faults Fault 2 (2-5, CG) 0.2 50 0.22 Fault 3 (18-19)
Fault 3 (8-11, ABC) 0.6 [1,1, 0.00 5 Fault 1 (1-2) 1, 14, 20
1] Fault 2 (2-5)
Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, BG) 0.7 10 0.08 Fault 3 (8-11)
faults Fault 2 (5-8, BCG) 0.6 [1,1,2 0.03
0]
Fault 3 (8-11, CG) 0.3 20 0.02 Further studies related to fault location observability and
Multiple Fault 1 (2-5, AB) 0.3 0.5 0.03
faults Fault 2 (5-8, AG) 0.3 10 0.35
determination of optimal placement of sufficient meters to
Fault 3 (11-13, 0.8 [1,1, 0.01 uniquely locate each fault across the network may be
BCG) 20] performed, following the method presented in [1]. Though the
Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, AC) 0.3 0.5 0.01 study may be more complex since simultaneous faults are
faults Fault 2 (8-11, AG) 0.6 10 0.61 present.
Fault 3 (13-15, BG) 0.6 30 0.14
IV. CONCLUSION
This paper presents two types of algorithms for locating
TABLE VI presents the fault location results obtained by multiple simultaneous faults on distribution systems, which is
Type 2 algorithm using voltage measurements from bus 1, 14 also applicable to single faults. Type 1 algorithm requires
and 20 and currents from all sources, for cases involving three currents from all sources and voltages from selected locations,
simultaneous faults. Again accurate results are obtained. but does not need source impedance. Type 2 algorithm needs
only voltages from selected locations, does not need currents
TABLE VI. TYPE 2 ALGORITHM - FAULT LOCATION RESULTS
from any location, and needs source impedance. Both
USING VOLTAGES FROM BUS 1, BUS 14, AND BUS 20 algorithms are capable of handling unbalances and any type of
faults, and still work for situations where only limited
Case type Fault Fault section, FL Fault FL measurements are available. Both algorithms produce highly
number and fault (p.u.) res. Esti. accurate fault location estimates based on simulation studies.
type (ohm) err. (%) With increasing deployment of distributed generations, the
Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, AG) 0.4 10 0.24 proposed method will speed up maintenance process when
faults Fault 2 (5-8, BG) 0.6 5 0.31 faults occur on the system and thus improve system reliability.
Fault 3 (16-18, CG) 0.5 30 0.00
Multiple Fault 1 (1-2, AB) 0.8 0.5 0.02
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