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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY
A Novel Fault-Location Algorithm
for Double-Circuit Transmission Lines
Without Utilizing Line Parameters
Christos A. Apostolopoulos and George N. Korres, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—This paper puts forward a novel algorithm for lo-
cating faults on double-circuit transmission lines using two-end
unsynchronized current measurements. The algorithm does not
require line parameters, which is a radical step forward compared
to existing approaches, which require this information, so it can be
considered as a settings-free algorithm. Only the positive-sequence
current phasors during the fault are processed for determining the
sought distance to fault and the synchronization angle, limiting
thus the amount of data needed to be transferred from each line
terminal. The proposed algorithm is derived by applying the
Kirchhoff’s voltage law around the parallel circuits loops during
the fault. The algorithm is applicable for both transposed and
untransposed double-circuit lines and is independent of the fault
type. Evaluation studies using reliable Alternative Transients Pro-
gram-Electromagnetic Transients Program simulation data verify
that the accuracy of the proposed algorithm is very high under
various fault resistances, fault locations, and source impedances.
Index Terms—Double-circuit transmission lines, fault location,
settings-free method, unsynchronized current measurements.
I. INTRODUCTION
OUBLE-CIRCUIT transmission lines have been ex-
D tensively utilized in modern power systems to enhance
the reliability and security for the transmission of electrical
energy. The different possible configurations of double-circuit
lines, combined with the effect of mutual coupling, makes their
protection and fault-location estimation a very challenging
problem.
Many fault-location algorithms for double-circuit lines have
been proposed in recent years [1]–[14]. These algorithms
are based either on one-terminal [1]–[8] or two-terminal data
[9]–[14]. Although less precise than two-terminal algorithms,
one-terminal algorithms appear more attractive since they
rely only on voltage and current measurements captured at
one common terminal and, hence, no communication links
have to be provided between both terminals of the line. While
different in their considered assumptions and implementation
issues, these algorithms attempt to estimate the fault current
contribution from the other terminal by solving the Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law (KVL) equations around parallel lines loops.
Manuscript received January 07, 2010; revised May 11, 2010; accepted De-
cember 19, 2010. Paper no. TPWRD-00015-2010.
The authors are with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department,
National Technical University of Athens, Athens GR-15780, Greece (e-mail:
apostolo@power.ece.ntua.gr; gkorres@softlab.ece.ntua.gr).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2010.2102777
0885-8977/$26.00 © 2011 IEEE
1
However, their accuracy is dependent on the fault type and line
parameters uncertainty, although it is not highly influenced by
the fault resistance and source impedances. Moreover, most of
these algorithms cannot deal effectively with intercircuit faults
which are more likely to occur on double-circuit lines sharing
the same tower structure.
Contrary to one-terminal algorithms, there are few two-ter-
minal algorithms for double-circuit lines reported in the litera-
ture [9]–[14]. These algorithms employ measurements at both
terminals of a double-circuit line and, thus, a larger amount of
information is available, which makes their performance supe-
rior in comparison to one-terminal algorithms. Based on how the
digital measurements at the line ends are acquired, two-terminal
algorithms are divided into two categories: 1) those using syn-
chronized measurements, if the global positioning system (GPS)
is available and 2) those using unsynchronized measurements,
if the signal from the GPS gets lost and there is no common time
reference between measurements. In order to make the unsyn-
chronized measurements useful for fault-location estimation,
analytical synchronization must be achieved. This involves the
introduction of the synchronization angle as an additional un-
known to the sought distance to fault. Then, the two unknowns
can be solved by performing iterative [15]–[17] or noniterative
calculations [18].
References [9]–[11] present methods that employ unsynchro-
nized measurements for estimating the distance to fault and
the synchronization angle between measurements from different
terminals of a double-circuit line. They can be classified into
two groups: 1) phasor-based methods [9] and 2) time-domain
methods [10], [11]. Algorithms based on synchronized mea-
surements have been discussed in [12]–[14]. Some of these al-
gorithms require determination of the fault type [13], [14], while
others make use of both prefault and postfault data [12], [13].
Moreover, two-terminal algorithms can be further separated into
those using two-end voltages [13] or currents only [10], [11], or
both of them [9], [12], [14].
Based on the length of the double-circuit transmission line,
short line [1]–[5], [8], [13] and long line [6], [7], [9]–[12], [14]
algorithms have been developed using lumpled RL line parame-
ters and distributed RLC line parameters, respectively. Most of
these algorithms [1]–[6], [11], [13], [14] have focused on trans-
posed transmission lines. Therefore, symmetrical components
are used to determine the fault location. However, technical,
economical and ecological aspects lead to untransposed trans-
mission lines. Full transposition schemes are often too expen-
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2 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY
Fig. 1. Proposed measurement arrangement for fault location on double-circuit
transmission lines.
sive and not applicable to short- and medium-length double-cir-
cuit lines [19]. Although some fault-location methods [7]–[10],
[12] have been proposed for untransposed double-circuit lines,
most of them require the line parameters to be known exactly.
The authors of [12] describe a method for estimating line
parameters, but this method needs continuously monitoring of
the double-circuit line during normal operations and demands
phasor measurement units (PMUs) for data synchronization.
Recent methods that obviate the need for knowing the line pa-
rameters to locate the fault have been presented in [20]–[23]. Al-
though very instructive and innovative, these methods are only
applicable to fully transposed single-circuit transmission lines
and do not consider the effect of mutual coupling in double-cir-
cuit lines.
This paper puts forward a novel fault-location algorithm
which is independent of line parameters and can be applied for
both transposed and untransposed double-circuit transmission
lines. The algorithm utilizes two-end unsynchronized current
measurements during the fault and the only assumption made
for its successful implementation is the unchangeability of line
parameters after the fault inception, regardless of the tempera-
ture rise in conductors, which is a common assumption made
by the majority of the reported fault-location algorithms.
The mathematical derivation of the proposed algorithm is
based on the nominal- line model, providing thus charging cur-
rent compensation in case of long lines also. The algorithm em-
ploys the Kirchhoff’s voltage law around the parallel circuits
loops during the fault to derive a complex equation which con-
tains the sought distance to fault and the corresponding synchro-
nization angle. Then, the two unknowns are calculated by using
a noniterative process, which is also one step beyond the ex-
isting methods. Only the positive-sequence current phasors are
utilized, limiting thus the amount of data needed to be trans-
ferred from each terminal of the double-circuit line. Moreover,
classification of the fault type and selection of the faulted phase
are generally not required.
In the rest of this paper, Section II presents the proposed fault-
location algorithm. Section III describes the evaluation studies,
followed by the conclusion.
II. BASICS OF THE FAULT-LOCATION ALGORITHM
The proposed fault-location scheme on double-circuit two-
terminal transmission line SR is shown schematically in Fig. 1.
At both line ends (S,R), there are current transformers (CTs)
which provide the transformed current signals to the measure-
ment units (MUs). Digital measurements are performed in these
units for determining the fundamental frequency phasors of the
three-phase currents. Then, the well-known symmetrical com-
ponent transformation is applied to obtain the positive-sequence
current phasors. The measurement data are transmitted to the
fault locator (FL), which is regarded as a stand-alone device,
via communication links upon occurrence of a fault. It is to be
noted that there is no GPS control of the digital measurements
performed at the two line ends and, thus, a more general case of
unsynchronized measurements is considered.
The star of fault resistances shown in Fig. 1 enables repre-
senting any type of fault on double-circuit lines, even intercir-
cuit faults, eliminating, when necessary, those legs that are not
present in the type of fault considered. For instance, the IAIIBG
fault is reflected when the legs containing the resistances ,
, and are maintained and the rest are eliminated. Using
this generic circuit model for fault representation, the math-
ematical formulation of the proposed algorithm is derived in
the following paragraphs for both transposed and untransposed
double-circuit lines.
A. Transposed Double-Circuit Transmission Line
Fig. 2 depicts the positive, negative, and zero-sequence net-
works of a double-circuit transmission line for a generic unbal-
anced fault at F by using the lumped parameter line model.
It is assumed that the two circuits of the line have identical pa-
rameters and are well transposed. In the figure, the following
nomenclature is adopted:
, sequence voltages and currents
, during the fault at terminal S;
, sequence voltages and currents
, during the fault at terminal R;
, sequence voltages and currents
, during the fault at point F;
,
, positive, zero, and mutual
zero-sequence series impedances
and shunt admittances of the line,
respectively;
unknown distance to fault from
reference terminal S in per unit
(p.u.).
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APOSTOLOPOULOS AND KORRES: NOVEL FAULT-LOCATION ALGORITHM FOR DOUBLE-CIRCUIT TRANSMISSION LINES 3

Based on Fig. 2(a), we can derive the following equations for

the positive-sequence voltage at terminal R:

(1)

(2)

where is the synchronization angle between measurements at

S and R, representing any possible synchronization error.
Rewriting (1) and (2), we have

(3)

(4)

Subtracting (4) from (3), we obtain Fig. 2. (a) Positive, (b) negative, and (c) zero-sequence networks of a trans-
posed double-circuit transmission line during the fault.

Based on Fig. 2(b) and following a similar procedure as be-

(5) fore, we can derive an equation analogous to (6) relating the
or negative-sequence currents between the line terminals:
(6) (7)

(8)

(9)
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4 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY

In case of the zero-sequence network, it follows from Fig. 2(c) After the synchronization angle is obtained, the fault location
that the zero-sequence voltage at R satisfies [24]: See (8) and (9) is calculated by taking the real part of (14)
at the bottom of the previous page.
Equations (8) and (9) can be expressed as (18)

Limiting the synchronization angle range to , two so-

lutions generally exist for in (17). One solution lies in the
interval while the other one lies in the interval
and the difference between them is radians. To
decide which solution is the correct one, we can check their cor-
(10) responding fault locations calculated by (18). If one obtained
per-unit fault location is in the boundary and the other
one is out of the boundary , the solution for the synchro-
nization angle that corresponds to the former is the correct one,
while the other one can be rejected or characterized as unreal-
istic [15]–[17], [25].
In case of transposed double-circuit lines, the positive-se-
(11) quence quantities exist in all possible fault types encountered,
while the negative-sequence quantities appear only in the occur-
Subtracting (11) from (10), we obtain rence of unbalanced faults and the zero quantities in case of un-
balanced faults involving ground. Thus, if we want to avoid the
use of a fault-type selection algorithm, we must apply (14) for
fault-location estimation by employing the positive-sequence
currents at the opposite line ends.
(12)

or
B. Untransposed Double-Circuit Transmission Line

(13) Fig. 3 shows the -network representation of an untransposed

double-circuit line during a generic unbalanced fault at point F
Equations (6), (7), and (13) form the basis for determining the [26]. In the figure, the following notations are adopted:
sought synchronization angle and the corresponding distance
to fault, without requiring line parameters, by employing either
vectors of phase voltages
the positive, negative, or zero-sequence currents at the opposite
, and currents during the fault
ends of a transposed double-circuit transmission line. It follows
at terminal S;
from (6), (7), and (13) that
,

(14)

vectors of phase voltages

where and are constants defined in the Appendix. Since
, and currents during the fault
is a real number, the imaginary part of (14) should be zero,
at terminal R;
i.e.,
,

(15)

vectors of phase voltages

where the bar over a variable designates the complex conjugate.
, and currents during the fault
Simplifying (15) leads to
at point F;
,
(16)
,
where and are defined in the Appendix. Finally, the syn-
chronization angle can be determined as follows:
, , , uknown fault and ground
, , , resistances involved in the
(17) fault;
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APOSTOLOPOULOS AND KORRES: NOVEL FAULT-LOCATION ALGORITHM FOR DOUBLE-CIRCUIT TRANSMISSION LINES 5

inverse of the symmetric

self-circuit series impedance
(or symmetric self-circuit
series admittance) matrix
of the untransposed
double-circuit line SR,
where and
denote the phases of circuit I
and II of the line, respectively
[27], [28];
inverse of the mutual series
impedance (or symmetric
mutual series admittance)
matrix of the untransposed
double-circuit line SR;

Fig. 3. 5-network representation of an untransposed double-circuit transmis-

symmetric self-circuit shunt sion line during the fault.
admittance matrix of the
untransposed double-circuit
line SR; A similar expression as (19) exists for the phase currents at
terminal R, as shown in (21) at the bottom of the page.
Subtracting from , we have

symmetric mutual shunt

admittance matrix of the
untransposed double-circuit
line SR. (22)

Combining (20) and (22), we obtain

Based on Fig. 3, we can derive the following equation for the

phase currents at terminal S in matrix formation, as shown in
(19) at the bottom of the page. (23)
Subtracting from , we have Equation (23) forms the basis for determining the sought syn-
chronization angle and the corresponding distance to fault on an
untransposed double-circuit transmission line. The line parame-
(20) ters have been totally excluded from the closed-form expression

(19)

(21)
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6 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY

TABLE I
PARAMETERS OF THE 400-kV, 50-Hz TRANSMISSION NETWORK

Fig. 4. Configuration of the steel tower and conductor.

in (23), which is only dependent on the so-called phase circu-

lating currents [27], [28] flowing along the parallel circuits of
the double-circuit line.
Multiplying (23) with the symmetrical component transfor-
mation matrix yields

(24)

where

; is the -operator and

stands for the zero-, positive-, and negative-sequence

components.
Then, (24) can be written as the expression in (14) and the
unknown fault location can be obtained by using a procedure
similar to the one presented in the previous paragraph. It is to be
noted that in case of untransposed double-circuit lines, either the
positive, negative, or zero-sequence quantities can be utilized in
(14) due to the line asymmetries themselves.
III. EVALUATION STUDIES
A. Data Generation and Conditioning
The presented fault-location algorithm has been evaluated
by using reliable ATP-EMTP [29] simulation data of faults in
a 400-kV, 50-Hz power system network containing a 250-km
double-circuit untransposed transmission line. The overhead
transmission-line parameters considered have been obtained
by using the constant distributed parameter line model within
the EMTP line constant subroutine for the Public Power Cor-
poration (PPC) geometric data shown in Fig. 4. The related
parameters, consisting of six unique sets of modal quantities
and the real modal transformation matrix , along with the
source impedance data at the line terminals are gathered in
Table I.
In order to show the errors of the presented method itself,
the CTs located at each line terminal have been intentionally
modeled as ideal transforming devices. The secondary signals
of these instrument transformers are passed via a second-order
analog (Butterworth) antialiasing filter with a cutoff frequency
of 350 Hz as in [17] and [18]. Then, the signals are sampled at
a frequency of 1000 Hz, which corresponds to 20 samples per
cycle and are stored for postprocessing.
The next step is to pick out the fault segment in the recorded
signals. A prerequisite for this is to determine the individual
fault inception times of the current recordings [30]. The fault
inception time is detected by waveshape triggers which look
for an abrupt change in the current waveforms captured on a
cycle-by-cycle basis [31]. After isolating the fault data, the se-
lected samples in the fault segment of the recorded signals are
converted into fundamental frequency phasors by applying the
discrete Fourier transform. Then, the positive-sequence com-
ponents of currents required for fault-location estimation are
obtained.
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APOSTOLOPOULOS AND KORRES: NOVEL FAULT-LOCATION ALGORITHM FOR DOUBLE-CIRCUIT TRANSMISSION LINES 7

TABLE II TABLE III

(a) FAULT-LOCATION ESTIMATION ERRORS OBTAINED BY THE PROPOSED FAULT-LOCATION ERROR WITH VARYING FAULT RESISTANCE
ALGORITHM (FAULTED CIRCUIT II, FAULT RESISTANCE: 10
). (b) AND FAULT DISTANCE (FAULTED CIRCUIT II)
SYNCHRONIZATION ANGLE ESTIMATES OBTAINED BY THE PROPOSED
ALGORITHM (FAULTED CIRCUIT II, FAULT RESISTANCE: 10
)

(a)

(b)

It is to be noted that if the developed fault-location algorithm

is intended for use with digital protective relays, the operations
of windowing (triggering the recordings and marking the fault
data) as well as computing the positive-sequence current pha-
sors should be provided by the relays themselves.
The signals generated using ATP-EMTP are, in a natural way,
perfectly synchronized. To simulate the synchronization error,
the phasors at terminal R have been rotated by 18 in all cases
studied. The continuous phasor data are singled by averaging
to test the accuracy of the proposed algorithm. The fault-loca-
within the interval cycles, after the fault inception. Thus,
tion estimation errors, along with the synchronization angle es-
it becomes apparent that in case of self-extinguished or short du-
timates, are gathered in Tables II(a) and (b), respectively.
ration faults (e.g., faults that last less than two cycles after their
It is observed that the maximum error reached for the cases
occurence), the proposed algorithm cannot be safely applied.
considered is less than: 0.15% for phase-to-ground faults (AG,
The proposed algorithm has been implemented in Matlab.
BG, CG), 0.17% for phase-to-phase faults (AB, BC, CA), 0.22%
The percentage error used to measure the fault-location accu-
for phase-to-phase-to-ground faults (ABG, BCG, CAG), and
racy is defined as
0.14% for three-phase faults (ABC), which is an indication that
Actual location - Estimated location the proposed algorithm is very accurate. It can be also seen that
Error (25)
Total line length the estimation error is almost totally eliminated for faults in the
middle of the line because of the symmetry of the double-circuit
line under these conditions.
B. Accuracy Analysis Similar observations can be made for the results obtained for
All possible types of faults (AG, BG, CG, AB, BC, CA, ABG, the synchronization angle. For all cases analyzed, the solution
BCG, CAG, ABC) with a fault resistance of 10 have been for is very close to the actual value and the maximum
simulated at nine different fault distances (10–90% of the line error does not exceed 0.5 for unsymmetrical faults and 0.1 for
length) from reference terminal S in circuit II of the line in order the balanced three-phase faults.
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8 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY
Fig. 5. Effects of distributed parameters on fault-location estimation (actual
) (a) LG faults. (b) LL
FL: 20% of the line length, faulted circuit II, R = 10
) (a) LG faults. (b) LL faults. (c) LLG faults. (d) LLL faults.
faults. (c) LLG faults. (d) LLL faults.
C. Influence of the Fault Resistance
Table III shows the effects of fault resistance variation on the
algorithm’s accuracy for all possible fault types that can be en-
countered in circuit II of the line. Faults involving ground have
been investigated for fault resistance values varying from 0 to
1000 . This captures low- and high-resistance faults. Faults not
involving ground have been investigated for resistance values of
0 to 100 . Most of these values are much above the typical
arc resistance values quoted in [32]. In all cases considered, the
actual fault location varies from 10 to 90% of the line length
and the local and remote source impedances are set equal to the
system values.
It can be seen that the fault-location estimation error
stays well within 0.18% for phase-to-ground faults, 0.22% for
phase-to-phase and phase-to-phase-to-ground faults, and 0.16%
for three-phase faults, which is an indication that the proposed
algorithm is highly accurate and virtually independent of the
fault resistance.
D. Influence of the Distributed Nature of Long Lines
The mathematical derivation of the proposed algorithm is
based on the nominal- model of the double-circuit line, which
makes it more appropriate for medium length lines 180 km).
To show the effects of distributed parameters in case of long
lines, Figs. 5 and 6 depict the fault-location estimation errors
for all possible fault types with a fault resistance of 10 and
Fig. 6. Effects of distributed parameters on fault-location estimation (actual
FL: 80% of the line length, faulted circuit II, R = 10
with varying the line length from 200 to 300 km. The actual
fault locations considered are 20% and 80% of the line length,
respectively, in circuit II of the line. It can be seen that while, in
general, the distributed parameters have adverse effects on the
algorithm’s accuracy as the line length increases, the errors for
all types of faults are still within 0.25%. This is an indication
that the proposed fault-location algorithm can be safely applied
to long lines also.
E. Influence of the Source Impedance
Tables IV(a)–(c) present the fault-location estimation errors
obtained by varying the local, the remote, and local and remote
source impedances respectively. The simulations consider all
possible types of faults (AG, BG, CG, AB, BC, CA, ABG, BCG,
CAG, ABC) with a fault distance of 80% of the line length and
a typical fault resistance of . The values of impedances in
local and remote line terminals have been set equal to 20%, 50%,
100%, 200%, and 500% of the actual system values. It appears
that source impedance variations have an insignificant influence
on the algorithm’s accuracy. This is in full accordance with the
performance equation of the proposed algorithm which does not
include the source impedances and, hence, is independent of
their changes.
Algorithm’s Performance for Faults Between Circuits
Tables V(a) and (b) show the results of the proposed fault-lo-
cation algorithm for intercircuit faults, which occur simultane-
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APOSTOLOPOULOS AND KORRES: NOVEL FAULT-LOCATION ALGORITHM FOR DOUBLE-CIRCUIT TRANSMISSION LINES
TABLE IV
(a) INFLUENCE OF SOURCE IMPEDANCE IN TERMINAL S ON THE ALGORITHM’S
ACCURACY (ACTUAL FL: 80% OF THE LINE LENGTH, FAULTED CIRCUIT II,
R = 10
). (b) INFLUENCE OF SOURCE IMPEDANCE IN TERMINAL R ON THE
ALGORITHM’S ACCURACY (ACTUAL FL: 80% OF THE LINE LENGTH, FAULTED
CIRCUIT II, R = 10
). (c) INFLUENCE OF THE SOURCE IMPEDANCE IN
TERMINALS S&R ON THE ALGORITHM’S ACCURACY (ACTUAL FL: 80% OF THE
LINE LENGTH, FAULTED CIRCUIT II, R = 10
)
(a)
(b)
(c)
ously between the parallel circuits of the line under study, with
various fault and ground resistances at 20% and 80% of the line
length, respectively. It can be observed that the algorithm has
superior performance for all fault cases studied except for sym-
metrical intercircuit faults, such as ICAIICA (faults involving
phases A and C in circuits I and II of the line with the same
fault resistance). In these rare cases, a proper fault-type selec-
tion algorithm should be applied to discriminate for the phases
involved in the fault based on the current differential principal
[33] since the algorithm utilizes only current signals as input
data.
F. Influence of Measurement Errors
Current phasors used as input data in the algorithm are ob-
tained through measuring and filtering processes. This makes it
necessary to analyze the effects of measurement errors on the
accuracy of the proposed algorithm. These errors result from
the inaccuracy of CTs, recorders, filtering techniques, sample
mismatch, etc. To study the impacts of measurements errors on
fault-location accuracy, we have taken into account the proba-
bilistic nature of these errors. This approach seems more real-
istic than the one in [16] which assumes a systematic error for
the current measurements. Hence, in these studies, the errors of
9
TABLE V
(a) FAULT-LOCATION ALGORITHM RESULTS FOR INTERCIRCUIT FAULTS
(ACTUAL FL: 20% OF THE LINE LENGTH). (b) FAULT-LOCATION ALGORITHM
RESULTS FOR INTERCIRCUIT FAULTS (ACTUAL FL: 80% OF THE LINE LENGTH)
(a)
(b)
the current phasor measurements are taken as being indepen-
dent and normally distributed in two dimensions as in [34] and
[35]. Moreover, it is assumed that the standard deviation of the
current magnitude errors is 4% for the phases subjected to fault
and 2% for the sound phases, while the standard deviation of
the current angle errors is 4 for the phases involved in the fault
and 2 for the unfaulted phases.
The unknown distance to fault can be determined as a random
value and fault-location results can be expressed by a set of
statistical properties (mean values, standard deviation, confi-
dence intervals, etc). For calculation of these properties, the
Monte-Carlo method [36] has been employed as illustrated in
Fig. 7. The number of trials has been set equal to 1000 in
order to achieve the appropriate accuracy.
Fig. 8 shows the distribution density function of the estimated
distance to fault obtained for four representative types of faults
(AG, BC, BCG, and ABC) by the Monte-Carlo method. The
fault distances are determined by the proposed algorithm when
the fault occurs at 80% of the line length and the fault resistance
is equal to 10 . It can be seen that the error of the mean value
(the mathematical expectation) for all fault types is below 0.22%
of the line length, while the standard deviation, which describes
the accuracy of the fault point location for the certain conditions,
does not exceed 1.5% of the line length.
Moreover, in Fig. 8, a graphical visualization of the 95%
confidence intervals (lower and upper bounds—LB vs UP) for
the fault-location estimates of each fault type is given. The
confidence level of 95% is the most common level statistically
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10
)
Fig. 7. Procedure for calculating the statistical properties of fault-location re-
sults due to measurement errors using the Monte-Carlo method.
Fig. 8. Distribution of the estimated distances to fault in case of uncertainty of
the measurements. (a) AG. (b) BC. (c) BCG. (d) ABC.
adopted—because of the balance between the accuracy and
reliability—and it gives an estimated range of values where
the fault probably is located. Among many existing methods
to perform this task, the percentiles method has been chosen
to determine the confidence interval bounds. This method has
a great advantage: it can be used regardless of what the data
probability distribution is, as is the case herein.
Table VI summarizes the descriptive statistics results of the
estimated distances to fault obtained for nine different fault lo-
cation points (10–90% of the line length). It can be observed
that while the real error existence margins of the current mag-
nitudes and angles are 4% and 4 for the faulted phases and 2%
and 2 for the unfaulted phases, respectively, the standard de-
viation of the estimated distances is within 1.7% for each fault
type considered, which indicates that the accuracy of the pro-
posed algorithm is not significantly influenced by the current
measurement errors.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY
TABLE VI
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR THE ESTIMATED DISTANCE
TO FAULT (FAULTED CIRCUIT II, R = 10
Similar observations can be made in Fig. 9, which represents
the main properties of the proposed algorithm with respect to
the fault location on the line and fault resistance variations in the
presence of measurement errors. Fig. 9(a) and (b) corresponds
to the same measurement errors conditions as before, while in
Fig. 9(c) and (d), it is assumed that the standard deviation of
the current magnitudes and angles is 5% and 5 for the phases
subjected to fault and 3% and 3 for the phases not involved in
the fault, respectively. Actually, two values of fault resistances
are utilized. Fig. 9(a) and (c) corresponds to and
Fig. 9(b) and (d) corresponds to . It can be ob-
served that for a given measurement error set, the fault resistance
increases the standard deviation value for all types of faults con-
sidered. Moreover, it is evident from the obtained results that
for a given fault resistance, the standard deviation increases as
the error in the magnitude and angle of the measured currents
gets higher. However, the standard deviation for a given fault
resistance has a similar trend irrespective of the measurement
errors. It can be also seen that in all cases studied, the maximum
standard deviation is kept below the pertubation in the current
measurements.
Finally, it is to be noted that further reduction of errors can be
achieved by applying advanced digital filtering techniques [37],
[38], instead of the applied standard Fourier filtration.
IV. CONCLUSION
This paper has outlined a new efficient settings-free algo-
rithm for fault-location estimation on double-circuit transmis-
sion lines with the use of two-end unsynchronized current mea-
surements during the fault. The algorithm is capable of locating
faults when both parallel circuits are in operation. Preliminary
test results have proved satisfactory performance and high ac-
curacy of the proposed algorithm. In summary, the algorithm’s
main features and contributions are as follows.
1) Line parameters are not required to determine the fault lo-
cation. Hence, the presented algorithm can overcome the
 This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this journal. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.

APOSTOLOPOULOS AND KORRES: NOVEL FAULT-LOCATION ALGORITHM FOR DOUBLE-CIRCUIT TRANSMISSION LINES 11

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Fig. 9. Standard deviation of the estimated fault distances as a function of the sion lines,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 1850–1856, Oct.
fault-location point and fault resistance values at various measurement errors
(a), (b)  = 4% (faulted phases),  = 2% (healthy phases) for current mag-
2009.
nitude, and  =4 (faulted phases),  =2 (healthy phases) for current
[9] A. T. Johns and S. Jamali, “Accurate fault location technique for power
angle. (c) and (d)  = 5% (faulted phases),  = 3% (healthy phases) for
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(faulted phases),  (healthy phases) for
137, no. 6, pp. 395–402, Nov. 1990.
R = 10

current angle (a), (c) (b), (d)R = 100

.
degradation of line parameters uncertainty on the existing
fault locators for double-circuit lines.
2) Fault-type selection is generally not required, except for
the case of symmetrical intercircuit faults.
3) Source impedances and fault resistance have very little in-
fluence on the fault-location calculation.
4) The distributed parameter effects of long lines, which are
not considered in the algorithm formulation, do not signif-
icantly affect the accuracy of the fault-location estimates.
5) Even with untransposed transmission lines, the algorithm
yields fairly accurate results.
6) Noniterative calculations are required for determining the
sought distance to fault and the synchronization angle.
7) Limited amount of data are transferred between the line
terminals to locate the fault (only the positive-sequence
current phasors during the fault).
8) The algorithm is favorably not very sensitive to measure-
ment errors.
APPENDIX
The constants defined in deducing (14) are shown as follows:
(A1)
(A2)
where 0,1,2 stands for the zero-, positive-, and negative-
sequence components.
The constants defined in deducing (16) are given
(A3)
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Christos A. Apostolopoulos was born in Larisa, Greece, in 1981. He received
the Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Tech-
nical University of Athens, Athens, Greece, in 2004, where he is currently pur-
suing the Ph.D. degree.
Since 2005, he has been a Protection Engineer with PROT.A.S.I.S. S.A.,
Athens. His main research interests are in power system protection, computer
relaying, and fault location.
George N. Korres (SM’05) received the Diploma and Ph.D. degree in electrical
and computer engineering from the National Technical University of Athens,
Athens, Greece, in 1984 and 1988, respectively.
Currently, he is Associate Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, National Technical University of Athens. His research interests are
power system state estimation, power system protection, and industrial automa-
tion. He is a member of CIGRE.