Differential equation fault location algorithm with harmonic effects in power system

Abstract

About 80% of faults in the power system distribution are earth faults. Studies to find effective methods to identify and locate faults in distribution networks are still relevant, in addition to the presence of harmonic signals that distort waves and create deviations in the power system that can cause many problems to the protection relay. This study focuses on a single line-to-ground (SLG) fault location algorithm in a power system distribution network based on fundamental frequency measured using the differential equation method. The developed algorithm considers the presence of harmonics components in the simulation network. In this study, several filters were tested to obtain the lowest fault location error to reduce the effect of harmonic components on the developed fault location algorithm. The network model is simulated using the alternate transients program (ATP)Draw simulation program. Several fault scenarios have been implemented during the simulation, such as fault resistance, fault distance, and fault inception angle. The final results show that the proposed algorithm can estimate the fault distance successfully with an acceptable fault location error. Based on the simulation results, the differential equation continuous wavelet technique (CWT) filter-based algorithm produced an accurate fault location result with a mean average error (MAE) of less than 5%.