Synchronized sampling improves fault location
- Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
- Lamar Univ., Beaumont, TX (United States)
Transmission line faults must be located accurately to allow maintenance crews to arrive at the scene and repair the faulted section as soon as possible. Rugged terrain and geographical layout cause some sections of power transmission lines to be difficult to reach. In the past, a variety of fault location algorithms were introduced as either an add-on feature in protective relays or stand-alone implementation in fault locators. In both cases, the measurements of current and voltages were taken at one terminal of a transmission line only. Under such conditions, it may become difficult to determine the fault location accurately, since data from other transmission line ends are required for more precise computations. In the absence of data from the other end, existing algorithms have accuracy problems under several circumstances, such as varying switching and loading conditions, fault infeed from the other end, and random value of fault resistance. Most of the one-end algorithms were based on estimation of voltage and current phasors. The need to estimate phasors introduces additional difficulty in high-speed tripping situations where the algorithms may not be fast enough in determining fault location accurately before the current signals disappear due to the relay operation and breaker opening. This article introduces a unique concept of high-speed fault location that can be implemented either as a simple add-on to the digital fault recorders (DFRs) or as a stand-alone new relaying function. This advanced concept is based on the use of voltage and current samples that are synchronously taken at both ends of a transmission line. This sampling technique can be made readily available in some new DFR designs incorporating receivers for accurate sampling clock synchronization using the satellite Global Positioning System (GPS).
- OSTI ID:
- 63026
- Journal Information:
- IEEE Computer Applications in Power, Vol. 8, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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