1

An Adaptive Fault Location Technique Based on PMU for Transmission Line

FAN Chunju DU Xiuhua LI Shengfang YU Weiyong Dep. of Electrical Engineering Shanghai JiaoTong University Shanghai 200030, China ABSTRACT A new adaptive fault location technique based on Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) for transmission line is presented in this paper. Voltage and current phasors of both terminals of the transmission line are obtained through PMU. The online parameter-calculation algorithm is adopted to obtain the practical operating parameters when fault occurs, solving the problems that parameters provided by electric power company is different from the practical parameters because of the running environment and the operation history. The suddenly changed voltage and current are utilized to obtain suddenly changed positive voltage and current components to solve the systems impedance at the fault time. The on-line calculated systems impedance and parameters of the line are employed in the fault location equation and the fault location accuracy is high. The proposed fault location method is applied in single transmission line, parallel transmission line as well as teed transmission line. Extensive EMTP simulations as well as practical system data testing results have shown that the proposed technique accurately locate the fault point adaptively, not influenced by factors such as operation mode, fault resistance at fault point, fault type, prefault load and fault distance. Index Terms-Fault Location, Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU), Line Parameters, Transmission line, Teed line

I. INTRODUCTION Fault location for transmission line can be classified into one-terminal method [1-4] and multi-terminal method [5-8]. The location method that uses one-terminal information is very difficult to overcome the influence of the change of remote-terminal system impedance and fault resistance on location accuracy. The fault location method that uses multi-terminal information is not influenced by these factors and is accurate in theory, but the asynchronous problem of the data in these terminals is difficult to be solved. And the fault location is only valid to some transmission lines, such as single transmission line, parallel lines and teed lines. Reference [6] proposes a new method for fault location in parallel double-circuit multi-terminal transmission lines. Although one equation can be used for all types of fault, classification of fault types and selection of fault phase are not required, the proposed methods do not have enough accuracy when the fault occurs across both circuits of a parallel double-circuit line. References [7] and [8] propose a method based on Phase Measurement Unit (PMU) device. Line parameters can be on-line calculated by data from PMU device, but the location accuracy is based on the accuracy of the given systems impedance. References [12] proposed a new fault location for three terminal transmission line. The location accuracy based

on measurements of PMUs can be improved greatly. But, the equivalent generations impedance is assumed very exact. The setting value of the sources impedance influences the location accuracy. Power system is generally a symmetrical three-phase system. If symmetrical component method is used to decompose the asymmetrical phase measurement, all the calculation can be carried out according to single-phase condition for the asymmetry caused by asymmetrical fault and asymmetrical load. In this paper, superimposed electrical components such as voltages and currents are utilized to obtain suddenly changed positive components of voltage and current when fault occurs in the transmission line. The superimposed voltage and current are employed to calculate the equivalent sources impedance of the line at the fault time that exactly reflects the generation mode of the power system. The data of the terminals need not be synchronous because the electrical measurement based on online calculated sources impedance is synchronous. When power system operates normally, overcurrent occurs in the transmission line because of the fault of the other part in the system. The overcurrent will change the sag of the line which will change the parameters of the line. On the other hand, the surrounding environments such as the humidity and temperature make the impedance and admittance of the line being different from the parameters provide by the Power Bureau. In this paper, positive sequence impedance and admittance of the line are calculated by data from PMU. Lumped parameter model including the influence of distributed capacitance is adopted for fault location. Extensive simulation results and practical fault data from the fault recorder of the East China Power Bureau have shown that the fault location accuracy is very high. II. SOLUTION OF SYSTEM IMPEDANCE The principle of superposition in the linear network theory separates a post-fault network into the prefault network and the superimposed network[12]. The superimposed electrical measurements are utilized in the location method to reduce the effect of pre-fault load current on location accuracy. The symmetrical components are adopted to resolve the coupling effect among interphases of the transmission line. The superimposed phase network can be transformed into sequence electrical measurements network that is indicated in Fig 1. Assume that the superimposed phase measurements are

1-4244-1298-6/07/$25.00 2007 IEEE.

& & & & dU Mj , dI Mj , dU Nj and dI Nj , (j indicates the phase A, B

U Mi

DZ i

and C) which can be transformed into symmetrical components according to the symmetrical components method:
& U M i = & I M i = & U N i = I&N i = where, M

I Mi
Z MSi
DYi

F
.

. ( L D) Z i U Ni

fi

I Ni
( L D)Yi

M M M M

1 1 1 1

& dU M & dI M & dU & dI N

j

Rf

Z NSi

(1)

N j j

Fig. 1 superimposed network of transmission lines III. PARAMETERS CALCULATION BASED ON PMU The sag of the transmission line is changed by the surrounding environment and operation history such as overcurrent and overload. Increasing the current causes the conductor temperature to increase and, hence, the conductors to elongate and sag [17]. The resistance changes as the temperature of the line. The reactance is related with the distance between the phase lines which is changed when the sag of the line is changed. Joe-Air Jiang ,et.al in [8] indicates that from many researches in the field of fault location at earlier stage, uncertainty about the line parameters is one of the most severe factors that could impact on the fault location accuracy. The effect of uncertainty of the parameters on location accuracy is high, some times up to 6.7% if the parameters used in fault location varies 20% of the practical parameters. In practice, the line parameters will vary not only with the environmental conditions but also with the system operation situations. It is difficult to precisely presage what will happen to the line parameters with the transmission line in service. The parameters provided by the Power Bureau is very ideal and do not reflect the operation history of the line. When power system operates normally, PMU monitors the voltage of the bus M, N and current of the line. The measured pre-fault phase and amplitude of the voltages and currents can be employed to calculate the parameters of the line. A. Single line The lumped parameter model is employed for calculation of parameters of line in this paper. The online calculated parameters can adapt to the generation mode and higher accuracy can be achieved. The type equivalent circuit is shown in Fig 2.
Z MS
.
.

is transformation matrix for symmetrical

1 1 1
th

components,
M 1 = 3

, = e j120 =

1 3 + j 2 2

; i indicate the i sequence, i=0,1,2, namely zero, positive and negative sequence respectively; j indicate the j phase, namely phase A, B and C. If the distributed capacitance is considered, the sequence network of transmission lines for superimposed electrical sequence components of one line can be obtained as Fig. 1. Where, Z MSi , Z NSi are the equivalent sources impedances of side M and N respectively. These values are changed according to the change of generation mode of the system. Generally, these equivalent impedances are provided by the Power Bureau and is changed ceaselessly. If these impedances can be calculated on line, the electrical measurements used in the fault location equation can reflect the practical operation mode and the data of the two terminals need not be synchronous. It is very important to obtain the equivalent systems impedances of the line. In Fig 1, Z MSi , Z NSi are the sources sequence impedance of transmission line MN; U Mi , U Ni are the superimposed sequence voltage of bus M and N; I Mi , I Ni are the superimposed sequence current from bus M, N to the line MN; D is the distance between bus M and fault point F; L is the total length of the line; Z i and Yi are the parameters of the line MN; i=0,1,2. Each sequence sources impedance of the two terminals of transmission line can be calculated by superimposed sequence voltage and current according to the KCL (Kirchhoff Laws) theory:
& U Mi Z MS i = , & I M i & U Ni Z NS i = & I N i
th

UM

IM

EM
PMU_M Y/2 Y/2

IN

UN Z NS

EN

PMU_N

(2)

The calculated equivalent sources impedance can reflect the generation mode of the system when fault occurs in the line. The location based on this impedance can overcome the error resulting from the sources impedance.

Fig 2. -type equivalent circuit model

3
j & & U MFi = U NFi e

(6)

When the transmission line is operating in steady state, the line parameters can be solved according to Equation (3):
.

Where, is the asynchronous phase angle. The modulus value of the two items of equation (6) is equal, namely
( I Mi U Mi DYi ) ((Z MSi //
. . . .

Y =

2(I
.

M M

+ I +U
.

. 2

N N

Z =

U
. . N

M M

U U
.

. 2 N . M

(3)
I
N

1 ) + DZ i ) DYi 1 ) + ( L D) Z i ) ( L D)Yi

(7)

= ( I Ni U Ni ( L D )Yi ) ((Z NSi //

& are phase currents from bus M to bus N & and I Where, I N M & are phase & and U during normal operation respectively; U N M

voltages at terminal M and N during normal operation respectively. If PMUs are installed in the system, voltages and
. . . .

currents at both terminals of the line ( U M ,U N , I M , I N ) are known quantities, and then parameters (Z, Y) of the equivalent circuit can be calculated on line through equation (3). B. Parallel line This algorithm can be extended to double circuit lines. For each circuit, positive sequence impedance and admittance are respectively calculated according to equation (3). The averaged value is the positive parameters of the double circuit line. Since
. . . .

Equation (7) is an equation about distance D between bus M and fault point. In the equation, all the other electrical measurements are obtained and the solution of Equation (7) can be used to obtain the value of D. This equation is a high ordered equation about D [10], and this equation is redundant because this equation is a complex equation that can be separated into two equations. However, complex voltage and currents are used together to solve the equation. The solution of this equation can be simplified to some extent. When fault occurs in the transmission line MN, the change
& & trace of modulus values of U MFi and U NFi as the D (The total

length is 200km) is calculated and drawn in Fig 3. In Fig. 3, continuous line indicates the change of the modulus value of
& U MFi ; imaginary line indicates the change of the modulus & value of U NFi . From Fig.3, Equation (7) has only one and

U M ,U N , I M , I N are influenced by mutual inductance

between lines and phases, mutual-inductance factor has been considered when the positive parameters are calculated. Therefore, perfect result can be achieved when they are used in fault location of double circuit lines. C. Teed lines Moreover, the method of online calculating parameters of transmission line can also extended to teed lines. Table 4 shows the provided parameters and the calculated parameters and the relative error. IV. FAULT LOCATION SCHEME In Fig. 1, the sequence voltages at the fault resistance can be solved from the suddenly changed sequence voltages at bus M, N and currents flowing in the transmission from Bus M, N (Considering the distributed capacitance by lumped parameters) respectively, as shown in equation (4) and (5): . . . 1 (4) U MFi = ( I Mi U Mi DY ) (( Z // ) + DZ )
i MSi

unique solution. So the solution of equation (6) must be unique. Assuming the step length is d , and then D can be searched in the range of 0- L in order to get least differential value of the modulus value of two terminals of equation in equation (7).

Voltage (V) Distance between Fault point and bus M (km) Fig.3 curve of fault voltage In the fault location algorithm, in order to ensure the location accuracy, all the electrical measurements are based on power frequency components. The filter characteristic influences the location accuracy to some extent. However, in the proposed method, the parameters and the equivalent sources impedance are all calculated by the same filtering method, which employs the band-pass filter pulsing Fourier filter. The error caused by the filtering can be decreased to the least. In order to avoid phase selection, positive sequence

DYi

U NFi = ( I Ni U Ni ( L D)Yi ) ((Z NSi //

1 ) + ( L D) Z i ) ( L D)Yi

(5)

If the data of the two terminals are completely synchronous, the voltages at the fault resistance calculated from Bus M and Bus N must be equal. In fact, the data of the two terminals are not completely synchronous, and hence, it is assumed that the phase difference of the two voltages is , and then equation (6) exists:

measurements are used to implement fault location as the positive sequence voltage and current exist when any kind of fault occurs. The flow chart of the fault location based on PMU is shown in Fig.4
Pre- and Post-fault Phasors(U M , I M ) From PM U_M Pre- and Post-fault Phasors(U N , I N ) From PM U_N

Threephase fault

30 90 150

32.17 89.325 147.505

1.085 -0.3375 -1.2475

29.13 89.625 148.75

-0.435 -0.185 -0.625

Calculate the parameters of the line by prefault Phasors

Superim posed electrical measurem ents Extractor Symm etrical Transform ation Calculation of Sources positive im pedance Z MS 1and Z NS1

The provided parameters of the line is Z1=Z2=0.02+j0.29/km, C1=0.013 F/km; The %-error is related to the entire line length. The calculated parameters of the line according to the voltage, current from PMU is Z1=Z2=0.0134+j0.2800/km, C1 =0.0122 F/km. From Table 1, the fault location accuracy is high when the online calculated equivalent systems impedance is employed in fault location; the location accuracy is greatly improved if online calculated parameters are employed in the location method.
b) Verification of field data from East China Power Bureau

Fault location based on the calculated parameters and sources im pedance

In order to verify the fault location accuracy of the proposed method, field data from East China Power Bureau is employed in the location method. The fault location result based on different parameters is shown in Table 2. Table 2 Fault location results by field data from East China Power Bureau
Faulted Line WunanPingyao LantingShuanglong ShuanglongOuhai Fault time 29/04 /2001 07/07 /2001 24/08 /2001 Length of the line (km) 143 139 173.158 Practical fault point (km) 16.046 30.6 53.984 Locat ion result 16.52 30.4 52.6 Error (%) 0.237 -0.1 -0.69

Fig.4 Flow chart of fault location V. VERIFICATION OF THE ALGORITHM 1) Single transmission line
a) EMTP Simulation

In order to verify the adaptivity of the fault location method for the long transmission line, the length of the line is 200km. The fault type includes single phase to ground fault, phase-tophase fault, phase-to-phase ground fault and three-phase fault. The fault resistance is 200 for the ground fault and 5 for the phase-to-phase fault. In order to describe the advantages of the on-line calculated parameters, the different fault location result based on provided parameters and on-line calculated parameters are shown in Table 1. Table 1. Fault location results of using different line parameter
Fault location Practical result based Fault type fault point on provided parameters (km) (km) Single phase to ground fault Phase-tophase fault Phase-tophase ground fault 10 30 50 90 10 30 90 10 50 90 14.4050 33.24 52.09 88.38 13.995 32.875 88.2050 13.655 51.555 88.17 Fault location result based on on-line Error calculated (%) parameters (km) 2.2025 1.62 1.045 -0.81 1.9975 1.4375 -0.8975 1.8275 0.7775 -0.915 10.88 30.17 49.48 90.08 10.46 29.80 89.9050 10.11 48.93 89.875

From Table 2, the fault location accuracy for field data is very high. The related error of the location is less than 1%. Table 3 Location results using different line parameters
Fault type IAG IAB Practical Location results fault based on provided Error (%) distance parameters (km) (km) 24 24.96 0.8 108 48 108 48 108 24 108 48 108 48 108 12 108 12 48 107.16 48.48 107.46 48.48 107.46 23.22 107.52 48.72 107.94 48.72 107.88 12.3 107.7 12.24 47.52 -0.7 0.4 -0.45 0.4 -0.45 -0.65 -0.4 0.6 -0.05 0.6 -0.1 0.25 -0.25 0.2 -0.4 Location results based on calculated parameters(km) 24.36 107.58 48.06 107.52 48.06 107.52 23.7 107.58 48.3 108.00 48.3 108.00 11.7 107.76 11.64 47.82 Error (%) 0.3 -0.35 0.05 -0.4 0.05 -0.4 -0.25 -0.35 0.25 0.00 0.25 0.00 -0.25 -0.2 -0.3 -0.15

Error (%)

IABG IABC IA IIB IA IIBG IAB IICG IABC IIAG

0.44 0.085 -0.26 0.04 0.23 -0.10 -0.0475 0.055 -0.535 -0.0625

currents and voltages of the sound branches to obtain the equivalent Bus of T instead of bus T. The teed line can then be treated as the single transmission line because the system is 2) Parallel transmission line In order to show the influence of line parameters to location equivalent to a single line with two terminals of X and T. Fault accuracy, the given parameters and the calculated parameters location result from EMTP simulation is shown in Table 5. The are used for fault location respectively. The fault resistance is ground fault resistance is 100; the phase-to-phase fault 300 for ground fault and 5 for phase to phase fault. The resistance is 5. Table 5 Fault location result based on different parameters length of the parallel transmission line is 120km. Location results under various fault conditions using different Location Practical parameters are shown in Table 3: result based on Error Fault type fault The location results in Table 3 shows clearly that the calculated (%) point(km) deviation of line parameters influences location results parameters(km significantly. 20 20.26 0.13 Fault type 50 50.055 0.03 Single-phase 3) 90 89.96 -0.02 Ground 4) Teed transmission line 190 189.28 -0.36 . 90 89.35 -0.325 . T Phase-to-phase Iy Ix Lx Ly 150 149.31 -0.345 . . fault E Z Z y U y ys 190 189.50 -0.25 xs U x Ex . Iz 90 89.06 -0.47 . Phase-to-phase Ez Lz Z 150 149.11 -0.445 zs Uz ground fault 190 189.39 -0.305 100 98.02 -0.99 Fig.5 simulation model for T-type line Three- phase 150 148.48 -0.76 fault EMTP simulation model of teed line is shown in Fig 4. The 190 189.095 -0.4525 length of line x, y, z is 200km, 110km and 90km respectively. From Table 5, the fault location accuracy is very high The systems impedances of three terminals are in the irrespective of the fault type. Because the calculated following: parameters are used, the fault location accuracy is improved X Side: Positive impedance: Z XS1 =j90 ; Zero greatly. For the HIF fault, the fault location for teed line is also impedance: Z XS 0 =j133 ; Y Side: Positive impedance: very high. Table 6 shows the fault location result under different fault resistance. Z YS1 =0.54+j18.25 ; Zero impedance: Z YS 0 =1.85+j54 ; Table 6 The fault location result based on adaptive method Z Side: Positive impedance: Z ZS1 =j70 ; Zero impedance: under different fault resistance Fault Fault Practical Z ZS 0 =j100 . Fault type fault point resistance location Error (%) The online calculated parameters of the three branches and ( ) (km) (km) the provided parameters are shown in Table 4: 100 50.055 0.0275 50 Table 4 The online calculation result of the branches and 200 50.175 0.0875 related error 100 159.37 -0.315 Single-phase Provided Calculated Error 160 Branch Ground 300 159.21 -0.395 parameters parameters (%) 100 189.28 -0.36 Impedance 2.68+j56 2.78+j55.86 0.31 190 XT 300 188.915 -0.54 Admittance j7.54e-4 j7.6e-4 0.80 Impedance 1.5+j30.8 1.66+j31.1 1.10 90 5 89.105 -0.4475 YT Phase-toAdmittance j4.2e-4 j4.3e-4 2.38 150 5 148.93 -0.535 phase fault Impedance 1.21+j25.2 1.12+j25.02 -0.80 190 5 189.035 -0.4825 ZT Admittance j3.393e-4 j3.356e-4 -1.09 Phase-to100 89.06 -0.47 90 When fault occurs on branch XT, the suddenly changed phase 200 89.055 -0.4725 voltages and currents are obtained to calculate suddenly ground fault 100 149.11 -0.445 changed sequence voltages and currents that are used to obtain 150 200 149.115 -0.4425 the systems impedance of three terminals. The online 190 100 189.39 -0.305 calculated systems impedances are then combined with the
IABC IIABG 12 12.24 0.2 11.7 -0.25 48 47.58 -0.35 47.94 -0.05

6 [4] Pereira, C.E.M.; Zanetta, L.C. Fault Location in Transmission Lines Using One-Terminal Postfault Voltage Data IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery,Vol.19, April 2004, pp:570 575 [5] Nagasawa T, Abe M, Otsuzuki N, Emura T, Jikihara Y and Takeuchi M. Development of a New Fault Location Algorithm for Multi-Terminal Two Parallel Transmission Lines IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 1992, 7(3): 15161532. [6] Novosel D, Hart D G, Udren E and Garitty J Unsysnchronized Two-Terminal Fault Location Estimation IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 1996, 11(1): 130138. [7] Funabashi T, Otoguro H, Mizuma Y, Dube L, Ametani A Digital Fault Location for Parallel Double-Circuit Multi-Terminal Transmission Lines IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 2000, 15(4): 531 537 [8] Jiang Joe-Air, Yang Jun-Zhe, Lin Ying-Hong, Liu Chih-Wen and Ma Jih-Chen An Adaptive PMU Based Fault Detection/Location Technique for Transmission Lines Part I Theory and Algorithms IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 2000, 15(2): 486-493. [9] Chen Ching-Shan, Liu Chih-Wen, Jiang Joe-Air A new adaptive PMU based protection scheme for transposed/untransposed parallel transmission lines IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 2002, 17(4): 395 404 [10] Saha M M, Wikstrom K, Izykowski J, Rosolowski E New accurate fault location algorithm for parallel lines Developments in Power System Protection, 2001, Seventh International Conference on (IEE) , 2001,4: 407 410 [11] CAI Huarong, FAN Chunju, YU Weiyong, GAO Xiang, NIE Yuben A New Practical Algorithm of Fault Location for EHV Transmission Line Based on Two-Terminal Electrical Measurements Electric Power 2003, 36(7):31-34.(in Chinese) [12] Kawady, T.; Stenzel, J. A practical fault location approach for double circuit transmission lines using single end data IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol.18, Oct. 2003, pp:1166 1173 [13] Ying-Hong Lin; Chih-Wen Liu; Chi-Shan Yu A new fault locator for three-terminal transmission lines using two-terminal synchronized voltage and current phasors IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol.17 , April 2002, pp:452 459 [14] Qingwu Gong; Yunping Chen; Chengxue Zhang; Zhimei Wang; A study of the accurate fault location system for transmission line using multi-terminal signals IEEE Power Engineering Society Winter Meeting, 2000, Vol.4, 23-27 Jan. 2000, pp:2533 - 2538 vol.4 [15] Chul-Hwan Kim; Hyun Kim; Young-Hun Ko; Sung-Hyun Byun; Aggarwal, R.K.; Johns, A.T. A novel fault-detection technique of high-impedance arcing faults in transmission lines using the wavelet transform IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol.17, Oct. 2002, pp:921 929 [16] Girgis, A.A.; Hart, D.G.; Peterson, W.L. A new fault location technique for two- and three-terminal lines IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 7, Jan. 1992, pp:98 107 [17] Olsen, R.G.; Edwards, K.S. A new method for real-time monitoring of high-voltage transmission-line conductor sag, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol.17, Oct. 2002, pp:1142 1152

200 189.395 -0.3025 90 5 98.02 -0.99 Three150 5 148.48 -0.76 phase fault 190 5 189.095 -0.4525 From Table 6, the adaptive location method based on on-line calculated parameters and generation mode has high accuracy. The location accuracy is not influenced by factors such as fault resistance, fault type. When fault resistance is 300, the location accuracy is high because of the use of the suddenly changed electrical measurements.

VI. CONCLUSION Comparing to traditional fault location algorithms, the presented algorithm can implement adaptive accurate fault location because of the online calculated parameters and the equivalent sources impedance. The parameters of the transmission line are influenced by weather, operation mode and asymmetry of the line. The systems generation mode changes all the time. The calculated sources equivalent impedance reflects the practical generation mode of the system when fault occurs on the line. The data from PMU are utilized to implement adaptive fault location based on calculated parameters of the power system such as sources impedance and lines parameters. The superimposed positive sequence components are used to implement fault location of transmission line. For various grounded faults, the greatest fault resistance is 300. Even if the fault resistance is very large and the fault current direction of the receiving terminal is from transmission line to the bus, the proposed method still has high fault location accuracy. Extensive EMTP simulations has indicated that the proposed algorithm is very accurate for single transmission line, parallel lines and teed line. The location accuracy is not influenced by factors such as fault resistance, fault type, generation mode, changed parameters resulted from weather and operation mode and load flow in the line. The fault location method has excellent adaptivity of the power system. REFERENCES [1] Takagi T, Yamakoshi Y, Baba Y, Uemura K, and Sakaguchi T A New Algorithm of an Accurate Fault Location for EHV/UHV Transmission Lines IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, 1981, 100(3): 13161323. [2] Takagi T, Yamakoshi Y, Yamaura M, Kondou R, and Matsushima T Development of a New Type Fault Locator Using the One-terminal Voltage and Current Data IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, 1982,101(8): 28922898. [3] Zhang Qingchao, Zhang Yao, Song Wennan, Yu Yixin, Wang Zhigang Fault location of two-parallel transmission line for non-earth fault using one-terminal data Power Engineering Society 1999 Winter Meeting, IEEE , 1999(2): 967 967