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Fault Classication and Faulted Phase Selection Based on the Symmetrical Components of Reactive Power for Single-Circuit Transmission Lines
Behnam Mahamedi and Jian Guo Zhu, Senior Member, IEEE
AbstractThis paper presents a fault classication method with faulted phase selection action for single-circuit transmission lines which is based on the symmetrical components of reactive power. The proposed method does not need any threshold to operate and it is thus a setting-free method which is an exceptional attribute for a protective function. The evaluation of different fault cases reveals the capability of the proposed method. Index TermsFault classication, faulted phase selection, symmetrical components of reactive power, transmission lines.

I. INTRODUCTION N transmission-line protection, it is required to classify faults and select faulted phase(s) to trigger the proper distance element without which distance relays will fail. Moreover, these functions are essential for single-pole tripping and auto-reclosing action. Up till now, several approaches to fault classication and faulted phase selection have been proposed by researchers. Lin et al. [1] put forward a faulted phase selection method based on superimposed positive- and negative-sequence currents combined with the correlation theory, which was used to calculate the angle between two signals. It can be found out that the method is highly vulnerable to fault resistance. Benmuoyal and Mahseredjian [2] presented an interesting method to determine the direction of faults and to select the faulted phases based on the ratio of differential superimposed voltage (e.g. ) to differential superimposed current (e.g. ). However, determining the thresholds required for the method is not an easy task. Adu [3] proposed a fault classication technique based on the phase angles between superimposed positive- and negative-sequence currents. The method also used the relative magnitudes of the zero- and negative-sequence currents with respect to the positive-sequence current to differentiate between the grounded

Manuscript received November 06, 2012; revised March 06, 2013 and April 22, 2013; accepted May 27, 2013. Date of publication August 06, 2013; date of current version September 19, 2013. Paper no. TPWRD-01160-2012. B. Mahamedi was with the School of Electrical, Mechanical and Mechatronic Systems, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia. He is now with the Iran Grid Management Company, Tehran IR-15175-648, Iran (e-mail: behnam.mahaamedi@gmail.com). J. G. Zhu is with the School of Electrical, Mechanical and Mechatronic Systems, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia (e-mail: jianguo.zhu@uts.edu.au). Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TPWRD.2013.2265711

and ungrounded faults. Several criteria should be checked to accomplish fault classication task. Moreover, the method failed for non-zero fault resistance. As a remedy, the author proposed a modication based on simulation results. It is known that judgment based on only simulation studies cannot assure the validity of a method in all possible cases. Alongside classication and selection based on steady-state values, transients-based classication and selection were developed by introducing the digital signal processing (DSP) [4]. These methods benet from the specic transient patterns of electrical signals after fault inception. The success rate of these methods, however, highly depends on the sampling frequency [5]. Using fault transients, Silva et al. [6] presented an application of Haar wavelet transform for fault classication in transmission lines. Faulted phase selection was carried out by calculating the energy of detail coefcients of the phase currents. By analyzing the smooth coefcients of the neutral current, the grounded faults were distinguished from the ungrounded ones. The performance of the method is jeopardized due to fault incident angle variations. Dong et al. [7] proposed another algorithm of fault classication and faulted phase selection based on the initial current traveling wave. The characteristics of various faults were investigated on the basis of the Karenbauer transform. The sampling frequency adopted for evaluation studies was chosen 400 kHz which is much more than common sampling frequency used in numerical relays [8]. Typically, high sampling frequency is the main disadvantage of transient-based methods. Jamehbozorg and Shahrtash [9] and [10] put forward a decision-tree-based method for fault classication in double-circuit and single-circuit transmission lines by using the traveling waves initiated by the fault and applying half-cycle discrete Fourier transform (HCDFT). It is required to calculate up to the 19th harmonic component which results in a great amount of data and consequently the computing burden will signicantly increase. In this paper, a new steady-state-based approach to fault classication and faulted phase selection for single-circuit transmission lines is proposed by using the sequential reactive power components. The reactive power formed by the positiveand negative-sequence components (Q12) is used to determine phase-to-phase faults and the phases involved in this type of faults. To distinguish the single-phase-to-earth faults from double-phase-to-earth ones, the ratio of the zero-sequence reactive power to the negative-sequence reactive power measured

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Fig. 1. Single-circuit transmission line protected by sending and receiving end relays.

by line relays will be utilized. To select the faulted phase(s) in a grounded fault, the absolute value of reactive power formed by the zero- and negative-sequence components will be employed. It will be demonstrated that the maximum occurs in the faulted phase in case of a single-phase-to-earth fault while in a double-phase-to-earth fault, that is, ABG, BCG, or CAG, the minimum occurs in one of the faulted phases. II. PROPOSED METHOD The proposed method is based on the symmetrical components of reactive power. They are dened as follows image image image (1) (2) (3) In a similar way, can be obtained as (6) Dividing (5) to (6) yields
Fig. 2. Sequential circuits of the faulted phase for a single-phase-to-earth fault.

where Q1, Q2, and Q0 are, respectively, called positive-, negative-, and zero-sequence component of reactive power. Also, , , and are, respectively, positive-, negative-, and zero-sequence component of voltage measured at relay point (either sending or receiving end). Similarly, , , and are, respectively, positive-, negative-, and zero-sequence component of current measured at relay point. In this work, Q2 and Q0 will be utilized to develop the proposed method. A. Fault Classication and Faulted Phase Selection for Single Phase-to-Earth Faults Assume a single-phase-to-earth fault at m percentage of the transmission line from relay of Fig. 1. The sequential circuits of the faulted phase will then be connected to each other as shown in Fig. 2 where all resistances are omitted as they are negligible in comparison to reactances in transmission systems [11]. In Fig. 2, , and are positive-, negative- and zero-sequence reactances of the transmission line, respectively. , , and are, respectively, positive-, negative-, and zero-sequence reactances behind relay . Similarly, , , and are, respectively, positive-, negative-, and zero-sequence reactances behind relay . To classify the fault as a single-phase-to-earth fault, the ratio of zero-sequence reactive power to negative-sequence one is used as follows. From the viewpoint of relay , the zero-sequence reactive power is given by (4) It can be further expanded as (5)

(7)

The same calculation from the viewpoint of relay

yields (8)

It can be stated that either (7) or (8) is more than 1. To prove this, we only need to demonstrate the validity of the following equations (9) (10) since the zero-sequence reactance is more than the negativesequence reactance unless in some generator substations. Rearranging (9) and (10) gives, respectively

(11) (12)

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Fig. 3. Sequential circuits of the healthy phase for a double-phase-to-earth fault.

It is clear that either (11) or (12) holds. Therefore, either (7) or (8) will denitely be more than 1. The other one cannot be judged. As a result, if one of the relays measures Q0/Q2 more than 1, that fault will be classied as a single-phase-to-earth one. To nd the faulted phase, one can use Q20 dened below (13) is the maximum on For a single-phase-to-earth fault, the faulted phase (here Phase A). To demonstrate this, from the viewpoint of relay , one can deduce (14) It can be safely assumed from the viewpoint of each relay (15) Therefore

. where Equations (16), (19) and (22) show that the maximum occurs on Phase A. In this sense, the faulted phase will be selected by checking on which phase is the maximum. B. Fault Classication and Faulted Phase Selection for Double Phase-to-Earth Faults For a double-phase-to-earth fault, sequential circuits of the healthy phase are connected to each other as shown in Fig. 3. Fault resistance in each faulted phase was assumed and in ground path was assumed [12] and [13]. A practical case is and we will assume it henceforth. To classify double-phase-to-earth faults, the ratio of Q0 to Q2 can still be used. For this type of faults, from the viewpoint of both relays, the following equation holds (23) To prove it, we assume a worst case condition where . As a result, the negative- and zero-sequence voltages measured by relay will be: (24) (25)

(16) and for the healthy phases (Phases B and C)

(17) where is the voltage measured between fault point and ground in any sequence circuit. Meanwhile, the negative- and zero-sequence reactive power measured by can be obtained by (26) (19) Therefore (20) (28) (29) (21) We should prove (27)

(18)

(22)

(30)

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or equivalently

(31) As the zero-sequence impedances were assumed more than the negative-sequence ones, as a sufcient condition, we need (32) or (33) Since X0/X2 of a line is always equal or more than that of a source it can then be concluded (34) Correspondingly from the viewpoint of relay we have (35) , With this justication in mind, one can nd that for (34) and (35) still hold from the viewpoint of both relays. To select the faulted phases, Q20 is utilized. If the phase angle of voltage at point F1 is assumed as a reference, the phase angle of will be and that of will fall between to 0 which is here represented by (note that and ). Assuming Phase C as the healthy phase, it can be worked out as
Fig. 4. Sequential circuits of the healthy phase for a phase-to-phase fault.

To distinguish the phase-to-phase faults and the faulted phases, Q12 dened below can be used (41) In case of phase-to-phase faults, Q12 is in fact the total reactive power measured by the relays on each phase. Since after such faults there is no change at all in the current of the healthy phase, for the healthy phase will be zero while is not zero for the faulted phases. To demonstrate this claim, following equations are given based on Fig. 4. (42) (43) (44) (45) (46)

(36) and for the faulted phases (Phases A and B):

(37)

Assuming negative-sequence impedance to be equal to positive-sequence impedance, it will be obtained (47)

(38) As the following inequalities are held for (39) (40) is the minimum on Phase B in the ABG one can nd that faults. Similarly, for the BCG and CAG faults, is the minimum on Phases C and A, respectively. The faulted phases will thus be identied by checking on which phase is the minimum. C. Fault Classication and Faulted Phase Selection for Phase-to-Phase Faults For a phase-to-phase fault, the sequential circuits of the healthy phase are connected to each other as shown in Fig. 4. Substituting into (47), it will be obtained (50) Equation (50) indicates that the current of the healthy phase will not change after phase-to-phase fault inception. Therefore, no other electrical quantities of the healthy phase including total reactive power (Q12) will change for a phase-to-phase fault. Using (46)(48), one can nd (49) (48)

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Fig. 6. Simulated system.

TABLE I DIFFERENT FAULT CASES CONSIDERED FOR EVALUATION STUDIES

Fig. 5. Proposed method in a logical pattern.

Thus by checking if is zero on one phase after fault inception, the phase-to-phase faults will be declared and the healthy phase, and faulted phases can consequently be identied. It can be inferred that in case of phase-to-phase faults, classication and selection are carried out simultaneously. D. Logical Pattern Fig. 5 illustrates a owchart of the proposed method in a logical pattern. Three phase currents and three phase voltages are sampled at sampling frequency . Sequential reactive powers are calculated by using the sequential components of voltage and current. In Fig. 5, Q0_L and Q0_R stand for zero-sequence reactive power at local and remote ends, respectively. Similar denition holds for Q2_L and Q2_R. After a fault inception is declared, the relays will rstly check if is zero on one phase to identify phase-to-phase faults and to nd the healthy phase. At this stage, the relays can either share their information or decide individually. If on all three phases, ratio Q0/Q2 will be examined. From the viewpoint of both relays, if , a double-phase-toearth fault will be declared and if from the viewpoint of at least one relay, a single-phase-to-earth fault will be declared. Here, both relays should share their own measurement by a pilot scheme. Faulted phase selection, however, is done locally, that is, each relay selects the faulted phase(s) by using its own measurement as previously outlined. The speed of the proposed method depends on the speed of calculation of steady-state values of sequential components of voltage and current. Typically, a data-window of one fundamental frequency cycle is used to calculate the voltage and current phasors and the sequential components. Therefore, the speed of method is 20 milliseconds in a 50-Hz system and 16.67 milliseconds in a 60-Hz system. III. EVALUATION AND SIMULATION STUDIES In this section, the proposed method will be evaluated. The 50-Hz, 400-kV simulated system is shown in Fig. 6. The length of the transmission line was chosen 200 km. Other system parameters are given in the Appendix. and were set at 20 and 5 , respectively.

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TABLE II FOR DIFFERENT GROUNDED FAULTS VALUES MEASURED BY RELAY

TABLE IV MEASURED BY RELAYS AND FOR DIFFERENT PHASE-TO-PHASE FAULTS

TABLE III FOR DIFFERENT GROUNDED FAULTS VALUES MEASURED BY RELAY

double-phase-to-earth fault. For ABG faults, was the minimum on Phase B. For BCG and CAG faults, was the minimum on Phases C and A, respectively. This disclosed the faulted phases. Table IV presents on each phase measured by relays and for different phase-to-phase fault cases (cases 19 to 27 in Table I). As tabulated, were zero on the healthy phase while they were not zero on the faulted phases. IV. CONCLUSION A new approach to classify faults and select faulted phase(s) in single-circuit transmission lines was proposed by using the sequential reactive powers. The requirement of the proposed fault classication function is a pilot scheme while using a pilot scheme is well established in new transmission-line protection technology. Future work will expand upon the proposed concept to be applied in double-circuit transmission lines. There are several advantages to the proposed method which make it superior over existing ones. The main advantage of the fault classication method is that it is setting-free since it works with constant thresholds, that is, 1 and 0. Thus, it can be called an adaptive method since it will adapt itself with any operating condition. This feature of protective functions is very attractive since setting these functions always requires struggles. The second advantage to mention is that it utilizes Q0/Q2 at each end and, thus, data of each end are not required to be synchronized since Q0 and Q2 are scalar quantities. This eliminates any concern about data synchronization. Moreover, since only zero-sequence and negative-sequence reactive power are used, the proposed method will not act on any symmetrical conditions which resemble faults, such as power swings and overloading. The other advantage is that the proposed method can cope with high-resistance faults where most existing methods, such as current-based ones, fail. This is true since it works with reactive power (Q), which is obtained by the production of voltage and current. It is known that the greater the short-circuit current, the less the voltage there is and the less the short-circuit current, and the more the voltage is. In other words, although the voltage will drop for the close-up faults, the current will increase. Similarly, although the current will decrease for remote faults with high fault resistance, the voltage will increase. This yields an effect of compensation and makes the method effectively deal

Different fault cases have been considered as tabulated in Table I. To avoid large numbers, Q20 and are given in per unit (pu) with the base power of 100 MW. As Tables II and III show, the ratio of Q0/Q2 was more than 1 at either one end or both ends in case of single-phase-to-earth faults. This conrmed a single-phase-to-earth fault inception. For the AG faults, the maximum occurred on Phase A. For BG and CG faults, maximum occurred on Phases B and C, respectively. Therefore, the faulted phase was selected. For double-phase-to-earth faults, Q0/Q2 was less than 1 at both ends, as seen in Tables II and III. This conrmed a

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with extreme scenarios. Another advantage is that the proposed method does work with a common sampling frequency used in numerical relays which makes it easy to implement. APPENDIX The parameters of the simulated system (illustrated in Fig. 6) are given as follows: Source impedances

Transmission line: distributed model with the following parameters:

[8] I. Zamora, A. J. Mazn, V. Valverde, E. Torres, and A. Dysko, Power quality and digital protection relays, presented at the Int. Conf. Renew. Energies Power Qual., Barcelona, Spain, 2004. [9] A. Jamehbozorg and S. M. Shahrtash, A decision-tree-based method for fault classication in double-circuit transmission lines, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 21842189, Oct. 2010. [10] A. Jamehbozorg and S. M. Shahrtash, A decision-tree-based method for fault classication in single-circuit transmission lines, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 21902196, Oct. 2010. [11] H. Saadat, Power System Analysis, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. [12] J. Izykowski, R. Molag, E. Rosolowski, and M. M. Saha, Accurate location of faults on power transmission lines with use of two-end unsynchronized measurements, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 627633, Apr. 2006. [13] J. Izykowski, E. Rosolowski, and M. M. Saha, Postfault analysis of operation of distance protective relays of power transmission lines, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 7481, Jan. 2007.

REFERENCES
[1] X.-N. Lin, M. Zhao, K. Alymann, and P. Liu, Novel design of a fast phase selector using correlation analysis, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 20, no. 2, pt. 2, pp. 12831290, Apr. 2005. [2] G. Benmouyal and J. Mahseredjian, A combined directional and faulted phase selector element based on incremental quantities, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 478484, Oct. 2001. [3] T. Adu, An accurate fault classication technique for power system monitoring devices, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 684690, Jul. 2002. [4] Z. Q. Bo, M. A. Redfern, and G. C. Weller, Positional protection of transmission line using fault generated high frequency transient signals, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 888894, Jul. 2000. [5] W. L. A. Neves, N. S. D. Brito, B. A. Souza, and A. V. Fontes, Sampling rate of digital fault recorders inuence on fault diagnosis, in Proc. Transm. Distrib. Conf. Exp., Latin America, Nov. 2004, pp. 406411. [6] K. M. Silva, K. M. C. Dantas, B. A. Souza, N. S. D. Brito, F. B. Costa, and J. A. C. B. Silva, Haar wavelet-based method for fast fault classication in transmission lines, in Proc. IEEE/Power Eng. Soc. Transm. Distrib. Conf. Exp., Latin America, Aug. 2006, pp. 15. [7] X. Dong, W. Kong, and T. Cui, Fault classication and faulted-phase selection based on the initial current traveling wave, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 552559, Apr. 2009.

Behnam Mahamedi was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1982. He received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, in 2005 and the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Shahid Beheshti University (SBU), Tehran, in 2010. From 2012 to 2013, he was a Researcher with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, Australia, focusing on power system fault detection systems. Since 2008, he has been a Protection Engineer with the Iran Grid Management Company (IGMC), Tehran. His research interests are power system protection, power system transient studies, and wavelet-transform applications in power systems.

Jian Guo Zhu (SM03) received the B.E. degree in electrical engineering from Jiangsu Institute of Technology, Zhenjiang, China, in 1982, the M.E. degree in electrical engineering from Shanghai University of Technology, Shanghai, China, in 1987, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, Australia, in 1995. Currently, he is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Head of the School of Electrical, Mechanical, and Mechatronic Systems, UTS. His research interests include electromagnetic and magnetic properties of materials, electrical machines and drives, power electronics, and renewable energy systems.