DISTANCE CALCULATION FOR UNDERGROUND CABLE

FAULT
ABSTRACT

A fault distance locator for underground cable circuits for calculating more accurately the
location of a cable fault includes a pulse generator unit for injecting a series of chirped pulse
streams into the faulted cable shortly after the cable fault has been established. The delay times
between the reflected pulse signals and the sending pulse signals are obtained by a correlation
process which is specially designed to eliminate the effect of noise caused by arcing voltage and
thus provide an accurate calculation of the distance to the cable fault. The accuracy is further
enhanced by injecting pre-fault pulse signals periodically into the cable prior to the occurrence of
the cable fault in order to obtain a reference pulse signal. This pulse signal provides information
concerning the speed of propagation of the cable and thus affects the distance calculation to the
fault.
Images(7)

Claims(20)
What is claimed is:
1. A distance fault locator for an underground cable for calculating accurately the location of a
cable fault, said fault distance locator comprising:
means for monitoring the cable current to produce a fault-current occurrence signal upon the
occurrence of a cable arcing fault;
means for monitoring the cable voltage to produce a fault-voltage occurrence signal upon the

The objective of this project is to determine the distance of underground cable fault from
base station in kilometers. The underground cable system is a common practice followed in
many urban areas. While a fault occurs for some reason, at that time the repairing process related
to that particular cable is difficult due to not knowing the exact location of the cable fault. The
proposed system is to find the exact location of the fault.

A fault distance locator for underground cable circuits for calculating more accurately the
location of a cable fault includes a pulse generator unit for injecting a series of chirped pulse
streams into the faulted cable shortly after the cable fault has been established. The delay times
between the reflected pulse signals and the sending pulse signals are obtained by a correlation
process which is specially designed to eliminate the effect of noise caused by arcing voltage and
thus provide an accurate calculation of the distance to the cable fault. The accuracy is further
enhanced by injecting pre-fault pulse signals periodically into the cable prior to the occurrence of
the cable fault in order to obtain a reference pulse signal. This pulse signal provides information
concerning the speed of propagation of the cable and thus affects the distance calculation to the
fault.
Images(7)

Claims(20)
What is claimed is:
1. A distance fault locator for an underground cable for calculating accurately the location of a
cable fault, said fault distance locator comprising:
means for monitoring the cable current to produce a fault-current occurrence signal upon the
occurrence of a cable arcing fault;
means for monitoring the cable voltage to produce a fault-voltage occurrence signal upon the

The project uses the standard concept of Ohms law i.e., when a low DC voltage is applied
at the feeder end through a series resistor (Cable lines), then current would vary depending upon
the location of fault in the cable. In case there is a short circuit (Line to Ground), the voltage
across series resistors changes accordingly, which is then fed to an ADC to develop precise
digital data which the programmed microcontroller of 8051 family would display in kilometers.

A fault distance locator for underground cable circuits for calculating more accurately the
location of a cable fault includes a pulse generator unit for injecting a series of chirped pulse
streams into the faulted cable shortly after the cable fault has been established. The delay times
between the reflected pulse signals and the sending pulse signals are obtained by a correlation
process which is specially designed to eliminate the effect of noise caused by arcing voltage and
thus provide an accurate calculation of the distance to the cable fault. The accuracy is further
enhanced by injecting pre-fault pulse signals periodically into the cable prior to the occurrence of
the cable fault in order to obtain a reference pulse signal. This pulse signal provides information
concerning the speed of propagation of the cable and thus affects the distance calculation to the
fault.
Images(7)

Claims(20)
What is claimed is:
1. A distance fault locator for an underground cable for calculating accurately the location of a
cable fault, said fault distance locator comprising:
means for monitoring the cable current to produce a fault-current occurrence signal upon the
occurrence of a cable arcing fault;
means for monitoring the cable voltage to produce a fault-voltage occurrence signal upon the

The project is assembled with a set of resistors representing cable length in KMs and
fault creation is made by a set of switches at every known KM to cross check the accuracy of the
same. The fault occurring at a particular distance and the respective phase is displayed on a LCD
interfaced to the microcontroller.

A fault distance locator for underground cable circuits for calculating more accurately the
location of a cable fault includes a pulse generator unit for injecting a series of chirped pulse
streams into the faulted cable shortly after the cable fault has been established. The delay times
between the reflected pulse signals and the sending pulse signals are obtained by a correlation
process which is specially designed to eliminate the effect of noise caused by arcing voltage and
thus provide an accurate calculation of the distance to the cable fault. The accuracy is further
enhanced by injecting pre-fault pulse signals periodically into the cable prior to the occurrence of
the cable fault in order to obtain a reference pulse signal. This pulse signal provides information
concerning the speed of propagation of the cable and thus affects the distance calculation to the
fault.
Images(7)

Claims(20)
What is claimed is:
1. A distance fault locator for an underground cable for calculating accurately the location of a
cable fault, said fault distance locator comprising:
means for monitoring the cable current to produce a fault-current occurrence signal upon the
occurrence of a cable arcing fault;
means for monitoring the cable voltage to produce a fault-voltage occurrence signal upon the

Further this project can be enhanced by using capacitor in an ac circuit to measure the
impedance which can even locate the open circuited cable, unlike the short circuited fault only
using resistors in DC circuit as followed in the above proposed project.

A fault distance locator for underground cable circuits for calculating more accurately the
location of a cable fault includes a pulse generator unit for injecting a series of chirped pulse
streams into the faulted cable shortly after the cable fault has been established. The delay times
between the reflected pulse signals and the sending pulse signals are obtained by a correlation
process which is specially designed to eliminate the effect of noise caused by arcing voltage and
thus provide an accurate calculation of the distance to the cable fault. The accuracy is further
enhanced by injecting pre-fault pulse signals periodically into the cable prior to the occurrence of
the cable fault in order to obtain a reference pulse signal. This pulse signal provides information
concerning the speed of propagation of the cable and thus affects the distance calculation to the
fault.
Images(7)

Claims(20)
What is claimed is:
1. A distance fault locator for an underground cable for calculating accurately the location of a
cable fault, said fault distance locator comprising:
means for monitoring the cable current to produce a fault-current occurrence signal upon the
occurrence of a cable arcing fault;
means for monitoring the cable voltage to produce a fault-voltage occurrence signal upon the

BLOCK DIAGRAM:

A fault distance locator for underground cable circuits for calculating more accurately the
location of a cable fault includes a pulse generator unit for injecting a series of chirped pulse
streams into the faulted cable shortly after the cable fault has been established. The delay times
between the reflected pulse signals and the sending pulse signals are obtained by a correlation
process which is specially designed to eliminate the effect of noise caused by arcing voltage and
thus provide an accurate calculation of the distance to the cable fault. The accuracy is further
enhanced by injecting pre-fault pulse signals periodically into the cable prior to the occurrence of
the cable fault in order to obtain a reference pulse signal. This pulse signal provides information
concerning the speed of propagation of the cable and thus affects the distance calculation to the
fault.
Images(7)

Claims(20)
What is claimed is:
1. A distance fault locator for an underground cable for calculating accurately the location of a
cable fault, said fault distance locator comprising:
means for monitoring the cable current to produce a fault-current occurrence signal upon the
occurrence of a cable arcing fault;
means for monitoring the cable voltage to produce a fault-voltage occurrence signal upon the

A fault distance locator for underground cable circuits for calculating more accurately the
location of a cable fault includes a pulse generator unit for injecting a series of chirped pulse
streams into the faulted cable shortly after the cable fault has been established. The delay times
between the reflected pulse signals and the sending pulse signals are obtained by a correlation
process which is specially designed to eliminate the effect of noise caused by arcing voltage and
thus provide an accurate calculation of the distance to the cable fault. The accuracy is further
enhanced by injecting pre-fault pulse signals periodically into the cable prior to the occurrence of
the cable fault in order to obtain a reference pulse signal. This pulse signal provides information
concerning the speed of propagation of the cable and thus affects the distance calculation to the
fault.
Images(7)

Claims(20)
What is claimed is:
1. A distance fault locator for an underground cable for calculating accurately the location of a
cable fault, said fault distance locator comprising:
means for monitoring the cable current to produce a fault-current occurrence signal upon the
occurrence of a cable arcing fault;
means for monitoring the cable voltage to produce a fault-voltage occurrence signal upon the

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS:

8051 series Microcontroller, LCD, Crystal,

ADC, Relays, Relay Driver IC, Transformer,
Diodes, Voltage Regulator, Resistors, Capacitors,

Keil Compiler
Language: Embedded C or Assembly.

LEDs, slide switches.

A fault distance locator for underground cable circuits for calculating more accurately the
location of a cable fault includes a pulse generator unit for injecting a series of chirped pulse
streams into the faulted cable shortly after the cable fault has been established. The delay times
between the reflected pulse signals and the sending pulse signals are obtained by a correlation
process which is specially designed to eliminate the effect of noise caused by arcing voltage and
thus provide an accurate calculation of the distance to the cable fault. The accuracy is further
enhanced by injecting pre-fault pulse signals periodically into the cable prior to the occurrence of
the cable fault in order to obtain a reference pulse signal. This pulse signal provides information
concerning the speed of propagation of the cable and thus affects the distance calculation to the
fault.
Images(7)

Claims(20)
What is claimed is:
1. A distance fault locator for an underground cable for calculating accurately the location of a
cable fault, said fault distance locator comprising:
means for monitoring the cable current to produce a fault-current occurrence signal upon the
occurrence of a cable arcing fault;
means for monitoring the cable voltage to produce a fault-voltage occurrence signal upon the