IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol 11, No.

3, July 1996

1301

WAVELETS : A NEW TOOL

FOR THE RESONANT GROUNDED POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS RELAYING
Oink CHAARI, Member, ZEEE

Michel MEUNIER

Franqoise BROUAYE

SUPELEC

SUPELEC

Service Electrotechnique et glectronique Industrielle

Gif-Sur-Yvette, FRANCE

Laboratoire des Signaux et Systkmes

Gif-Sur-Y vette, FRANCE

Abstract-This
paper introduces wavelets and
shows that they may be efficient and useful for the
power distribution relaying. The wavelet transform
of a signal consists in measuring the similarity
between the signal and a set of translated and scaled
versions of a mother wavelet. The mother
wavelet is a chosen fast decaying oscillation
function. Wavelets are used to analyse transient
earth fault signals in a 20 kV resonant grounded
network as generated by EMTP. It is shown that
wavelets may be employed for analysing records to
study efficiently the faulted network. Moreover,
this new technique can actually be implemented in
real time for protection devices. Thus, it is suitable
for application to protective relays.

K e y Words-Resonant
grounded system, Power
distribution system,
Earth fault, Transients,
Waivelets, Recursive algorithm, Signal analysis.

I. INTRODUCTION
One prominent part of digital relays in power distribution
systems is to reduce the consequences of faults by fast
detection, localization, and clearance of faults. This means that
performant technics are essential to better categorize and
analyse power signals [ 11.
Traditional power signals analysis tools, currently used in
digital relays, have proven efficient and useful in power
system steady state anomalies analysis [2,3]. Among the
several algorithms, that have been used in the analysis of
electrical signals, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), the
Kalman filtering, the Least Squares method, and the Finite

96 WM 020-8 PWRD A paper recommended and approved by the IEEE

Power System Relaying Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society
for presentation at the 1996 IEEE/PES Winter Meeting, January 21-25, 1996,
Balltimore, MD. Manuscript submitted December 27, 1994; made available
for printing November 13, 1995.

Impulse Response filtering can be quoted [4,5,6]. However, in

presence of non stationary signals, the performance of these
techniques is limited.
In fact, this paper treats with resonant grounded power
distribution systems [7,8,9]. In this kind of network, a
Petersen coil is connected between the neutral of the power
system and the ground. The reactance of the Petersen coil is
tuned for resonance with the capacitance of the system to
ground. This grounding system eliminates arcing grounds.
Petersen coil applications are used more widely in Europe
than in North America where the solidly grounded neutral is
predominant and popular. Nevertheless, there are some
systems favorable to the y e of the Petersen coil neutral
grounding. In France, EDF (Electricit6 De France) has decided
to generalize the application of resonant grounding to the
whole French distribution system.
Most of faults occuring on a distribution network are single
phase faults. In a compensated power distribution network, the
signals which would be measured by a zero sequence device
contain significant transient components. Transients are
generally much greater than the 50 Hz steady state component.
Moreover, single phase faults are often formed by a succcssion
of transient short duration self extinguishing faults. Therefore,
a good diagnosis of non stationary transient signals needs
suitable signal processing tools to be developed.
Wavelets have been initiated, in the beginning of the
eightys, by J. Morlet and A. Grossmann in geoexploration
studies for the analysis of seismic data [lo]. The wavelet
transform of a signal consists in measuring the similarity
between the signal and a set of fast decaying oscillations
named wavelets. Each element of the wavelet set is a
translated and a scaled (compressed or dilated) version of an
original function called the mother wavelet [ 11,121.
The last ten years have seen the interest in wavelets
growing at an explosive rate. Wavelets have been successfully
applied in several fields. They have been developed and used in
image and signal analysis, biomedical applications, radar,
acoustics, pure and applied mathematics, geophysics, speech
processing, sonar, data compression, subband coding,
multiresolution analysis, oceanography, fractals, and
turbulence [13,14,15].
The aim of this paper is to introduce wavelets in the power
systems relaying domain and to show that they may be
efficient and useful. It is shown that wavelets are well suited
to the analysis of the non stationary signals measured by the

0885-8977/96/$05.00 0 1996 IEEE

1302

protection devices. Moreover, The fast implementation of the

recursive wavelet transform allows the design of fast digital
relays.
In section I1 of this paper, a resonant grounded power
distribution network is presented. It is used to simulate single
phase faults by means of the EMTP (ElectroMagnetic
Transients Program). Section I11 contains a brief presentation
of wavelets and a description of the mother wavelet and the
fast recursive wavelet transform. In section IV, different
applications of wavelets are presented. It is also shown how
wavelets can be useful, and a fast algorithm is described.

Transf. 36 MVA
63 kV / 20 kV

Psc = 700 MVA

x/R=10

~.~

Xn

11. THE RESONANT GROUNDED SYSTEM

A radial power distribution network is described in Fig. 1.

It is a 20 kV resonant grounded system which is simulated
with the EMTP (ElectroMagnetic Transients Program). Note
that simulations of power distribution systems with EMTP
have been validated many times. The Petersen coil is defined
by a reactance Xn=40Q in parallel with a resistance
Rn=800Q2.Seven feeders emanate from the busbar. The total
length of the feeders is equal to 105 km. When feeder 1 is
faulted, Rd is the single phase fault resistance and D is the
distance between the busbar and the fault. The other feeders are
supposed to be usually sound.
Other power system equipments, represented in the study,
such as loads and shunt capacitors for reactive power
compensation, are not shown in Fig. 1. This paper deals only
with single phase faults and it is interested just in residual
values that would be measured by a zero sequence relay at the
substation. Therefore some system disturbances, such as
capacitor bank switching and feeder energization, that dont
affect perceptibly the zero sequence values, are not taken into
account.
As an example, a single phase fault is simulated on the
feeder 1, with L ~ = L a = l O k m , D=Skm, and Rd=2R.
Fig. 2 shows the type of resultant faulted and sound residual
currents and busbar zero sequence voltage oscillations. This
single phase fault example is used in this paper to illustrate
the wavelet analysis and to show how the wavelet transform
can be used in protective relaying.
The most frequent earth faults that may occur in a power
system are single phase faults. The effects of such earth faults
depend on the neutral grounding method. There are several
policies how to connect the secondary star points of the
transformers which feed the 20 kV distribution network. When
using suitable reactance between the star point and ground,
earth fault currents are small and cannot support an arc. The
reactance is set to match, at the fundamental system frequency,
the value of the zero sequence capacitance of the system.
This kind of grounding, called resonant or Petersen coil
grounding, improves the extinguishing conditions of arcing
grounds. It reduces insulator troubles and leads to limited earth
fault currents. However, in compensated networks the
fundamental system frequency component of the zero sequence
current may be very weak and consequently difficult to use.

PRn

feeder 2

Fig. 1. The power distribution resonant grounded system.

8W

20

20

40

GO

80

1w

limo ( m s )

(2a) The residual current in the faulted feeder 1 .

Sound Residual Current
80

60
40

20

20
40

w
0

20

40

00

80

I
100

1,mc ( m s )

(2b) The residual current in the sound feeder 2.

20
15 105-

05 -

15

20
20

20

40

00

80

rtme ( m )

(Zc) The busbar zero sequence voltage

Fig. 2. The resultant faulted and sound residual currents and
bwbar zero sequence voltage, during a single phase fault on feeder 1.

1303

.Transients are generally very important and contain

meaningful and useful information. Moreover, earth faults
often consist in intermittent arc faults which are a series of
transient short duration self extinguishing faults. The analysis
of the fundamental causes for fault-making transients in
resonant grounded networks is reported in the technical
literature [ 161. The transients are caused by a redistribution of
charge between the faulted and sound conductors. It is
interesting to use transient signals to improve protective
system performance.
In order to detect and localize earth faults, stationary values
based methods have generally been used. Such methods may
be based on the fundamental system frequency, the fifth
harmonic, or other frequencies [17]. When transients are
employed, two fields of technology can be quoted : firstly, the
measurement of the zero sequence active power in a large
frequency passband: secondly, the digital wattmetric protection
based on the calculation of the fundamental frequency
component. Such protections detect most of the earth
faults [ 17,18,19].
111. THE WAVELET TRANSFORM

A. Introduction
The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is the main tool for
signal spectral decomposition. FFT is a real time transform
and it describes very well stationary signals. But it is not
suitable for non stationary signals. It is very sensitive to the
presence of aperiodics in the signal. Moreover, short time
duration events are always spread on the whole FFT analysing
window. Other signal processing tools, such as Kalman
filtering and least square method, are employed in the analysis
of the power system signals. In [20] Pronys method, an
efficient technique for estimating the modal components
present in a signal, is presented. But there is not yet
algorithms that allow a real time implementation of Pronys
method in protection devices. Finally, some advanced
techniques and especially Artificial Neural Networks are also
employed [ 1,211.

keeps the energy of the scaled wavelets, tyb,a(t),the same as

the energy of the mother wavelet y(t).
The coefficients IVY(b, a ) are defined by the inner product:

where the bar stands for complex conjugate.

Fig. 3 shows three wavelets, derived from the same
mother wavelet, at different scales and different locations in
time. It is clear that these wavelets have always the same
shape and the same number of oscillations.
To illustrate the wavelet transform, the computation of two
wavelet coefficients, according to the convolution (2), is
presented in Fig. 4. We present in Fig. 4a the signal to be
analysed: s(t), and two wavelets that are versions of the same
mother wavelet: WAVELETl and WAVELET2. The magnitude
of the wavelets presented in Fig. 4a have been multiplied by
twenty in order to be clear.
Both wavelets have the same scale (a=1/180). WAVELETl is
located at the time tl=20ms and WAVELET2 is located at
t2=80ms. WAVELETl is vZOms,1/180 and WAVELET2 is
v 8 o m ~ , 1 / 1 8 0 . Then the signal s(t) is multiplied firstly by
WAVELETl and secondly by WAVELETZ. The integrals of the
functions s(t).WAVELETI and s(t)*WAVELETT,which are
presented in Fig. 4b, yield successively the coefficients
WS(20ms,V180)= -3.01
and
WS(80ms,V180)= 0.17.
The result is that IWs(80ms, 1/1SO)l is negligible in view of
(20ms,1/180)1.The two implemented wavelet coefficients
indicate that WAVELETl is closer to the signal than
WAVELET2. This can be explained by the fact that in the
neighborhood of tl=20ms, the signal contains oscillations
which are very close to the oscillation of WAVELETl. In the
neighborhood of t2=80ms, the signal and WAVELET2 dont
contain the same oscillation.
Now to perform a time frequency analysis, a good choice of
the mother wavelet is very important. To be a mother
wavelet, a finite energy function, y , must fill in an
important condition. v must be admissible. The
admissibilitycondition is expressed as follows [ 111:

1%

(3)

B. Presentation of the Wavelet Transform

The wavelet transform of a time dependent signal, s ( t ) ,
consists in finding a set of coefficients W,(b,a). These
coefficients measure the similarity between the signal s(t) and
a set of functions Vb,u(t).All the functions, v b , a ( t ) ,are
derived from a chosen mother wavelet v ( t ) as follows:

The mother wavelet v(t)is an oscillating and damped

function. Each wavelet, v b , a ( t ) ,is a scaled (compressed or
dilated) and translated (shifted) version of the same original
. represents a time dilation and b a time
function ~ ( t )a
translation. 1/& i s an energy normalization factor, that

where @ ( U ) is the Fourier transform of v ( t ) . The finite

constant c,,, is required for the inversion of the wavelet
transform. In practical cases, the condition (3) leads to:
@(O)

j_,v(t)dt

(4)

There are two crucial criteria, in addition to the

admissibility (4), for the selection of the mother wavelet.
At first, the shape and the mathematical expression of the
wavelet must be set such that the physical interpretation of
wavelet coefficients is easy. Secondly, the chosen wavelet
must allow a fast computation of wavelet coefficients.
For more details about the theory and the properties of the
wavelet transform, the tutorials [ 11,121 are strongly advised.

1304

C. The Fast Recursive Wavelet Transform

Scaled and Translated Wavelet?

20

We propose the following mother wavelet that responds

to the selection criteria mentioned in the last paragraph (1II.B)
[22]:
y(t) = ( I + oltl+$t)

e-lfl e

(5)

The Fourier transform of y(t) is given by:

bo5- 203(ww0)2

@(4
=

p+

Time (ms)

Fig. 3. Wavelets: scaled and translated versions of the same mother

wavelet. Different scales (a=I/I00, a=I/200, a=I/300) and different
locations in time (b=-50ms,b=O, b=40ms).

The Fault Current and Two Analysing Wavelets

400

(6)

- w0)233

This mother wavelet is a modulated damped function. So we

set w0 = 2n in order that l / a is equal to a frequency f.
CT = 2n/&
is set such that y is admissible or, equivalently,
@(a) = 0 . Fig. 5 presents the wavelet at the frequency 50 Hz
(a=l/SO).
The mother wavelet employed in the last paragraph (1II.B)
is nothing else than the real part of this complex recursive
mother wavelet. The complex wavelet ( 5 ) is used in the rest
of the paper.
Practically, the inner product (2) is discretly computed as a
Riemann sum. Let us call Tthe sampling period and k
and n are integers. For a chosen frequency j, and for
b=kT,the formula (2) becomes:

fi.F [ f ( n T- k ~ ) T] .

s(nT).

W, (Kf ) =

(7)

I
-20

20

40

60

80

100

As F ( t )= y(-t), the expression (7) involves that the

sequence {Ws(LT,f ) } k , for the fixed f, is related to the
convolution of the sequences {s(nT)}, and { y ( f k T ) } k as
follows:

Time (ms)

(4a) The signal s(r), corresponding to the faulted residual current,

WAVELETl, and WAVELET2.
The Signal Mulhplied by the Two Analysing Wavelets

3000
2000

8,

s(t) WAVELET2

s(t) WAVELET1

-1ooo-4wo Ws(20m~1/180)= -3 01

-5000 -6ooo
20

20

40

Ws(80ms,1/180) = 0 17

60

80

100

Time (ms)

(4b) Calculation, according to (2), of the inner products of s(f) with

WAVELET1 and WAVELET;?.
Fig. 4. Implementation of two wavelet coefficients: Ws(20ms,11180)
corresponding to WAVELETl, and Ws(80ms,1/180) corresponding to
WAVELET2.

Time (ms)

Fig. 5. Real part and imaginary part of the Complex Recursive

Wavelet. The wavelet has a frequency equal to 50 Hz.

1305

Let us recall the bilateral z-transform, S ( z ) , of the discrete

signal s(nT). It is given by:

+i ( z )= x s ( n T ) z - n
-m

(9)

We call $(z) and @,(z) the respective z-transforms of

{ y($kT)}k and { W, (kT,f ) } k . Hence, the convolution (8) of
sequences is equivalent to the multiplication of z-transforms.
We obtain:

R( z ) = T f l [ W ow]

(10)

Now, we present the recursive method used to implement

the wavelet transform coefficients. y is the sum of two
functions, y - ( t ) and y + ( t ) . y+(t),a positive time
function, is the impulse response of a causal filter. v/-(t), a
negative time function, is the impulse response of a non
causal filter. v/ is expressed as: y ( t )= y - ( t ) + v/+(t),
where:

y + ( z ) and W-(z), as like as their impulse responses

y+(ft)and v/-(ft), yield successively a causal and a non
causal discrete linear systems that can be described by two
constant coefficient linear difference equations. The input
sequence in both systems is {s(nT)}, For the fixed y,
{lVT(kT,f ) } k is the causal system output sequence, and the
non causal system output sequence is {W,-(kT, f ) } k .
W,(kT, f ) and W,-(kT, f ) are expressed by:

W,+(kT,f ) = s(kT)+ 6 p [ ( k - l ) T ]

+ 62~[(k-2)T]-;IIW:[(k-l)T, f
-n2w;[(k-2)T9.f l-n3W:[(k-3)T,f

- -

(15)

) = { 61-A.I )s[( k + l ) T ]+ ( 3 2 - 1 2 )s[(k+ 2)TI

+ (S3-T3)s[(k + 3 ) T I - x l W - [ ( k + 1)T,f I

W,-(kT,f

- z 2 W - [ ( k + 2 ) T , f ] - x 3 W - [ ( k + 3 ) T , fJ
The wavelet coefficient corresponding to a frequency I f and a
location kT is expressed as follows:

w y (kT,f
The chosen y is interesting because the z-transforms of
w+(t) and v/-(t) are rational functions in z - ~In
. fact, all
product of a polynomial in t by a modulated damped
exponential in t has a rational function z-transform in z - l .
Then the multiplication (10) and, consequently, the
convolution (8) are equivalent, for a chosen frequency 5 to
recurrent difference equations and the wavelet coefficients can
be implemented in real time.
The frequency y being fixed, the z-transform of
{ VI+ ( f k T ) } k is easily calculated and it is expressed as follows:

where:

e
As

- 3 g ( o-iwo)

y - ( - t ) = p + ( t ) , the z-transform of{y-

y - ( z ) , is deduced from the z-transform -of {y+

p+(z),according to the relation q - ( z ) = *+{l/z)The expressions ( 12) and ( 13) lead to:

)=

.a[w;

(kT,f ) f

wc (kT,f )]

(16)

For a fixed frequency f the recursive implementation of a

wavelet coefficient needs 36 real multiplications and 35 real
additions. So, if the number of signal samples is N and the
number of the analysed frequencies is nf, the global analysis
complexity is equal to 36nfN.This involves that this
algorithm is fast and the recursive computation of wavelet
coefficients may be implemented in real time.
IV. WAVELETS APPLIED TO POWER SYSTEMS

A. Description of Time Frequency Representations

In this paragraph the recursive wavelet transform is applied
to power system fault signals presented in Fig. 2.
Every signal in Fig.2 contains the following modal
components: two damped f1=180 Hz and f2=680 Hz
sinusoids, one fO=SO Hz sinusoid, and one aperiodic term.
The f O pure sinusoid is the system fondamental frequency
forced term. The natural system frequencies, fi and f2, are
due to the charge of the sound phases capacitances and the
discharge of the faulted phases capacitance. This has been
shown by using Pronys method [20]. However, the problem
is that Pronys analysis cannot be implemented in real time.
Fig. 6 presents the wavelet transform of the faulted residual
current presented in Fig. 2a. Fig. 6a and Fig. 6b show,
respectively, the modulus and the argument of the complex
wavelet transform coefficients. A wavelet coefficient is defined
for one time and one frequency. So, the only way to present a

1306

wavelet transform is a three-dimensional representation.

In Fig. 6a, level curves of the wavelet transform magnitude
are presented. When the magnitude of a wavelet transform
coefficient is too much small, the corresponding argument has
no signification and is arbitrarily set to zero.
The computed complex wavelet coefficients are meaningful.
They reflect very well the information contained in single
phase fault signals. In fact, The maxima of the wavelet
transform magnitude (Fig. 6a) yield the same oscillating
modal components. There is a f0=50 Hz continuous
frequency which corresponds to the 50 H z steady state
component, There are two frequencies damped in term of time,
f 1 =I80 Hz and f=680 Hz .
Fig. 7 shows two curves corresponding to two sections on
the magnitude (Fig. 6a), for f1=180 H z and f2=680 Hz.
These two curves are the magnitude of the faulted residual
current wavelet transform, for both frequencies 180 Hz and
680 H z . It is obvious that the 680 H z modal component
vanishes faster than the 180 H z one. The dampings of the
curves in Fig. 7 give a good idea about the dampings of the
corresponding modal components.
In the other hand, we can notice the periodicity in time of
the argument (Fig. 6b) in the neighborhood of each signal
frequency ( f o =50Hz, f1=18OHz, and f i =68OHz). Moreover,

0.05

0.1

in the neighborhood offi (i=O, 1, or 2), the frequency of the

argument in terms of time is equal to the chosen&.
Fig. 8 presents, for f2=680 Hz, three wavelet transform
arguments; the curve C1 corresponds to sound residual current,
the curve C2 to the busbar zero sequence voltage, and C3 to
the faulted residual current. These arguments are periodic in
terms of time and their period is equal to 680 Hz.
As shown in Fig. 8, the wavelet transform arguments of
single phase fault signals allow to characterize faulted and
sound currents. There is an opposition in phase between the
arguments related to the faulted and sound currents. The
argument related to the busbar voltage is intercalated between
the two other arguments.
The wavelet transform does not analyse aperiodic terms
because they are not oscillating terms. Nevertheless, a time
frequency representation, as in Fig. 6a, may indicate, in the
neighborhood of very low frequencies, the presence of
aperiodic terms.

B. Other Tests
In order that the treatment of the subject is as thorough as
possible, a large number of EMTP simulations are performed.
The different simulations of the network described in Fig. 1

t (s)

Wavelet Transform Magnitude f a Two Frequenctes

14

12

300
*0

10

2
4

0
0
-20
20

40

20

80

ml

Time (ms)

(6a) The wavelet transform magnitude

0

0 -05

0.1

(s)

Fig. 7. The magnitude of the faulted residual current wavelet transform,

for both fequencies 180 Hz and 680 Hz.
Phase
4

41

15

(6b) The wavelet transform argument.

The argument varies from -7t (black) to +E (white)
Fig. 6. The recursive wavelet transform of the residual current in the
faulted feeder 1 presented in Fig. 2a.

05

05

15

25

Time ( m s )

Fig 8 The arguments of the wavelet transform of the sound residual

current (Cl), the busbar zero sequence voltage (C2), and the faulted
residual current (C3), forf=680 Hz

1307

correspond to different fault locations on the feeder 1

(by varying D),different fault resistances (by varying Rd),
different length of the feeders L 1 and L2, faults on the busbar,
and self extinguishing faults.
In all circumstances, wavelet transforms always extract the
oscillating modal components present in earth fault signals, as
shown in the last paragraph, and correctly identify the faulted
feeder. Indeed, the arguments of the wavelet transform for the
sound feeder, the faulted feeder, and the busbar voltage have
always the consistent interrelation described in the paragraph
1V.A and Fig. 8. This interrelation between the three
arguments is proved for the lowest natural frequency f l , as
well as for the other frequency f i .
For lack of space, we just present two additional wavelet
transform examples.
The first example consists in a short duration (4 ms) self
extinguishing fault, with L1=L2=lOkm, D=3km, and Rd=lQ.
Fig. 9 shows the sections on the wavelet transform argument
for the highest natural frequency, in this case, f2=830 Hz.
The second example consists in a 1Q-single phase fault on
the busbar. We set L1=1Okm and L2=17km. There is no
highest natural frequency f2 because there is no faulted feeder.
Fig. 10 shows the sections on the wavelet transform argument

-e

41

IS

05

05

Time ( "15

I5

25

Fig 9 A self extinguishing fault The arguments of the wavelet transform

of the sound residual current (Cl), the busbar zero sequence voltage (C2),
and the faulted residual current (C3), forf=830 Hz
Phase
4

1
4-6

I
4

10

lime ( m s )

Fig. 10. A fault on the busbar. The arguments of the wavelet transform of
the feeder 2 residual current (Cl), the busbar zero sequence voltage (C2),
and the feeder 1 residual current (C3);forf=170 Hz

for the lowest natural frequency f1=170 Hz. In fact, in this

case, f l is due to the charge of the sound phases' capacitances.
We can notice that the curves C1, corresponding to feeder 2,
and C3, corresponding to feeder 1, are superposed and they
show that both feeder 1 and feeder 2 are sound feeders.

C. Use of the Wavelet Transform

Two points of view can be used. The wavelet transform
may be employed either for analysing records and simulations
(like it is done here in order to evaluate the accuracy of the
method) or in real time operation for protection devices.
When analysing records, It has been shown that the
examination of the wavelet transform gives a lot of
information about the signal and its Prony's parameters which
are closely related to the studied network and fault [20].
In this case other competitive methods can be quoted. One
of them is the Prony's analysis and the other is the Fast
Fourier Transform (FFT). The Prony 's analysis gives very
important and precise informations and it is easier to use than
the wavelet transform. However, the Prony's computational
time is longer (this is not very important for record analysis)
and the results are not good when the recorded signal is noisy.
In the example (Fig. 2a) the signal has a high signal to noise
ratio, but it can be claimed that the wavelet transform is
robust and gives good results even when the noise increases.
The Fourier transform is not very well adapted to analyse
transient terms because the signal is integrated all along the
analysing window. For example, to see the 680 Hz
component by using a Fourier transform, the observation
window must be adapted to the damping of this modal
component. Moreover, FFT is much more sensitive than the
wavelet transform to the presence of aperiodic components.
In the other hand, the goal is to use the wavelet transform
in protection devices. In this case, a fixed width observation
window is required. A test was made using a 9 ms analysing
window. We don't consider the coefficients in the beginning
(3ms) and in the end (3ms) of the window in order to
eliminate the edge effects. We keep only the coefficients
located at the middle (3ms) of the analysing window.
Such a 9 ms analysing window allows to detect and analyse
correctly components whose frequencies are greater than about
350 Hz. Obviously, a longer observation window makes one
able to analyse lower frequencies than 350 Hz. Furthermore,
the wavelet coefficients, corresponding to frequencies greater
than 350 Hz, computed with a longer window are the same
than those computed with a 9 ms analysing window.
The recursive aspect of the described wavelet transform
leads to a fast calculation of the wavelet coefficients.
Moreover, the informations contained in the transient terms,
as shown in the examples, may be added to the one contained
in the fondamental frequency term to improve the robustness
of protection devices. Finally, wavelets may lead to a more
rapid fault detection and location, especially in the case of
intermittent arc faults. In fact, the efficient analysis of high
frequencies and short duration events allows a sure and rapid
knowledge of the fault.

1308

V. CONCLUSION

W. W. Lewis, "The neutral grounding reactor," Journal AIEE,

vol. 42, May 1923, pp . 467-484.

Wavelets have been presented as a mathematical tool and

have been used to analyse single phase fault signals for a
20 kV resonant grounded power distribution network as
generated by an ElectroMagnetic Transients Program (EMTP).
The wavelet transform has been introduced. It consists in
building a new representation of the analysed signal, according
to a set of damped oscillations named "wavelets". Each
wavelet is derived from an original function, "the mother
wavelet", by translation and compression or dilation.
A mother wavelet and a fast recursive wavelet transform
have been presented and employed to obtain instantaneous
time frequency informations from the faulted and the sound
residual currents and the busbar zero sequence voltage.
Generally, current relays are based on the fundamental
system frequency analysis and they don't take advantage of the
transient modal components. The use of transients is still a
novel approch to protection. Transients contain important
information which should be used to improve protective
system performances. Such information could, for example,
be used to determine the fault location (direction and distance
from the busbar) with better accuracy than with the
fundamental frequency.
The recursive wavelet transform allows the knowledge and
the extraction of the dominating modals. It has been shown
that the wavelet transform magnitude and argument can be
useful to set thresholds to distinguish faulted from non faulted
conditions. This technique can actually be implemented in real
time for protection devices and, then, it may be useful for
protective relaying.

A. Grossmann, and J. Morlet, "Decomposition of Hardy function

into square integrable wavelets of constant shape,'' SIAM J. Math.
Anal., vol. 15, no. 4, July 1984, pp. 723-736.

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VII. BIOGRAPHIES
Oinis CHAARI was born in Sfax, TUNISIA, in 1966
He graduated from the Ecole SpCciale des Travaux
Publics. du BBtiment et de l'lndustrie. Paris, France, in
1991 Since,lYY2, he has been with the Ecole
Suptrieure d'Electricit6, Gif-sur-Yvette, France, where
he is completing work on the Ph D Degree in Electncal
Engineering from the University of Paris VI He is a
member of IEEE

FranGoise BROUAYE was born in Paris, FRANCE. She obtained an

"AggrCgation de MathCmatiques", a Doctorate in Statistics and a PhD in
Signal Processing. She is presently Professor of Mathematics at the Ecole
Superieure d'Electricit8, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Michel MEUNIER was born in Merdrignac, FRANCE, in 1945. He
graduated from the Ecole SupCrieure dElectricitC, Gif-sur-Yvette, France,
in 1968. He has been working in the Ecole SupCrieure d'Electricit6 since
1968. He is presently Professor at the Ecole SupCrieure d'ElectricitC where
he manages a reseacch group on Rower networks. He is a member of the
S.E.E. (SociCtC des Electriciens et Electroniciens).