2011The International Conference on Advanced Power System Automation and Protection

A Two-Terminal Fault Location Algorithm Using Asynchronous Sam-

pling Based on Genetic Algorithm
ZHANG Jian1,2, ZHOU HongJun3, QIAN JiangFeng1,2
1
NARI Technology Development Co.,Ltd.ˈNanjing 210061ˈChina;
2
State Grid Electric Power Research InstituteˈNanjing 210003ˈChina;
3
Yancheng Power Supply Corporation, Yancheng 224000, China;

Abstract: Considering the deficiency in traveling wave fault location and digital fault location, the paper proposes a
two-terminal fault location algorithm with unsynchronized sampling based on genetic algorithm. Location is not affected by
pseudo roots, false resistance, system impedance or types of faults. Besides, strategy for selecting initial interval adaptively is
adopted to accelerate convergence speed greatly. The simulation results show that this algorithm has fast convergence and
high accuracy of location with any iteration point on the line. The accuracy meets the actual requirement and this method has
high practical value.

Keywords: fault location, genetic algorithm, selecting the initial interval adaptively, two-terminal fault location, un-
synchronized sampling

1 Introduction
HV transmission lines play a crucial role in power system which
has been expanding, as well as the HV long distance transmission
lines. The lines’ faults have more influence on power system,
industrial and agricultural production and people’s daily life. Re-
search on the fast and accurate fault location techniques is of great
significance. It can help take early preventive measures, improve
the operational reliability and reduce the huge losses caused by
power outage[1]. Locating and removing fault quickly ensures
system’s security and stability, as well as the reliability and con-
tinuity of power supply. Fast fault location and type recognition
of transmission line can facilitate maintenance and rapid recovery
after the accident. For the above reasons, fast and accurate fault
location is needed.
Traditional fault location includes traveling wave fault location
and digital fault location, which both have deficiency. In the former
method, hardware is expensive and fault distance is difficult to
detect when fault occurs near voltage zero crossing. In one terminal
fault location of digital fault location, location accuracy has always
been influenced by system resistance and fault resistance, due to the
lack of information[2,3,4].The proposed algorithm establishes the
objective function based on the equality of voltage’s real and imagi-
nary part and solves the function by genetic algorithm. In the process
of derivation, any assumptions are required. Besides, the algorithm
needs little information and has better stability, robustness and loca-
tion accuracy. It is also not affected by fault resistance, fault types
and pseudo roots. The simulation results show that the algorithm is
correct and effective.
2 Principle of fault location
The two terminal fault location method utilizes two terminal vol-
tage and current and does not regard fault resistance (impedance)
as pure resistance. And then voltage equation from two terminals
to the fault is established, ensuring result’s not be influenced by
fault resistance (impedance) from principle[5,6].
Regarding that transmission line parameters are distributed line
parameters, L0, C0, R0, G0 is single phase’s inductance, capacit-
ance, resistance and conductance respectively, angular frequency
is Y , propagation coefficient of transmission line is:
J E  jD ( R0  jY L0 )(G0  jY C 0 ) .
character impedance of transmission line Zc is:
R0  jY L0 .
G0  jY C0
A faulted line is showed in Figure.1, where S and R are
marked as two terminals, and l is the line length. The fault point is
denoted as F, and x is the distance to the fault location from the
terminal S. The transmission line is then divided into two parts,
i.e. S to F, and R to F. The voltage and current at any point be-
tween S and F could be expressed in terms of the voltages and
currents at S and F. So do any point between R and F. The fault
point F is the only point which could be expressed in terms of two
terminals’ voltage and current.

*Corresponding author (email: zhangjian2@sgepri.sgcc.com.cn) APAP2011 www.apap2011.org

___________________________________
978-1-4244-9621-1/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE

 2011The International Conference on Advanced Power System Automation and Protection

S x F l x
R knowns, x and G , can be solved by genetic algorithm.
x x x x
x
Us Is
RF
IR UR 3.2 Implementation of genetic algorithm
I
F

Making
f1 ( X ) f1 ( x, G ) e2 Em x [CRm cos 2D m x  CMm sin 2D m x]  DRm  BMm sin G
Figure 1 Faulted line diagram
e2 Em x [ ARm cos(2D m x  G )  AMm sin(2D m x  G )]  BRm cos G (5a)

The voltages and currents phases at the two terminals of the

x x x x f 2 ( X ) f 2 ( x, G ) e2 Em x [CMm cos 2D m x  CRm sin 2D m x]  DMm  BRm sin G
transmission line are U S , U R , and I S , I R , respectively.
x x e2 Em x [ AMm cos(2D m x  G )  ARm sin(2D m x  G )]  BMm cos G (5b)
U S , U R can be derived from transmission line equation:

Objective function is obtained by translating nonlinear equation

x x x (5) to a minimum value problem of multivariate real number
UF U S chJ x  I S Z c shJ x (1) function:
x x x p p p

¦ ¦ f (X ) ¦f
2
U R chJ (l  x)  I R Z c shJ (l  x)
T 2
UF (2) F(X ) fk ( X ) k fk ( X ) k (X ) (6)
2
k 1 k 1 k 1
Where F ( X ) 0 is the necessity and sufficiency condition
Considering asynchronism in two-terminal sampled data, let un- for f i ( X ) 0 . Minima which make F ( X ) 0 are solu-
synchronized angle is G : tions of nonlinear equations f i ( X ) 0.
x x x x 1) Coding: Utilizing real number coding on the interval [0,1], i.e.
(U S chJ x  I S Z c shJ x)e jG U R chJ (l  x)  I R Z c shJ (l  x) (3) using one to one linear transformation as following:
Equation (3) is high voltage fault location equation based on x j a j  rj (b j  a j ); j 1, 2,..., p (7)
two-terminal unsynchronized sampled data. jth optimization variables x j on initial interval [ a j , b j ] corres-
ponding to a real number rj 0.i j1i j 2 ...i jm which is on inter-
3 Two-terminal fault location algorithm with un- val [0,1] (assuming length of fractional part is determined).
synchronized sampling based on genetic algorithm i jk (k 1, 2,..., m) are genes, which are integers chosen from 0
to 9. Genecluster
3.1 Location equation with genetic algorithm (r1 , r2 ,..., rp ) (0.i11i12 ...i1m , 0.i21i22 ...i2 m ,..., 0.i p1i p 2 ...i pm )
Simplifying the above equation (3):
are chromosome, corresponding to p optimization variables.
ª x x
º x x 2) Parent popular and its matrix: N initial populations of chro-
(U sm  Z cm I sm )e 2J m x  (U sm  Z cm I sm ) » eJ ml e jG
¬«
mosome are generated by uniform random numbers
¼
x x
(U Rm  Z cm I Rm )e 2J m x  (U Rm  Z cm I Rm )e 2J ml
x x ^rij | j 1, 2,..., p; i 1, 2,..., n` in the region[0,1], and
x x
arranged to a matrix A whose size is n u p . Matrix rows
Making (U sm  Z cm I sm ) ˜ eJ ml Am ARm  jAMm ˗ represent initial chromosomes. Optimization variable xij could be
x x
J ml
(U sm  Z cm I sm ) ˜ e Bm BRm  jBMm ˗ calculated by (7) with rij . Knowing xij , objective function varia-
x x
U Rm  Z cm I Rm Cm CRm  jCMm ˗
ble Fi (i 1, 2,..., n) would be calculated by (6). Arranging
x x
them from small to large, do the corresponding chromosomes and
(U Rm  Z cm I Rm ) ˜ e 2J ml Dm DRm  jDMm matrix A’s rows. Chromosomes listed first are called good ones.
Considering that real and imaginary parts are equal respec- 3) Fitness function: During the process of optimization, genetic
tively: algorithm utilizes fitness function, rather than external informa-
e 2 Em x [ ARm cos(2D m x  G )  AMm sin(2D m x  G )]  BRm cos G  BMm sin G tion, as basis for searching. Considering that objective func-
tion Fi decreases while the individual’s fitness increases, the non-
e 2 Em x [CRm cos 2D m x  CMm sin 2D m x]  DRm (4a)
2 Em x linear monotone minus function regarded as individual’s fitness
e [ AMm cos(2D m x  G )  ARm sin(2D m x  G )]  BMm cos G  BRm sin G
function is as following:
e 2 Em x [CMm cos 2D m x  CRm sin 2D m x]  DMm (4b) H i Fn  Fi  H ( Fn  F1 ) i 1, 2,..., n (8)
Equation (4) is the two-terminal location equation with asyn-
Where F1 and Fn are the minimum and maximum of objective
chronous sampling. It is typical nonlinear equations. Two un-


 2011The International Conference on Advanced Power System Automation and Protection

function values among the whole population respectively. Fi 4 Results

and H i are the ith chromosome’s objective and fitness function
4.1 Study case
value separately. H is control parameter.
4) Genetic factor: Genetic factor consists of selection, crossover A 500kV power system is considered in case 1 and the length of
and mutation, which transforms the initial matrix A in three dif- transmission line l=300km:
ferent ways. Three offspring matrix are obtained respectively as The source parameters at terminal S:
show blew: ZS1=1.2103+ j41.39 Ƿ. ZS0= j42.86Ƿ.
ª r11(1) r12(1) ... r1(1)p º ª r11(2) r12(2) ... r1(2)
p
º The source parameters at terminal R:
« (1) (1) » « (2) (2) » ZR1=1.875+j39.146 Ƿ. ZR0=j25.06 Ƿ.
« r21 r22 ... r2(1)p » « r21 r22 ... r2(2)p » Transmission line parameters are parameters of symmetry:
A1 A
« ... ... ... ... » 2 « ... ... ... ... » R1=0.0220 Ƿ/km, R0=0.1306 Ƿ/km.
« (1) (1) » « (2) (2) » L1=0.7976 mH/km, L0=2.1983 mH/km.
¬« rn1 rn 2 ... rnp(1) ¼» ¬« rn1 rn 2 ... rnp(2) ¼» C1=0.0130嘕F/km, C0=0.00890嘕F/km.
ª r11(3) r12(3) ... r1(3)
p
º The voltage class of case 2 is 500kV and the length of transmis-
« (3) (3) » sion line l=300km. The source parameters at terminal S and R are
« r21 r22 ... r2(3)p » the same as case 1.
A3
« ... ... ... ... » Transmission line parameters are asymmetrical.
« (3) (3) »
¬« rn1 rn 2 ... rnp(3) ¼» ª 0.0751  j 0.501438 0.0576  j 0.157302 0.0568  j 0.092446 º
[ Z ]: km «0.0601  j 0.124602 0.0838  j 0.403066 0.0595  j 0.152142 »
5) Iterative Evolution: Combing three offspring matrix and « »
«¬ 0.0578  j 0.09661 0.0484  j 0.146401 0.0885  j 0.392638»¼
descending the order by fitness. N rows of chromosomes listed
first are chosen as new parent populations. Turning to step (3), ª 3.43279 0.45243 0.14354 º
[Y ]S km j «« 0.57243 2.68315 0.67246 »» u106
algorithm go on the next round of iteration.
«¬ 0.12693 0.49643 2.75579 »¼
Strategy for selecting initial interval is adopted to accelerate
convergence speed greatly. The range of chromo- Case 1 presents three-phase balanced transmission line and
case 2 presents the unbalanced one. Using MATLAB, various
ª min º , is
«¬1 d i d n ^ x j ` ,1 d i d n ^ x j `»¼
max
some x j , [ a ' , b ' ] fault types with low, intermediate and high resistance are tested.
j j

calculated by equation (7) every two iteration. Regard the range 4.2 Simulation results
as the new initial interval and turn to step (1). Thus, good chro- Case 1 is tested with a fixed fault point and various fault resis-
mosomes’ range are contracting gradually and approaching the tance, and case 2 is tested with a fixed fault resistance and various
fault points. Table 1 and table 2 are the location results of case 1
optimal one. The algorithm is accomplished when objective func-
and case 2 respectively.
tion value F1 of chromosome listed first is lower than the given Tab.1 fault location results with various fault resistance at a fixed
one. The corresponding chromosome X 1 T fault point (Case 1)
( x1 , x2 ,..., x p )
Fault Fault resistance Actual dis- Compute Error
is the optimal solution. type Ƿ tance(km) location(km) (%)
20 100 102.2674 0.7558
6) Analysis of algorithm convergence: convergence is important AG 50 100 99.4535 0.1822
100 100 99.7638 0.0787
to evaluate iteration algorithm. In this algorithm, if the following Rf=10,Rg=10 100 98.9852 0.3383
conditions of iterative evolution are satisfied: Rf=10,Rg=50 100 101.4180 0.4727
ABG
a) size of parent population, i.e. n, is big enough; b) maintain Rf=10,Rg=100 100 101.3150 0.4383
elitist preserved; c) genetic factor is random factor; d) real num- 20 100 99.9824 0.0059
AB 50 100 98.6980 0.4340
ber on interval [0,1] and its fractional part determines the length 100 100 100.1350 0.045
m. 20 100 100.1561 0.052
The algorithm would find out the global optimal solution with ABC
50 100 102.429 0.810
probability of 1, as the time of iteration evolution approaches 100 100 99.7082 0.0973
infinity.
Tab.2 fault location results with a fixed fault resistance for various
fault points (Case 2)
Fault Fault resistance Actual dis- Compute Error
type Ƿ tance(km) location(km) (%)


 2011The International Conference on Advanced Power System Automation and Protection

50 50 48.9901 0.3366 assumption in the calculation of equation. Objective function is

AG 50 150 151.7831 0.5944
obtained by the equality of real and imaginary parts and
50 250 248.0047 0.6651
Rf=10,Rg=20 50 51.5439 0.5146 non-linear equations are solved by GA. Simulation results show
ABG Rf=10,Rg=20 150 149.8255 0.058 this algorithm’s high practical value. Parameters of transmission
Rf=10,Rg=20 250 252.0644 0.6881 lines and power system used in this paper are fixed, whereas
50 50 51.6671 0.5557
these parameters are affected by many factors, such as geology
AB 50 150 149.4436 0.1855
50 250 250.1321 0.1848 along the line, climate and earth resistivity. All these factors could
50 50 49.9987 0.044 influence fault location. So the on-line parameter estimation of
ABC 50 150 148.3421 0.5526 transmission lines and power system will be the subject of future
50 250 247.5439 0.8187
work.
Simulation results show that this algorithm can calculate the
location exactly both three-phase balanced and unbalanced. Rela-
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thods for high voltage overhead transmission line. Power System Technology,
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This paper introduces a two-terminal fault location algorithm
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with unsynchronized sampling based on GA. This algorithm has distance transmission lines using samples at both ends[J]. Journal of Tsinghua
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