Impedance-based Ground Fault Location for
Transmission Lines
Hongling Sun, Vijay K. Sood
UOIT, Oshawa, ON
Abstract-- Impedance-based fault location methods
are widely used due to their simple operation and low
cost. However, their performances suffered factors,
such as fault impedance, pre-fault load current, and
remote infeed. Although significant improvements have
been made to compensate these effects, the unreliable
zero-sequence current always presents challenge to
those conventional methods. The algorithm proposed in
this paper for one-terminal fault location using a new
superposition current in conjunction with reactance
method demonstrates the improvement. Different types
of line modelling are provided to show their effects on
fault location estimation. The simulations are
performed in EMTP-RV and the signal processing is
conducted by using MATLAB. The comparative test
results emphasize the competitive performance of the
new one-terminal method with two-terminal methods.
Index Term—Fault Locator, superposition current,
fault location estimation error, EMTP-RV, MATLAB
I. INTRODUCTION
Transmission lines are used to transmit electric power
to distant large load centres. The growth of electric power
systems over the past few decades has resulted in a large
number of lines in operation and the increase of their total
length. These lines are exposed to faults as a result of
lightning, faulty equipments, misoperation, overload, and
aging. Many electrical faults manifest in mechanical
damages, which must be repaired before returning the line
to service. The restoration can be expedited if the fault
location is either known or can be estimated with a
reasonable accuracy. This perspective is internationally
accepted due to the changes of marketing policies resulting
from deregulation and liberalization of power and energy
market. Therefore, fast detection, isolation, location and
repair of these faults play an important role to maintain a
power system in a healthy and profitable condition.
Fault location is not a new task. In order to facilitate
fault search and line repair, fault locator devices have been
developed since the 1950s [1]. Impedance-based fault
location methods, generally classified as one-terminal
methods and two-terminal methods which are based on
60/50 Hz measurements, are commonly used across the
world due to its simplicity and lower cost. Two-terminal
methods use the signals obtained from the both ends of the
line to eliminate the fault resistance effect by simply
equating fault point voltages computed from both sides.
Therefore, they are capable of providing accurate and
Corresponding author: Name, Affiliation, Address, Phone, E-mail – Arial, size 8
reliable fault location results. But synchronization and
communication equipment are normally required to
effectively collect oscillographs of phasor data from both
ends of a line to ensure accurate data acquisition. The extra
cost of the needed equipment is the major obstacle to
inhibit their popular applications. By contrast, one-terminal
methods are simple and economical ways to fulfil their
fault location objectives. However, the drawbacks are well
known—low accuracy and poor reliability due to the
effects of fault resistance, remote in-feed, pre-fault loading,
and the errors of the line parameters. Many techniques
have been proposed in the open literatures to compensate
these error contributors. For instance, Takagi method [2]
can remarkably improve the fault location performance by
reducing the fault resistance effect.
In 2004, IEEE revised “Draft Guide for Determining
Fault Location for AC Transmission and Distribution
Lines” [3], outlining the techniques and application
considerations for determining the fault location on AC
transmission and distribution lines. This document
provides the fundamentals of impedance-based fault
location, as well as the factors that affect the performances
of the fault location methods in different ways. A number
of important concepts were formally introduced in this
document, such as Percentage Error in Fault Location
Estimation, Homogenous Line, Homogenous System, etc.
The error sources of impedance–based fault location
methods were closely investigated in reference [4] which
focused on mathematical modelling of the methods
proposed in [5] and [6], respectively. The in-depth analysis
was performed to evaluate the sensitivity of one-terminal
and two-terminal impedance-based fault location methods
to the factors such as the fault resistance and fault position.
In addition, the impedance measurement errors introduced
by the installation of series capacitors and their overvoltage
protection system with nonlinear Metal-Oxide Varistors
(MOVs) can be effectively compensated by the solution
provided in [7].
Based on practical experience, approximately 70%-
80% of faults in an electrical utility system with a network
of overhead lines are Single-Line-to-Ground (SLG) faults
resulting from lightning and falling trees branches [8].
Therefore, the algorithm presented in this paper is
developed solely based on system with a SLG fault.
Although advanced techniques were developed to
compensate effects of the fault resistance and pre-fault load
current, the performance of one-terminal fault location still
suffer from the unreliable zero-sequence current. This TABLE 1. System Parameters
paper aims to improve the Takagi method by using a new Parameters Values
superposition current introduced in [9]. Superposition
Voltage VGS 500∠30o kV
principle is the key to achieve this objective. The effects of
line capacitance and the different line modelling are also Impedance Z1S 10∠90 o Ω
examined in this paper. A new technique for signal Impedance Z0S 29.99∠90 o Ω
processing is developed to further improve the performance
of the proposed method. Voltage VGR 500∠0 o kV
Impedance Z 1R 19.98∠90o Ω
The remaining of this paper is outlined as follows.
Impedance Z 0 R 29.99∠90 o Ω
Section II presents tested system model. Section III
describes the fundamentals of the fault location techniques. Line length 200 km
Section IV provides the simulation results. Finally, Section Resistance R1 0.0174 Ω/km
V gives the conclusions of this work. Resistance R0 0.2878 Ω/km
Inductance L1 0.8957 mH/km
II. SYSTEM MODEL
Inductance L0 3.134 mH/km
Capacitance C1 0.01299 uF/km
A single-line diagram of a standard power system is
displayed in Fig. 1. The system parameters are shown in Capacitance C0 0.00833 uF/km
Table 1. This test system consists of two 500 kV power
Fault resistance RF 0—100 Ω
sources with 30 o phase difference and one single-circuit
three phase 200 km transmission line connecting them. A
simulated SLG fault takes place on phase a with a distance The nomenclatures of Fig. 1 are described as follows:
u in per unit from the Fault Locator (FL). The fault u is the fault distance from the fault locator in per unit
resistance, varying in a range of 0—100 Ω, is inserted
VS is voltage at sending end Terminal G S
between phase a and the ground to represent the effects of a
lightning strike, touching tree limbs, tower footing VR is voltage at receiving end Terminal G R
resistance, and soil resistance. For simplicity, source I S is the line current from sending end G S
impedances are regarded as purely reactive with the
lumped values. I R is the line current from receiving end G R
I F is the total fault current
The protection and control equipment shown in Figure
3.1 includes relay S and relay R which are located at either R F is the fault resistance
ends of the line. The instantaneous voltages and currents
quantities are measured by Potential Transformers (PTs)
and Current Transformers (CTs) which are employed at the III. FAULT LOCATION METHODOLOGIES
sending and receiving ends of the line. They are the inputs
of two relays respectively. The relays depending on their A. IEEE Definitions
protection schemes to activate the corresponding breakers.
The FL shown in this figure functions as an independent
device to estimate the fault location relying on the voltage Before introducing the fault location methods, it is
and current vectors collected from relays. The dotted line noteworthy to review the following definitions stipulated in
drawn from the relay R to FL indicates that two-terminal [3].
method is implied. • Fault location error: Percentage error in fault location
estimate based on the total line length
L − Lrel
err = est × 100% (1)
Ltotal
IF
• Homogeneous line: A transmission line where
impedance is distributed uniformly along the whole
RF length
• Homogeneous system: A transmission system where the
local and remote source impedances have the same
system angle as the line impedance
Fig. 1. Single-line diagram of the test system
B. Algorithms
 the pure-fault network are contributed only by the fault.
The task of the fault location algorithm is to estimate The voltage VF' at the fault point which exists prior to the
the distance in per unit from FL to the fault as a function of fault is the driving voltage producing the changes caused
the total line impedance using the sending end by the fault.
measurements (for one-terminal algorithms) or both ends VS VR
I SF I RF
measurements (for two-terminal algorithms) with the IS IR
highest accuracy. The single-line diagram and the sequence ZS
IF
ZR
VF
networks of a simplified system with a SLG fault are RF
presented in Fig. 2.

1) One-terminal method

The algorithm proposed in this paper for one-terminal VS

'
VR' VS ' ' VR' '
fault location uses the new superposition current in I SF' I '
RF
ISF'' IRF''

conjunction with Takagi method to effectively compensate IS

' '
IR IS '' IR ''
I F"
the effects of fault resistance and remote infeed. ZS
V ' ZR ZS ZR
F RF
V F'
GS GR
Is Ir

u RF 1-u
Fig. 3. Decomposition of the faulted network
ZL

Is0 Ir0
uZL0
+
(1-u)ZL0 The voltage at the fault point on the line can be
Z0s Z0s1R
V0 described as
-
I R"
VF = RF I F = VF' + [ RF ( I S" + I R" ) + (−VF' )] = RF ( I S" + I R" ) = RF I S" (1 + )
uZL2
Is2 Ir2
(1-u)ZL2
I S"
+
Z2s
V2
Z2s1R
3RF (4)
' '
- where I S and I are the pre-fault currents from terminal S
R
Is1 Ir1
uZL1 +
(1-u)ZL1 and R, respectively.
Z1s Z1s1R
V1 I S" "
GS
-
GR
and I R are the pre-fault currents from terminal S
and R, respectively.
IF /3
By observing the pure-fault network, equation (4) can be
Fig. 2. Connection of sequence networks for a SLG fault developed as
Z S + uZ L Z + ZL + ZR
VF = R F I S" (1 + ) = RF I S" S (5)
a) Takagi Method Z R + (1 − u ) Z L Z R + (1 − u ) Z L
where
From Fig. 2, the following equation can be written by I S" = I S − I S' = I S − I Load
applying Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law, With definition of superposition current
VS = uZ L I S + RF I F (2) ∆I S = I S − I Load and circuit current distribution factor
For a SLG fault taking place on the line, apparent current ∆I S Z R + (1 − u ) Z L
dS = = , Equation (2) can be
I S in Equation (2) is given IS Z S + uZ L + Z R
Z L 0 − Z L1 (3) rewritten as
I S = I aS + Io
Z L1 ∆I S
VS = uZ L I S + R F (6)
where I aS is the measurement phase a current at FL. dS
Multiplying both sides of Equation (6) by the complex
conjugate ∆I S , and only considering the imaginary terms,
*
The improvement of fault location has been achieved
by decomposing the equivalent fault network into pre-fault it yields
and pure-fault networks as shown in Fig. 3. Superposition
∆I S
2

is the key for this derivation. Simply, the pre-fault network Im(VS ∆I S* ) = u Im( Z L I S ∆I S ) + RF Im(
*
) (7)
is the system that is under steady state condition with load. dS
The pure-fault network actually is a Thevenin equivalent of
the faulted system. The quantities appearing in the figure in
 From Equation (7) we note that, if the system is 3
homogenous, circuit current distribution factor d S is a real method can be improved by applying the factor [9] in
2
number. Then the R F term is eliminated from the rest of deriving superposition current to compensate the removal
the equation. Therefore, the per unit distance of fault of the unreliable zero-sequence current. The derivation of
location can be obtained from the new superposition current is available in Appendix A.
Then, the improved algorithm is obtained by simply
Im(VS ∆I S* )
u= (8) replace superposition current ∆I S in Equation (8) by ∆I S ' ,
Im( Z L I S ∆I S* ) *
Im(VS ∆I ' S )
u= *
(13)
b) Factors d s and n s Im( Z L I S ∆I ' S )
where ∆I S' is the new superposition current. It is
The circuit current distribution factor d S has been described as
introduced in the previous section. An alternative 3
∆I S = (∆I S − I 0 )
'
(14)
representation of d S can be written as 2
∆I S Z R + (1 − u ) Z L
dS = = = d S ∠β (9) 2) Two-terminal method
IS Z S + uZ L + Z R
The two-terminal fault location estimation is
There is another complex number, so called circuit fundamentally similar to one-terminal one. But this scheme
loading factor, which represents the ratio of the load can improve the accuracy of fault distance measurement
current to the total fault current. It is used to examine the significantly by using data from the two ends of the line to
effect of the load current. Therefore, the combination of cancel the effects of fault resistance and infeed. One typical
these two factors can represent the effect of system algorithm proposed in [10] is selected for simulation in this
parameters and the pre-fault load current. The overall effect project. This algorithm was developed by equating
of load current and the system configuration can be negative-sequence voltage at fault point in its symmetrical
graphically displayed by combining those two factors component representation. A brief review of this method is
together as a factor e S . The circuit loading factor is defined provided below.
in Equation (10)
From Fig. 2, Equation (15) can be derived by simply
IS I
nS = = S = nS ∠γ (10) equating the negative-sequence voltage obtained by both
I S − I L ∆I S ends,
Substituting d S and n S into Equation (2) yields, ( I ⋅ Z ) + u ⋅ (I 2S ⋅ Z 2 L )
I 2R = 2S 2S (15)
V 1 (Z 2 R + Z 2 L ) − u ⋅ (Z 2 L )
ZF _S = S = uZ L + R F (11)
IS d S nS To further simplify this equation, following variables are
defined,
where Z F _ S is the apparent impedance seen from FL into
I 2 S ⋅ Z 2 S = a + jb
the line.
The combination of the two factors is defined as
I 2 S ⋅ Z 2 L = c + jd
1 1 Z 2 R + Z 2 L = e + jf
eS = = ∠ − (β + γ ) (12)
d S nS d S nS Z 2l = g + jh
Submitting those variables into equation (15) yields:
c) New Method (a + jb) + u ⋅ (c + jd )
I 2R = (16)
Takagi method has significantly improved one-terminal (e + jf ) − u ⋅ ( g + jh)
fault location. However, by simply assuming that the three Finally, a quadratic equation can be further derived to solve
sequence network distribution factors are equal can lead to for distance u,
undesirable errors because the zero-sequence current is not Au 2 + Bu + C = 0 (17)
known as reliably as the positive-sequence factor. In reality, The coefficients of equation (17) are given below
the fault current is not uniformly distributed when a ground
A = I 2 R ⋅ ( g 2 + h 2 ) − (c 2 + d 2 )
2
fault occurs. For example, the overhead ground wires,
transmission line tower, or the touched tree branches can B = −2 ⋅ I 2 R ⋅ (e ⋅ g + f ⋅ h) − 2 ⋅ (a ⋅ c + b ⋅ c)
2
(18)
all be the returning path for the ground current. In addition
C = I 2 R ⋅ (e 2 + f 2 ) − ( a 2 + b 2 )
2
to multi-grounding paths, the impedance of the soil varies
due to the difference of permeability. Therefore, Takagi
 Extensive simulations are performed with test system.
C. EMTP Simulation Model Due to space restrictions, the typical results are presented
next.
EMTP simulation model for one-terminal method is
displayed in Fig. 4. For simplicity, data acquisition is done
A. One-terminal methods
by EMTP function blocks instead of PTs and CTs. A 30
degree 300 MVA load is connected at BUS2 to provide the
pre-fault load current. The 200 km transmission line is Fig. 5 and 6 show the three phase current waveforms
divided ten 20 km sections to examine the effect of fault and the voltage waveforms obtained from measurement
distance to the test results. Eleven SLG faults are staged R F = 0. The line
starting from “close-in” point to the remote end of each location indicated in Fig. 5 when
section. Then eleven switches are controlled by a π
representation is nominal- circuit with negligible line
sequential timing pattern to ground each short line to earth capacitance. The voltage and current phasors are then
through a resistance. The timing pattern is named 60-60-60, transferred to MATLAB to establish data matrices for the
which means that the fault duration and the interval of two signal processing purposes.
adjacent faults are 60 ms. This arrangement is done to
assure that steady state conditions prior to and after the
faults are established. The lines are represented by either
nominal- π circuits or distributed parameters.

D. Data Acquisition and Signal Processing

Data acquisition and signal processing play another

important role to achieve a better result of fault location.
Differet sampling frequencies, 10 kHz and 100 kHz are
used for pi line model and distributed parameter line medel.
Signal processing routines are developed in MATLAB.
The basic structure of the signal processing consists of two
parallel loops, which are average error loop and
instantaneous error loop. The final fault location estimation Fig. 5. Three phase current waveforms measured at FL
errors at every fault location are determined by searching
the minimum errors calculated by these two loops.

Vsa_rel ph_2 ph_3 Isa_rel

inst to xy Vra_img
scope x in in x scope
scope scope y scope
y y
in x scope
Vsa_img inst to xy inst to xy Isa_img
ph_4 Vra_rel
tr_1 Is0_rel
a zero_x scope
b zero_y scope
c Is0_img Fig. 6. Voltage waveforms at sending end
3-ph to z ero seq
60Hz
BUS1
v(t)

v(t)

500kVRMSLL /_30 500kVRMSLL /_0

Vs 200km_line Vr
A comparison between the Takagi method and the
?s

?s

Gs i(t) Is BUS2 Gr
VGs + p1 p2 +
?s improved method proposed in this paper is shown in Fig. 7.
v(t)

The results were attained by simulating the test system

v(t)

VGr

π
?s

with nominal- line model and the fault resistance is 50 Ω.

?s

Load1 LF
259.98MW
150MVAR

inst to xy
inst to xy

in

The superiority of the new method is obvious.

ph_5
in
ph_1

y
x
y
x
VGsa_img

VGra_img
VGsa_rel

ds ns
VGra_rel
scope
scope

scope
scope

Factors and their combination representation

eS d
Fig. 4. EMTP simulation model for one-terminal method are displayed in Fig. 8. The phase angle of s is nearly
zero, which reflects the system parameters. The
e
IV. SIMULATION & RESULTS characteristics of S indicate that the first four faults have
relatively low estimation errors, while the rest of seven
errors increase along with the faults moving towards the
remote end. It actually explains the results shown in the Fig.
8. Alternatively, the angle difference of fault current of the line capacitance can no longer be ignored. The
I F and the superposition current I sup also represents the different results for the line modelled with and without
capacitance are capered in Fig. 11. The results show that
deviations of the fault location estimation. The relationship the inclusion of line capacitance in line modelling actually
between these two current is shown in Fig. 9. improves the fault location performance.

Conventional and improved Takagi algorithm

8 The effect of signal processing
4
Conventional
6 Old SP (Rf=50 ohms)
Fault location estimation error (%)

Improved
3 New SP (Rf=50 ohms)

Fault location estimation error (%)

4
Old SP (Rf=100 ohms)
2
2 New SP (Rf=100 ohms)

0 1

-2 0

-4
-1
-6
-2
-8
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 -3
Actual fault location (km)

-4
Fig. 7. Takagi method estimation error 0 50 100 150 200
Actual fault location (km)

Current distribution factor ds and loading factor ns

Fig. 10. Improvements contributed by signal processing
ds
ns
1.5 es The effect of shunt capacitance
ZL1/40 0.15
No C (Rf=50 ohms)
1 W ith C (Rf=50 ohms)
0.1
Fault location estimation error (%)
Imaginary

0.5 0.05

0 0

-0.05
-0.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Real
-0.1

d s ns eS
Fig. 8. Plot of , , and 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Actual fault location (km)

The relationship of IF and Is up Fig. 11. Effect of line capacitance

I-F
2000 I-sup
Frequency independent line model or so-called CP line
1000 model in EMTP is more precise than nominal- π . The
comparative results shown in Fig. 12 clearly illustrate the
Imaginary

0
superior performance of distributed parameter line
-1000 modelling to nominal- π line model. Its relatively constant
errors at small values once again are benefited from this
-2000
rigorous solution. Therefore, it is recommended to have an
exact line modelling to implement fault location estimation
rather than a simple nominal- π line representation.
-3000

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000

Real

I F and I sup The final results for the new one-terminal fault location
Fig. 9. The relationship of method with distributed parameter line model at different
fault circumstances are presented in Table 2. It is observed
The improvements contributed by the new signal that this new method has a strong performance to be able to
processing technique are displayed in Fig. 10. Both curves offer accurate fault location estimation.
of Rf=50 ohms and Rf=100 ohms demonstrate the stronger
performance of this new signal processing. Finally, the caparison between the new method and one
selected two-terminal method is conducted with distributed
parameter line model. Zero fault impedance is assumed for
Line capacitance can be neglected for short or medium this simulation. The results shown in Fig. 13 illustrates that
length lines. But the charging current due to the existence the new method is competitive with the two-terminal
method. Overall, considering the extra cost of two-terminal transmission system. The effects of the principle error
methods, this new one-terminal method is superior. contributors, such as the fault impedance, pre-fault load
current, remote infeed, and non-homogenous system were
Effect of different line models on fault location estimation error
0.06 investigated with aids of circuit current distribution factor
Nominal-Pi and loading factor. It is found that to effectively
Fault location estimation error (%)

0.04 CP
compensate the effects of fault impedance and pre-fault
0.02
load current can improve the one-terminal method
0 remarkably. The superposition principle has been
-0.02
particularly highlighted.
-0.04
Secondly, the effects of shunt capacitance with
-0.06
0 50 100 150 200
different line modeling were investigated by carrying out
Actual fault location (km) numerical analysis. The test results showed that the
Fig. 12. Estimation errors with different line models inclusion of line capacitance improved the estimation
accuracy due to improved circuit loading factor. A precise
( R F =50 Ω)
line modeling represented by distributed parameters was
found to be more beneficial to this regard.
TABLE 2. Results of simulation with distributed line
parameters Finally, a comparative study was performed on the
Actual Fault resistance proposed one-terminal method with a selected two-terminal
fault 0Ω 50 Ω 100 Ω method. The results indicated the competitive performance
distance L_es Error L_es Error L_es Error
(km)
of the new one-terminal algorithm.
(km) (%) (km) (%) (km) (%)
0 0 0.0016 0.01 0.0026 -0.02 -0.0105
20 20 -0.0021 20 -0.0027 19.99 -0.0054 The highlights of conclusions are summarized as
40 40 0 40 -0.0003 40 0.0002 follows.
60 60 -0.0010 60 0.0003 60 0.0024
80 80 0.0010 80 0.0001 80 0.0013 • Fault resistance, fault location, pre-fault load current
100 100 -0.0012 100 0.0007 100 0.0011
120 120 0.0128 120 -0.0017 120 0.0013
present the most challenges to one-terminal impedance-
140 140 -0.0007 140 -0.0008 140 0.0002 based fault location estimation
160 160 0.0020 160 0 160 -0.0001 • Applying superposition principle to tackle the effects of
180 180 -0.0067 180 0 180 0.0012 pre-fault load current and the fault resistance can
200 200 0.0058 200 0.0113 200 -0.0032 significantly improve the accuracy of the fault location
RF _est 0.0691 Ω 51.0347 Ω 102.0478 Ω
estimation based on reactance method
• The new one-terminal algorithm proposed in this thesis
using a new superposition current by compensating the
Comparison of Two-end and Takagi One-end fault location estimation removal of the unreliable zero-sequence current is able
-3 to provide a reliable and promising performance
Fault location estimation errors in percentage (%)

x 10
5
Takagi, Rf=0
• The more precise line modeling is given, the more
4 Two-end, Rf=0 accurate fault location estimation can be obtained.
Specifically, the line model represented by distributed
3 parameter is superior to the one represented by lumped
values, such as nominal- π line model
2
• Advanced signal processing technique play another
1 important role to improve the fault location method
• Two-terminal algorithms are capable to provide very
0
accurate results if the certain criteria are met, such as the
-1
availability of synchronization and communication.
0 50 100 150 200 However, the improved one-terminal algorithm appears
Actual fault locations (km)
to be competitive with the two-terminal one studied in
Fig. 13. Comparison of two methods this project by mentioning its high accuracy and low
cost
V. CONCLUSIONS
VI. APPENDIX A

Firstly, this paper examined the performances of the

conventional impedance-based one-terminal fault location The Thevenin equivalent of the faulted transmission
method, Takagi method for a double infeeds 500 kV lines with a SLG fault is depicted in Fig. A.1. Voltage U F
is the pre-fault voltage at fault point. It is the driving I 1F
voltage causes the current changes by the fault. In the I2F
figure, d 1s , d 2 s , d 0 s are sequence circuit current distribution I0F

factor, respectively. It is a normal practice to assume that I F = I1F + I 2 F + I 0 F

the distribution factors of positive- and negative-sequence
currents are equal. The total current change due to the fault I1F + I 2 F 1/ 2(I1F +I 2F)
can be written in a general form
∆I S = d s I F (A.1)
where d = (1 − u ) Z L + Z R (A.2) Fig. A.2. Symmetrical components of fault current
ZS + ZL + ZR
s

Observed from Fig. A.2, the relationship of symmetrical

components of fault current is VII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
1
I 1F = I 2 F = I 0 F = I F (A.3)
3 The authors acknowledge funding received from the
Assuming equal current distribution factors of positive- Canadian National Sciences and Engineering Research
and negative-sequence circuits and eliminating the zero- Council (NSERC).
sequence current I 0 F yield:
3 3 ∆I + ∆I 2 S
IF = ( I 1F + I 2 F ) = ( 1S ) (A.4) VIII. REFERENCES
2 2 d1s
The change of current at relay S is
∆I S = ∆I 1S + ∆I 2 S + ∆I 0 S (A.5) [1] T. W. Stringfield, D. J. Marihart, and R. F. Stevens, “Fault location
methods for overhead lines,” Transactions of the AIEE, Part III,
In order to eliminate zero-sequence fault current, Equation Power Apparatus and Systems, vol. 76, pp. 518—530, Aug. 1957.
(A.5) can be written by neglecting pre-fault zero-sequence [2] T. Takagi, Y. Yamakoshi, M. Yamaura, R. Kondou, and T.
current Matsushima, “Development of a New Type Fault Locator Using the
∆I 1S + ∆I 2 S = ∆I S − I 0 S (A.6) One-Terminal Voltage and Current Data,” IEEE Transactions on
Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-101, No. 8, August 1982,
Substituting Equation (A.6) into Equation (A.5) produces pp. 2892-2898.
3 ∆I − I 0 S (A.7)
I = ( S
F ) [3] IEEE PC37.114/D10, “Draft Guide for Determining Fault Location
2 ds on AC Transmission and Distribution Lines”, © 2004 by the
where ∆I S is the total current change at relay S by the fault. Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc.

So, let fault current I SF at relay S is 3 ( ∆I S − I 0 S ) , then the [4] Dalcastagne, A.L.; Zimath, S.L., “A study about the sources of error
of impedance-based fault location methods”, Transmission and
2 ds
Distribution Conference and Exposition: Latin America, 2008
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I sF
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