Fault Location For Six-Phase Transmission Lines Based On The Wavelet Transform Of

The Fault Induced High Frequency Transients

Ammar A. Hajjar (1)

M. M. Mansour (2)
(1)
Tishreen Univ., Syria (2)
Ain Shams Univ., Egypt

ABSTRACT

Six-phase transmission is an optimal solution for increasing the power transmission capability of overhead power
transmission lines over existing rights-of-way. This new technology, however, requires a new protection techniques.
Therefore, this paper introduces a new technique based on wavelet transform for accurate fault location of six-phase
transmission lines. The technique utilizes a wavelet to capture the fault induced high frequency transient currents
superimposed on the power frequency currents in a modal domain. The fault location is determined based on the relative
arrival times of these high frequency transient signals at the relaying point. The introduced technique is tested and
validated through simulation studies. The results show that the technique is accurate in fault location irrespective of the
fault type, fault inception angle, and fault resistance. Moreover, it is insensitive to the line terminals and transposition.

Keywords: Six-Phase Transmission Lines, Fault Location, High Frequency Transients, Wavelet Analysis.

INTRODUCTION transmission lines. The technique is based on fault

induced high frequencies (HF) transient modal currents,
Three-phase transmission system encounters some
captured using wavelets, and the traveling wave theory.
problems such as increasing demand, and restrictions on
Extensive computer simulations of the introduced
rights-of-way (environmental laws). In this respect, six-
technique show that the technique is accurate in fault
phase transmission system is introduced as an optimal
location irrespective of fault type, fault inception angle,
solution for the aforementioned problems. The existing
and fault resistance. Moreover, it is unaffected by line
double-circuit three-phase transmission line can be
terminals and line transposition.
successively converted to a single-circuit six-phase line
[1,2]. In this context, the first empirical six-phase line in
WAVELET TRANSFORM
the world was energized in USA at 1992 [2].
Wavelet transform is relatively a new mathematical
Therefore, there is a need to establish a new protection
technique for a nonstationary signal analysis. In this
schemes for six-phase transmission system because the
respect, the WT of a time dependent signal, f(t), consists
additional three-phases complicate the fault analysis and
of finding a set of coefficients Cf(a,b), that measure the
consequently the required protection. In this respect, the
similarity between the signal and a set of scaled
number of shunt faults is “120” in a six-phase system
(compressed or dilated) and translated (shifted) versions
whereas it is only “11” in a three-phase system [3]. So far,
there is a few protection schemes dedicated for six-phase of a function ψ (t) called the mother wavelet that given by:
transmission lines [4,5,12]. In this paper, a new technique 1 t �b�
for fault location based on wavelet transform (WT), is ψ b,a(t) = ψ�
� ÷ (1)
presented. a � a �
where “a” , “b” represent the time dilation and translation,
The WT of a signal consists of measuring the similarity
respectively. The selection of the mother wavelet depends
between the signal and a set of translated and scaled
on the application. The coefficients Cf (a,b) , or the
version of the basis function “mother wavelet”. The
mother wavelet is a chosen fast decaying oscillatory continues wavelet transform, are defined by the following
inner product:
function. The WT maps a given nonstationary signal from
the time domain into time-frequency (scale) domain. The +�
main advantage of the WT is its ability to extract a tiny CWT(a,b)= f (t ). ψ *b,a(t).dt
� (2)
discontinuity on a disturbed signal [6]. This feature is ��
used for detecting the abrupt disturbances such as faults in where “*” refers to complex conjugate.
transmission lines [7-9]. In this paper, a useful application
of the WT is presented for fault location of six-phase

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Wavelet transform of a sampled signal can be obtained by
using the following discrete wavelet transform (DWT):
1
DWT(m,n)= � f (k ) ψ* ��n � ka0m �÷
a 0m k � am ÷ WAVELET FOR SIX-PHASE LINES FAULT
� 0 � LOCATION
where, the parameters a and b in (1) are replaced by a 0m,
ka 0m, respectively, n, k, a 0 are integers; a 0 is some selected
spacing factor (usually chosen equal to “2” for dyadic
grid), and the dilation index (scaling) m is 0,1,2,3,….
The DWT analysis involves successive pairs of low-pass
and high-pass filters at each scaling stage of the WT. The
first scale covering a large frequency range at the high
frequency end of the spectrum with the highest time
resolution. The higher scales covering the lower end of
the frequency spectrum with progressively shorter
bandwidths with increasingly longer time interval [6-9].
FAULT INDUCED TRANSIENTS AND MODAL
TRANSFORM
When a fault occurs on a power transmission line, high
frequency transient signals of currents and voltages
induced at the fault point. These HF signals travel toward
line ends then they reflect back and forth between the
fault point and the line ends until the post fault steady
state is reached. However, these HF signals, which
contain a wealth information about the fault type,
location, and its direction, superimpose on the power
frequency signals of the faulted and unfaulted phases due
to the mutual coupling between phases. Therefore, a
modal transformation is used to decouple the phase
signals into their respective aerial and ground modes. The
relation between the phase currents and the modal
currents given by:
Iphase = T × Imode
where, T is the modal transformation matrix and Iphase
,Imode are the phase and modal current vectors,
respectively. In this study, the six-phase transmission line
is assumed ideally transposed; therefore the Clarke’s
constant and real transformation matrix is used [4]:
1 6 5 30 0 0 0 0
1 6 �1 30 4 20 0 0 0 later than the fault reflections if the fault occurs within the
T= 1 6 �1 30 � 1 20 3 12 0 0 (5)
1 6 � 1 30 � 1 20 � 1 12 2 6 0 occurs in the second half of the line. Another problem
1 6 � 1 30 � 1 20 � 1 12 � 1 6 1 2
1 6 � 1 30 � 1 20 � 1 12 � 1 6 � 1 2
The arrived phase signals are first transformed to their
modal signals. The first mode (mode 0) is frequency
dependent and refers to the ground mode that is usually
used to distinguish grounded faults. The other five modes
(mode1…mode5) are frequency independent and refer to
the aerial modes that present for any kind of fault.
Accordingly, the fault location is determined based on the
aerial modes and their velocity.
(3)
The introduced approach uses wavelet transform as a fault
induced HF transient currents detector. For this purpose,
it is tuned to extract the HF currents, superimposed on the
modal power frequency currents, at frequency ranges
between [50-100] kHz. In this respect, the so-called “B-
Spline” mother wavelet of order '1', which is more
suitable for transient analysis, in terms of speed and time-
frequency localizing, is used [8]. The fault location
calculation is based on the reflections times of the HF
signals either from the fault point only or from both the
fault point and far-end bus, this depends on the existence
of a connection between the fault and the ground.
Phase Faults
When the fault is ungrounded or symmetrical, the
reflection from the remote end is insignificant and the
fault location is determined by measuring the time
interval between the 1 st two consecutive peaks, of similar
polarities, of the WT coefficients of the considered signal
as follows,
ν .τ
x= (6)
2
where, x is the distance to the fault, � is the wave velocity
of the aerial mode and � is the time interval between the
two consecutive peaks of the WT coefficients. On the
other hand, if the 1 st two consecutive peaks are of
opposite polarities then fault is considered out of
protection zone.
(4)
Grounded Faults
For a grounded fault the reflections from the fault point
and from the remote end buses will be observed at the
sending end of the faulted line. Depending on the fault
location, the reflections from the remote end buses may
arrive before or after those reflections from the fault
point. It can be easily verified by using the lattice diagram
method, that the remote end bus reflections will arrive
first half of the line. The opposite will be true if the fault
arises due to a ground connection is that the reflections
may be from the adjacent (faulted/unfaulted) line.
Therefore, a suitable algorithm is developed to distinguish
the faulted line and the fault distance as follows:
� If the 1 st two consecutive reflections are with same
polarities the fault is in the first half of the line. Then,
if the time interval between these reflections plus the
time interval between the first one and the first
UPEC 2007 - 253
 significant reflection of opposite polarity is equal to the
twice of the traveling time of the considered line, the
fault is on the considered line otherwise the fault on the
adjacent line.
� If the first two consecutive reflections are with
opposite polarities the fault should be in the second
half of the line. Then, if the time interval between these
reflections plus the time interval between the first one
and the first significant reflection of same polarity is
equal to the twice of the traveling time of the
considered line, the fault is on the considered line
otherwise the fault on the adjacent line.
� If the tow peaks of the WT coefficients are equal this
refers to coincidence between the reflected signals
from the fault and from the far-end bus.
Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of the introduced
fault location technique:
CT’s Output
Iphase
Modal Transform
Imode
Wavelet Transform
Out of Zone Fault
WTC i
Phase Fault or
Y
WTCo = 0 Symmetrical
N
Fault
Ground Fault: compare
peaks polarities, times
N L1 and the fault location is 180.05 km. This assures that,
Y the technique is insensitive to the system source
Are the Consecutive
Fault Location Time Intervals Equal?
Fig.1 A flowchart of the fault location technique
COMPUTER SIMULATION
A verification of the developed technique with practical
cases is carried out with the help of electromagnetic
transient program (PSCAD/EMTDC) [10]. The algorithm
of the introduced approach is programmed under the
MATLAB environment. The study is conducted on a 230
kV six-phase power transmission system shown in Fig. 2.
The line parameters are considered with frequency
dependence. The source’s impedances are 20,10,20 ohm,
respectively. The arc resistance is included in the fault
model.
UPEC 2007 - 254
L1= 200 km L2 =100 km
S1 S3
S2
Fig. 2 A one line diagram of a six-phase power
transmission system
The system is simulated under various types of faults for
different locations, fault resistances, system source
configurations and fault inception angles. Moreover, the
line transposition/untransposition and compensation are
also considered. The fault locator is located near bus 1. A
sampling frequency of 200 kHz is used, and the CWT at
scale 2 is used to capture the HF current signal
superimposed on the aerial modes.
Source Configuration
Fig. 3 depicts the CWT coefficients of the modal current
signal corresponding to phase “a” to ground fault at 180
km from source S1 at line L1 for fault inception angle of
90o of phase “a”. Fig. 3.a corresponds to the sources S1,
S2, S3 impedances of 20,10,20 � , respectively, whereas
Fig. 3.b corresponds to equal sources impedances of 20� .
As shown in Fig. 3.a and 3.b, the first and second HF
transient signals arrive at busbar 1 with positive and
negative polarities at times t1=5.122, t2=5.255,
respectively, this signifies that the fault is at the second
half of the line. The time interval �1 between t1, t2 is 0.133
and the time interval �2 between t1and t10 is 1.2002, where
t10 is the arrival time of the first significant positive
reflection, t10 = 6.3222. Hence, � =�1+�2 =1.3332 ms
which correspond to the 399.98 km which equals to the
twice of the line length of L1. Therefore, the faulted line is
configuration; this is due to the busbars capacitances,
which act as a short circuit at the considered range of
frequency.
15
W TC's of modal current
+
10 t1
+
5 t 10
0
-5 - t2
-10
Time,ms
-15
5 5.5 6 6.5
(a) Zs1=Zs3=20 • , Zs2=10 •
 15 0.15
W TC's of modal current

WTC's of modal current

10 t1
+ 0.05 t4 +
5 t 10
0 -0.05
-5 - t2 -
-0.15
t2
-10 t1
Time,ms - Time,ms
-15 -0.25
5 5.5 6 6.5 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 4.2 4.4 4.6
(b) Zs1=Zs2= Zs3= 20 • Fig. 5 “b-g” fault at 50 km with • = 0 , R f = 0. 5 • o

Fig. 3 “a-g” faults at 180 km of S1for different S1 Fault Types

configurations
Fig. 6.a shows the WT coefficients for symmetrical 3-
Fault Resistance phase fault “b-d-f” at 130 km of S1. Since Wo = 0 and the
1 st two consecutive reflections are with similar polarities,
Fig. 4 shows the WT coefficients of the modal transient the fault is at L1 and the fault location is130.5 km.
current for single line to ground fault ‘f-g’ at 25 km from
bus1 for a 135 0 fault inception angle and 400 • fault
W TC's of modal currents
2
resistance. Despite the WTC magnitude reduction, the +
wave shapes of the captured signals remain unchanged Wi
1
and accurate fault location is calculated as follows: t1=4.6,
t2=4.764 and t4=5.772, thus � =�1+�4. Hence, L1 is the 0
faulted line and the fault location is 24.6 km. The
obtained result proves that the introduced approach is
-1 W0
insensitive to the fault resistance. -
Time,ms
-2
2 5.4 5.6 5.8 6 6.2 6.4
W TC's of modal current

Fig. 6.a “b-d-f” fault at 130 km of line L1

1 +
t4 20 +
WTC's of modal current

0 15 t1
10 +
- t2 t3
-1 5
t1 0
- Time,ms -5 -
-2
4.5 5 5.5 6 -10
-15
Time,ms
Fig. 4 “f-g” fault at 25 km with • =135 o, Rf = 400 • -20
4.75 5.25 5.75
Fault Inception Angle
Fig. 6.b “c-d-e-f” fault at 60 km of line L2
Fig. 5 shows the WT coefficients for a single line to
ground fault ‘b-g’ at 50 km from bus1 for a zero fault Fig. 6.b shows the WT coefficients for 4-phase fault “c-d-
inception angle and 0.5 � fault resistance. The figure e-f” at 60 km of L2. Also, since (Wo = 0) and the 1 st two
shows that the level of signals are smaller than those with consecutive reflections are with opposite polarities the
higher fault inception angle, Fig. 3, but the propagation fault is on the adjacent line.
characteristics of the HF transients are similar. This
demonstrates that the proposed technique does not suffer Untransposed Line
from the limitation of a zero voltage fault inception angle
Due to untransposition a mutual coupling arises between
as other traditional traveling wave techniques.
the conductors which consequently affect significantly the
ground mode signal, whereas the aerial mode signals are
slightly affected. Since the introduced method is based on

UPEC 2007 - 255

 the aerial modes, the WT coefficients will not affected by [6] O. Rioul, and M. Vetterli, “Wavelet and signal
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Therefore, the proposed approach is suitable and accurate [7] O. Chaari, and M. Meunier, “Wavelets: a new tool for
for both the transposed and untransposed lines. resonant grounded power distribution systems relaying,”
IEEE Trans. On Power Delivery, Vol. 11, No. 3, July
20 + 1996, pp. 1301-1308.
WTC's of modal current

15 t1 [8] D. C. Robertson, and O. I. Camps, “Wavelets and

10 + electromagnetic power system transients,” IEEE Trans.
t3
5 On PWRD, Vol. 11, No. 2, April 1996, pp. 1050-1058.
0 [9] A. A. Hajjar, M.M. Mansour, and H. A. Talaat,
-5 - “Signal processing using wavelet transform for power
-10 transmission lines protection,” The 1 st IEEE ISSPIT
-15 Symposium, Dec. 28-30. 2001, Cairo, Egypt.
Time,ms [10] EMTDC, Manitoba HVDC Research Center,
-20
4.75 5.25 5.75 Canada, 1999.
[11] “Wavelet toolbox for use with MATLAB”, The Math
Fig.7 “6L” fault at 130 km of untransposed line L1 Work Inc, 1996.
[12] A. A. Hajjar, M.M. Mansour, and H. A. Talaat,
“Wavelets for six-phase transmission line relaying: fault
CONCLUSION classification and phase selection,” The 11th IEEE
MELECON 2002 Conference, May. 27-29. 2002, Cairo,
This paper introduced a new fault location technique
Egypt, accepted.
based on WT of the fault induced HF transients to be used
for six-phase transmission. The technique utilizes the WT
AUTHOR ADDRESS
for extracting the fault induced HF transient signals, and
the traveling waves theory for determining their Dr. Ammar Adnan Hajjar
consecutive arrival times. Studies show that the technique Department of Electrical Engineering
is accurate irrespective of the fault type, fault inception Tishreen University
angle and fault resistance. Moreover, it is not affected by Latakia, Syria
the line terminals and line transposition. The accuracy of Email: ammarhajjar@hotmail.com
the technique is proportional to the sampling frequency Or aahajjar@scs-net.org
rate; however the error in determining the fault location mmsmansour@ieee.org
in the worst case does not exceed 1.5 km. This accuracy
could be improved either by increasing the sampling
frequency rate or by using a smoothing algorithm.

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