Journal Article

Application of synchronised phasor measurements to wide-area fault diagnosis and location

Salehi-Dobakhshari, Ahmad, Ranjbar, Ali Mohammad

2014

Overview

This study introduces a novel approach to power system fault diagnosis by synchronised phasor measurements. Conventionally, faults are diagnosed through the status of protective relays and circuit breakers which are activated following a fault. However, the hidden failures of the protection system has itself often been among the main suspects of partial or widespread blackouts. This study proposes an alternative fault diagnosis approach independent of the function of the protection system. An analytical method is introduced for power system fault diagnosis using dispersed synchronised measurements and bus impedance matrix (Zbus). Fault inception is first detected by local phasor measurement units (PMUs). Fault diagnosis is then carried out in a hierarchical manner so that first the faulted zone of the system is diagnosed, next the faulted line in the faulted zone is diagnosed and finally the fault point along the diagnosed line is located by gradient descent. The proposed method is applied to the WSCC 9-bus, where fault incidents on all of the transmission lines are examined. Moreover, the proposed method is successfully applied to the IEEE 118-bus test system consisting of 28 PMUs, which demonstrates successful fault diagnosis and location for a large-scale power system despite the limited coverage of PMUs.

• Publisher: The Institution of Engineering and Technology,Institution of Engineering and Technology,The Institution of Engineering & Technology
• Subject: Applied sciences / Blackout / bus impedance matrix / Buses (vehicles) / circuit breakers / Connection and protection apparatus / Descent / dispersed synchronised measurements / Disturbances. Regulation. Protection / Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering / Electrical power engineering / Exact sciences and technology / failure analysis / Fault diagnosis / fault inception / fault location / faulted line / faulted zone / Faults / gradient descent / gradient methods / IEEE 118‐bus test system / Impedance matrix / large‐scale power system / local phasor measurement units / local PMU / Mathematical analysis / Operation. Load control. Reliability / partial blackouts / phasor measurement / Phasors / Position (location) / Power networks and lines / power system fault diagnosis / power system faults / power system protection / power transmission lines / protection system failures / Protection systems / protective relays / synchronisation / synchronised phasor measurements / Testing. Reliability. Quality control / transmission lines / widespread blackouts / wide‐area fault diagnosis / wide‐area fault location / WSCC 9‐bus