Challenges of Fault Localization in MV Distribution Systems Based on Traveling Waves

Abstract

The significance of reliable and fast fault localization is rising due to the increasing security and reliability demands of modern power systems. The utilization of traveling waves for fault localization is a prospective technique that has demonstrated successful implementation in transmission networks. Despite the effectiveness of this fault localization technique in transmission systems, its implementation in distribution networks is challenging due to the complex network configurations and the large number of interconnected components. The goal of this study is to investigate how the detectability of traveling waves in distribution networks is impacted by a more complex network structure and a higher number of interconnected transformers. Consequently, ATPDraw was used to construct and simulate three distribution networks with increasing complexity and varying numbers of service transformers. The results suggest that the capacitance of the service transformers can significantly affect the signal strength that can be measured. Additionally, the transformer capacitance tends to delay the arrival time of the fault surge at the measurement locations when multiple service transformers are present between the fault and measurement location. This highlights the importance of carefully selecting the measurement location within the distribution network to enable efficient fault localization.