Power line signalling based earth fault location

Abstract

Fault location in power networks is important as accurate information about the faulted line section expedites system restoration following a fault occurrence. A number of fault location methods have been proposed. Methods based on injecting a signal into the network and tracking it along the feeder appear to have received limited attention. In this study, fault location methods based on network signalling are examined. Two different types of approaches are presented. The first one is based on injection on a very low-frequency band, whereas the second one is based on utilising modern modulation technologies on low-frequency band, under 500 kHz, implemented on software-defined radios. The simulation results indicate the capability of the proposed methods in determining the location of a single phase-to-earth fault in medium-voltage distribution networks.