A Noncontact Planar Microstrip Sensor for Power Line Fault Detection

Abstract

In this letter, a novel TM0 mode launcher is presented as a sensor for the fault detection on a single conductor line (SCL). The launcher is designed at 2.4 GHz frequency on an FR4 substrate with the microstrip technology. Simulated S-parameter results of the launcher are verified with the measured results of the fabricated prototype. Experiments are performed to demonstrate the signal propagation on a bent SCL, to measure the isolation between the launchers and to measure backward propagating signal. Open circuit fault location experiment is performed on a 6 m long cable using the Time domain reflectometry (TDR) technique. An average error of 0.15 m (5.04%) is observed in fault location. The proposed sensor is non-conductor-contact, non-intrusive, planar (16 cm*16 cm) and easy to install on the existing power lines for fault detection and power line communication.