Arcing Faults Localization Using RF-Signal Angle of Arrival Method

Abstract

Accurate arcing fault location can be realized via wideband electromagnetic signal radiations from the arc source point. An overview of several existing literatures devoted to power arcing fault source location suggests some approaches which are as follows: Directional Finding method (DF), Angle of Arrival method (AoA), Time difference of Arrival (TDOA) method and Propagation Attenuation (PA) method. In this paper the joint TDOA and AoA is used to locate power arcing source point through real data measurement. The measurement principle is based on four strategically placed directional finding antennas to gather power arc electromagnetic signals radiations. Using the arc signals time difference of arrival at each antenna, the signals’ angles of arrival and TDOA are derived; subsequently the power arc source position is pin-pointed. The results show that the proposed algorithm works with as reasonable accuracy as other conventional methods. This proposed method could be used as a new adaptive solution for estimating efficiently the power arcing fault source position by integrating it to the distribution management system (DMS) and/or outage Management system (OMS) for accurate location of fault arcs, faster power supply restoration and minimized outage hours under real field conditions.