Abstract
Open conductor faults are causing socioeconomic problems worldwide owing to fires caused by arc generation and increased risk of human electric shock. Also, the recent increase in the interconnection of distributed generators (DGs) has further aggravated the difficulty in detecting open conductor faults. In this study, we proposed a detection method for open conductor faults in power distribution networks using multivariate measurement factors of feeder remote terminal units (RTUs). The proposed method has the following advantages over the existing methods. First, the applicability in actual networks has been secured by utilizing the measurement values detectable in a general RTU. We analyzed the characteristics of open conductor faults according to the fault type, transformer connection, DG, etc., which we devised detection procedures for RTUs at the source-side and load-side of the open conductor point and developed an algorithm for open conductor detection. Using the proposed detection method, each RTU derived three results of open conductor alarm, warning, and no detection. Second, the detection problem caused by the DG in the existing open conductor method was rectified. Also, the limitations of classification between open conductor fault and other events were improved. Simulations using Matlab Simulink for a standardized power distribution network proved that the proposed method has a higher open conductor detection rate and distinguishing capability compared to the existing methods. Lastly, we demonstrated the applicability of the proposed method to a real system by deriving the optimal detection criteria using a sensitivity analysis.
Highlights
An open conductor fault refers to an unintended opening of a 1-phase or 2-phase conductor in an energized state
Based on the analyzed characteristics, we proposed the flowchart for detecting open conductors using the open fault conditions (OFCs) of the remote terminal units (RTUs)
The proposed method systematically analyzed the characteristics of open conductor faults in a power distribution network
Summary
An open conductor fault refers to an unintended opening of a 1-phase or 2-phase conductor in an energized state. RTUs are commonly used in downtown areas in Europe and North America, and East Asia (e.g., Japan, Korea, and Taiwan) For their application in open conductor detection, the characteristics of open conductor faults based on RTU measurements were analyzed considering various power distribution network elements such as the fault type and fault path medium, transformer connection and iron core structure, and the number and capacity of loads and DG. The most serious and common problem associated with these methods is that it is impossible to identify events other than open conductor (e.g., ground fault, accident load rejection), as seen in comparison with the results of the first (undowned fault after open conductor) and second column (single phaseto-ground fault) of the table This means that the occurrence of an event may be detected but not specified, and it may be difficult to take action after the event has occurred. Depending on the network configuration, it can be difficult to apply methods using single detection factor of a RTU
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