Distortion-Controllable Arc Modeling for High Impedance Arc Fault in the Distribution Network

Abstract

Accurate modeling of arc is significant for the researches on the high impedance arcing fault (HIAF), which performs variations of nonlinear distortions under different fault conditions. The diversity of the waveform distortions during HIAFs is rarely investigated previously. This paper proposes a black-box HIAF model to simulate the nonlinear distortions of currents with improved controllability and higher accuracy. Firstly, with field HIAFs experimented in a 10 kV distribution network, three major characteristics varying in the distortions of currents are summarized and illustrated, including the offset, extent, and duration. Secondly, a distortion-controllable (DIST-C) HIAF model is proposed based on the heat balance equation after mathematical assumptions and transformations. The three characteristics of distortions can be independently controlled by the proposed model, specifically, by the three parameters with practical meanings. After illustrating the implementation of the model in PSCAD, an automatic parameter determination method is presented by taking advantage of the particle swarm optimization in a Python-PSCAD-MATLAB co-simulation platform. Finally, the controllability and accuracy of the proposed model are verified by comparing it with the existing typical black-box models.