Fault Location in Distribution Networks Using Zero-Mode Traveling Wave Mutation of Reclosing

Abstract

In a multi-branch distribution network, it is difficult to extract the traveling waves after multiple reflections. According to the characteristics of the reclosing traveling wave and wave propagation from the fault point, it is proved that the zero-mode voltage traveling wave has a sudden change at the fault point and can be used to identify the reflected traveling wave from the fault point. A fault location algorithm is proposed for complex distribution networks. To caculate the fault distance, the wavelet packet transform is used to determine the arrival time of reflected traveling waves. When the fault distance corresponds to multiple fault branches, the fault branch can be located according to the direction of the zero sequence current at both ends of the normal line and the fault line. An electromagnetic transient simulation model is built in PSCAD/EMTDC. The results show that the proposed method is not affected by fault distance and ground resistance.