High Impedance Fault Characterization on Single-Wire Earth Return Systems using Powerline Communication

Abstract

This paper presents a method of utilizing powerline communication (PLC) in the high impedance fault (HIF) detection on single-wire earth return (SWER) systems. The system impedance at normal and fault conditions are computed and compared for each of the frequency in the 1kHz to 100kHz band. Significant deviations from the normal system impedance imply the presence of HIF in the system. This HIF detection methodology is theoretically proven effective on SWER systems with no, single, and multiple branch topologies. HIFs on SWER systems are characterized using this methodology for both line to ground (tree branch touching the line) and broken conductor HIF scenarios. This HIF characterization can be the baseline in developing a more cost effective HIF detection system while the utilization of PLC techniques may be the solution to the network dependency of the existing HIF detection systems for SWER.