High-speed auxiliary fault location element for distance relays in double-circuit lines

Abstract

In multi-zone distance relays, zone-2 has an intentional time delay which is considered for the coordination among the other distance relays. This delay is unnecessary for faults that occur at the end of the protected line and causes the fault to be cleared after hundreds of milliseconds. On the other hand, high-speed fault clearance is an important issue of ensuring the stability of the power system. To address the above problem, an auxiliary fault location (AFL) element based on the proper Kirchhoff voltage law (KVL) loop in the negative- and zero-sequence circuits are designed for distance relays. The input signals to the AFL are the measured signals by local distance relay. The proposed AFL can reduce the zone-2 intentional time delay from 18-28 cycles to 3 cycles. In addition to this, AFL can improve limitations associated with similar methods such as the dependence of these methods to the fault resistance, remote source impedances, and line parameters variation. The AFL can accurately calculate the fault location, before issuing a trip command. Furthermore, to increase the accuracy, the shunt capacitances of the line are compensated by the algorithm. Numerous PSCAD simulation studies verify the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed scheme.