Enhanced distribution feeder fault location

Abstract

Accurate fault location in distribution networks of power systems is an essential technology, yet faces more challenges than that in transmission systems. This paper presents a novel method for feeder fault location using current/voltage sensors sparsely deployed in the network. Depending on the available sensor locations relative to the fault and the lateral conditions, the algorithm searches every possible path and calculates the fault distance and fault resistance by reducing the circuit to one of the two representative scenarios. The proposed scheme has been examined and validated in a 24.9 kV IEEE radial feeder system.