Open conductor fault detection

Abstract

Detection of open live conductors is a challenging task in the power system operation since it acts as a high impedance fault. High impendence faults (HIF) characteristically has a very low current value which is often not detectable using conventional over current protection devices. Several methods of detecting these HIF have been put forward. These methods involve spectral analysis of currents, algorithms based on residual current analysis and detection of unbalanced voltages produced by the fault at the end of distribution line. This paper presents a method of detecting open conductor faults based on the sequence current component. Here the ratio of negative sequence current to positive sequence current is used as the detecting parameter and fault is detected through the unbalanced resulted in the system with the occurrence of the fault.