Study of influence of transient resistance on distance fault location based on one-sided method

Fault location on 110–220 kV overhead power lines is one of the main functions of modern relay protection devices. Currently, the actual errors of fault location based on emergency mode (EM) parameters in most cases are about 5 %. However, there are cases when they exceed 10–20 %. One-sided fault location based on EM parameters and improvement of its accuracy are important issues to study since there isn’t a communication channel on power lines for the transmission of emergency information everywhere. The main parameter that has a significant impact on the accuracy of fault location method is the transient resistance. The aim of the research is to study the effect of transient resistance on the one-sided fault location method based on EM parameters proposed by A.E. Arzhannikov. In the course of the study, the following tasks are set: assessment of the effect of transient resistance on the accuracy of the specified fault location method; determination of the polarizing value for fault location, which ensures greater accuracy of the method, including the presence of transient resistance at the place of a short circuit; defining a criterion to recognize the type of short circuit that does not depend on the transient resistance; development of a method to determine the value of the transient resistance at the fault location. To study and evaluate the errors of distance fault location based on EM parameters, a series of calculations of short circuit currents has been made for various transient resistances at the fault location and at various distances of the fault. The calculation of currents and data processing has been carried out in the ARM SRZA software package. A single overhead line with a voltage of 110 kV with a two-sided supply and a length of 70 km is chosen as the object under study. To perform the research, the primary converters are taken as ideal. The authors have obtained the estimation of the errors of the one-sided fault location method. It is proposed to use the zero-sequence current as a polarizing quantity in the indicated fault location method, which provides greater accuracy than the use of the negative sequence current. To ensure the stable operation of one-sided fault location based on EM parameters, especially in case of short circuit with significant transient resistances, the use of methods that are insensitive to transient resistances is justified. A parameter to identify the type of short circuit is proposed, the coefficient of the image Kobr. Its values are determined for each type of short circuit, a small dependence on transient resistances is found. A calculation substantiation is given for the value of the identification coefficient of two-phase faults (Phase-to-Phase and Phases-to-Earth) according to the ratio of negative and zero sequence currents. The authors have estimated the transient resistance at the fault site by the ratio of symmetrical components for the simulated power transmission line. The results of the study can be used to improve the existing methods of fault location based on EM parameters, namely: to improve their accuracy considering the transient resistance at the fault site; to improve their accuracy using a suitable polarizing value; to determine the type of short circuit more accurately by using the proposed identification parameter.