A new PMU-based fault location algorithm for series compensated lines

This paper presents a new fault location algorithm based on phasor measurement units (PMUs) for series compensated lines. Traditionally, the voltage drop of series device is computed by the device model in the fault locator of series compensated lines, but using this approach errors are induced by the inaccuracy of the series device model or the uncertainty operation mode of the series device. The proposed algorithm does not utilize the series device model and knowledge of the operation mode of the series device to compute the voltage drop during the fault period. Instead, the proposed algorithm uses two-step algorithm, prelocation step and correction step, to calculate the voltage drop and fault location. The proposed technique can be easily applied to any series FACTS compensated line. EMTP generated data using a 30-km 34-kV transmission line has been used to test the accuracy of the proposed algorithm. The tested cases include various fault types, fault locations, fault resistances, fault inception angles, etc. The study also considers the effect of various operation modes of the compensated device during the fault period. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm can achieve up to 99.95% accuracy for most tested cases.