Fault Location in Radial Power Systems Based on Statistical Analysis

Due to the regulatory requirements related to power quality, the problem of fault location in electrical power systems has been consider as very important, specially in power distribution utilities. In this paper, a statistical classification algorithm based on fuzzy probability functions used to locate single phase faults in distribution systems is presented. The proposed algorithm is tested in a real power distribution system, having obtained average errors of 3.53% in faulted zone identification. An application example illustrates the precision, to locate the faulted zone, obtained with the proposed methodology. The proposal provides appropriate information for the prevention and opportune attention of faults, requires minimum investment and overcomes the multiple-estimation problem of the classic impedance based methods.