Experimental investigation of high impedance faults in low voltage distribution networks

The aim of this paper is to visualize the general characteristics of downed conductor faults occurring in Low Voltage (LV) distribution networks. These faults when occur in rural areas are potentially life-threatening and may start fires with fault arcs. Moreover, these faults are usually characterized with very low fault currents resulting from the accompanied high fault impedance according to the surface of the faulted area. This consequently inhibits to detect these faults with conventional current-based relaying functions. Towards the paper goal, the properties of different experimental arcing fault cases are analyzed covering different fault sequences and different types faulted surface area. The obtained results assist to realize a better understanding of the prosperities of these faults and supervise the next steps aiming to get a practical, versatile and low-cost fault detector for such faults.