Use of substation IED data for improved alarm processing and fault location

With the advent of technology, substations of modern days are being equipped with different types of IEDs (Intelligent Electronic Devices) such as Digital Protective Relay (DPR), Digital Fault Recorders (DFR), Phasor Measurement Units (PMU), etc. These devices are capable of recording huge amount of data and thus integration and appropriate use of those data can be beneficial to the power industry. There are several issues to be solved in this regard: (1) Which data to be used and when (for what application), (2) Accuracy of such data (in the measurement process from the place of data capture to where it is used), (3) Extraction of useful information from captured data and (4) Use of the information in applications. This paper focuses on these issues and also some new applications which can use those substation IED data.