Typical schemes of feeder automation for rural areas of China

In China, some electric power companies of rural areas have installed many kinds of devices and systems supporting distribution automation systems (DAS). This paper generalized prerequisite for DAS, such as improving the network structure and reinforcing management. The practical application situations of centralized control mode are described. Three types of local control mode DAS are analyzed, including: fault indicator type, voltage-time type and voltage-current-time type. Protective setting coordination of different switches on feeders is analyzed. Some improvements have been made to reduce the outage shock on fault processing, such as simple master station and limitation of the range of protective setting of reclosers. In China, most distribution networks are configured as small current grounded systems; three methods to select the single-phase-to-ground fault feeder are analyzed, including: 1) fault selection devices in substation, 2) combination of substation devices with pole mounted field terminal units (FTUs) and 3) automatic tripping and judging the fault feeder. Considering the extreme climate of north and southern areas of China, the designs of batteries and terminals are generalized.