Distribution incipient faults and abnormal events: case studies from recorded field data

A typical distribution circuit consists of thousands of individual components, from transformers to switches to insulators. Failure of a single component can cause service quality and reliability problems for the entire circuit and even adjacent circuits. Under the sponsorship of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and with the cooperation of EPRI utility members, researchers at Texas A&M University have put in place an advanced, multi-site monitoring system. This system instruments dozens of circuits at multiple utility company substations across the United States and Canada. Extensive data from this multi-site monitoring system have documented numerous examples of incipient fault behavior preceding component failures.