Line Outage Detection Using Phasor Angle Measurements

Although phasor measurement units (PMUs) have become increasingly widespread throughout power networks, the buses monitored by PMUs still constitute a very small percentage of the total number of system buses. Our research explores methods to derive useful information from PMU data in spite of this limited coverage. In particular, we have developed an algorithm which uses known system topology information, together with PMU phasor angle measurements, to detect system line outages. In addition to determining the outaged line, the algorithm also provides an estimate of the pre-outage flow on the outaged line. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach, the algorithm is demonstrated using simulated and real PMU data from two systems - a 37-bus study case and the TVA control area.