Systems and methods for determining location of a fault on an electric utility power distribution system

摘要

A power line fault locating system employing combinations of conducted electrical transient signals recorded at specific points in the power delivery network, radiated electromagnetic signals produced by the air- gap arc preceeding the fault current or by the lightning discharge causing the fault, and knowledge of the power line path associated therewith. The arrival time of conducted transient signals produced by the fault are detected with microsecond accuracy through use of a fault recording sensor (FRS). The low level electromagnetic radiation (VHF/UHF) caused by arcing associated with power line faults is detected at at least one arc detection sensor (ADS) located at some distance from the power line. The ADS senses the time of arrival of the radiated signal associated with the fault. These two sensors for detecting the conducted and radiated signals are coupled to a central power line fault locating analyzer (PLFLA) that receives and manipulates the information using appropriate algorithms and databanks containing geographical maps of electric utility power systems, to arrive at the power line fault location. In an alternative system embodiment, multiple ADS units located about a power distribution network determine the time of arrival of arcing information which is communicated to the PLFLA to determine the power line fault location. In a related system, the precise time of occurrence of a lightning discharge associated with a lightning-caused power line fault is combined with the arrival time of conducted signals from at least one FRS and communicated to a PLFLA.