A New Method for Fault Location in Distribution Networks Based on Voltage Sag Measurements

Abstract

This paper presents an innovative method for fault location in distribution networks based on classical circuit analyses. Two synchronized and few nonsynchronized pre- and during-fault voltages are required at few buses along with the impedance matrix. A new impedance matrix manipulation procedure is proposed so that the distribution system is investigated in partitions across multiple subsystems. This procedure allows the fault location process to be performed by solving systems of determined equations, making the method more technically accessible. The fault is located by analyzing the voltage sag at the terminal-bus of each subsystem separately. The proposed method is validated on the IEEE 33-bus, 12.66 kV distribution system with/without distributed generation (DG). Simulation results show the robustness and accuracy of the method under several pre- and during-fault scenarios and measurements errors.