Precise Traveling Wave-Based Transmission Line Fault Location Method Using Single-Ended Data

In this article, an accurate single-ended traveling wave-based fault location method is proposed for transmission lines with the inputs as the first three arrival times of traveling wave wavefronts and wave velocity of the line. In the calculation process, two fault distances are obtained considering the fault in the first or second half segment of the line by using the first (incident) and second (reflected) wavefronts. The third wavefront is then used to determine the faulted half segment and thereby select the correct fault distance out of the two. The technique is economical, and it does not require communication. The proposed technique is verified on a 400 kV, 50 Hz, 150 km two-terminal line using EMTDC simulations with a realistic line model. The performance of the method is evaluated for different fault locations, fault inception angles, and fault resistances. The test results obtained by the proposed method are compared with a practically proven two-terminal communication-based method and are found to be accurate.