EMTAG: A tool for animating electromagnetic transients in transmission lines

In this work, a MATLAB application is developed based on a transmission line model defined in the q-s domain (spatial-temporal frequency) for the generation of animations of electromagnetic transients in single phase transmission lines. This application can create animations of the transient response of transmission lines excited either by a voltage source connected at its sending node or by an incident electromagnetic field generated by an indirect lightning stroke (illuminated line). Since the line model is defined in the frequency domain, the frequency dependence of the line's electrical parameters can be incorporated in the solution in a straightforward manner. This tool is a powerful and user-friendly interface that can be used for research and educational purposes.

I. Introduction

The analysis of electromagnetic transients in electrical power networks is of great importance for the determination of overvoltages and overcurrents that can occur in transmission lines. Since these events can cause failures in the power network they must be estimated as accurately as possible. The software used to simulate this kind of phenomena usually provides voltage and current information only at the line's ends. Hence, if an overvoltage or overcurrent occurs at an interior point of the line it will not be easily detected.