A tabu search approach to fault section estimation in power systems

In this paper, a new method for fault section estimation in power systems based upon the set covering theory and tabu search (TS) technique is proposed. First, a new mathematical model for the fault section estimation problem is developed based upon the simulation of protection system behavior and the well developed parsimonious set covering theory. Secondly, a new method is presented to solve this problem using a TS based method, in order to find the global optimal solution(s) efficiently. Finally, a sample power system is used to demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of the developed method. The comparison between the developed TS based and the existing genetic algorithm (GA) based approaches to the fault section estimation problem has also been carried out, and many simulation results show that the TS based approach is more efficient than the GA based approach. The key features of this proposed method are that it can deal with very complicated fault scenarios and can find multiple global optimal solutions directly and very efficiently in a single run. Test results suggest that the developed TS based method is very efficient and of promise for on-line applications.