Feeder Protection and Monitoring System, Part I: Design, Implementation and Testing

This paper describes the development of a microcomputer-based Feeder Protection and Monitoring System at Texas A&M University. The Feeder Protection and Monitoring System includes an overcurrent relay to provide overcurrent protection for a distribution feeder and it includes an arcing fault detector which identifies some low current faults which are not cleared by overcurrent protection. The system also provides a monitoring capability which supports data storage and remote interaction with a user. The paper describes the design of the system, how the design was implemented, and the testing of three prototypes which were built for research purposes. These units properly demonstrated the overcurrent protection, arcing fault detection and monitoring functions of the system, as well as many of the features of power system automation.