Feeder Protection and Monitoring System, Part II: Staged Fault Test Demonstration

This paper describes the demonstration of three Texas A&M University experimental Feeder Protection and Monitoring Systems during staged fault tests at Houston Lighting and Power and at Public Service Company of New Mexico. The purpose of the experimental devices is to demonstrate improvements in the protection and monitoring capabilities of distribution relays. The Feeder Protection and Monitoring System is a microcomputer-based device installed at a distribution substation which includes arcing fault detection and overcurrent relaying. The arcing fault detector identifies many ground faults which exhibit current too low to be picked up by overcurrent devices. The digital overcurrent relay provides several enhancements over electromechanical relays. The system also demonstrates some of the advantages of computer automation of distribution protective devices by providing remote monitoring, data retrieval and adjustment of settings. These features of the Feeder Protection and Monitoring System were demonstrated during the staged fault tests. The paper includes plotted data and logs of the system performance during the fault tests.