Development of an adaptive single-pole auto-reclosure scheme for Alexandria HV transmission system

Arcing faults are the most common faults that occur in the 220 kV transmission line national grid of Egypt, in the vicinity of ´Alexandria´ city. In this paper the performance of this 220 kV TL network during arcing faults is studied with the aid of the PSCAD/EMTDC program together with a specially designed arcing fault custom model incorporated in the program. Several arcing faults are simulated, and its main characteristics are studied. Based upon the simulation results, an adaptive single-pole autoreclosure scheme is developed and tested. The developed scheme is found to be efficient in distinguishing between transient and permanent faults and in case of transient faults, determine the secondary arc extinction time.