FFT based fault location algorithm for transmission lines

To maintain continuity of electrical energy, fast clearance of a fault is needed, which requires accurate determination of the fault location on transmission lines. This paper proposes a method for fault location, which is based on time to frequency domain transformation of measured data after fault by using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency of the first harmonic is utilized for determination of the fault location using travelling wave theory. The results show that the accuracy of the method is not affected by the fault resistance and phase angle of fault instant.