Robust fault location of transmission lines by synchronised and unsynchronised wide-area current measurements

This study presents a novel method for fault location of transmission lines by multiple fault current measurements. In contrast to conventional methods, it is proposed to utilise several current measurements, which may be far from the faulted line. The circuit equations of the network are used to express each fault current as a function of fault location. Fault location is then estimated using a least-squares estimation technique. To achieve a robust estimation of fault location, statistical hypotheses-testing is employed for identifying erroneous measurements. The method is applicable to both synchronised and unsynchronised measurements. Moreover, fault location can be estimated regardless of fault type and fault resistance. Furthermore, the method considers the distributed parameter model of transmission line and therefore the results are highly accurate. Electromagnetic transient simulations for the western systems coordinating council 9-bus and a 22-bus test system reveal accurate wide-area fault location as well as successful removal of erroneous measurements.