Classification of ground faults in distribution lines according to phase-phase trajectories of waveforms

Recently, a greater demand for stable supply of electric power has resulted from a higher standard of living. It becomes important that the causes and locations of ground faults in distribution lines be found early and defects be repaired as soon as possible. Therefore, a unit for recording the waveform I-0 of ground fault's current and the waveform V-0 of its voltage is installed in distribution substations. The establishment of a technology to distinguish fault causes automatically is being hastened. This paper presents a new classification method for ground fault waveforms, based on phase-plane trajectories for the current or voltage and their differential values. Examinations of ground fault waveforms based on real data shows that the waveform of current I-0 is more suitable than that of voltage V-0 for the classification of waveforms at ground faults and that the trajectory of each of the three types of waveforms, such as sine waves, trapezoidal waves, and spikes, has all of the characteristics in its figure. It is also found from the distribution of 167 sampling points on the phase plane that any waveforms at a real ground fault may be classified into three characteristic point distributions, which gives the possibility of easy display for the classification of ground fault causes. (C) 1998 Scripta Technica.