High Impedance Fault Detection in Distribution Systems Using a Method Based on Similarity Measurement

Subject Areas : Power Engineering

Ammar Abduladheem Ahmed Dibes ¹ , Mohammad Mahdi Rezaei ²

1 - Department of Electrical Engineering, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan, Isfahan, Iran
2 - Department of Electrical Engineering, Khomeinishahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomeinishahr, Isfahan, Iran

Received: 2024-02-24 Accepted : 2024-05-24 Published : 2025-06-20

Keywords: High impedance fault, Distribution networks, Similarity measurement, Load switching, Capacitor switching,

Abstract :

The electric arc is one of the most intense electrical events. This phenomenon occurs due to the electric discharge between two conductors or between a conductor and the ground, through the air. When the short-circuit current intensity is high, it can be easily detected by traditional protection equipment. However, when the short-circuit current is low, traditional protection methods cannot detect these faults. Faults that do not generate enough fault current to be detected by conventional protective equipment are called high-impedance faults (HIFs). HIFs can cause serious safety hazards in power distribution systems and damage to equipment due to the risk of arc ignition. This paper presents a new detection scheme for HIFs in electrical distribution systems based on similarity measurement. In this method, based on the waveform of two consecutive half-cycles of the current, an index is extracted that can be used to detect HIFs. The proposed HIF detection algorithm can distinguish these events from other non-fault events with waveforms that may be similar to HIF waveforms. In this paper, four case studies are simulated to verify the proposed HIF detection algorithm. The simulation results demonstrate the acceptable performance of the proposed method in detecting HIFs and distinguishing them from other events.

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