Transient Fault Detection and Location in Power Distribution Network: A Review of Current Practices and Challenges in Malaysia

Abstract

An auto-restoration tool to minimize the impact of faults is one of the critical requirements in a power distribution system. A fault-monitoring system is needed for practical remote supervision to identify faults and reduce their impacts, and thus reduce economic losses. An effective fault-monitoring system is beneficial to improve the reliability of a protection system when faults evolve. Therefore, fault monitoring could play an important role in enhancing the safety standards of systems. Among the various fault occurrences, the transient fault is a prominent cause in Malaysia power systems but gains less attention due to its ability of self-clearance, although sometimes it unnecessarily triggers the operation of protection systems. However, the transient fault is an issue that must be addressed based on its effect that can lead to outages and short-circuits if prolonged. In this study, the authors summarize the guidelines and related standards of fault interaction associated with a monitoring system. The necessity of transient fault detection and location techniques and their limitations, the need for signal processing, as well as recommended practices, are also discussed in this paper. Some of the practices from local power utility are also shared, indicating the current approaches, key challenges, and the opportunities for improvement of fault-monitoring systems due to transient fault, which can be correlated with the reviews provided.

Active Distribution Network Fault Diagnosis Based on Improved Northern Goshawk Search Algorithm

“…Due to the access of DGs, when a fault occurs, the fault characteristics of ADNs are quite different from those of traditional distribution networks [10], which can be mainly summarized as follows: (1) The location of access points and the access capacity of DGs affect the direction of the system power flow and the amplitude of the fault current [11]. (2) The outputs of each DG are uncertain, causing uncertainty in the fault transient process.…”

ML-Based Intermittent Fault Detection, Classification, and Branch Identification in a Distribution Network

“…Due to their ability to self-clear, intermittent faults are less concerning, despite having a high risk of short-circuiting. The power quality issue is another problem caused by intermittent faults [9]. Due to the limited research focusing on intermittent faults, there are no specific methods employed to detect them.…”

Discrete Wavelet Transform Application to Three-Phase Power System Short Circuit Fault Detection

“…As a result, transmission lines can be seen as the arteries of the power system network that expand over several miles and act as an interconnection between power stations and consumers. Meanwhile, environmental effects on the open space transmission lines could cause fault occurrences in the power system [1]. In normal businesses operation and daily tasks, people's lives are seriously affected by the fault of the power system.…”

“…In [8,15], about 70% of blackouts can be associated with power relay malfunction, which allows faulty tripping. Several loads are extremely sensitive to voltage sags, and several studies have investigated power relay setting by synchronizing delay and islanding [1]. Yet, a slower delay setting may cause serious load damage and fast tripping will cause excessive load isolation and shedding [2].…”