Fault Analysis

POWER SYSTEM

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Fault Analysis

Introduction to fault
 The fault is the abnormal condition of the electrical system that damages the electri-
cal equipment system that damages the electrical equipment and disturbs the nor-
mal flow of the electric current.

 The purpose of fault analysis is to design switchgear or effective protective system.

 Fault is only limited by reactances. Therefore, fault current is highly lagging low
power factor current.

 Fault is a low voltage high current high frequency highly lagging low power factor
phenomenon.

Classification of faults
Electrical faults in three-phase power system mainly classified into two types, namely
open and short circuit faults.

Open circuit faults

 These faults occur due to the failure of one or more conductors. The most common
causes of these faults include joint failures of cables and overhead lines, and failure
of one or more phase of circuit breaker and also due to melting of a fuse or conduc-
tor in one or more phases.

 Open circuit faults are also called as series faults. These are unsymmetrical or un-
balanced type of faults except three phase open fault.

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Type of open circuit faults

 Single phase open circuit fault

 Two phase open circuit fault

 Three phase open circuit fault

Shunt faults
The shunt fault involves short circuit between conductor and ground or short circuit
between two or more conductors.

The shunt faults are characterized by

Increase in current

Fall in voltage

Fall in frequency

Shunt faults are classified as follows -

Single line to Ground fault (LG fault - 85% chances) (Unsymmetrical faults)

Line to Line fault (LL fault - 5% chances) (Unsymmetrical faults)

Double line to Ground fault (LLG fault - 7% chances) (Unsymmetrical faults)

Three phase faults (Symmetrical faults)

Note:

 Most frequent fault is line to ground fault while rarest fault is 3-phase fault.

 The most severe fault is 3-phase fault.

 Whenever fault occur in transmission line, symmetrical fault is most severe.

 Whenever fault occur at the terminals of Generator, LG fault is most severe.

 The order of frequency of occurrence: LG > LL > LLG > LLL

 The order of severity of faults: LLL > LLG > LL > LG

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 A dead short is a short circuit that creates no real resistance, allowing the amper-
age to build up until it trips the circuit breaker.

 In case of 3 Phase Short circuit in a system, the power fed into the system is mostly
reactive.

Faults in underground cables

The following are the faults most likely to occur in underground cables

Open-circuit fault
When there is a break in the conductor of a cable, it is called open circuit fault. The
open-circuit fault can be checked by a megger.

Short-circuit fault
When two conductors of a multi-core cable come in electrical contact with each other
due to insulation failure, it is called a short-circuit fault. We can check this fault with the
help of megger.

Earth fault
 When the conductor of a cable comes in contact with earth, it is called earth fault or
ground fault. To identify this fault, one terminal of the megger is connected to the
conductor and the other terminal connected to earth. If the megger indicates zero
reading, it means the conductor is earthed.

 Methods used for localizing ground and short circuit faults are:

 Murray loop test

 Varley loop test

 Fisher loop test

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Fault level or fault MVA or short circuit

MVA

Where,

X = Thevenin’s equivalent reactance between fault point and zero power bus
(ZPB)

Thus, series reactors reduce the short circuit MVA of the circuit breaker that is installed
to protect the equipment.

Current Limiting Reactor

 It is also known as a Fault limiting reactor.

 It is used for limiting short circuit currents during fault conditions.

 It is installed in feeders and ties, in generators leads, and between bus sections.

 As the resistance of the system is very small as compared to their reactance.

Hence, the efficiency of the system is not much affected.

Functions –

 The current limiting reactor reduces the flow of short circuit current.

 The current reactor reduced the magnitude of voltage disturbances which is caused
by short circuits.

 It limits the fault current to flow into the healthy feeders or parts of the system,
thereby avoiding the fault from spreading.

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Drawbacks –

 When the reactor is installed on the network, the total percentage reactance of the
circuit increases.

 It decreases the power factor and thus the regulation becomes poorer.

Current rating of circuit Breakers

 Momentary current rating (rms) = 1.6 (Sub transient fault current through cir-
cuit breaker)

 Interrupting current rating (rms) = M (Symmetrical interrupting current

through circuit breaker)

Speed of CB M

8 cycles 1

5 cycles 1.1

3 cycles 1.2

2 cycles 1.4

Note: If short circuit MVA > 500, then each factor is increased by 0.1

Procedure of 3 - ϕ fault study

Step 1: Draw per phase per unit equivalent circuit for the given single line dia-
gram.

Step 2: Next, find Thevenin equivalent circuit between fault point & reference of
the system.

Step 3: Now, connect the fault point to the reference to simulate 3 – phase fault.

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Unsymmetrical fault Analysis

Symmetrical components
Any unbalanced system of n phasors can be resolved into the n-system of balanced
phasors. These subsystems of balanced phasors are called symmetrical components.
These are used in the analysis of unbalanced three-phase faults.

 Alpha operator (α)

α = 1∠120°

Va = Va

Vb = α2Va

Vc = αVa

Any phasor when multiplied with α – operator rotates anticlockwise by 120°.

 Positive sequence components

 Set of three phasors equal in magnitude, displaced from each other by 120°
in phase, and having the same phase sequence as the original phasors con-
stitute positive sequence components. They are denoted by suffix 1.

 Negative sequence components

 Set of three phasors equal in magnitude, displaced from each other by 120°
in phase, and having phase sequence opposite to that original phasors con-
stitute the negative sequence component. They are denoted by suffix 2.

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 Zero sequence components:

 The set of three phasors equal in magnitude and all phases (with no mutual
phase displacement) constitute zero sequence components. They are de-
noted by suffix 0.

Note: -

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Points to Remember
Case 1: For Delta connected system:

 Zero sequence component of line current

 Positive sequence component of line current = √3 positive sequence compo-

nent of phase current and lag phase current by 30°

 Negative sequence component (line) lead the phase current by 30°.

Case 2: For star connected system:

 Zero sequence component of current in isolated neutral star connected us

zero.

 Zero sequence component of line voltage is always zero.

 Positive sequence component of line voltage is always zero.

 Positive sequence component of line voltage = √3 × positive component of

phase voltage

Power in terms of symmetrical

components

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Switch diagram for zero-sequence

Network of 3 - ϕ transformer

Line to ground (LG) fault

 All sequence networks are connected in series.

Where,

Ea = phase voltage

Note -

 If the star point of an alternator is solidly grounded, the zero-sequence net imped-
ance = Z0

 If the star point of an alternator is grounded through a resistance R n, the zero-

sequence net impedance = Z0 + 3Rn

 If the star point of an alternator is grounded through a reactance Xn, the zero-
sequence net impedance = Z0 + 3Xn

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 If the star point of an alternator is grounded through a impedance Z n, the zero-

sequence net impedance = Z0 + 3Zn

Line to Line (LL) fault

 Positive & Negative sequence Networks are connected in series opposition.

Double line to ground fault (LLG)

All sequence networks are connected in parallel.

Comparison of three phase fault & line

to ground fault on the terminal of
generator

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Case 1: For solidly grounded generator

Case 2: Generator Neutral Ground with impedance Z n ≠ 0

 For same severity

Note:

Synchronous M/C Transformer Transmission line

Z1 Zs + 2Zm Zs - Zm Zs - Zm

Z2 Zs - Zm Zs - Zm Zs - Zm

Z0 Zs - 2Zm Zs - 2Zm Zs + 2Zm

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