e-ISSN: 2582-5208

International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science

( Peer-Reviewed, Open Access, Fully Refereed International Journal )
Volume:05/Issue:05/May-2023 Impact Factor- 7.868 www.irjmets.com
REAL TIME FAULT DETECTION IN TRANSMISSION LINE USING IOT
Vilas Mahure*1, Akhil Chhanikar*2, Achal Wabhude*3, Sadhana Bisen*4,
Manish Agrawal*5, Harshal T. Ghatole*6, Saniya Khan*7, Vaishali Dhanwate*8
*1,2,3,4Student, Department Of Electrical Engineering, Guru Nanak Institute Of Engineering
And Technology, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
*5,6,7,8Professor, Department Of Electrical Engineering, Guru Nanak Institute Of Engineering
And Technology, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
ABSTRACT
Globally, there are three phases in electric power supply system. These encompass the generation phase, the
transmission phase and the distribution phase. Each of these phases involves certain distinct production
processes, work activities and hazards. In this project, there is analysis for a single phase 230V two
transmission lines for the demo purpose. By creating manual fault with the help of switch, the ARM7
microcontroller has been used to detect the fault. Microcontroller continuously monitoring the fault sense. Once
short circuit is found, the controller immediately receives the Global Positioning System (GPS) data and sends
the location co-ordinates to the server via Wi-Fi Module. Using Internet of things (IoT), transmission line can be
monitored anywhere in the world by checking in the web. The system automatically detects and classifies these
faults.
Keywords: Iot, Fault Detection, Transmission Line, Microcontroller, Sensors.
I. INTRODUCTION
One of the most important components of the electricity system is the transmission network. When compared
to other sections of the power system, transmission and distribution network losses are considered to be
extremely high. The IOT base Transmission fault detection system can detect the fault when the line breaks
down and it also shuts down the power supply through the faulty line until the operator shuts down the entire
line once there is an confirmation of the fault. The system monitors the line fault in sequence for 3 lines namely
R, Yand B phases. Once if fault is detected, the system sends the notification to the line monitoring station and it
also provides the information about the faulty line.
The Electric Power System is divided into many different sections. One of which is the transmission system
where the power is transmitted from generating stations and substations via transmission lines into
consumers. Both methods could encounter various types of malfunctions is usually referred to as a “Fault”.
Fault is simply defined as a number of undesirable but unavoidable incidents that can temporarily disturb the
stable condition of the power system which occurs during the insulation of the system fails at any point.
Moreover, if a conducting object comes in contact with a bare power conductor then a short circuit or fault is
said to have an occurrence. The causes of faults are included into lighting, wind damage, trees falling across
transmission lines, vehicles or aircraft colliding with the transmission towers or poles, birds shorting lines or
vandalism. In India, it is common that the faults might be LG (Line to Ground), LL (Line to Line), 3L (Three
lines) in the supply systems and these faults in three phase supply system can affect the power system. This
paper presents a framework for designing a real-time data transmission network that is cost-effective. Sensors
are installed in various components of the power network to monitor the status of the power system in real
time.
II. FAULTS IN TRANSMISSION LINE
Open circuit fault: Failure of one or more conductors causes these faults. Joint failures of cables and overhead
lines, failure of one or more phases of a circuit breaker and melting of a fuse or conductor in one or more
phases are among the most common causes of these faults. A series fault is the same as an open circuit fault.
Except for three-phase open faults, these are unsymmetrical or unbalanced faults.
Short circuit fault: A short circuit is an abnormally low-impedance connection between two points of different
potential whether intentionally or accidentally made. These are the most common and dangerous types of
faults which cause abnormally high currents to flow through equipment or transmission lines. Shunt faults are
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 e-ISSN: 2582-5208
International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
( Peer-Reviewed, Open Access, Fully Refereed International Journal )
Volume:05/Issue:05/May-2023 Impact Factor- 7.868 www.irjmets.com
another name for short circuit faults. Insulation failure between phase conductors, between earth and phase
conductors or both causes these faults. Three phases to earth, phase to phase, single phase to earth, two phase
to earth and phase to phase are all possible short circuit fault conditions. A sudden change in voltage occurs
when a fault occurs. If not corrected immediately, this voltage change could cause serious system damage.
Symmetrical Fault: A symmetrical fault is a fault where all phases are affected so that the system remains
balanced. A three-phase fault is a symmetrical fault. In this fault, all phases are short circuits to each other and
often to earth. Such fault is balanced in the sense that the system remains symmetrical.
Unsymmetrical Fault: Unsymmetrical faults involve only one or two phases. In unsymmetrical faults, the
three-phase line becomes unbalanced. Such type of faults occurs between the lines to ground or between lines.
An unsymmetrical series of faults is between phases or between phase to ground whereas unsymmetrical shunt
fault is unbalanced in the line impedance.
Table 1: Fault characteristics

III. FAULT DETECTION METHODS

Online method
This method utilizes and processes the sampled voltages and current to determine the fault points.
Offline method
In this method, special instrument is used to test out service of cable in the field. Existing system used for offline
method. This method can be divided into two methods. They are tracer method and terminal method.
IV. EXISTING SYSTEM
When a power line is cut off, the sensor will sense the power cut and send a signal to the Wi-Fi module that the
power line is cut off. The Wi-Fi will send data to cloud module the it will send a message to the nearest
electricity board regarding the power cut. Simultaneously a buzzer starts buzzing to alert the people and
animals around the area about the damage. The current system used in most rural areas is that when the power
line is damaged, the electricity board disconnects the main power supply of that area until the system is back
running.
V. PROPOSED SYSTEM
An IoT-enabled overhead cable fault detection system is proposed. The proposed system is intended to
automatically detect faults when they occur then analyze the fault to determine the type. It’s also send the
information based on the fault type and fault location to the control room via GSM. The device location is
determined by the SIM card in the modem. Each SIM card having a unique identification and hence it is used as
the device’s address. The system senses, analyses and transmits. It does this work with the microcontroller
which analyses, interprets and sends digital signals to the I/O devices for the system to operate. By
programming, the microcontroller is made to perform these functions.
VI. ADVANTAGES
1. Easy for lineman to identify the fault location.
2. It will be helpful in faster restore the services in village as well in city.
3. Maintain reports of fault with location using internet of things.
4. Less number of components and manual observations.

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International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
( Peer-Reviewed, Open Access, Fully Refereed International Journal )
Volume:05/Issue:05/May-2023 Impact Factor- 7.868 www.irjmets.com
5. It is economically reliable low cost.
6. Devices enable by wireless communication.
VII. BLOCK DIAGRAM

Figure 1: Block diagram of the work

VIII. COMPONENTS USED
IoT: The Internet of Things is simply defines “A network of Internet connected object able to collect and
transfer data”. IOT is the concept of connecting any device with an ON and OFF switch to the internet and then
give an appropriate output.
Power supply: Arduino works on 3.3V Power supply, So LM117 a 1A low dropout regulator is designed to
provide 3.3V from a 5V supply.
Step-down transformer: A transformer has been utilized to reduce the voltage from primary to secondary is
called a step-down transformer. This transformer takes input of 230 volts AC and reduces the voltage to 12
volts/9 volts AC. In total, the four step down transformers are used in which 3 are used as transmission line
components (230V/9V) and one is used to provide DC supply (230V/12V).

Figure 2: Transformer
Push switches: These are the switches which are used to simulate the faults in system. Two types of switches
are used i.e., Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) push button and Tactile switches. When these buttons/
switches are pressed, fault is initiated in the system as the connections are done in such way. DPDT switches
produce line-line faults and tactile faults produce line-ground faults.

Figure 3: Push Switches

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International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
( Peer-Reviewed, Open Access, Fully Refereed International Journal )
Volume:05/Issue:05/May-2023 Impact Factor- 7.868 www.irjmets.com
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD): An Interface IC is used to handle the difficult task that the Microcontroller Unit
(MCU) can't handle. The IC's job is to take commands and data from the MCU and process them so that
meaningful information can be displayed on the LCD screen.
ARM microcontroller: This ARM microcontroller is best for critical code size applications because it can easily
reduce the code size to 30% without reducing the performance. They are easily available in tiny size and
consume less power as compared to other microcontrollers. Due to tiny size and consume less power, these
microcontrollers are ideal for that applications where miniaturization is major requirements such as at point of
sale and access control, etc.
AC-DC POWER MODULATOR: Power modulator converts AC supply to fixed DC. It consists of bridge rectifier
circuit, voltage regulator (7809) circuit. It takes 12 volts AC input from transformer and converts it into 9 volts
fixed ripple free DC supply.
WI-FI MODULE: The ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module is a Self-Contained (SOC) with integrated Transmission Control
Protocol /Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) stack that can give any microcontroller access to your Wi-Fi network. The
ESP8266 is capable of either hosting an application or offloading all Wi-Fi networking functions from another
application processor.

Figure 4: Wifi module

RELAY: Relays are switches that open and close circuits electromechanically or electronically. Relays control
one electrical circuit by opening and closing contacts in another circuit. When a relay contact is Normally Open
(NO), there is an open contact when the relay is not energized. When a relay contact is Normally Closed (NC),
there is a closed contact when the relay is not energized. In either case, applying electrical current to the
contacts will change their state. Relays are generally used to switch smaller currents in a control circuit and do
not usually control power consuming devices except for small motors and solenoids.
GSM: Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) is a digital mobile network that is widely used by mobile
phone users in Europe and other parts of the world. GSM uses a variation of Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA) and it is a most widely used of the three digital wireless telephony technologies: TDMA, GSM and Code
Division Multiple Access (CDMA). It operates at either the 900 megahertz (MHz) or 1,800 MHz frequency band.
GPS: GPS stands for Global Positioning System by which anyone can always obtain the position information
anywhere in the world. Firstly, the signal of time is sent from a GPS satellite at a given point. Subsequently, the
time difference between GPS time and the point of time clock which GPS receiver receives the time signal will
be calculated to generate the distance from the receiver to the satellite.
BUZZER: An audio signaling device like a beeper or buzzer may be electromechanical piezoelectric or
mechanical type. The main function of this is to convert the signal from audio to sound.

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 e-ISSN: 2582-5208
International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
( Peer-Reviewed, Open Access, Fully Refereed International Journal )
Volume:05/Issue:05/May-2023 Impact Factor- 7.868 www.irjmets.com
IX. FLOWCHART

Figure 5: Flowchart of prototype

X. METHODOLOGY
This project consists of ARM7 MCU, Relays, transformers, WIFI and LCD. As soon as connects power supply to
the system micro controller, GPS, WIFI, and Display will get initialize. Single phase fault analysis system is built
using three single phase transformers input voltage 230 volt and output is 12 volts. In the input side, there is an
creation of fault for temporary and permanent fault using manual switch. Temporary and permanent fault
status can be sent to control station via SMS using Internet of Things (IoT).
In case, the line is short circuit for less than a second then the auto reset will occur for load and if line short
circuit occurs more than a second then load will be permanently OFF. GPS is used to know live location of the
fault place so that linemen can go and re-establish the service in faster way.

Figure 6: Prototype of the project

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 e-ISSN: 2582-5208
International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
( Peer-Reviewed, Open Access, Fully Refereed International Journal )
Volume:05/Issue:05/May-2023 Impact Factor- 7.868 www.irjmets.com
XI. OPERATION
The implementation of a mobile embedded system i.e. to monitor and record key parameters of a distribution
transformer fault status. The idea of on-line monitoring system integrates a Wi-Fi modem, with a standalone
single chip microcontroller. It is installed at the distribution transformer site and the above parameters are
recorded using the Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) of the embedded system. The obtained parameters are
processed and recorded in the cloud memory. If any abnormality or an emergency situation occurs, the system
sends Short Message Service (SMS) messages to the mobile phones containing information about the
abnormality according to some predefined instructions programmed in the microcontroller. This mobile
system will help the transformers to operate smoothly and identify problems before any catastrophic failure
occurs.
The components used are smoothly interfaced with each other. The connections are done by the connecting
wires. Each component used in the system requires different amount of power supply, hence a distributed
power supply is used which very cost efficient and also system efficient in terms of supplying the appropriate
power supply to each component in the system and two sensors are used in the system.
• Indicating LEDs are provided in the circuit which shows the status of transmission lines when fault occurs.
• ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module is connected to microcontroller through its serial communication ports i.e., RXD and
TXD pins.
• Three Step down transformers are given in the prototype to feed the transmission line. These transformers
convert 230V AC to 9V AC which is further fed to the Push buttons PCB where three bridge rectifiers converts
this 9V ac to 9V DC. These Push buttons are connected to analog input pins of microcontroller.
• The push buttons shows/ simulates the faults in the system. Various buttons are allotted for various purposes
and each button is responsible for different fault. There are total 6 push buttons from which three are DPDT
buttons and three of them are Tactile switches. DPDT buttons are used to show phase to phase faults and
Tactile switches for phase to ground fault.
Assuming these names for push buttons and their faults shown: -
1. DPDT switch 1 – D1 for R-Y fault
2. DPDT switch 2 – D2 for Y-B fault
3. DPDT switch 3 – D3 for R-B fault
4. Tactile switch 1 – T1 for R phase fault
5. Tactile switch 2 – T2 for Y phase fault
6. Tactile switch 3 – T3 for B phase fault (It means when a certain key is pressed, it creates its respective fault in
system).
XII. RESULT
When the circuit is powered ON, the display shows the project name as shown in figure. When no key is
pressed, i.e., no fault is present in system, display shows “R-Y-B ok” as shown in figure. It means system is not
faulty.

Figure 7: Healthy Condition of Transmission line

When D1 button is pressed, transmission line goes under R-Y phase to phase fault which is shown in LCD
display as now follows:

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Figure 8: Display of R-Y fault

The analysis of fault detection and location system of transmission line. Whether it is any type of fault that can
be detected and located. When fault get occurs on the transmission line, the signal is send to the control room
or mobile phone through a GSM modem. The message receive on the mobile that is the fault between pole 1 and
2 and the fault which is symmetrical or unsymmetrical like L-G, L-L, L-L-G, L-L-L, L-L-L-G. The signal that
appears on the control room or mobile phone is the L-G or any other type of fault occurred on the transmission
line.
XIII. CONCLUSION
The model is design in such a way to solve the problems faced by consumer in transmission line. By using this
method, we can easily detect the fault and resolve it. It will also allow operators such as GRIDco to correctly
detect and locate faulted segments on their transmission lines. Therefore, minimize power disruptions to
distribution substations and also help to save expensive transformers. The proposed method now provides us a
cheap and highly reliable way to locate the faults in the three phase transmission lines and also supports data
storage. Hence this method can be implemented to detect the faults and retrieve the corresponding data
anytime.
The short circuit fault is located at a specific distance in the transmission line in order to efficiently rectify the
fault. With the help of Arduino, its automatically displays the phase, distance and time of the fault occurrence.
Faster repair of the power system, improved system performance, lower operating costs and shorter time to
locate faults in the field are all the advantages of the accurate fault location.
XIV. FUTURE DIRECTIONS
This work is limited to the design of an efficient system that will detect and locate line to line and line to ground
faults in overhead and underground transmission lines which will automatically indicate to the control room
about the exact spot of the Transmission line where a fault has been occurred.
XV. REFERENCES
[1] M. M. Saha, J. Iżykowski, and E. Rosolowski, Fault Location on Power Networks. New York: Springer,
2010.
[2] M. T. Sant and Y. G. Paithankar, “Online digital fault locator for overhead transmission line,” Proc. Inst.
Elect. Eng., vol. 126, no. 11, pp. 1181–1185, 1979.
[3] T. Takagi, Y. Yamakoshi, M. Yamaura, R. Kondow, and T. Matsushima,“Development of a new type fault
locator using the one-terminal voltage and current data,” IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst.,vol. PAS-101,
no. 8, pp. 2892–2898, 1982.
[4] Wiszniewski, “Accurate fault impedance locating algorithm,” Inst.Elect. Eng., Gen. Transm. Distrib., vol.
130, no. 6, pp. 311–314,
[5] L. Eriksson, M. Saha, and G. D. Rockefeller, “An accurate fault locator with compensation for apparent
reactance in the fault resistance resulting from remore-end infeed,” IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst.,
vol.PAS-104, no. 2, pp. 423–436, 1985.
[6] M. S. Sachdev and R. Agarwal, “A technique for estimating transmission line fault locations from digital
impedance relay measurements,”IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 121–129, 1988
[7] Johns and S. Jamali, “Accurate fault location technique for power transmission lines,” Inst. Elect. Eng.,
Gen. Transm. Distrib., vol. 137, no. 6, pp. 395– 402, 1990.
[8] Transmission Line Fault Detection Using Android Application Via Bluetooth By MD AsaduzzamanNur,
Jahidul Islam, Md. Golam Mostofa & Moshiul Alam Chowdhury.
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