Experiment 8 Student Manual

American International University- Bangladesh

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
EEE4103: Power Systems Analysis Laboratory

Title:

Symmetrical and unsymmetrical fault Analysis using MATLAB/Simulink Software.

Abstract:

The objective of this experiment is to become familiar with modeling and analysis of power system
under faulted condition and to compute the fault current, post fault voltage and fault current through
the branches for a symmetrical and unsymmetrical fault in a small power system and also study the
effect of neighboring system.
1. To carryout fault analysis for symmetrical faults in small systems using the Thevenin’s
equivalent circuit in the sequences and phase domains at the faulted bus but without the use
of software.

2. To conduct fault analysis on a given system using software available and obtain fault
analysis report with fault level and current at the faulted point and post-fault voltages and
currents in the network for symmetrical faults.

Theory and Methodology:

Short circuits and other abnormal conditions often occur on a power system. Short circuits are usually
called “faults” by power system engineers. Some defects, other than short circuits are also termed as
faults. Faults are caused either by insulation failures or by conducting path failures. The failure of
insulation results in short circuits which are very harmful as they may damage some equipment of the
power system. Most of the faults in transmission and distribution lines are caused by over voltages
due to lightning or switching surges, or by external conducting objects falling on overhead lines.
Overvoltage due to lightning or switching surges cause flashover on the surface of insulators resulting
in short circuits. Short circuits are also caused by tree branches or other conducting objects falling on
the overhead lines. The fault impedance being low, the fault currents are relatively high. The fault
currents being excessive, they damage the faulty equipment and the supply installation. Also, the
system voltage may reduce to a low level, windings and bus bars may suffer mechanical damage due
to high magnetic forces during faults and the individual generators in a power station or group of
generators in different power stations may lose synchronism.

Fault Classifications

The types of fault commonly occurring in practice are as follows:

(a) Three-phase faults or symmetrical faults: If a line condition occurs in which all three phases are
shorted together, either by something falling on the phase conductors, an equipment failure, or all
three lines falling to the ground, it is called a three-phase fault. These are relatively rare,
accounting for only about 5% of all transmission line faults.

(b) Line to ground: Line to ground faults are caused by a transmission line touching the ground.
Wind, ice loading, or an accident such as a tree limb falling on a line can cause a line to ground
fault. This category accounts for about 70% of all transmission line short circuit faults.

(c) Line to line: These faults are normally caused by high winds blowing one line into another, or by
a line breaking and falling on a line below it. These account for about 15% of transmission faults.

(d) Double line to ground: This category is caused by the same things that cause single line to ground
faults, except two lines are involved instead of one. These account for about 10% of transmission
line faults.
© Dept. of EEE, Faculty of Engineering, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB)
 The symmetrical fault occurs when all the three conductors of a three-phase line are brought together
simultaneously into a short–circuit condition as shown in Figure 1.This type of fault gives rise to
symmetrical currents i.e. equal fault currents with 120 0 displacement. Because of balanced nature of
fault, only one phase needs to be considered in calculations since condition in the other two phases
will also be similar. A three-phase short circuit occurs rarely but it is most severe type of fault
involving largest currents. For this reason, the balanced short-circuit calculations are performed to
determine these large currents to be used to determine the rating of the circuit breakers.

Three Phases Fault (Balanced Fault)

Figure 1: Balanced or Symmetrical Fault

In this experiment, the symmetrical short-circuit analysis is performed. The symmetrical fault can be
analyzed on single phase basis using reactance diagram. Once the per unit reactance diagram is
formed for fault condition, the current and voltages in the various parts of the system can be
determined by any of the following methods:

1. Kirchoff’s laws
2. Thevnin’s theorem
3. By forming the Bus impedance matrix.

Here only by using Thevnin’s theorem we will do the symmetrical fault analysis. The fault current
that flows depends on the equivalent Thevenin voltage, and the equivalent impedance at the fault
terminals and the fault impedance, as illustrated in Figure 2.

ZTH

V TH Zf
I FAULT =
Z TH + Z f
VTH

Figure 2: Simple equivalent circuit for fault current calculation

Pre-Lab Homework:
Students must study related theories and problems related to symmetrical 3ph fault. Solve the
mathematical problem and present results to the instructor before start of the experiment.

Software Requirement:

 MATLAB/Simulink (2016a or onwards)

© Dept. of EEE, Faculty of Engineering, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB)

Experimental Procedure:

Consider the following single line diagram of a power system and perform the tasks-

1. Launch the program by double-clicking on the matlab.exe icon on the desktop.

2. Save the file in the name of “symmetrical fault analysis” or by any preferred name.
3. Follow the sequence to get all the components to construct the power system network as
shown in Figure 3.
Tools – Library Browser – Simscape – Simpower system-Specialized technology

Figure 3: Simulink model

4. Click on each model and do the settings.
5. Get a powergui blockset by following the procedure as mentioned in step 3.
6. Select symmetrical fault (Phase A-Phase B- Phase C-Ground) in the three-phase fault block
and run the simulation by pressing the play button on the menu bar.
7. If there is no error the simulation will run or else an error message box will be displayed.
8. Observe the fault current on the scope and analyze the fault current.
9. On the same model select unsymmetrical fault((i)Phase A-Ground, (ii)Phase B-Phase C,
(iii)Phase B-Phase C-Ground) in the three-phase fault block and repeat no. 6,7&8.
10. Make a conclusion on each of the fault current.

Discussion and Conclusion:

Interpret the data/findings and determine the extent to which the experiment was successful
in complying with the goal that was initially set. Discuss any mistake you might have made
while conducting the investigation and describe ways the study could have been improved.

© Dept. of EEE, Faculty of Engineering, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB)

Reference(s):

[1] I J Nagrath, D P Lothari, “Modern Power System Analysi”s, Second Edition, Tata McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company Limited.
[2] Introduction to MATLAB by Rudra Pratap.
[3] MATLAB User Manual by Mathworks.
[4] AIUB lab manual.

© Dept. of EEE, Faculty of Engineering, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB)