EE2084 Power Systems II

Fault Analysis – 3

Prof. Lidula N. Widanagama

Arachchige
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
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Faults
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Faults
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Occurrence of Faults
(3% - 2%)
(10% - 8%)

(17% - 10%) Single phase-to-ground

Phase-to-phase-to ground
(70% - 80%)
Phase-to-phase
Three-phase
Reference: J. L. Blackburn and T. J. Domin, Protective
Relaying Principles and Applications, Third Edition,
Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, 2006.

On overhead lines :
• most faults are one-phase-to-ground faults resulting primarily from
→ lightning-induced transient high voltage
→ falling trees and tree limbs
→ momentary tree contact caused by wind
• Ice, freezing snow, and wind during severe storms can cause many
faults and much damage
• Open circuit faults, such as a broken conductor or a blown fuse, are
not too common, except perhaps in the lower-voltage system in
which fuses are used for protection
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Effects of Faults on the System

• System faults usually, but not always, provide significant
changes in the system
→Over-current
→Over- or under-voltage
→Power factor or phase angle
→Power or current direction
→Impedance
→Frequency
→Temperature
→Physical movements
→Pressure

• The most common fault indicator is a sudden and

generally significant increase in the current
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Symmetrical Three Phase Fault

Analysis
Balance 3Φ fault Balance 3Φ to earth fault
Suppl a Suppl a
y b y b
Side c Side c

all three phases of the system are all three phase of the system are
short-circuited to each other earthed

• These are balanced conditions

• Infrequent, but most severe

• Only positive-sequence network is required for fault analysis

• The single line diagram can be used, as all three phases carry
equal fault currents displaced by 120o
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Fault Level
• A fault represents a structural network change
→Equivalent with that caused by the addition of an impedance
at the place of fault
→If the fault impedance is zero, the fault is referred to as the
bolted fault or solid fault

• In a power system, the maximum the fault current (or fault

MVA) that can flow into a zero impedance fault is necessary to
be known
→ for switch gear solution
→The system short-circuit fault level gives a measure of the
strength or weakness of the system at the point of fault (High
system strength is characterised by a high short-circuit fault
level or low system impedance)

• The fault level is usually expressed in MVA (or corresponding

per-unit value), with the maximum fault current value being
converted using the nominal voltage rating
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Fault Level Calculation

MVA Fault  3 . Vnominal (kV) . I sc (kA)

• MVAFault – Fault Level at a given point in MVA

• Isc – Short circuit line current flowing in to a fault
• Vnominal – Nominal voltage (rated line-line voltage)

MVA base  3 . Vnominal (kV) . I base (kA)

• MVAbase – Base MVA

• Ibase – Rated or base line current
• Vnominal – Nominal voltage (rated line-line voltage)
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per unit value of the Fault Level

3 . Vnominal. I sc Vnominal,pu
Fault Levelpu  I sc, pu 
3 . Vnominal. I base Z pu

• The per unit voltage for nominal value is unity (1), so that

1
Fault Levelpu 
Z pu

1
Fault LevelMVA Fault Levelpu .MVAbase  .MVAbase
Z pu
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Short Circuit Capacity (SCC)

• The Short circuit capacity (SCC) of a busbar is the fault level of the
busbar

• The strength of a busbar (or the ability to maintain its voltage) is directly
proportional to its SCC
→ An infinitely strong bus (or Infinite bus bar) has an infinite SCC, with a
zero equivalent impedance and will maintain its voltage under all
conditions

• The currents flowing during a fault is determined by the

→ internal emfs of machines in the network
→ impedances of the machines
→ impedances between the machines and the fault

• The SCC is a better indicator of the stress on circuit breakers than the
short circuit current
→ Because a circuit breaker has to withstand the recovery voltage across
the breaker following an arc interruption
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Procedure for Balanced Fault Analysis

• Steps:
→ Pre‐fault bus voltages are obtained from the results of power
flow
→ Loads are represented using constant admitances
→ The faulted network is reduced into a Thevenin’s equivalent
circuit as viewed from the faulted bus
→ Calculate the fault current
→ Calculate the changes in bus voltages
→ Bus voltages during the fault can be obtained by superposition of
voltage changes and pre‐fault voltages
→ Obtain the fault currents in all branches of the network

• Simplifying Assumptions:
→ Pre-fault voltages are at 1pu (All generators are running at their
rated voltage and rated frequency with their emfs in-phase)
→ Negligible line resistances
→ Negligible load currents compared to fault currents
→ Effect of shunt capacitances is negligible
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Thvenin’s Equivalent Circuit

• Any combination of power sources and impedances with
two terminals can be replaced by a single voltage
source Vth and a single series impedance, Zth. The value of
Vth is the open circuit voltage at the terminals, and the
value of Zth is Vth divided by the current with the
terminals short circuited.

R3
Vth  .V1
R 1  R3

R1 R3
Z th R2 
R 1  R3
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Example 1
• The single-line diagram of a simple three-bus power system is
shown in the following figure. Each generator is represented by
an emf behind the transient reactance. All impedances are
expressed in per unit on a common 100 MVA base. Determine the
fault level at
a) Bus 3.
b) Bus 2.
c) Bus 1.
d) Determine the fault currents of the two generators during
the fault when a balanced three-phase fault with a fault
impedance Zf = 0.16 pu occurs on Bus 3.
j0.1 j0.2

j0.1 j0.8 j0.2

1 2

j0.4 j0.4

3
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Solution – Example 1

• Following assumptions are made

→Shunt capacitances are neglected
→Negligible load currents compared to
fault currents
→Negligible line resistances
→All generators are running at their
 Rated voltage
 Rated frequency
 Emfs in phase
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a) Fault level at Bus 3

Have to find the Thevenin’s equivalent as looking in from Bus 3.

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a) Fault level at Bus 3

Fault level at Bus 3 in pu = pu = pu = 2.94 pu

Fault level at Bus 3 in MVA = 2.94 × 100 MVA = 294
MVA
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b) Fault level at Bus 2

Fault level at Bus 2 in pu = pu = pu = 4.16 pu

Fault level at Bus 2 in MVA = 4.16 × 100 MVA = 416
MVA
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c) Fault level at Bus 1

Fault level at Bus 1 in pu = pu = pu = 6.25pu

Fault level at Bus 3 in MVA = 6.25 × 100 MVA = 625
MVA
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d) Fault current if fault of 0.16 pu at

Bus 3

Fault current in pu = pu = pu =-j2 pu

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d) Fault current if fault of 0.16 pu at

Bus 3

Fault current in pu = pu = pu =-j1.2 pu

Fault current in pu = pu = pu =-j0.8 pu
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Characteristics of Short Circuit
Currents
• Current is an important parameter used to detect faults
→ Large increase in current when a short‐circuit occurs

• Variation of short circuit current is characterized by:

→ Equivalent system impedance at the fault point
 System current cannot change instantaneously when a fault occurs due to the
equivalent system resistance and reactance
 results in a decaying dc component

→ Performance of the rotating machinery

 The short circuit current due to a fault close to the terminals of a rotating
machine consists of
 a dc component and
 an ac component with a decaying magnitude
 The decaying pattern of ac component occurs because
 the magnetic fluxes linking the machine windings cannot change
instantaneously
 Initial magnitude of the ac current gradually decreases with the reduction
of air‐gap flux due to increased armature reaction
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Effect of the System Impedance

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DC Component
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Synchronous Generator
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Short Circuit Current of Rotating

Machines
• The transient variations in
the machine magnetic
system can be interpreted
as a variation in the
machine reactance

• In practical calculations, the

continuous variation in the
reactance is approximated
by three discrete levels
→Sub‐transient reactance –
X d”
→Transient reactance – Xd’
→Steady‐state reactance –
Xd
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Fundamental Frequency Component of Armature
Current (The DC Current Transient Component is
Omitted)

• The sub-transient must usually be used in fault analysis

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The Typical Generator Reactance

Values

• Reference: P. Kundur, “Power sys. stability and control,” USA: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
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Symmetrical Component Analysis

• Unbalanced three phase systems can be split into

three balanced components:
→Positive Sequence (balanced and having the same phase
sequence as the unbalanced supply)
→Negative Sequence (balanced and having the opposite
phase sequence to the unbalanced supply)
→Zero Sequence (balanced but having the same phase and
hence no phase sequence)

• These are known as the Symmetrical

Components or the Sequence Components
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Symmetrical Components

c1
c b2
a
 a1  a2  c0
a0 b 0
c2
b
b1
Unbalanced System Positive Sequence Negative Sequence Zero Sequence
3 unknown magnitudes 1 unknown magnitude 1 unknown magnitude
1 unknown magnitud
3 unknown angles 1 unknown angle 1 unknown angle 1 unknown angle

• a = a 1 + a2 + a0

• b = b1 + b2 + b0

• c = c 1 + c2 + c0
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Definition of the operator α

• a complex operator

• has a magnitude of unity and when operated on

any complex number rotates it anti-clockwise by
an angle of 1200.

• α = 1 ∠1200 = - 0.500 + j 0.866

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Some Properties of α
• α = 1∠2π/3 or 1∠1200

• α2 = 1∠4π/3 or 1∠2400 or 1∠-1200

• α3 = 1∠2π or 1∠3600 or 1
→i.e. α3 - 1 = (α - 1)(α2 + α + 1) = 0
→Since α is complex, it cannot be equal to 1, so that α - 1

→∴ α2 + α + 1 = 0
cannot be zero.

• This also has the physical meaning that the three sides of
an equilateral triangles must close as in the following
figure
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Analysis of decomposition of
phasors
b2 = αa2
C1=αa1
c
a
 a1  a2 
c2= α a2
a0 = b0= c0

b 1 = α 2 a1
2
b

Unbalanced System Positive Sequence Negative Sequence Zero Sequence

• We can express all the sequence components in terms of the

quantities for phase-a using the properties of rotation of 0 0,
1200 or 2400. Thus

• a = a 0 + a1 + a2
• b = a0 + α2 a1 + α a2
• c = a0 + α a1 + α2 a2
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Basic Symmetrical Component Matrix

Equation

 a  1 1 1   a0 
 b   1  2    a 
    1
 c  1     a2 
2

Ph  A Sy
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Decomposition of Phasors into

Symmetrical Components

 a0  1 1 1   a
 a   1 1   2   b 
 1 3  
 a2  1  2
   c 

Sy  A Ph
-1
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[A]-1 and [A]* Relationship

1 1 1 1 1 1
  1 2
 A 1   
2
 A  1   
1

3
1   2  1  2  

α = 1∠1200 = Complex conjugate of α2

α2 = 1∠-1200 = Complex conjugate of α

1 *
 A1
  A
3
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Sequence Impedances

• Sequence impedance matrix

1 *
Z s   A  
1
 
Z p  A   A Z p  A
3

• Phase component impedance matrix in terms of sequence impedance

matrix

1
Z   AZ  A
p s
-1
  AZ s  A
3
*
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Use of Sequence Impedance Matrix

• Consider a three-phase transmission

line
Ra La

Rb Mca Lb Mab

Rc Lc Mbc
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Use of Sequence Impedance Matrix

cont.
• Self Impedances
→ All 3 phase wires of an actual 3-phase
transmission line would be of
approximately the same length (other
than due to differences in Sagging)
→ Hence, can assume the self impedance
components to be equal for each phase
→ Ra = Rb = Rc and La = Lb = Lc

• Mutual coupling
→ When a current passes in one phase
conductor, there would be induced
voltages in the other two phase
conductors.
→ In practice all three phase conductors
behave similarly, so that we could
consider the mutual coupling between
phases also to be equal
→ Mab = Mbc = Mca
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Use of Sequence Impedance Matrix

cont.
• In such a practical situation, the R L
phase component impedance
matrix would be fully R M L M
symmetrical
• It could be expressed using a R L M
self impedance term zs and a
mutual impedance term zm

 R  j L j M j M   z s zm zm 
Z 
p   jM R  j L jM    z m zs z m 
 jM j M R  jL   z m zm z s 
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Use of Sequence Impedance Matrix
cont.
• Symmetrical component impedance matrix
1 *
Z s   A  
1
 
Z p  A   A Z p  A
3
1 1 1   zs zm z m  1 1 1
1 2    
Z s    1     z m zs z m  1  2

3
1  2    z m zm z s  1   
  2

 ( zs  2 zm ) 0 0   z0 0 0

Z s    0 ( zs  zm ) 0   0  z1 0 
 0 0 ( z s  z m )  0 0 z 2 
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Use of Sequence Impedance Matrix
cont.
• Comparison of phase and symmetrical component
matrix

 zs zm zm   ( zs  2 zm ) 0 0 
 
Z p  z m zs z m  
Z s    0 ( zs  zm ) 0  
 z m zm z s   0 0 ( z s  zm )

• Phase component • Symmetrical component

impedance matrix impedance matrix
→Has complete →Diagonal matrix
symmetry →Allows decoupling for ease of
→But, full matrix analysis
 42

Power associated with Sequence

Components
• Consider phase components

→ Power in a single phase

Pphase V p I p cos 

→ Power in balanced three-phase

P3 phase  3VL I L cos  3V p I p cos 

→ Power in an unbalanced three-phase * * *

Apparent complex power S V I  V I  V I a a b b c c

The active power P3phase,unbalance is obtained as the real part of

the complex variable S
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Power Associated with Sequence Components

• To convert the power in an unbalanced three-phase in to
symmetrical components, consider: *
 Ia 
 *
S Va I a*  Vb I b*  Vc I c* S Va Vc  I b  V p I p
T *
Vb
 I c* 
 
• To convert to symmetrical components

S V I  AV s   AI s 

T * T *
p p

S V s  A  A I s V s  A 3 A I s
T T * * T T 1 *

S 3V s  A A I s 3V s I s

T 1 * T *

* * *
S 3(Va 0 I a 0  Va1 I a1  Va 2 I a 2 )
P 3(Va 0 I a 0 cos 0  Va1 I a1 cos 1  Va 2 I a 2 cos 2 )
 44

Sequence Networks of a Loaded

Generator

Ec

Ea

Eb
 45

Sequence Networks of a Loaded

Generator
 46

Sequence Networks of a Loaded

Generator
 47

Sequence Networks of a Loaded

Generator
 48

Basic Voltage – Current Network Equations in

Sequence Components
• Pre-fault voltage is assumed balanced prior to the fault
→ Consists only of the positive sequence component
→ This is in fact the Thevenin’s equivalent at the point of the fault prior
to the occurrence of the fault
Ea
Z1 I
a1 Positive
V E  Z I
a1 a 1 a1 sequenc
e
Va1 network
Z2 Ia2 Negative
Va 2 0  Z 2 I a 2 sequence
network
Va2

Z0 Ia0
Va 0 0  Z 0 I a 0 Zero
sequence
Va0 network