An alternate method to detect and classify the transmission line faults using Clarke's transformed currents

The transmission line is an essential and long element that plays a vital role in the operation of an electric power system. Quick and accurate fault detection along with classification helps the system operator locate the fault as soon as possible in the transmission line. The method proposed in this paper works fast and accurately for fault detection and classification. A fault identification matrix (FIM) based on the change in the resultant current samples of alpha- beta components and signs of the rate of change in alpha and beta component currents (RoCC(alpha) and RoCC(beta)) at both ends of a transmission line for fault detection is proposed. A strategy using the second-order harmonic component of redefined Clarke-transformed currents of the transmission line for the fault classification is framed. The proposed method has been tested with all types of short circuit faults and validated under various abnormal conditions in PSCAD/EMTDC simulations. In all fault cases, the proposed method detects and classifies the faults within a cycle. The fault detection and classification results signify that the proposed method is fast, reliable and parameter-independent. It is concluded that the proposed method can effectively work on any configured transmission network.