Accurate arcing fault location method for M-terminal transmission lines

Arcing faults (AFs) are highly complex nonlinear phenomena which in turn cause voltages and currents of M-terminal transmission lines vary nonlinearly with time. So, the conventional fault location algorithms which use fundamental frequency of the signals, cannot locate the AFs, precisely. This paper proposes an accurate method to locate the AFs occurring on M-terminal transmission lines. The algorithm consists of two subroutines. In subroutine 1, the faulty section is determined; and in subroutine 2, the exact location of AF is calculated. The proposed method uses synchronized voltage and current measurements at all terminals and does not employ source impedances of the external networks. In addition, the proposed method takes advantage of distributed parameter line model in the time domain which accurately models the line. Since just one minimization problem is used for all AF types, classification of AF type and selection of faulty phase are not needed. An extensive series of simulations has been performed. The results, considering various AF conditions, show the high accuracy and efficiency of the offered method.