IEEE International Conference on Recent Advances and Innovations in Engineering (ICRAIE-2016), December 23-25, 2016, Jaipur, India
A Novel Approach to Detect Fault during Power
Swing Using Three Phase Active Power
M. Biswal, Member, IEEE
Department of Electrical Engineering
National Institute of Technology Raipur
Raipur - 492010, India
mbiswal.ele@nitrr.ac.in
Abstract - A novel, fast and reliable distance relay approach is
proposed in this work to detect fault during power swing. First of
all, the voltage and current at relay end is measured and then
processed using phasor estimation technique. Next, average of
three phase active power is estimated and based on
magnitude of the calculated value the swing and different fault
cases can be discriminated. During power swing, the value is
always less than the threshold and with the inception of fault the
value is more than the threshold. The main advantage of the
proposed technique is that within one power cycle time period
symmetrical fault detection is possible. The system is simulated
on EMTDC/PSCAD environment using and results are presented
for 230-kV, 50 Hz two-area four machine system and New
England 39 test bus system to highlight the effectiveness of the
proposed technique.
Keywords - Stable swing; unstable swing; symmetrical fault;
unsymmetrical fault; distance relay; transmission system; high
resistance fault.
I. INTRODUCTION
Distance protection is one of the most widely used
protection scheme in long and sub-transmission system [ 1]­
[2]. The fundamental principle of distance relaying is mainly
based on the local end measurements of currents and voltages
where the relay responds to the computed impedance value
between the relay terminal and the fault point in the
transmission line [3]-[5]. Distance relay is implemented with
primary zone protection setting to attain the fault within its
protected section and provide tripping command without any
time delay. Second zone and third zone protection schemes are
the backup protection schemes in distance relay and are
implemented with some intentional time delay logic [6 ]. In
power system, the operation of distance relay is sometimes
unexpected due to the certain critical cases such as power
swing [7]. Several researchers working in the area to provide
better solutions in order to avoid cascaded events initiated due
to false tripping during swing. Recent blackout in India during
30th_31st July, 20 12 is one of them [8].
Power swing is a phenomenon that causes large fluctuations
of power between two areas of a power network. Power swing
condition arises in interconnected power network due to
[978-1-5090-2807-8/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE]
K. V. Nagaraju
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Kallam Haranadhareddy Institute of Technology
Guntur - 5220 19, India
nagaraju048@gmail.com
dynamic transient reactions, for instance load fluctuations,
short circuits, and switching phenomenon [9]. The power
swing may cause loss of synchronism between areas within
power system, and results in cascaded events if not attended
the
properly [ 10]. In relaying, power swing blocking (PSB)
function is provided to restrict any relay malfunction during
stable swing condition. Also, out-of-step tripping (OST)
function is provided to differentiate stable from unstable
swing and to isolate the predetermined network location to
maintain system stability and system continuity [7]. For any
balance or unbalance fault during stable or unstable swing
phenomena, the relay should properly detect the fault and
discriminate from swing condition. Also, zone-3 unit of
distance relay is unable to discriminate three phase fault from
power swing situation and further issues false command [11].
Over the years, a number of protective relay algorithms
have been developed to detect the swing condition and to
perform correctly for any further fault in the system [12]-[22].
Based on magnitude of swing centre voltage (SCV) and its
rate a method is proposed in [12]. For detecting high
resistance fault during power swing the phase angle of voltage
is applied in [13]. A superimposed based approach is proposed
in [14]. A rate of change of resistance based fault detection
approach during power swing is applied in [15]. A fast
unblocking scheme for distance protection on the basis of the
changes rates of three phase active-and reactive powers is
proposed in [16 ]. The presence of decaying dc in the current
waveform is a good detector of symmetrical fault during
power swing [17]. An adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference
approach is presented in [18]. A moving average filter based
technique is reported in [19] to distinguish three phase fault
from power swing. Data mining approach based power swing
detection logic is proposed in [20]. In the literature, several
methods for series compensated line are also available. In
[21], comparative study report of different power swing
detectors for a series compensated line during power swing is
presented. Using negative sequence current the fault detection
task is performed during power swing in [22].
As symmetrical fault and power swing are balanced
phenomena distance relay unable to discriminate them. For
any symmetrical fault in zone-3 section of distance relay is
 IEEE International Conference on Recent Advances and Innovations in Engineering (ICRAIE-2016), December 23-25, 2016, Jaipur, India

mainly affected by overreach situation. A new method to

discern different system events, such as three phase fault, load P = real(v:, Ia* + v;, Ib* + v:: Ie*) (1)
encroachment, voltage instability and power swing is
where a, b and c are the different phases. Next, the average
proposed in [23]. Maximum value of transient monitoring
value of rate of change of three phase active power using five
function obtained from three phase currents and phase angle of
consecutive periods can be calculated as
the positive sequence impedance are considered as a measure

=I� ::t(ddPJ
to distinguish three phase fault from different system stress
condition. In addition, a synchrophasor assisted relay
algorithm is proposed in [24] for secure operation of zone-3 p
av

5 n�lt I n
(2)

protection of distance relay.

In this paper, a new method based on three phase active where n is the sampling instant and (dPldt) is the rate of
power is used to detect fault during power swing situation. change of active power. The calculation process is done
The method is based on local end information. The method is continuously and once fault signal enters into the
also able to discriminate any three phase fault in zone-3 measurement window the value of average rate of change of
section of distance relay during power swing. The simulation three phase active power starts increasing.
is implemented for the various events like balance and The proposed method declares a three-phase fault case if
unbalance faults, faults with high resistance by using
EMTDC/PSCAD model, and the proposed method is verified �v >
S:th (3)
and tested on 230-kY, 50 Hz two-area four machine test
where S:th is the threshold selected for a system, and its
system [25] and New England 39 test bus system [26 ]. The
simulation results illustrates that the algorithm functions selection procedure is discussed in the next subsection. Thus
correctly for the various power system events. EASE the threshold setting can be suitably used to discriminate any
fault from power swing. The flow diagram of the proposed
technique is shown in Fig. 1.
II. PROPOSED TECHNIQUE
A. Computational steps for Proposed Method
Power swing is balanced phenomena. But due to power
swing other frequency and dc components present in the
original signal due to signal modulation. During unbalance as
negative and zero sequence component present fault detection
is not challenging. However, during balance fault case due to
the absence of other sequence components except positive
sequence fault detection is difficult. Fault creates unbalance
conditions in the power system. The phenomenon of three
phase fault at far end from relay terminal and system stressed
conditions are almost same from relay sensitivity point-of­
view. Since, three phase fault creates more unbalance in the
system; the change in active power is more prominent
calculated at relay terminal. With this more reliable and faster
protection scheme can be developed using local end
information to prevent relay mal-operation during power
swing. To enhance the distance relay protection by
differentiating the different fault from power swing condition,
the proposed technique uses average rate of change of three
phase active power.
To detect fault during power swing, relay continuously
monitors the voltage and current signals from local end. The
fundamental voltage and current components are calculated
using one cycle Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) technique.
Recursive window technique is applied to estimate the
fundamental components. At any instance, for dPldt -::F 0 is
detected; relay starts computing the magnitude of using 5 Fault detected

periods of calculated values of dPldt. The real power at relay

Fig. I. Flow diagram for the proposed method.
terminal can be calculated using
 IEEE International Conference on Recent Advances and Innovations in Engineering (ICRAIE-2016), December 23-25, 2016, Jaipur, India

B. Threshold Selection
In this paper, the magnitude of average of rate of change of 7 8 9 I
5 6 II 3
three phase active power is used to improve the relay Line 1
B\ B2
performance during power swing. Threshold selection has an
�R
important role in the performance of the proposed algorithm,
B3 B4
while has no impact on the relay decision period. This means,
Line2
relay provides decision within one power cycle time period i.e.
for SO Hz power system 20 msec. Threshold settings for
different zones will be select so as to avoid any nuisance relay
PI TQI
=
Q2:J P2
operation.
Gen-2 Gen-4
Any sudden change in system condition, such as switching
of lines, initiation of fault can cause increase in average rate of
change of power. At the same time, the magnitude of average
Fig. 2. Two-area, four-machine power system.
rate of change of active power depends on the severity of the
event at the switching instant. The 230-kV, SO Hz two-area
four machine system is considered for study and it is observed A. Stable Power Swing
after vigorous simulation that threshold value for zone-l fault The algorithm is tested for different symmetrical and
is 1 p.u.so as to discriminate the power swing event. Also the unsymmetrical fault case during stable power swing and
New-England 39-test bus system is considered for simulation results are demonstrated below. A stable power swing
and threshold selection for zone-3 faults to discriminate the condition is developed in the system by opening the circuit
breaker B3 and B4 for a three phase fault in line-2. Fault is
same from power swing. Despite the fact that the fault
initiated at 0.7 s and cleared after lSOms.
detection criterion is examined in five consecutive values of
(dPldt), inspections have shown that, Sp.u. for threshold is a 1) Close-in fault: A three phase close-in fault case is
proper choice for the proposed algorithm in the fault detection simulated during stable power swing. Fault is created in line-l
task in zone-3 region during power swing. The threshold value at a distance of S km from relay location and at 3 sec. The
also maintains its integrity in large power network. measured value of average rate of change of active power
(Pav) during that period is shown in Fig. 3. The index value
III. SIMULATION RESULTS which is used to detect fault is less than the threshold value
The proposed symmetrical fault detection technique is before the occurrence of fault and exceeds the threshold with
tested in 230-kV, SO Hz two-area four machine system as the initiation of three phase fault. Hence, it is clear from the
shown in Fig. 2. Parameters of the network are gathered in figure that during stable swing phenomenon detection of three
Appendix A. Distributed parameter line model is used. Relay phase fault is possible using the proposed method.
80
(R) is located near bus 7. The current and voltage signals are
collected from current transformer (CT) and potential
60
�th
transformer (PT) secondary having ratios SOO: 1 and 230
40
'"C
kV: 110 V respectively. In normal power system condition, "
�
power is flowing from bus 7 towards 8. Sampling rate of data
is maintained at 1 kHz. Simulation are carried out for various
ct 20

system events, such as balanced fault, unbalanced fault, far­ 0

2 2.5 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
end high resistance fault during stable power swing and
unstable power swing to test the performance of proposed Time (s)

scheme. Also the proposed method is tested for balanced fault
in zone-3 region during power swing. The one cycle recursive
window based Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) based
approach is applied to collect the fundamental components of
current and voltage. The threshold setting is such that it is able
to protect 8S % of the first protected line also the adjacent
lines. The threshold value for zone-l fault to discriminate the
swing situation is 1 p.u. for the system as shown in Fig. 2.
This helps in discriminating the fault event from power swing.
Fig. 3. Performance of the proposed method for close-in fault during stable
power swing.
2) Single line to ground fault: Next, a single-line-to­
ground fault i.e. ag fault at 3.S sec is created in line-l with a
fault resistance of SO Q. The performance of the proposed
method is based on the measured value of Pav which declares
a fault situation as it lies above the threshold setting as cleared
from Fig. 4.
 IEEE International Conference on Recent Advances and Innovations in Engineering (ICRAIE-2016), December 23-25, 2016, Jaipur, India

15 -----,---,-----T the line-2 between bus 7-8 is created. Fault inception time
�th is I sec and fault is cleared at 1.35sec. Breaker B3 and B4 are
operated to clear the fault. Such a long dely for fault clearance
introduce unstable power swing condition for relay R.
rf: 5 1) Close-in fault: To assure the correct operation of
o r------:------�------ ------:- -------------�------ ;'------
proposed method for close-in fault case during unstable power
swing a three phase fault case is developed. The fault case is
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 same as mentioned in section A. The performance report of
Time (s) the proposed method is shown in Fig. 7. As the computed
value of Pav lies below the threshold setting, the proposed
Fig. 4. Performance of the proposed method for a-g fault during stable power
method declared it as a fault case.
40 ,----�--_,,_--,,--_c----,----c----c---�
swing.

?th
30
::i
3) Line to line fault:The perfonnance of the proposed �

method is tested for line-to-line fault i.e. ab fault created at a

20
8
distance of 80 km from relay location in line-I. The value of rf:
average rate of change of active power is computed using (3) 10
and shown in Fig.5. It is clear from the figure that detection of
phase fault is also possible during stable power swing using 2 25 3 35 4 4.5 5.5 6
the proposed method. Time (s)

Fig. 7. Performance of the proposed method for close-in fault during

4) Far-end high resistance fault: The evaluation of
proposed method is also done for far-end high resistance fault. unstable power swing.
Double-line-to-ground fault i.e. ab-g fault is crated at a
distance of 90 km from relay location in line-I. The fault 2) Single line to ground fault: To simulate single-line
resistance is 200 Q. The performance report of the proposed to-ground fault, a-g fault is created at a distance of 55km from
method is provided in Fig. 6 from which it is clear that relay location in line-I. Fault is initiated at 3 sec during
detection of far-end high resistance fault is also possible using unstable power swing. Fault resistance is considered as 50Q.
proposed method. The performance report of the proposed method is shown in
30 r---c----.--c---c,---c---c
Fig. 8.
15 r---�--_,,_--�--_c----c---�
�th
::i 20
�

rf: ::i
�

10 8
rf:
o .......................
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Time (s) 2 2.5 3.5 4 4.5 5.5
Time (s)
Fig. 5. Performance of the proposed method for a-b fault during stable power
swing. Fig. 8. Performance of the proposed method for a-g fault during unstable
power swing.

4
�th 3) Line to line fault: Similarly, bc fault in line-I at 3 sec
is created. The response of the proposed method is shown in
Fig. 9. From the figure, it is clear that line-to-line fault is

1
easily detected during unstable power swing using the
•••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

proposed method.

2.5 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6

25 r---�--�----,--�

20
Time (s) ---- �th
::i
�

o
15
Fig. 6. Performance of the proposed method for far-end high resistance fault rf:
10
during stable power swing.

B. Unstable Power Swing

The algorithm is tested for different symmetrical and ····=···=····=····=····=····=····�· ----..................
oL
2 2.5 3.5 4 4.5 5.5

unsymmetrical fault cases during unstable power swing and Time (s)
Fig. 9. Performance of the proposed method for tbc fault during unstable
results are demonstrated below. For developing unstable
power swing.
power swung condition, three phase fault at a middle point in
 IEEE International Conference on Recent Advances and Innovations in Engineering (ICRAIE-2016), December 23-25, 2016, Jaipur, India

4) Far-end high resistance fault: To test the between line 29-26 . Fault is initiated at 0.7 s and cleared at
performance of proposed average rate of change of three­ 0.95 s by opening breaker Bl and B2. The delayed fault
phase active power method during far end high resistance fault clearance operation introduces swing in the system. As three
case with unstable swing condition, ab-g fault is created in phase fault in zone-3 region is a major cause of relay
line-l at 3 sec at a distance of 100 km from relay location. The maloperation lead to cascading events, the performance
performance report of proposed as shown in Fig. 10 assured evaluation of the proposed method is extended for three phase
that the method also holds its promise during such a critical fault in zone-3 region of relay. A three phase fault (F2) is
fault case created in zone-3 region of distance relay connected at bus 29
6 for the line 29-28. Fault is initiated at 2.5 sec at 100 km
between lines 28-26 . The fault resistance is considered as 2 n.
':;th
4
'"':
"
The corresponding result is provided below. The threshold
�,
0:;
selected to discriminate the zone-3 fault from power swing is
2 5 p.u .. From Fig. 12 it is clear even for three phase fault in
zone-3 section during swing, the average rate of change of
three phase active power method provide correct decision.
This proves that the proposed method supports the relay
Time(s) decision during power swing.
Fig. 10. Performance of the proposed method for far-end high resistance fault
during unstable power swing.
20 . '......... ¢"�,

'l "',I
-;
E,
C. Results for New England System r:f: 10
The perfonnance of proposed method is tested in the IEEE o ...........(....1:. . . . . . . . . . ;...................;. . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . :
.

39-bus, lO-machine New England system as shown in Fig. 11.

0.5 1.5 . 2 2.5 3

TIme (s)

Fig. 12. Performance of the proposed method for three phase fault in zone-3
section during power swing.

IV. CONCLUSION

The proposed work aims at supporting the operation of

distance relay for any balance or unbalance fault during power
swing which can avoid of relay malfunction leading to system
failure. The method also helps in avoiding relay mal-trip
during any symmetrical fault in zone-3 section of distance
relay which is a major contributing case of power system
blackout. For weak source system or system with large source
impedance ratio (SIR), the perfonnance of the system may not
satisfactory. However, proper threshold selection and
information of network configuration may help the relay to
maintain its integrity even during such worst cases.
A set of comprehensive studies is carried out to investigate
the impacts of the stable swing, unstable swing, balance fault,
unbalance fault, far-end high resistance fault, and close-in
fault on the performance of the proposed average rate of
change of three phase active power method. The study results
for 230-kV, 50 Hz two-area four machine system and New
England 39 test bus system indicate the applicability of
proposed method in an interconnected large power network.
The decision period of the proposed scheme is less and thus
faster and secured operation of distance relay can be possible
Fig. II. New England 39-bus test system.
during power swing condition.
The system is simulated in EMTDC/PSCAD environment.
For power swing, a three-phase fault is created at 100 km in
 [EEE International Conference on Recent Advances and Innovations in Engineering (ICRAIE-2016), December 23-25, 2016, Jaipur, India

ApPENDIX
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