Power System Fault

Analysis
Fault Studies
•Form an important role in power system analysis
•It evaluates abnormal operating condition of a power system

“The problem consists of determining bus voltages and line

currents during various types of fault.”
Symmetrical Faults in Three-Phase Power System
Fault
•Any failure/event that interferes with the normal flow of current.

Symmetrical Fault
•Fault on the power system which gives rise to symmetrical currents.
•Occurs when all the three conductors of a three phase line are brought together
simultaneously in to a short circuit condition.
Limitation of Fault Current
•Short-circuit currents are limited by the impedance of the
system up to the point of fault,
•Reactance is greatly considered since the error will not exceed
by 5%.

Assumption:
Ideal system: linear, Vpu = 1.0 pu
Percentage Reactance
•The reactance of generators, transformers, Equations:
and reactors is usually expressed in
percentage reactance to permit short- 𝑰𝑭𝑳 𝑿
circuit calculations. %𝑿 = 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝑽

𝑺𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆
•It is the percentage of the total phase 𝑰𝑭𝑳 = 𝑰𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆 = 𝑨
voltage dropped in the circuit when full 𝟑𝑽𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆
load current is flowing.
where,
IFL = full-load current (base current)
V = phase voltage
X = reactance ohms per phase
Short-Circuit Current
•If X is the only reactance in the circuit, then
the short circuit current can be solved by:
𝑽 (%𝑿)𝑽
𝑰𝑺𝑪 = if 𝑿=
𝑿𝑻𝑯 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝑰𝑭𝑳

Thus,

𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑰𝑺𝑪 = 𝑰𝑭𝑳 ( )
%𝑿𝑻𝑯
Short Circuit KVA (kVAsc)
•This is the product of the normal system Equations:
voltage and the short circuit current at the
point of the fault expressed in kVA. 𝑽𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑰𝑺𝑪 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝒌𝑽𝑨𝑺𝑪 = 𝟑 but 𝑰𝑺𝑪 = 𝑰𝑭𝑳 ( %𝑿 )
𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎
•Common measure of the strength of a bus.
Let: Thus,
Vbase = nominal phase voltage in volts
IFL = full-load current in amperes @ base kVA
𝟏𝟎𝟎
%X = % reactance of the system up to the 𝒌𝑽𝑨𝑺𝑪 = 𝒌𝑽𝑨𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆 ( )
%𝑿
fault point on the base kVA
 Steps in Solving Short Circuit Problems
1. Draw a single line diagram of the complete network indicating the rating, voltage, and the % reactance
of each element of the network.]
2. Choose a numerically convenient value of base kVA and convert all percentage reactances in this base
value.
3. Corresponding to the single line diagram of the network, draw the reactance diagram showing one
phase of the system and the neutral. Indicate the % reactance on the base kVA in the reactance
diagram. The transformer in the system should be represented by a reactance in series.
4. Find the total % reactance of the network up to the fault point.
5. Find the full load current corresponding to the selected kVAbase and the normal system voltage at the
fault. Let it be IFL.
6. Then various short circuit calculations are:
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝒌𝑽𝑨𝑺𝑪 = 𝒌𝑽𝑨𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆 ( %𝑿 ) and 𝑰𝑺𝑪 = 𝑰𝑭𝑳 (%𝑿 )
𝑻𝑯
Homework/Seatwork 2 (Midterm)
The one-line diagram of a simple three-
bus power system is shown in the figure
below. Each generator is represented by
an emf behind the transient reactance.
All impedances are expressed in per unit
on a common 100 MVA base, and for
simplicity, resistances are neglected.
Determine the fault current, the bus
voltages, and the line currents during
the fault when a balanced three-phase
fault with a fault impedance Zf = 0.16
per unit occurs on bus 3