Design of a concept and a wireless ASIC sensor for locating earth faults in unearthed electrical distribution networks

In this paper, a new concept for using simple wireless sensors for detecting and locating faults in an unearthed electrical distribution network is presented. The concept is based on distributed wireless sensors that are attached to the incoming and outgoing power lines of different feeders and branches. A sensor measures only the phase current characteristics of the wire it is attached to, is not synchronized to other sensors, and does not need configuration of triggering levels. The main novelty of the concept is in detecting and locating faults by using the electrical distribution system aspects and the Bayesian probability theory. The feasibility and selectivity of the concept is shown with several simulations done with the Matlab SimPowerSystems environment. In addition, a new design of a wireless application-specific integrated circuit sensor for the proposed fault-management concept is presented.