Use of time delays between modal components in wavelet based fault location

This paper presents an improved fault location method based on the traveling wave theory of the transmission lines. Fault transients recorded at one end of a transmission line are processed to determine the distance from the fault location. Wavelet transform is utilized for this purpose. The proposed method also takes advantage of the different travel times of the modal components in differentiating between dose-in and remote end faults. The approach has the advantages of being independent of the fault impedance, mutual coupling effects and series compensation capacitors. The method's performance for typical faults is illustrated using transient simulations obtained by an electromagnetic transients program. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.