The Effect of Fault Impedance Angle On Fault Location

This paper will explore the effect of the angle of the fault impedance measurement on the calculated fault location. Specifically, the paper will focus on the angle difference between the fault impedance vector and the line impedance vector. The authors will claim that the smaller the angle difference, the more accurate the fault location calculation. Conversely, the larger the angle difference, the less accurate the location calculation is likely to be, indicating a high impedance fault. A number of case studies will be presented to support these claims.

Historically, the fault impedance angle is ignored in fault location calculations. This paper is intended to be an informative tutorial on the significance of the fault impedance angle and its effect of fault location accuracy.