International Journal of Emerging

Electric Power Systems

Manuscript 2782

A New Digital Down Conductor Detection

Scheme for Overhead Electrical Power
Distribution Systems
Bhavesh Bhalja Dr., Professor & Head, Department of
Electrical Engineering, ADIT
Pragnesh Shah Jr., Associate Professor, Department of
Electrical Engineering, ADIT
Balubhai Rakholia Jr., Excutive Engineer, Testing Division,
Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited
(GETCO), Gujarat, India
Jignesh Shah Jr., Deputy Engineer, Gujarat Energy
Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO), Gujarat, India

2011 Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved.

A New Digital Down Conductor Detection

Scheme for Overhead Electrical Power
Distribution Systems
Bhavesh Bhalja Dr., Pragnesh Shah Jr., Balubhai Rakholia Jr., and Jignesh Shah
Jr.

Abstract
Detection of down conductor faults in an overhead electrical power distribution system is
extremely difficult by the conventional over current protection devices. This paper presents a new
digital down conductor detection scheme which is based on the combination (AND logic) of the
ratio of the negative sequence current to the positive sequence current and the value of under
current during an actual down conductor condition. Real time implementation of the proposed
scheme has been carried out on an existing Indian 11 kV, 3 Phase, 50 Hz power distribution
system with the help of digital over current relay. At the end, a comparative evaluation of the
proposed scheme with the scheme modeled in PSCAD/EMTDC software package is also
presented. Both practical and simulation results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
KEYWORDS: Down conductor, distribution systems, digital protection, unbalance loading
condition
Author Notes: This research is supported by Ministry of Science & Technology, Department of
Science & Technology (DST), Government of India under project no. SR/FT/ET-59/2008.

Bhalja et al.: Digital Down Conductor Detection Scheme

1. Introduction
Majority of faults on distribution systems are single line to ground faults and
double line to ground faults. These faults are known as shunt faults and easily
detectable by conventional relays. When circuits are controlled by fuses or any
other device which does not open all three phases, one or two phases of the circuit
may be open while the other phases or phase is closed. This condition may also
occur with one or two down conductors [1]. These faults are known as series
faults. The conventional protection devices are unable to clear these types of
faults due to lower magnitude of fault current [2]. Zero sequence current based
protection schemes have been used by the utilities in order to detect down
conductor condition. However, the prime limitation of this scheme is that it cannot detect down conductor condition near the substation. Li and his colleague [3]
presented review of different methods for detecting down conductor in overhead
distribution systems. Westrom and his colleague [4] presented voltage based
approach to detect an open conductor condition in distribution systems. Garciasantander and his co-worker [5] presented voltage based down conductor fault
detection method for radial distribution network which is based on placement of
voltage sensor at each bus.
However, the main drawback of the said scheme is that it requires significantly
long time delay for transmitting the signals in order to avoid mal-operation due to
under voltage in case of low impedance fault. Calhoun [6] presented a down
conductor detection technique which is based on the ratio of the neutral current to
the positive sequence current.
Down conductors produce unbalances in the distribution system which further
leads to a generation of negative phase sequence current. Modern digital relays
are unable to provide proper discrimination between negative phase sequence
current produced due to down conductor on lightly loaded feeders and the same
generated by CT errors and load unbalance during full load steady state condition
of the feeder. Hence, in order to overcome this situation, digital over current relay
manufacturers use the concept of the ratio of the negative sequence current to the
positive sequence current [7]-[8]. But in this approach if relay settings are done
considering better sensitivity than it is quite possible that the protective device
may maloperate for any unbalance loading condition occurring on the system (for
example during a single pole auto-reclose cycle). Hence, in order to ensure proper
coordination with other protective devices, a long time delay is recommended by
the manufacturers. But this long time delay is not expedient as the fault current
due to down conductor causes damage either to the system equipments or to
accidental electrocution for animals or human being [9]. Afterwards, many
downed conductor detection techniques based on Wavelet transform, neural
networks, fuzzy logic and their combinations have been proposed by different
researchers [10]-[15]. However, none of these schemes completely solved the said
problem as they might fail to discriminate between down conductor situation
generated during light load/full load steady state condition and an actual open
conductor condition. Therefore, from both public safety and operational reliability
1
view points, the proper detection of down conductor is critically important.

Submission to International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems

In this paper, authors have proposed a new digital down conductor detection
scheme which utilizes AND logic of the ratio of the negative phase sequence
current to the positive sequence current and the value of under current during an
actual down conductor condition. Validation of the proposed scheme has been
carried out by implementing it on an existing 11 kV distribution system of
Madhya Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (MGVCL), Gujarat, India. At the
end, a comparative evaluation of the proposed scheme with the scheme modeled
in PSCAD/EMTDC software package is also presented.
2. System Modeling and Simulation
Fig.1 shows single line diagram of a portion of power distribution network of
MGVCL. Two 66 kV sub-transmission lines (emanated from Karamsad
substation) are connected to 66 kV Anand substation. Three power transformers
are used in order to step-down the voltage at 11 kV. Thirteen different distribution
feeders are emanated from 11 kV Anand substation for further distribution of
power. In this paper, the proposed scheme has been implemented on Ganesh
feeder (TL3).
66 kV Bus 66 kV Bus
11 kV Bus Anand
Karamsad
Anand
TL1
P+jQ
Transformer - 2

Transformer - 1
Source

Line-1

Transformer - 3

Line-2

Transformer - 4

TL2

P+jQ

TL3

P+jQ

TL4

P+jQ

TL5

P+jQ

TL6

P+jQ

TL7

P+jQ

TL8

P+jQ

TL9

P+jQ

TL10

P+jQ

TL11

P+jQ

TL12

P+jQ

TL13

P+jQ

Fig.1 Single line diagram of a portion of power distribution network

Digital relay is connected at 11 kV Anand substation through a current

transformer of 300/5 A. The details of distribution feeders are given in Appendix I
and Appendix II. Further, the detailed specifications of various equipments of the
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existing
power system network, as shown in Fig. 1, are given in Appendix III. 2

Bhalja et al.: Digital Down Conductor Detection Scheme

3. Hardware setup
The hardware setup implemented on 11 kV Anand substation is shown in Fig. 2.
Three load current signals of TL3 feeder (I1A, I1B and I1C) are fed to the digital
over current relay through current transformers (CTs) having a ratio of 300/5 A.
The three CT secondary currents are converted into equivalent three voltage
signals. As these signals are very low and contain high noise, they are amplified
and filtered using amplifier and low pass filtering circuits before being fed to the
data acquisition system. The sampling frequency used in this technique is 800 Hz.
DSP processor having two 200 kHz, 16 channel analogue input-output channels
are used. Finally, three load currents signals are converted into sequence
components (I1, I2 and I0).
The programming is carried out in high level language. Windows based software
is used to assemble & download the program, to start execution of that coed or to
stop it if already running and to pass data back and forth between the program
running on DSP processor and laptop. The communication between relay and
laptop is carried out with the help of appropriate software program.
11 kV Bus
Anand CT
3.1 km long
Ganesh feeder
Source
In feed
Digital Relay
IlA

IlB

IlC

Low Pass
Filter
+
Amplifier
Data
Acquisition
System

Processor

Laptop

Trip
Fig. 2 Experimental test setup connected at 11 kV Anand substation

3.1
Selection of Threshold
Determining the threshold value () is essential for identifying the reach of the
3
relay, especially in case of external fault. The magnitude of threshold value () is
based on the steady state of current value i.e. the impact of the change of current

Submission to International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems

is reflected in the magnitude of the threshold, which is considered as an adaptive

threshold. During normal conditions, the current can vary due to unbalance in
load. Thus, the threshold value () changes dynamically according to these
conditions.
We have measured the actual value of load currents as well as the positive and the
negative sequence currents from digital over current relay installed on Ganesh
feeder. Table I shows recorded values of load current, positive sequence current
and negative sequence current. It has been observed from Table I that the ratio of
the negative sequence current to the positive sequence current (I2/I1) varies in the
range of 2% to 10%. This is due to inequality in load currents in all phases and
errors in CTs. After monitoring and recording of values of positive and negative
sequence currents on Ganesh feeder for a period of one month, it has been found
that the ratio of (I2/I1) varies in the range of 2% to 13%. Hence, with the
consideration of safety margin of 0.02, a threshold value of 15% is assigned to .
Table I: Recorded values of load currents and I2/I1 ratio on Ganesh feeder
Sr.
No.

DATE

TIME

1
20.03.2010
17:00
2
20.03.2010
18:00
3
20.03.2010
19:00
4
20.03.2010
20:00
5
20.03.2010
21:00
6
20.03.2010
22:00
7
20.03.2010
23:00
8
20.03.2010
0:00
9
21.03.2010
1:00
10 21.03.2010
2:00
11 21.03.2010
3:00
12 21.03.2010
4:00
13 21.03.2010
5:00
14 21.03.2010
6:00
15 21.03.2010
7:00
16 21.03.2010
8:00
17 21.03.2010
9:00
18 21.03.2010
10:00
19 21.03.2010
11:00
20 21.03.2010
12:00
21 21.03.2010
13:00
22 21.03.2010
14:00
23 21.03.2010
15:00
24 21.03.2010
16:00
http://www.bepress.com/ijeeps
25 21.03.2010
17:00

Load Current (A)

I1A
110.9
105.2
128.9
133.9
130.8
127.7
125.2
113.5
108.8
103.5
101.1
96.82
96
99.43
95.99
84.28
83.88
82.36
82.17
86.71
89.44
94.9
98.95
98.95
98.79

I1B
I1C
115.5 105.8
107.8 100.3
135.4 123.9
137
124.3
134.7 121.8
133.9 121.9
133.5 122.1
122
105
116
106.1
108.2 100.1
108.4
97.4
103.3
93.8
105.23 95.22
103.9 93.33
101.1 92.43
91.56 82.17
87.23 80.11
83.71 79.79
86.53 80.39
89.44
83.9
92.43 85.97
100.1
91.5
105
95.49
103.3 95.99
101.9
98.3

I1
(A)

I2
(A)

110.2
105.4
128.7
131.5
128.7
127.4
126
114.2
110.5
104.1
101.5
97.75
98.7
100.2
96.5
85.25
83.31
81.75
82.5
86.25
88.75
97.4
99.25
98.5
97.25

4.25
4.85
5.75
7.25
7
6.45
6.25
10
5.75
4.75
5
5
4
4
4.5
4.5
4
2
3
2.25
3.5
3.85
4.75
3.5
2

I2/I1
(%)

4
5
5
6
5
5
5
9
5
5
5
5
4
4
5
5
5
3
4
3
4
4
5
4
2 4

Bhalja et al.: Digital Down Conductor Detection Scheme

3.2

Practical Results

Table II shows an actual measurement of time of operation of digital over current

relay located at Ganesh feeder for various abnormalities. It is to be noted from
Table II that the proposed scheme remains stable during pre-fault/normal
condition. Furthermore, the digital overcurrent relay operates in 48 ms for single
line to ground fault. Similarly, for other types of fault (double line, double line to
ground and triple line), the proposed scheme operates satisfactorily (not shown in
Table II). Moreover, it has been observed from Table II that the relay operates in
70 ms and 68 ms during one & two down conductor condition respectively. This
operating time is justified considering breaker time (two cycles), relay time (one
cycle) and safety margin (half a cycle). Three down conductors condition has not
occurred on Ganesh feeder. At the same time, the existing scheme maloperates
during unbalance condition whereas the proposed scheme remains stable and the
digital relay does not operate.
Table II: Recorded results on Ganesh feeder during down conductor
condition with and without proposed scheme
Digital Relay Settings:
Plug Setting (PS) of R1 =100 % of IR (Relay rated current)
Time Multiplier Setting (TMS) of R1 =0.025, System Voltage (L-L) = 11 kV
Situation
Fault current
Time of
I2 / I1
(A)
operation
(TOP(s))
I1A
I1B
I1C
Pre-fault/Normal
94.41
92.62
93.0
0.15
L-G (R-G)
1441
2.23
2.24
0.048
0.81
Down conductor
One (R phase)
0.5
140
140
0.070
0.524
Two (R &Y phase)
0.49
0.5
138
0.068
0.55
Maloperation of existing scheme during pre fault condition
Unbalance
92
46
71
0.095
0.232
condition
Result obtained using proposed scheme during pre fault condition
Unbalanced
92
46
71
Relay does
0.232
condition
not operate
4.

Simulation of the Proposed Scheme using PSCAD/EMTDC

Fig. 3 shows the proposed tripping logic developed in PSCAD/EMTDC software

package. It is designed in such a way that it works satisfactorily during fault as
well as during down conductor condition. When current through a digital over
current relay exceeds the pick-up setting of relay, it generates a constant signal
(logic 1) through Hysteresis-buffer. The output of the respective phase relay is5
given to OR gate. Depending upon the output (logic 1/logic 0) of any phase relay,

Submission to International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems

this OR gate generate a trip signal which is given to the circuit breaker of
distribution feeder (BR1). In order to check back up protection of feeder, two
state (0-off, 1-on) selector switch is used to bypass the relay of a particular section
of the respective phase.
In the proposed tripping logic, as shown in Fig. 3, three line currents of Ganesh
feeder (I1A, I1B, I1C) are converted into sequence currents (MP1, MN1, MZ1)
using FFT block (not shown in Fig. 3). The ratio of the negative sequence current
(MN1) to the positive sequence current (MP1) is given as an input to the timer. In
the eventuality of this ratio exceeding 15% (0.15) of the normal current, the
output of the timer will be high. This timer output is given as one of the input to
AND gate through two-state selector switch. Three line currents (I1A, I1B, I1C)
of the feeder are fed to three different timers. If any line current falls below 2 %
of load current (the value of under current on the Ganesh feeder during an actual
down conductor condition) then the output of the timer which will be logic 1 is
given to AND gate. The assumption of 2% of load current during down conductor
situation is valid as in this condition; the value of current is less than 1% of load
current (Refer Table III). The output of the AND gate is given to the timer to set
the desired time delay. Depending upon the output of timer (logic 1/logic 0), OR

Fig 3 Tripping logic using the proposed scheme

gate generates a final trip signal which will be further given to the circuit breaker
of distribution feeder (BR1).
5. Simulation Results
Fig. 4 shows simulation results for a single line-to-ground fault on Ganesh feeder.
It
has been observed that the relay (R1A) operates according to its settings (time6
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multiplier setting and plug setting). Though the ratio of I2/I1 exceeds a

Bhalja et al.: Digital Down Conductor Detection Scheme

predetermined threshold value (15%), the final tripping is not initiated as the
current in phase-a does not fall below 2% of load current. Hence, the status of
down conductor (BC) is not changed (remains zero). The simulation results for
one conductor down, two conductors down and three conductors down have been
shown in Fig. 5 to Fig. 7, respectively. Here, in all three cases, down conductor
condition has been applied at 1.0 s. Moreover, an additional 0.5 s time delay has
been given by the timer. It has been observed from Fig. 5 to Fig. 7 that the status
of broken conductor (BC) changes after 1.5 s.
Moreover, simulation results for various abnormalities/faults are shown in Table
III. It is to be noted from Table III that the digital overcurrent relay operates
satisfactorily during various types of faults & down conductor conditions and its
time of operation is almost equal to an actual time of operation of relay obtained
from Ganesh feeder.
Furthermore, when the load is highly unbalanced during normal/prefault
condition, it is possible that the ratio of I2/I1 may exceed predetermined threshold
value, particularly during night hours, as observed by the authors on Ganesh
feeder. This situation has been simulated in PSCAD and results are shown in
Table III. It has been observed from Table III that the existing scheme
maloperates in 0.072 s. Conversely, the proposed scheme remains stable and the
breaker status remains low (no tripping signal) even if the ratio of I2/I1 exceeds a
predetermined threshold value.

Fig. 4 Breaker response and I2/I1 ratio during single line-to-ground fault

Submission to International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems

Fig. 5 Response of the proposed scheme during one conductor down

Fig. 6 Response of the proposed scheme during two down conductors

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Bhalja et al.: Digital Down Conductor Detection Scheme

Fig. 7 Response of the proposed scheme during three down conductors

Table III: Simulation results for different situations with and without
proposed scheme
Fault Type/ Situation

Fault current
(A)

I1A
Pre-fault/Normal
106.50
L-G
1689
L-L
2276
L-L-L
2721
L-L-L-G
2361
L-L-G
2154
One (R-phase) conductor 0.0067
down
Two (R-Y)
0.0067
Conductors down
Three conductors down 0.0067
Maloperation of existing 102.33
scheme during unbalance
condition
Stability of proposed
102.33
scheme during unbalance
condition

TOP
Using
PSCAD

I2 / I1

I1B
107
0.022
2276
2721
2361
2147
159

I1C
104.35
0.024
0.024
2721
2361
0.023
160

0.049
0.043
0.039
0.042
0.044
0.027

0.15
0.83
0.89
0.0
0.0
0.61
0.525

0.0067

157

0.024

1.01

0.0067
84.97

0.0067
46.30

10.74
0.262

84.97

46.30

0.021
Relay
operates
in 0.072 s
Relay
does not
operate

0.262

Submission to International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems

6.

Conclusion

This paper presents a new digital protection scheme for down conductor detection
in overhead distribution system. It is based on the combination of the ratio of the
negative sequence current to the positive sequence current and the value of under
current during an actual down conductor condition. The proposed scheme has
been implemented in an actual field on an existing 11 kV distribution feeder with
the help of digital over current relay. In order to validate proposed scheme,
modeling of a part of an existing power system distribution network has been
carried out using PSCAD/EMTDC software package. By looking to relay
responses, it has been observed that the existing scheme maloperates during
highly unbalanced loading conditions. On the other hand, the proposed scheme
operates satisfactorily in case of down conductor condition without an intentional
time delay.
References
Edith Clarke, Circuit analysis of AC power systems, John Wiley and
Sons, Schenectady, New York, 1950.
[2]
IEEE Tutorial Course Text, Don Russell Detection of Downed
Conductors on utility Distribution Systems Organizer, 90EH031O-3PWR, February 1990.
[3]
L. Li and M. A. Redfern, A review of techniques to detect downed
conductors in overhead distribution systems, 7th International IEE
conference on Developments in Power System Protection (DPST 2001),
Amsterdam, Netherlands, 9 12th April 2001, pp. 169-172.
[4]
A. C. Westron, G. J. Cokkinides, A. P. Sakis Meliopoulos and A. Ayoub,
Open conductor detector system, IEEE Transactions on power delivery,
Vol. 7, No.3,July 1992, pp.1643-1651.
[5]
L. Gracia-santander, P. Bastard, M. Petit, I. Gal, E. Lopez and H. Opazo,
Down conductor fault detection and location via a voltage based
method for radial distribution networks, IEE Proceeding Generation
Transmission and Distribution, Vol. 152, No.2, March 2005, pp. 180-184.
[6]
H. Calhoun, M. T. Bishop, C. H. Eichler, and R. E. Lee, "Development
and testing of an electro-mechanical relay to detect fallen distribution
conductors," IEEE Transaction on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol.
PAS-101, No. 6, June 1982, pp. 1643-1650,.
[7]
Miguel Louro and Jose pinto de sa, Evaluation of protection approaches
to detect broken conductors in distribution networks, 19th international
conference on Electricity distribution, Vienna, 21-24th May, 2007, pp. 1-4.
[8]
Digital Overcurrent Relay Technical Guide, AREVA T & D Limited,
2004, pp. 47-48.
[9]
Dumitru Toader, Constantin Blaj and Stefan Haragus, Electrocution
danger evaluation for broken and grounded conductor, IEEE
th
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International conference on Computer as a tool, Warsaw, 9-1210
September, 2007, pp.1392-1397.
[1]

Bhalja et al.: Digital Down Conductor Detection Scheme

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

Ming-Ta Yang, Jhy-Cherng Gu and Jin-Lung Guan, Detection of

Downed Conductor in Distribution System, IEEE Power Engineering
Society General Meeting, San Francisco, CA, Vol. 2, 12-16 June, 2005,
pp. 1107-1114.
Sedighi A. R., Haghifam M. R., Malik O.P. and Ghassemian M.-H., "High
impedance fault detection based on wavelet transform and statistical
pattern recognition", IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 20, Issue
4, October 2005, pp. 2414 2421.
C. Benner and B. Russell, Practical High-Impedance Fault Detection on
Distribution Feeders, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol.
33, No. 3, May/June 1997, pp. 635-640.
Daquing Hou and Normann Fischer, Deterministic High-Impedance Fault
Detection and Phase Selection on Ungrounded Distribution Systems,
IEEE Industrial & Commercial Power Systems Technical Conference,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, May 6-11 2007, pp. 1-10.
M. Sedighizadehi, A. Rezazadeh and Nagy I. Elkalashy, Approaches in
High Impedance Fault Detection A Chronological Review, Journal of
Advances in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vol. 10, No. 3, 2010,
pp. 114-128.
A. Pongthavornsawad and W. Rungseevijitprapa, Broken Conductor
Detection for Overhead Line Distribution System, Asia Pacific Power
and Energy Engineering Conference, 25-28 March 2011, Wuhan, China,
pp. 1-4.
APPENDIX-I
Resistance
Area of
(/km)
cross section (mm2)

Reactance
(/km)

Type of
Conductor

Voltage
(kV)

Rabbit

11

61.9

0.5449

0.305

Dog

66

118.45

0.2745

0.283

11

Submission to International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems

APPENDIX-II

Feeder
No.
TL1
TL2
TL3
TL4
TL5
TL6
TL7
TL8
TL9
TL10
TL11
TL12
TL13

Feeder
Name
NDDB
SVG
Ganesh
APC
Tulsi
Amul Dairy
Anand city-1
Kanjari
Anand city-2
Krishna
Cattle
Khodiyar
Nilkanth

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Length
(Km)
4.00
2.70
3.10
2.50
5.20
4.30
5.60
18.5
5.30
3.70
11.11
2.90
4.50

Load Current (A)

IR
35.0
100.49
106.50
98.36
84.49
37.5
80.56
51.0
64.17
47.14
98.31
86.03
111.83

IY
34.0
101.5
107
99.36
83.49
39.0
79.56
50.0
63.5
48.40
99.78
85.6
110.5

IB
36.0
99.49
104.35
99.6
84.5
40.0
80.5
52.0
65.23
48.23
99.11
84.46
109.34

Load
(P + jQ)
KW
633.5
1693
1919
1791
1480
724
1448
831
1036
794
1772
1490
1970

KVAR

208.22
914
631
650
588
238
476
426
642
492
0
635
715

12

Bhalja et al.: Digital Down Conductor Detection Scheme

APPENDIX-III
Legend Key
for Figures
Transformer 1
Transformer 2
Transformer 3
Transformer 4
CT
PT
CB

Specifications

Tripping
characteristic
and constants
of digital
overcurrent
relay having
normal inverse
characteristic

A
+ B + K
Ttrip = TMS
p

( M 1)
Where, A= 0.14, B = 0.1, K = 0.1, p = 0.02 are constants.
TMS is Time Multiplier Setting and usually in the range of 0-1 s. M is Plug Setting
Multiplier (PSM) given by the equation,
Fault current referred to CT secondary
PSM =
PS
Where, PS is the Plug Setting of the relay.

50 MVA ,3-phase,50 Hz, 220/66 kV, DY11, impedance 8.15 %

15 MVA ,3-phase,50 Hz, 66/11.55 kV, DY11, impedance 10.83 %
15 MVA ,3-phase,50 Hz, 66/11.55 kV, DY11, impedance 9.546 %
15 MVA ,3-phase,50 Hz, 66/11.55 kV, DY11, impedance 10.93 %
Current Transformer (CT) with 300/5 A CT ratio, 20 VA burden, 5P10 class
Potential Transformer (PT) with 66 kV/ 110 V, 300 VA burden, Accuracy B.
SF6 Circuit Breaker (CB), 3-phase, 11 kV, 50 Hz, Breaking Capacity: 26.2 kA,
Making Capacity: 66.8 kA.

13