Fault Analysis

Symmetrical Components
Fault Analysis

The cause of electric power system faults is

insulation breakdown
This breakdown can be due to a variety of
different factors:
Lightning.
wires blowing together in the wind.
animals or plants coming in contact with the
wires.
salt spray or pollution on insulators.
Fault Types
There are two main types of faults
Symmetric faults: system remains balanced; these faults
are relatively rare, but are the easiest to analyze so we’ll
consider them first.
Un-symmetric faults: system is no longer balanced; very
common, but more difficult to analyze.
The most common type of fault on a three phase system by
far is the single line-to-ground (SLG), followed by the line-to-
line faults (LL), double line-to-ground (DLG) faults, and
balanced three phase faults.
Fault Analysis

Fault currents cause equipment damage due to both

thermal and mechanical processes.
Goal of fault analysis is to determine the magnitudes of
the currents present during the fault.
need to determine the maximum current to insure
devices can survive the fault.
need to determine the maximum current the circuit
breakers (CBs) need to interrupt to correctly size the
CBs.
Fault Analysis Solution Techniques
Circuit models used during the fault allow the network
to be represented as a linear circuit
There are two main methods for solving for fault
currents:
1. Direct method: Use pre-fault conditions to solve
for the internal machine voltages; then apply
fault and solve directly.
2. Superposition: Fault is represented by two
opposing voltage sources; solve system by
superposition.
Analysis of Un-Symmetric Systems

Except for the balanced three-phase fault, faults result in

an unbalanced system.
The most common types of faults are single line-ground
(SLG) and line-line (LL). Other types are double line-
ground (DLG), open conductor, and balanced three
phase.
System is only unbalanced at point of fault!
The easiest method to analyze unbalanced system
operation due to faults is through the use of
Symmetrical Components
Symmetric Components
The key idea of symmetrical component analysis is to
decompose the system into three sequence networks.
The networks are then coupled only at the point of the
unbalance (i.e., the fault)
The three sequence networks are known as the
positive sequence (this is the one we’ve been using).
negative sequence.
zero sequence.
Positive Sequence Sets
The positive sequence
sets have three phase
currents/voltages with
equal magnitude, with
phase b lagging phase a
by 120°, and phase c
lagging phase b by 120°.
We’ve been studying
positive sequence sets. Positive sequence sets
have zero neutral current
Negative Sequence Sets
The negative sequence
sets have three phase
currents/voltages with
equal magnitude, with
phase b leading phase a
by 120°, and phase c
leading phase b by 120°.
Negative sequence sets
are similar to positive
sequence, except the Negative sequence sets
phase order is reversed have zero neutral current
Zero Sequence Sets
Zero sequence sets have three
values with equal magnitude
and angle.
Zero sequence sets have
neutral current

Zero Sequence vectors with

Zero phase shift.
Sequence Set Representation
Any arbitrary set of three phasors, say Ia, Ib, Ic can be
represented as a sum of the three sequence sets

I a = I a0 + I a+ + I a−
I b = I b0 + I b+ + I b−
I c = I c0 + I c+ + I c−
where
I a0 , I b0 , I c0 is the zero sequence set
I a+ , I b+ , I c+ is the positive sequence set
I a− , I b− , I c− is the negative sequence set
Conversion from Sequence to Phase
Only three of the sequence values are unique,
I0a , I a+ , I a− ; the others are determined as follows:
α = 1∠120° α +α2 + α3 = 0 α3 = 1
0 0 0
Ia = I b = Ic (since by definition they are all equal)
I b+ = α 2 I a+ I c+ = α I a+ I b− = α I a− I c+ = α 2 I a−

Ia 1 1 1 1 1 1 I a0
0 + 2 − 2 +
Ib = Ia 1 + Ia α + Ia α = 1 α α Ia
Ic 1 α α2 1 α α2 I a−
Conversion Sequence to Phase
Define the symmetrical components transformation
matrix
1 1 1
A = 1 α2 α
1 α α2
Ia I a0 I0
Then I = I b = A I a+ = A I + = A I s
Ic I a− I−
Conversion Phase to Sequence

By taking the inverse we can convert from the

phase values to the sequence values
−1
Is = A I
1 1 1
−1 1
with A = 1 α α2
3
1 α2 α
Sequence sets can be used with voltages as well
as with currents
Example

Va 5∠90°
Let V = Vb = 8∠150°
Vc 8∠ − 30°
Then
1 1 1 5∠90° 1.67∠90°
−1 1
Vs = A V = 1 α α 2 8∠150° = 3.29∠ −135°
3
1 α2 α 8∠ − 30° 6.12∠68°
Example

I0 10∠0°
Let I s = I + = −10∠0°
I− 5∠0°

Then
1 1 1 10∠0° 5.0∠0°
I = AI s = 1 α 2 α −10∠0° = 18.0∠46.1°
1 α α2 5∠0° 18.0∠ − 46.1°
Power in Symmetrical Components

The total power in a three-phase network is given in

terms of phase variables by

where the asterisk denotes complex conjugation. We can show that the
corresponding expression in terms of sequence variables is given by

The total power is three times the sum of powers in individual

sequence networks.
Use of Symmetrical Components

Consider the following wye-connected load:

I n = I a + Ib + Ic
Vag = I a Z y + I n Z n
Vag = ( ZY + Z n ) I a + Z n I b + Z n I c
Vbg = Z n I a + ( ZY + Z n ) I b + Z n I c
Vcg = Z n I a + Z n I b + ( ZY + Z n ) I c

Vag Z y + Zn Zn Zn Ia
Vbg = Zn Z y + Zn Zn Ib
Vcg Zn Zn Z y + Zn Ic
Use of Symmetrical Components

Vag Z y + Zn Zn Zn Ia
Vbg = Zn Z y + Zn Zn Ib
Vcg Zn Zn Z y + Zn Ic
V = ZI V = A Vs I = A Is
−1
A Vs = Z A I s → Vs = A Z A Is
Z y + 3Z n 0 0
A −1 Z A = 0 Zy 0
0 0 Zy
Networks are Now Decoupled

V0 Z y + 3Z n 0 0 I0
V+ = 0 Zy 0 I+
V− 0 0 Zy I−
Systems are decoupled
V 0 = ( Z y + 3Z n ) I 0 V+ = Zy I+
V − = Zy I−
Grounding

When studying unbalanced system operation how a

system is grounded can have a major impact on the
fault flows
Ground current only impacts zero sequence system
In previous example if load was ungrounded the zero
sequence network is (with Zn equal infinity):
Grounding, cont’d
Voltages are always defined as a voltage difference.
The ground is used to establish the zero voltage
reference point
ground need not be the actual ground (e.g., an
airplane)
During balanced system operation we can ignore the
ground since there is no neutral current
There are two primary reasons for grounding electrical
systems
1. safety
2. protect equipment
Sequence diagrams for generators
Key point: generators only produce positive sequence voltages;
therefore only the positive sequence has a voltage source.

During a fault Z+ ≈ Z− ≈ Xd”. The zero sequence impedance is

usually substantially smaller. The value of Zn depends on
whether the generator is grounded.