UNBALANCED SHORT-CIRCUIT CALCULATIONBY PHASE COORDINATES

W X He C Y Teo
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Avenue
Singapore 2263
Abstrarx This paper demonstrates a direct approach for
fault current calculations without using symmetrical
components. By representing a polyphase network in
phasecoordinates, i.e. phase voltages, currents and
impedances, the unbalanced fault currents can also be phaseb +5
analyzed and calculated. The proposed approach is direct
and can be implemented easily by solving a set of linear
system equation. Identical results for both methods are
obtained in a sample network. Fig. 1. A general three-phase element
1. INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, fault analysis is based on symmetrical 2.1 source 'on
components. For each unbalanced fault, the three To represent a starannected solidly grounded
sequence networks are modified and connected together synchronous generator, nodes 4, 5 and 6 of the general
in an appropriate way to model the fault conditions [l]. element as shown in Fig. 1 are shorted to earth. With the
Based on the frame work of symmetrical components, transformation of the voltage source which are equal in
several new methods are proposed [2,3]. However, if the magnitude and displaced by 120° to the equivalent
system has elements of unbalanced parameters, which current source in parallel with the generator internal
introduce mutual couplings between sequence networks, impedances, the generator model is shown in Fig. 2.
the advantages of symmetrical component are lost. With where E,, E; and E j are the prefault emfs of the
the use of the untransposed UHV transmission lines in generator and xi is the per-phase subtransientreactance.
power system, a general approach using phase coordinate
is needed. By representing the system equation of the
power network in the phasecoordinates, different types
of faults can be modeled by a simple modification of the
system equation according to the type of fault [4,5,6]. The
post-fault phase voltages can be obtained by solving the
system equation. It is a clearer, easier and more explicit
approach.

This paper introduces a complete description of using

phase coordinates in analyzing fault problems, and the
proposed method is more flexible and powerful than
methods based on transformationtheory.

2. PHASECOORDINATE REPRESENTATION --
1
For a three-phase representation, the general element Fig. 2. Representation of a generator
shown in Fig.-1 can be described in makx form in (l),
The equation for a generator can be written as:
where matrix Kk(3x1) represents the per-phase series
voltage drops ( V,- V,), ( V,- VJ, ( V,-%) and matrix 4h
(3x1) represents the currents flowing per phase between
nodes 4 and 1, 5 and 2, and 6 and 3 respectively.
Impedance matrix Z&(3x3) represents the passive 3-
phase mutually coupled network which can be computed where zm, q,b, zware the sex-impedances, and zab, %,
directly from the basic element data and geometry. zacare the mutual impedances of the generator. For a
balanced design generator, zm=.q,b'zcc and zab=&=zac.
(1)
In this representation, the three current sources E,/x,",
&/xi and & / x i are fixed, and they represent the

IEEE Catalogue No. 95TH8130

0-7803-2981-3/95/$4.00@1995IEEE
744
injected current into the three terminals of the generator The total distributed capacitive reactance over the
in the fault current calculation. For more convenient length of the line and the representation of earth wires
formulation,the impedance matrix 2 , is expressed as the can also be included [4].
inverse ofthe admittance matrix yG,i.e. -' G.
=
2.3 Satean Rern on a-

The nodal admittance system equation can be expressed

2.2 T r a m " Line by:
If we ignore the distributed capacitive reactance, a
three-phase transmission line can be represented as v=Y .'I (5)
shown in Fig. 3.
where V represents the phase voltage at each node, and
I v, la,
phasea-bi . zaa v, Il I represents the phase current injected into each node.
;- The admittance matrix Y can be assembled by the
submatrices of all the system elements. In fault current
calculation matrix Vrepresents the post-fault voltages
and matrix I represents the phase current injected into
each node which are all zero except the constant current
sources which represent generators.

Fig. 3 Representationof a transmission line
Based on the basic circuit law, the equations which
relates nodal voltages and currents are:
3. FAULT CURRENTCALCULATION
For illustration, the sample network in Fig. 4 are used
to illustrate the method of fault current calculation. The
two generator admittance matrices are represented by
YGAand YGBand both generators are solidly grounded.
The four transmission line admittance matrices are
representedby submatrices Ynl,YTU, Y, YTU.

Fig. 4. Sample network

From Fig. 3, it is obvious that: For simplicity, the resistance values of all the circuit
&= -A= 14; elements are neglected. The per unit impedances of
4= -4='s; elements are:
Ic= - I3 = I6 .
GA:~ ~ ' 0 . 2 3'0.15,
5, ~'0.03;
By defining the impedance matrix in (3) as Zn,and GB:x1=0.20,34. 12, ~ ' 0 . 0 2 ;

[ YTJ -' z ~ L ,equation (3) can be written as:

=
TL1: xl= 3'0.08, ~ ' 0 . 1 4 ;
TL2:xl= x@. 13, ~ 0 ' 0 17;
.
TL3: xl= ~ 2 4 . 0 6x@,. 10;
TL4: xl= x,,4.06, ~ 4 . 1 2 .

As the above impedances of circuit elements are

By combining the above two equations, the matrix specified in terms of the positive, negative and zero
equation for the three-phase transmission line can be sequence values, these values are converted to the phase
written as: values Z,, by:
.1

, and CL= l.OL120".

If yl is equal toy2, equation (6) can be simplified [5] as:

745
 The admittance matrix of the sample network is given
Yo-Yl Yo-Y1 in (9).
(7)
Yo-Y1 Yo-Y1 Y0+2Yl 3.1 PhasHo-EhthFaultwith Z e n , h ” x
Thus, for generator A, the admitlance matrix is: For the example network, if a red-to-earth fault occurs
at node 7, the post-fault voltage V7 will be constrained to
- j9.33

1
-j14.67 -0.770 0.770 - j9.33 zero. The fault is represented by eliminating the 7th
-
0.770 j9.33 -j14.67 -0.770 - j9.33 . column and 7th row of the system admittance matrix r;
V7 and I,. The post-fault voltages at nodes 1 to 9 except
-0.770 - j9.33 0.770 - j9.33 -j14.67 node 7 can be obtained by solving the set of eight
equations. The fault current distribution in all the
For generator B, the admittance matrix is: branches can then be calculated based on the post-fault
voltages and the original admittance matrix. The total

I
-j21.11 -
-0.962 j14.44 0.962 - j14.44 fault current is:
- j14.44 -j21.11 -0.962-j14.44 .
- j14.44 0.962 - j14.44 -j2Lll

Note that with x l r xz, the off-diagonal elements of the 3.2 Pbase+jJ%rth Fault with hxdaax
If the red-toearth fault at node 7 occurs through an
admittance matrix of generator contain real and
impedancej 0.1, then the post-fault voltage at node 7 will
imagimy part, although the resistance is not included
not be zero, and has to be determined. Equation (8) is
r41. modified by adding 1 0 0.1 to the diagonal element y77
For the four transmission lines, the admittance and is then solved for all the 9 voltages. The total fault

-j10.71

j1.78
jL78

-j10.71
j.178

j1.78 1; [
submatrices for TLl, TL2, TL3 and TL4 are:

[ -j7.09

j0.60
j0.60

-j7.09
j0.60

j0.601;
current at node 7 is V70 0.1 and the fault current
distribution can be calculatedby the 9 post-fault voltages.
The total fault current is:

[
j1.78
-j14.44

j2.22

j2.22
j1.78
j2.22

-j14.44

j2.22
-j10.71
j2.22

j2.22

-j14.44
1; [ j0.60
-j13.89

j2.78

j2.78
j0.60
j2.78

-j13.89

j2.78
-j7.09
j2.78

j2.781.

-j13.89
= 1=5.2072L-90°
V700.
17~

3.3Phase4o-Z”EFault with Zen, ImDedance

If a yellow-to-blue fault with zero impedance occurs
between nodes 8 and 9, the constraints to the system
equation in (8) will be v8=Vg. To satisfy this condition,
The system equation can be expressed as: equation (8) can be modified by eliminating row 9 and
column 9 from the original matrix Y: However, the
Y,+Y,+Y* -U, -U, elements for row 8 and column 8 should be updated by
adding the values of the original rows 8 and 9, and the
values of the original columns 8 and 9. The post-fault
-Ym Y,+y,+Ym+Ym -Ym-Ym
voltages can be found by solving the modified equation
(8). The fault current between node 8 to 9 can be obtained
-ym -Y,-Y* Y,+Y,+Y, by adding the fault currents in the relevant branches, or

-j3247 -0.7-j6.94 o.n-j6.~ -jO.aO -jO.60 110.71 -1179 -1179

0.77-j6.94 -13247 -0.77-j694 17.09 -j0.60 -1179 110.71 -1179

4.7-j6.94 0.77-j6.94 -j3247 -jO.60 17.09 -1179 -1179 110.71

J7.W -jO.60 -jO.60 -j5653 -C.%-j.a84 a%-j&84 j2833 -J5.0 -j5.0

Y = -j0.60 17.09 -jO.60 O.%-j884 -j56.53 -0.%-j&M -j5.0 j2833 -j5.0 (9)
-j0.60 -j0.60 j7.W -O.%-ja84 O.%-j884 -j5653 -j5.0 -j5.0 j2833

~10.71 -jL79 -1179 j2a33 -j5.0 -j5.0 -j39.05 j6.79 j6.79

-1179 jla71 -1179 -j5.0 j2833 -j5.0 j6.79 -j39.05 j6.79

-jL79 -1179 110.71 -j5,0 -j5.0, j2833 j6.79 jam -139.0:

746
can be calculated from the original Y matrix of order 9.
i.e.:
3 . 4 P h e - t o - h Fault with Imnedance
If the yellow-to-blue phase is shorted through an
impedance J 0.1 between nodes 8 and 9, the order of
equation (8) remains as 9 with the matrix Y
supplemented by the appropriate admittance, Le. l/j 0.1
iS added to the diagonal elements and Yw and
-l/j 0.1 is added to the off diagonal elements y89 and
q8.The modified system equation can be solved to
obtain the 9 post-fault voltages. The fault current
distribution can thus be calculated and the total fault
current through the fault impedance is :
3 . 5 T w o - ~ E k r t hFault
If nodes 8 and 9 are shorted and earthed, it can be
considered as two phase-to-earth faults occur
simultaneously. In this case, V,=O and v,=O.The system
equation in (8) is modified by eliminating both rows 8
and 9 and columns 8 and 9. Thus the order of the system
equation is reduced to 7 and it can be solved to obtain
the 7 non-zero voltages, i.e. V,,V,, V,, V,, V,, V , and
6.The short-circuit currents from node 8 to earth IsE
and from node 9 to earth I& can be calculated based on
the 7 post-fault voltages and zero voltages at nodes 8 and
9. i.e.
voltages at busbar B1 calculated by the phase coordinates
aswellas calculated by the conventional approach
using symmetrical components [7] are given in Table 1,
and the comparison of the total fault currents in Table 2.
It can be observed that the magnitude and angle of the
post-fault voltages and fault current distribution are
almost identical. The total fault current and fault current
distribution of red-to-earth fault is shown in Fig. 5.
5. FURTHER CONSIDERATION
In this paper, only generator and transmission line are
represented. More importantly, three-phase transformer
should also be represented. In transformer
representation, various connection and phase shift has to
be considered. For a three phase delta-wye earthed
connection, it can also be represented by a 6x6
admittance matrix [8]. If the generator neutral node is
not earthed, the neutral node has to be represented, and
the order of the admittance matrix for such generator is
4x4.
TABLE 1
COMPARISON OF POST-FAULT VOLTAGES AT BUSBAR B1

3.6-Phase Fault
A three-phase fault is normally solved using a single-
phase equivalent circuit since the magnitude of the fault
13-Phapeshoned}
I I
1
2
3
II 0.211L0.00
0.211L-120.00I
0.211L120.0" I
0.211L0.00
0.211L-120.00
0.211L120.0~
I
1
current is identical with a phase displacement of 120'. In
phase representation, the three-phase fault can also be
solved directly in its three-phase representation. For
three-phase fault, the required condition in (8) is that Typeoffaults Total Fault currents in per unit values
V7=V,=V,. Equation (8) is modified and reduced the at busbar B3 phasscoordinate 1 symmetrical components
Red-alth I 10.8648L-90° I 10.8648L-90"
order to 7. The solution method is similar to the one in Red-e-arth I 5.20721-90" I 5.2072L-90°
section 3.3. through j 0.1 I I
Yellow-blue I 7.7184LO.OO I 7.7184L0.0"
Yellow-blue 5.3391L18Oo 5.3391L180°
4. COMPARISON OF RESULTS through j 0 . l
For comparison, six different types of faults, namely, Yellow-blued 9.0733L141.1° 9.0733L141.1°
red-to-earth, red-to-earth through impedance, yellow-to- 3-0haSe hated 7 476OL-90' 7 4160/-900
blue, yellow-to-blue through impedance , yellow-to-blue-
to-earth and three-phase faults at busbar B3 are tested. 6. CONCLUSION
Although a three-phase fault can be calculAted A direct approach of fault current calculation by phase
accurately using a single-phase equivalent, the coordinates for power system is presented. The proposed
calculation based on the three-phase representation phase coordinate approach provides a simple unified
is conducted for verification of results. The post-fault treatment of polyphase network fault problems for all

747
types of network and fault conditions. Any unbalance in
the network can be represented, and any number of
simultaneous balanced or unbalanced fault conditions can
be analyzed. Its inherent simplicity can make it to be used
widely in power system, and in place of, the more
traditional symmetrical component methods of fault
analysis.
7. REFERENCES
P. M. Anderson, Analysis ofFaulted Power Systems,
Iowa State University Press, 1973.
Brandwajn, V & Tinney, W.F “Generalized method
of fault analysis ” IEEE Transactions on Power
Apparatus and Systems, Vol PAS-104, N0.6 June
1985
B. M. Zhang; & S. S. , “Advanced Power System
Analysis” Tsinghua University Press, P. R. C Sept.
11993
1 2 3 7
I ! ! 3.636C-90’
0.16 1L84O
I,
Fig. 5. Fault current distribution on network A with a red-to-earth fault on node 7
748
[4] M. A. Laughton, “Analysis of unbalanced polyphase
networks by the method of phase coordinates. Part I:
System representation in phase frame of reference“,
ROC. BE, Vol. 115, NO. 8, 1968, pp 1163-1172.
[5] M. A. Laughton, “Analysis of unbalanced polyphase
networks by the method of phase coordinates. Part 11:
Fault analysis” Proc. 1.4 Vol. 116 No. 5, 1969, pp
857-865.
[61 A. 0. M. Saleh & M. A. Laughton, “M- to N-phase
transformer models in phase co-ordinates7’, Proc.
IEE, Vol. 132 No. 1, 1985, pp 41-48.[4] J. J.
Grainger & W. D. Stevenson, Power S’tem
Analpis, McGraw-Hill, 1994.
[7] User Manual for the E Y C S , ERA Technology
Limited, 1993.
[8] M. S. Chen, “Power system modeling”, Proc. IEEE,
Vol. 62, NO. 7, 1974, pp 901-915.
4 5 6
8 ? 3.73OL-90’ I I I
,b