A NEW APPROACH FOR DISTANCE PROTECTION

USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

E.A. Feilat and K. AI-Tallaq

Yarmouk University, Jordan

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an artificial neural network (ANN) based approach for three-zone distance protection of
transmission lines. The proposed neural network-based distance relay has multilayer feedforward architecture with two
inputs and three trip/(no trip) output signals. The first output is responsible for main protection of the transmission line
section, whereas the other two outputs provide back-up protection for the adjacent line sections. The input features of
the neural network are the fundamental frequency voltage and current magnitudes extracted by discrete-Fourier
transform. In this paper, the back propagation training technique has been used for off-line training of the proposed
ANN distance relay. The Input-output patterns were simulated for faults covering the three zones of protection at
different locations, operating conditions, and fault inception angles. The simulation results presented in this paper show
that the proposed ANN distance relay is very effective in detection and classification of line faults and therefore can be
considered as a good tool for main and backup digital distance protection.

Keywords: Distance protection, neural networks, digital protective relaying

MTRODUCTION the system operating conditions. Therefore, researchers

Distance relaying has been widely used for the
protection of transmission lines [I]. Three-zone distance
protection has been used to protect a line section and
provide backup protection for the remote section. Zone
1 is usually set for instantaneous tripping up to 80% to
90% of the line impedance. Zone 2 is set to provide
back up protection for 100% of the line, plus 25% to
50% of the adjacent line off the remote bus. Similarly,
Zone 3 provides backup protection for 100% of both
lines, plus 25% of the adjacent line off the remote bus.
Conventional distance relays are usually designed on
the basis of fixed impedance setting at fundamental
frequency for which a distance relay picks up. This
setting is called a “relay reach”. In conventional
distance relaying the impedance between the relay
location and the fault point is measured, thus
determining if a fault is internal or external to a
protection zone. Consequently, it initiates the action
necessary to isolate the faulted section, However, the
disadvantage of using conventional relays is that their
settings have to be reset for changes in the network
configuration. The relay either overreaches or
underreaches depending on the operating conditions of
the power system and the location of the fault [I].
Over the last three decades various digital protection
techniques have been developed aiming at overcoming
the limitations of conventional distance relays [2-6]. In
these techniques voltage and current samples are used to
extract the fundamental voltage and current components
to estimate the apparent impedance seen by the relay up
to the fault location. The digital protection techniques,
however, do not have the ability to adapt dynamically to
have examined the application of digital adaptive
protection techniques. Among these techniques,
artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been used in
digital distance protection for fault detection,
classification, and location estimation [7,8]. The main
advantage of the ANNs technique over the conventional
techniques is the parallel-distributed architecture for
information processing that allows it to leam any
complex input/output mapping. A fault classificatjon
can be treated as a problem of input data pattern
recognition which can be well handled by ANNs.
Previous research works have shown that ANNs provide
remarkable tool for adapting to the changing network
conditions and configuration, and resulting in excellent
performance compared with the conventional digital
relays.
This paper presents a new approach for transmission
line protection using ANN. The proposed ANN-based
distance relay is a system comprising a multilayer
feedforward ANN with two inputs and three outputs.
The proposed ANN has been trained to provide
Instantaneous as well as back up protection for faults
detected within its three protection zones. One output is
assigned for instantaneous tripping for faults occurring
in the first protection zone, while the other two outputs
give delayed tripping signals for faults occurring in the
second and the third protection zones.
ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK
Multilayer feedforward ANN is architectwe of highly
interconnected simple nonlinear processing elements

473
(neurons) connected in parallel to perform u s e l l
computational tasks such as pattern recogition or
classification as an alternative to conventional
computing approaches [9]. ANN computing
characteristics are distinguished from conventional
pattem recognition by their capability to map complex
and highly nonlinear input-output patterns. ANN can be
used to classify patterns by selecting the output which
best represents an unknown input pattems in cases
where an exact input-output relationship is not easily
defined. It has been proven that a network with one
hidden layer can perform any nonlinear mapping and no
more than two hidden layers are needed for most
applications [ 9 ] . ANN have attracted attention in the last
decades to solve problems related to electric power
system engineering problems such as load forecasting,
security assessment, economic dispatch, and fault
detection and classification [IO].
In its basic form a feedforward ANN consists of an
input layer, an output layer, and one or mare hidden
layers. Each layer consists of a set of neurons or nodes
that are fidly connected to the neurons in the next layer.
The connections have multiplying weights associated
with them. The node receives its input from either other
nodes or from outside world. The sum of all weighted
inputs represents the node activation h c t i o n . The
output of the node is determined by an output function
which responds to this activation. Frequently, the so
called logsigmoid function is used. A typical ANN with
two hidden layers is shown in Fig* 1.
n assumed to occur and the faulted zone ANN classifier is
Input Layer Hidden Layer Hidden layer Output layer
Figure 1 Multilayer Feedforward ANN
The number o f neurons and hidden layers is problem
dependent. The process of determining the weights is
called training process. In the training process, sets of
input-output patterns are associated by properly
adjusting the weights in the network such that a s u m of
squared error function is minimized:
where Ep is the pattern error, rk is the target (desired)
output, and ok is the actual output of the neural network.
Various training algorithms have been developed to
adapt the weights in ANNs to reduce the error defined
in (1). The ANN used in this study is trained using the
back propagation learning algorithm, Weight changes
474
are calculated recursively “backwards” from the output
layer toward the input layer through the hidden layer(s).
Once all weight changes are calculated the weights are
updated. The entire process is repeated until a target
error is satisfied.
NEURAL NETWORK-BASED DISTANCE RELAY
A schematic block diagram of the proposed ANN-based
distance relay is shown in Fig. 2. The proposed ANN
relay requires two analog input signals which include
the line-to-ground voltage and line current as given
from the voltage transformer (VT) and current
transformer (CT). The two signals are first processed by
analog anti-aliasing low-pass filters and then digitized
by an A-D converter. The voltage and current
magnitudes are then obtained by sampling the voltage
and current signals at a sampling rate of 12 samples per
cycle which is the most common sampling frequency
used in digital relays (600 Hz for 50 Hz power
frequency). The relay stores a full-cycle of voltage and
current samples and feeding them to a full-cycle discrete
Fourier transform (DFT) to extract the magnitudes of
the fundamental frequency voltage and current
components,
When a new input sample arrives, the oldest sample is
discarded. For fault detection, the most recent current
samples are compared with the corresponding samples a
cycle earlier. If there is a difference of more than a set
value for three consecutive samples then a fault is
triggered. Once the fault is detected, the input voltage
and current magnitudes are fed to each ANN unit to
identify the faulted zone and initiate the tripino trip
signal.
The ANN architecture consists of input layer with, two
hidden layers, and output layer. The input layer has W O
neurons representing the magnitudes of the voltage and
current signals of the transmission line as seen by a
relay at one end of the transmission line. The numbers
of the hidden neurons and hidden layers were selected
based on speed and accuracy. The output layer has three
neurons associated with the three zones of the line
protection each with an output 1 (trip) for a fault in the
protected zone, or 0 (no trip) for a fault outside the
corresponding zone. The three outputs are or-gated, and
the output signal is converted to analog signal by A-D
converter and fed to the tripping coil.
In reality, the values of the outputs during network
performance will be analog between 0 and 1. Therefore,
one of the outputs of the three ANNs is mapped to a
value of 1 and the other two outputs are mapped to a
value o f 0. For example, if a fault occurs in zone 1, then
the ANN unit should develop [l 0 01 output, and if the
fault occurs in zone 2, then [O 1 01 output pattern is
generated. Likewise, if the fault occurs on zone 3, then a
[0 0 I] output pattem will appear.
 tone 3

1 Lmd

1
Figure 2 Block Schematic of the ANN-Based Distance Relay
+;zy
TRAINING AND TESTING OF THE ANN equations (3) and (4j using the trapezoidal integration
rule:
In this paper, the backpropagation training algorithms
has been used for off-line training of the proposed ANN (3)
relay. A total of 1800 input-output training patterns
simulating faults covering the three zones of protection
at different locations, fault inception angles and (4)
operating conditions have been generated by digital
simulation. The fault locations include zone I : lo%,
20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, and 80% of the where At is the integration step size. The magnitudes of
transmission line section, zone 2: 90%, loo%, 110%, the voltage and current phasors corresponding to the
and 120% of the transmission line section, and zone 3: post-fault fundamental frequency were calculated using
130% - 220% of the transmission line section (adjacent the full cycle DFT:
line). For each of these fault locations, faults were
simulated at 10 different fault inception angles 0’ 90’.
~ (5
Moreover, the above fault studies were conducted for
three loading conditions loo%, SO%, and 33.3% of full-
load conditions. In addition to the training input-output
patterns, another different 700 testing patterns were
generated to test the generalization capability of the
proposed ANN-based relay. The fault studies have been SIMULATION RESULTS
conducted on a single-phase system comprising a
generator connected to a load by short transmission line The proposed ANN-based distance relay was trained
sections each represented by lumped-series impedance using the Neural Network Toolbox [ 1I]. The criterion
R-L model. The fault transient voltage and current for determining the number of hidden layers and hidden
signals were obtained by numerical solution of the neurons was based on a combined consideration of the
differential equation of the transmission line: training error (accuracy) and speed. In this study,
di several tests were performed to determine the optimum
v ( t ) = R(x)i(i)+ L ( x ) -
dt number of hidden layers and hidden neurons based on
where v(t) and i(t) represents the instantaneous voltage the mean square error (MSE) and number of training
and current at the relay terminals. R(x) and L(x) epochs. Moreover, different training functions were
represent the resistance and inductance respectively of examined for convergence including “traingd”,
the portion of the transmission line between the relay “traingdm”, “traingdx”, and “trainrp“. After extensive
and the fault location. The numerical solutions of v(t) simulations, it was found that an ANN architecture with
and i(t) were obtained by integrating the differential 40 neurons in each o f first and second hidden layers

475
with logsigmoid functions for the hidden and output
layers are capable to minimize the MSE of the AN" to
a final value less 0.00001within 943 epochs. The MSE
training error convergence diagrams for the ANN using
the "trainrp" training function is shown in Fig. 3.
The proposed ANN operates in a static manner. The
ANN was trained off-line. Once the desired
performance was achieved, the weights o f the ANN
were frozen. The next step is to test the generalization
capability of the proposed ANN when exposed to test
patterns which are different from the training pattems.
The testing performance of the ANN was examined
using 700 input-output patterns representing faults at
fault inception angles (IS', 30",45', 60", and 75') at
different fault locations over the three zones and at
different load conditions. The results of the testing
performance are shown in Fig. 5 .

1
0.81

100 2bO 3bU 400 5b0 6bo 700 800 sb!

b?
-
OYIPYl 0%
EPOchs
0.4

Figure 3 MSE Training Convergence of the ANN

The training performance of the proposed ANN is OC

I I
depicted in Fig. 4. As can be seen from the plots, the 0 100 ZOO 300 400 500 600 700
Paltern Number
results are very encouraging and match accurately with
the target values. Figure 5-a Testing Performance of Output 1
I

I I
I , . . . . . I 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
o 200 AOO 600 eon 1000 1200 1400 le00 iaoo
Pattern Number
Psllsrn N u m b a t

Figure 4-a Training Performance of Output 1 Figure 5-b Testing Performance of Output 2

NN
Duylul
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I
0 200 400 1101) 800 1000 1200 1 1 0 0 1600 IBQO
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 IO
PBtlem Number Panern Numuer

Figure 4-b Training Performance of Output 2 Figure 5-c Testing Performance of Output 3

The testing phase simulations of the three outputs of the

ANN illustrate the efficiency of the proposed scheme.
As one can see that almost 100% of the 700 tested fault
NN
0"tP"t
pattems of outputs 1 and 3 have been successfully
PI classified into the right zone resulting in correct tripho
trip output signal. However among the 700 pattems,
only one or two patterns of output 2 were misclassified
as shown in Pig. 5-b. This well performance can also be
I . . . . . . . I observed in Fig. 6 which shows the error per pattern
U zoo 100 600 800 1000 1200 1lu0 MOO ieao
Pattern Number
between the actual output pattern and the desired one
Figure 4-c Training Performance of Output 3 €or the three outputs of the ANN.

476
 1 The authors acknowledge the support and facilities of
0 6. Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan.
0.6-
04-

Error
0.2-
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I ,

relay over three zones of line protection. The ANN has 10. El-Shariawi, M. and Niebur, D., Artificial
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and operating conditions show that the proposed ANN- toolbox user’s guide for use wirh M T L A B ,
based distance relay scheme is reliable and very 2002.
encouraging. The ANN was able to classify faults they
have not been exposed to during the training phase. The AUTHOR’S ADDRESS
proposed scheme can be implemented for real time
operation by using dedicated digital signal processing The first author can be contacted at
circuits. It is believed that the proposed ANN-based
distance relay can support or replace the conventional Department of Electrical Power Engineering
three-zone distance protection system. Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology
Yarmouk University, 21 1-63
Irbid
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Jordan
e-mail: cafeilat@w.edti.io

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