A Study on the Fault Characteristics of Line Fault in LVDC
Distribution System
Joon Han*, Yun-Sik Oh*, Gi-Hyeon Gwon*, Doo-Ung Kim*, Chul-Hwan Kim*, Keon-Woo Park †
*Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea, j3angh@gmail.com, fivebal2@naver.com, elysium03@hotmail.com,
krkic@hanmail.net, hmwkim@hanmail.net
†
KDPower Co., Ltd., South Korea, nsdapss@kdpower.co.kr
Keywords: EMTP, Line fault, Low Voltage DC distribution
system
Abstract
Recently, the interest about Direct Current (DC) distribution
system has been increasing constantly as the importance and
need to renewable resources are emphasized. In common with
existing AC system, especially, an analysis of fault in DC
system is also important. However, fault in DC system might
have different characteristic compared with conventional AC
system due to the difference in configuration between two
systems. This paper analyses the fault characteristic in DC
distribution system considering two types of line faults. For
the analysis, a simple DC distribution system is implemented
using EMTP/ATPDraw. And then, the simulation according
to the various fault conditions is conducted and the simulation
results are presented.
1 Introduction
In electric power systems, the renewable resources such as
photovoltaic power generation, wind power generation, and
electrical vehicles have considered as a good alternative.
These distributed resources and electrical vehicles generate
and use DC voltage, therefore these have to be interfaced with
DC distribution system which is more efficient than existing
AC system when dealing with DC based sources and devices.
Since the DC distribution system is a promising technology to
be used in future distribution systems having high efficiency
and reliability, it is expected that DC distribution system
would be an increase in the installation of DC systems in
housing complex, buildings and so on. For this reason, the
demand of application of DC system has increased [1, 2].
Especially, the Low Voltage DC (LVDC) distribution system
is one of the emerging smart grid technology innovations in
electricity distribution and an interesting challenger for the
existing network technologies [3].
The main objectives behind the development of the LVDC
network have been to; 1) improve the power quality and
supply security experienced by the electricity end-users, 2)
improve the economy of the electricity distribution, 3)
provide flexible and robust coupling point for small scale
generation, and 4) develop infrastructure for interactive and
intelligent distribution network [4].
The development of the LVDC network was started 2005 in
Finland [3] as a continuum to development of the 1 kV
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intermediate LVDC distribution systems. Also, DC network
concept with somewhat similar properties and sharing some
of the same objectives have been introduced in [5, 6, 7].
According to these interesting about DC network concept, an
analysis of fault characteristic in DC system, in common with
conventional AC system, is also important. In DC distribution
system, however, the fault characteristics might be changed
compared with AC system because of differences in structure
or configuration between DC system and AC system.
Therefore, it is important to analyse the fault characteristics
considering the various fault condition for protecting DC
system with proper countermeasure. Generally, there are two
types of faults in DC system: 1) Line to Line and 2) Line to
Ground. A Line to Line fault occurs when a path between the
positive and negative line is created. A Line to Ground fault
occurs when either the positive or negative pole is short-
circuited to ground [8].
In this paper, a study on the analysis of the fault
characteristics of the LVDC distribution system is conducted
considering fault situations. In order to perform this study, a
simple LVDC distribution system is modelled using Electro-
magnetic Transients Program (EMTP). The simulations are
performed by considering the various line faults in LVDC
distribution system and the simulation results are analysed.
2 LVDC distribution system
In past years, DC distribution system has been considered as a
promising solution to enhance the system reliability and
energy efficiency of the distribution system and the power
quality experienced by the customers. Also, state-of-art power
electronic technologies have been developed and good quality
DC voltage can be obtained to supply sensitive DC loads. The
advantages of DC distribution system can be summarized as
follows [1, 9, 10]:
1) System efficiency: The system efficiency becomes
higher than AC system because of the reduction of
conversion losses of inverters between DC output
sources and loads.
2) Easier composition: There is no need to consider
about the skin effect, synchronization, and reactive
power in DC system.
3) Incorporation of renewable energy resources: By
applying with DC system, the first conversion stage
 can be removed. Therefore, easier integration of
distributed generation units is possible because the
renewable energy resources such as photovoltaic
systems and fuel cells generate energy at DC.
That is, DC renewable energy resources could be
much more readily incorporated into a premise DC
bus. Doing so would eliminate conversions, each of
which can save between 2.5% and 10% of the
developed energy.
4) Aspect of power quality: While power electronics
are frequently viewed as a cause of poor power
quality, power electronic converters can meet most
power quality standards placed on an AC system
and could even improve AC power quality.
5) Reduction of unnecessary loss: The DC system is
simpler, as many conversion steps are avoided, and
each step causes losses and reduces the reliability of
the system. Due to the absence of a reactive current
component, the same active power drawn by the
load results in lower current magnitude, thus in
lower losses, in the DC system as compared to the
conventional AC system.
In order to apply DC distribution system into existing AC
distribution system, some conditions such as the topologies,
connection types of system, and power electronic converters
should be considered in advance. Further detailed contents are
presented as below.
2.1 Topology of LVDC distribution system
In Korea, the interest of DC distribution system has increased
and various studies have been performed. Figure 1 represents
the MVDC (Medium Voltage DC) system which is based on
the conventional Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO)
power system [1].
As shown in Figure 1, the auxiliary transformer is installed on
the secondary side of the main transformer and connected to
the AC/DC converter directly. The voltage level of MVDC
system is 1500V which is the same voltage level as the Korea
DC electric railway system. Also, DC/DC converters are
installed on the customer side where DC voltage is stepped
down to the customer rated DC voltage level which is 380V
DC.
Figure 1: Example of MVDC system topology.
Figure 2 shows the topology of the LVDC power system. The
entire system is very similar to the existing AC power system.
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However, the AC/DC and DC/DC converters are installed in
series at the secondary side of pole transformer to convert
original AC power into DC power. And then the DC/DC
converter steps down rectified DC voltage to the customer
rated DC voltage level which is 380V DC.
Figure 2: Example of LVDC system topology.
These topologies might be used as a general DC distribution
system in the future. At present, the various topology studies
for determination of Korea DC distribution system are being
performed steadily.
2.2 Connection of LVDC distribution system
The LVDC distribution system can be made with two basic
connection types; unipolar and bipolar system. The difference
between these two connection types is the number of voltage
levels. The unipolar system has a just one voltage level.
Therefore, all customers are connected to this one voltage
level. The simple concept of unipolar LVDC system is shown
in Figure 3 [3].
G
Figure 3: Concept of an unipolar LVDC distribution system.
On the other hand, the bipolar system consists of two unipolar
systems which are connected in series. In the bipolar system,
the customers can be connected between voltage levels with
multiple ways.
The connection alternatives are 1) between a positive pole, 2)
between a negative pole, 3) between positive and negative
poles and 4) between positive and negative poles with neutral
connection. The simple concept of bipolar LVDC system with
connection alternatives are shown in Figure 4 [3].
G
Figure 4: Concept of a bipolar LVDC distribution system.
2.3 Power electronic converter
In the DC distribution system, power electronic converters are system
essential component in various purposes. In this section, the
basic performance property of converters is described.
A. AC/DC converter
Generally, the basic function of AC/DC converter (Rectifier)
is to convert AC voltage and current into DC voltage and
current. This process is known as rectification. AC/DC
converters have many uses, but are often found serving as
components of DC power supplies and High Voltage Direct
Current (HVDC) power transmission system. Rectification
may serve in roles other than to generate direct voltage and
current for use as a source of power. In DC distribution
system, AC/DC converter can be used to interconnect the AC
system and DC system.
In this study, the AC/DC converter is modelled by using
Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) method, one of
control schemes. In this converter, the three references current
are obtained by multiplying the three phases sinusoidal
balanced voltage with a gain G representing the smoothed
output of a Proportional-Integral (PI) controller used for
obtaining null steady state error of the DC voltage.
B. DC/DC converter
1) Buck converter
A DC/DC buck converter is a step-down DC to DC converter
and the basic operation of the buck converter has the current
in an inductor controlled by diode. Generally, the buck
converter is used to generate a lower output voltage from a
higher DC input voltage. The output voltage is equal to the
average value of input voltage and it can be expressed as
following:
3 Line fault simulation in LVDC distribution
Generally, there are two types of line faults in LVDC system:
1) Line to Line and 2) Line to Ground, which can be seen in
Figure 5. A Line to Line fault occurs when a path between the
positive and negative line is created, short-circuiting them
together. A Line to Ground fault occurs when either the
positive or negative pole is short-circuited to ground. The line
to ground fault is the most common type of faults in industrial
distribution systems [8]. These types of line fault can cause
severe voltage fluctuation, and then it results in power quality
problems toward customer and renewable resource connected
to the LVDC distribution system.
(a) Line to Line fault (b) Line to Ground fault
Figure 5: Types of line fault in LVDC distribution system.
In order to identify the characteristics of line faults in LVDC
distribution system, the various simulations are conducted
using EMTP/ATPDraw. The first simulation test was a line to
ground fault simulation and the second simulation test was a
line to line fault simulation. The detailed simulation condition
is presented in Section 3.2.

V O = VS D (1) 3.1 Simulation system

To analyse fault characteristic of line fault in DC system, we
In Equation (1), VO and VS mean the input voltage and output
model a simple LVDC distribution system as shown in Figure
voltage, respectively. The output voltage of buck converter is
6. The AC/DC converter used in this model system is
related to duty rate and it increases proportionally to duty
described in Section 2.3. In the case of DC/DC converter,
rate. DC/DC buck converter can be used to step down the
buck converter is used only to step down the 1500V level of
high voltage level of main distribution line into low voltage
main distribution line into 380V level which is the rated
level desired at end customer.
voltage of customer. The connection type of LVDC system is
considered as unipolar system.
2) Boost converter
A DC/DC boost converter is a step-up DC to DC converter
with an output voltage greater than its input voltage. The
boost converter is normally used to generate a higher output
voltage from a lower DC input voltage and the output voltage
of boost converter can be expressed as following:

VO = VS / (1-D)
In contrast with buck converter, the output voltage of boost
converter decreases proportionally to duty rate. DC/DC boost
converter can be used to step up the low output voltage level
of renewable resources such as photovoltaic power generation
and electrical vehicles into high voltage level for connecting
to the main distribution line.
(2) G
Figure 6: LVDC simulation system model.
3.2 Simulation condition
In order to identify the characteristics of line fault in LVDC
distribution system, simulations are performed according to
the various fault type, fault resistance, and fault location.

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Table 1 shows the simulation conditions considered in this
study. The description of each fault location described in
Figure 8 is as follows:
Fault Location Fault Type Fault Resistance [Ω]
Location 1 Line to Ground
0.1, 1, 10
Location 2 Line to Line
Table 1: Simulation conditions
3.3 Simulation result
The first simulation test to observe the transient of the LVDC
distribution system is a Line to Ground fault. Figure 7 shows
the simulation result when a Line to Ground and Line to Line
fault occur at Location 1. At 0.2sec, the fault occurs during
0.1sec.
(a) Line to Ground Fault
G G
(b) Line to Line Fault
Figure 7: Voltage of input terminal of DC/DC converter in
case of fault at Location 1.
Figure 7(a) indicates the simulation result of Line to Ground
fault situation. These voltage profiles are measured at the
input terminal of DC/DC converter. In case that a fault occurs
at Location 1, the voltage level of distribution line between
AC/DC converter and DC/DC converter decreases below
1500V. The more fault resistance decreases, the more voltage
decreases and fluctuates. The reason is that the more fault
current flows into fault resistance when a fault resistance is
low. On the other hand, the voltage fluctuation and oscillation
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by low fault resistance is larger than that of high fault
resistance case.
In the case of Line to Line fault, the overall voltage profile
described in Figure 7(b) is also similar to the Line to Ground
fault situation. That is, the more fault resistance decreases, the
more voltage decreases and fluctuate highly.
However, a distinct difference is that the voltage fluctuation
in the case of Line to Line fault is higher than that of Line to
Ground fault when the fault resistance is 1Ω. Also, the
recovery time to return to steady state is not highly affected
by magnitude of fault resistance. However, there is some time
difference.
Also, Figure 8 shows the voltage profiles which are measured
at the load side when a line fault occur at Location 1. The
overall voltage profile for line fault has similar as Figure 7,
and we can notice that a line fault between AC/DC converter
and DC/DC converter can also affect a quality of service
voltage supplied to load.
(a) Line to Ground Fault
(b) Line to Line Fault
Figure 8: Voltage of load side in case of fault at Location 1.
Figure 9(a) shows the simulation result of Line to Ground
fault situation when a Line fault occur at Location 2. The
analysis for line fault between DC/DC converter and load is
very important because a fault in this location is directly
related to voltage quality supplied to load. In case that a fault
occurs at Location 2, the voltage profile has some severe
overshoot. The more fault resistance decreases, the more
voltage fluctuates and has a bigger overshoot. In the case of
Line to Line fault, the voltage fluctuation is not severe, but
the magnitude of overshoot has significant high value
compared with Line to Ground fault situation as shown in
Figure 9(b). Especially, it can be identified when the fault
resistance is 0.1Ω.
(a) Line to Ground Fault
G of low voltage cables for use at 1500V DC distribution
(b) Line to Line Fault
Figure 9: Voltage of load side in case of fault at Location 2.
From simulation results presented in Figure 7, 8 and 9, we
can see that a Line to Line fault is more severe situation than
Line to Ground fault since the former has bigger overshoot
and voltage fluctuation. For fault situation between DC/DC
converter and load, especially, a solution to minimize damage
from line fault might be required because the voltage quality
supplied to load can be reduced due to line fault.
4 Conclusion
In this study, the characteristics of line fault in DC system are [8] J. D. Park and J. Candelaria, “Fault detection and
analysed according to the line fault situations. To identify
fault characteristics, a simple LVDC distribution system is
modelled using the EMTP/ATPDraw. Simulations are
performed by considering the two types of line faults (Line to
Ground fault, Line to Line fault), various fault locations and
fault resistances in test system.
From the simulation results, we can confirm that the more
fault resistance decreases, the more voltage decreases and [10] D. Nilsson and A. Sannino, “Efficiency analysis of low-
fluctuates when a Line to Ground occurs. In the case of Line
to Line fault, the voltage fluctuation is not severe, but the
magnitude of overshoot has significant high value compared
with Line to Ground fault situation. These voltage fluctuation
and overshoot might affect the voltage quality supplied to
load. That is, it is clear that the fault location and resistance
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can affect the transient response of the DC distribution system
in disturbance.
In future works, the authors will study detailed analysis for
fault characteristic and voltage quality in LVDC distribution
system by considering additional fault situations.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Human Resources
Development program (NO. 20131010501750) of the Korea
Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning
(KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government Ministry of
Trade, Industry and Energy.
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