2nd IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Intelligent Control and Energy Systems (ICPEICES-2018)
An Exponential Smoothing Based Power Swing
Detection Technique for Distance Protection
A.V. Koteswara Rao, K. M. Soni, S. K. Sinha
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering,
Amity School of Engineering & Technology,
Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, India
koteswara.v@student.amity.edu, kmsoni@amity.edu,
sksinha6@amity.edu
Abstract— Power system network is more susceptible to grid
disturbances due to its frequent operation in stressed conditions
to meet increase in energy demand. This may lead to power
swings due to predominant changes in power flow measurements.
If such disturbances are not distinguished from fault, then the
distance relays may picks up and trip the healthy transmission
lines. To mitigate this, it is essential to introduce an algorithm in
numerical relay to block its operation during swing. If a fault
occurs in a line which is under influence of swing, the relay must
sense and trip the concerned breaker instantaneously to
disconnect faulty line from the network. This paper introduces
an exponential smoothing prediction based power swing
detection technique to estimate impedance seen by the distance
relay during power swing. The actual and estimated impedance
values are examined to segregate a fault from swing in the
transmission system. The performance of the model is evaluated
statistically by measuring forecasting accuracy and model
validation. The proposed method is tested for a 400 KV two-area
power system network and compared with available methods.
The method can initiate the blocking correctly during power
swing and able to identify faults during power swing.
Keywords— Exponential smoothing; Distance relaying;
Power swing; Differential impedance; Forecasting accuracy
I. INTRODUCTION
Present global scenario is evident for the extreme energy
demand which often compel the power system to
operate in reduced reliability margin. When the stressed power
system is under the influence of large perturbations, the power
swings will be generated. Due to significant changes in power
flow measurements during swing, the impedance trajectory
seen by the distance relay may enter into the relay operation
characteristics. This can cause unintended tripping of
transmission lines. The protection relays shall not trip the
transmission line during swing so that the power system can
regain its synchronous state. An unintended initiation of the
protection relay during these swings may lead to catastrophic
tripping of transmission lines and further blackout of the
power system network. To mitigate this issue and to assure
intensified power system security, the distance relay is
978-1-5386-6625-8/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
182
Ibraheem Nasiruddin
Department of Electrical Engineering,
College of Engineering, Qassim University,
P.O.B 6677 Buraydah ,Saudi Arabia.
ibraheem_2k@yahoomail.com
incorporated with power swing blocking (PSB) function [1]-
[3].
The traditional methods are unsuccessful to initiate the
blocking function before the impedance trajectory enter into
the zone characteristics of the relay, which results into an
unintended tripping of the lines. This urges a necessity to
develop a new algorithm to track the impedance trajectory
continuously and invoke the PSB function much before it
enters into the protective zone region.
In [3], a technique to distinguish fault and swing, on the
basis of rate-of-change of impedance is projected using
blinder scheme. The method is complex for large network.
Even though, the superimposed DC current characteristic
component method and Swing-Center-Voltage method (SCV)
[4], [5] are simple, they initiate the relay operation for all
swings irrespective of the impedance perceived by distance
relay. These methods fail to revoke the operation of distance
relay in many stable swings. An adaptive based algorithm
resistant to swing conditions is projected in [6]. A new
technique is proposed in [7] to identify fault during swing by
eliminating decaying DC offset and harmonics present in fault
current. This method is prone to noise present in current
signal. An error calculation method based on Taylor Series
expansion is proposed in [8] for improving power swing
detection and performance of the distance relay. The method
requires about one and half cycles for identification. A
technique using moving average of modulated current signals
is illustrated in [9]. Different PSB techniques are compared in
[10]-[11]. Impedance prediction using auto-regression is
projected in [12].
In this paper, an exponential smoothing based PSB
function is proposed to segregate fault and power swing. The
proposed method uses past samples of impedance seen by
relay to estimate accurate future samples. The differential
impedance is computed using actual and predicted values of
the impedance. During power swings, the future values can be
predicted using the past values and hence the differential
impedance shall be negligible. In case of a fault, the
impedance observed by the distance relay changes abruptly
and it cannot be predicted using the past impedance trajectory.
Therefore, the differential impedance (∆Z) will be significant
during fault. A 400 KV power system is simulated to verify
the proposed algorithm using PSCAD/EMTDC software, and
the results are evaluated in MATLAB.
II. PROPOSED METHOD
During power swing, the generators in one area oscillate with
respect to the other area generators. This can be represented as
two area power system where one area is considered as
sending end and the other area as receiving end [13].
𝑣 (𝑡) = 𝑉 sin (2𝜋𝑓 𝑡 + 𝜙 ) (1)
𝑣 (𝑡) = 𝑉 sin (2𝜋𝑓 𝑡 + 𝜙 ) (2)
Where, 𝑉 and 𝑉 are amplitudes of voltage signals; 𝜙 , 𝜙
are initial phase angle of voltage and 𝑓 , 𝑓 are frequencies at
sending and receiving ends of power system network.
Instantaneous current signal is given in [9] as,
𝑖(𝑡) = I sin(2𝜋𝑓 𝑡 + 𝜙 ) + I sin(2𝜋𝑓 𝑡 + 𝜙 ) (3)
Where, I and I are amplitudes; 𝜙 and 𝜙 are initial
phase angles of current signal at sending and receiving end
respectively. Equations (1) and (3) are represented in discrete
form for sampling time Ts at kth sample as,
𝑣 (𝑘) = 𝑉 sin (2𝜋𝑓 (𝑘T ) + 𝜙 ) (4)
𝑖(𝑘) = I sin(2𝜋𝑓 (𝑘T ) + 𝜙 ) + I sin(2𝜋𝑓 (𝑘T ) + 𝜙 )
(5)
From equations (4) and (5), the impedance measured by the
relay at sending end for kth sample is calculated as,
𝑣 (𝑘)
𝑍 = (6)
𝑖(𝑘)
A. Exponential smoothing prediction technique
Exponential smoothing is a quantitative forecasting technique
suitable to estimate periodical signals based on past
observations i.e. 'priori'. It is a particular case of weighted
moving average (WMA) scheme, in which the weight is
assigned to the most recent past observation. This method is
very simple, easy and fast to compute as it considers most
recent past observations. This method is highly accurate with
acute Mean Square Error (MSE) in forecasting. In the
proposed method, an exponential smoothing forecasting
technique [13] is used to predict relay impedance
characteristics. The future values of the impedance are
estimated using the past trajectory. However, in case of a
fault, the apparent impedance moves at a faster rate and hence
not viable to estimate the future values precisely. The
difference between estimated and actual samples is used to
segregate fault from power swing.
183
The expression for the exponential smoothing weighted
moving average model [14], [15] for n known previous
observations is:
𝑍 = 𝛽 [𝑍 + (1 − 𝛽)𝑍 + ⋯ . . +(1 − 𝛽) 𝑍 (7)
where 𝑍 , 𝑍 and 𝑍 are actual value of impedance at time
t, estimated values of impedance at time t and 𝑡 + 1
respectively. 𝛽 is a smoothing constant of range [0-1] and n
indicates number of previous observations. The next
impedance value can also be predicted using last observation
and its corresponding forecast as follows,
𝑍 = 𝑍 + 𝛽(𝑍 − 𝑍 ) (8)
Re-arrange the equation (8) in terms of error correction form,
we obtain,
𝑍 = 𝑍 + 𝛽(𝑒 ) (9)
Where, 𝑒 is forecast error at time t. Eqn. (9) can also be
represented in terms of an interpolation between previous
observation and previous forecast as below,
𝑍 = 𝛽 𝑍 + (1 − 𝛽) 𝑍 (10)
It is evident from equation (9) that in this method, the
forecast at period t is attuned the forecast error et by β times to
obtain new forecast for a period t+1. The Performance of this
method depends on choosing smoothing constant, β. The
higher value of β is opted for greater responsiveness and lower
value for greater stability. To obtain optimum performance
and better estimation, a suitable value of 𝛽 shall be chosen.
The signal model in (10) considers smoothing constant
( 𝛽 ), actual impedance 𝑍 and its corresponding forecast
value 𝑍 , to predict relay impedance characteristics using
MATLAB. The performance analysis of the proposed method
is determined by measuring forecast accuracy using following
statistical metrics.
1) Sum of forecasting error (SFE)
The forecast accuracy of the proposed model is determined
by finding SFE. The test statistic for SFE is as follows:
n
SFE   Z t  Zˆ t (11)
t 1
2) Mean absolute deviation (MAD)
It is a test to measure forecasting accuracy by considering
absolute values of the forecast errors to avoid cancellation
of positive and negative values while calculating mean. A
low value of MAD indicates better forecasting accuracy.
The test statistic for MAD is as follows:
1 n (12)
MAD 
n
 Z  Zˆ
t 1
t t
3) Mean square error (MSE) In case of power swing, differential impedance will be
It is the most significant test to find forecasting accuracy negligible as the proposed forecasting technique can estimate
as it converts the negative signed observations to positive the future values using the past values precisely. However, for
by squaring the forecast errors. A low value of MSE faults, a correct estimation of impedance could not be
indicates better forecasting accuracy. The test statistic is as achieved and hence its value is very significant. Segregation
follows: of fault and swing can be done by choosing a tolerance limit
1 n (13) (k) for ∆Z as follows,
MSE 
n

( Z  Zˆ ) 2
t 1
t t
If ∆Z < k Power swing is detected
Else ∆Z > k Fault is detected
B. Proposed power swing technique (15)
The tolerance limit (k) is selected considering largest
The estimated impedance (Ẑt) is compared with the value of ∆Z recorded for fast power swings of slip frequency 5
characteristic impedance of zone 3 (Zo) as shown in the flow Hz. For a power swing, the PSB function is invoked to block
diagram Fig.1. If Ẑ is greater than Zo, then it infers normal the operation of relay for tripping. Contrary, for faults, the
operating state of system. Else, it indicates a disturbance such PSB is revoked to unblock the operation of relay for tripping.
as a fault or swing in the system.

START III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A 400 KV power system [13] is simulated to verify the

Data Acquisition
(Actual impedance, Z)
proposed algorithm using PSCAD/EMTDC software. A
3-phase fault is simulated in line 2 of the system in Fig. 2. It
causes power oscillations in line 1. The severity of power
Predict impedance using swing depends on fault clearance time. The actual impedance
Exponential smoothing, Ẑ
observed by relay R1 is obtained from the above simulation
network. It is used to predict the Ẑ for the next time period
using exponential smoothing technique. The Zo is considered
Yes as zone-3 characteristics of the distance relay. Tolerance limit
(k) is selected as 2 Ω considering ∆Z at slip frequency of 5 Hz.
If Ẑ>Zo)

No
7 8 10 3
Steady state G1 1 5 6 110 km 110 km 9 11
G3
Calculate Differential Impedance CB1 CB2 10 km 25 km

˜
25 km 10 km

˜
condition Line-1
∆Z = Z - Ẑ

R1

Yes No 2
CB3 CB4

˜
Line-2 4
If ∆Z>k) G2

˜
k: tolerance limit G4
L7 C7 C9 L9

Fault detected,
Power Swing,
Block the distance relay
allow distance relay Fig. 2. 400 KV Two-area system
to trip

Fig. 1. Flow chart of proposed algorithm A. Choosing of an optimal value of smoothing constant

For secure operation, the distance relay shall not trigger
trip command. Contrary, for a fault condition, the relay shall
initiate trip command. This can be achieved by implementing
a concept of 'Differential impedance'.
Differential impedance (∆Z), used to distinguish swing
and fault conditions, is computed as follows,
Z = Z - Zˆ (14)
The impedance seen by relay R1 is recorded from simulation
of system. It is used to estimate future values of impedance (Ẑ)
using exponential smoothing technique. This estimation is
carried out for various values of smoothing constant. SFE,
MAD and MSE are calculated to measure forecasting
accuracy. The results are mentioned in Table I.

184
 TABLE I is more than reference. This confirms presence of power
RESULTS OF FORECASTING ACCURACY
______________________________________________________________ swing in line 1. Accordingly, the blinder method blocks
β value SFE MAD MSE distance relay.

0.0 1.6E+05 5.5E+01 3.6E+03

70
0.05 2.20E+03 0.7342 0.7955 Zone 2
Actual
60 Predicted
0.09 4.45E+02 0.1484 0.0209 Blinders
0.1 3.65E+02 0.1216 0.0040 50

0.105 3.58E+02 0.1192 0.0021 40 Zone 1

X ( )
0.11 3.64E+02 0.1212 0.0037 30

0.2 9.93E+02 0.3310 0.1547 20

0.3 1.34E+03 0.4455 0.2879 10
0.4 1.51E+03 0.5033 0.3702 0
0.5 1.61E+03 0.5382 0.4246 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100
R ( )
0.6 1.68E+03 0.5614 0.4631 (a)(c)
0.7 1.73E+03 0.5781 0.4917 Fig. 4. Impedance trajectory during stable swing
0.8 1.77E+03 0.5906 0.5137
0.9 1.80E+03 0.6003 0.5312 In the proposed method, from results, maximum
0.95 1.81E+03 0.6044 0.5387 differential impedance is recorded as 0.6 Ω. This value is
1.0 1.82E+03 0.6081 0.5455 within the tolerance limit (k). Therefore, stable power swing is
____________________________________________ detected in line 1. Accordingly, the method enables the PSB.
Both traditional blinder and proposed methods have succeeded
In the proposed method, an optimal value of β is obtained
to detect stable swings.
from the plot between smoothing constant (β) and MSE [16].
It is evident from Fig. 3 that β=0.105 gives an optimal solution
TABLE II.
to predict impedance precisely with least MSE. RESULTS OF SFE, MAD AND MSE FOR STABLE SWING CASE
_____________________________________________
0.8
Type of method used SFE MAD MSE
Mean Square Error (MSE)

______________________________________________
0.6
Auto-regression method 4.07e+03 1.358 2.746
0.4 Exponential smoothing
(proposed method) 3.58e+02 0.119 0.002
0.2 _____________________________________________
optimal   value
0
0
X: 0.105 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 The statistical metrics SFE, MAD and MSE of the
Y: 0.00214 Smoothing constant () proposed method are compared with auto-regression
technique, as shown in Table II. The test results are better in
Fig. 3. Mean Square Error (MSE) for various values of the proposed method .The power system model is statistically
smoothing constant (β). validated using F-test. In the instant case, 3000 observations
are considered for prediction. Hence, F-test is considered as
B. Results for stable-swing case
appropriate [14].

The results of the proposed algorithm are compared with 1) Model validation:
traditional blinder scheme for performance evaluation. In The steps of validation of power system model using F-test
blinder scheme, for early detection of swing before entering are as follows:
into relay protective zones, two blinders are positioned outside
zone 3 reach in the impedance plane. Outer blinder is placed
a) Step1: Formulation of null hypothesis
with 20% margin w.r.t inner blinder. A reference cross-over
Null Hypothesis (Ho): The prediction of impedance
time of two cycles (33.3 ms for 60 Hz power system) is taken
using exponential smoothing technique is inaccurate
to identify fault and power swing. From the impedance
and the proposed model is invalid.
characteristics, the cross-over time is recorded as 46 ms which

185
 Alternate Hypothesis (Ha): The prediction of
impedance using exponential smoothing technique is 120 Actual
Zone 3
Predicted
accurate and the proposed model is valid.
100
Blinders
b) Step 2: Choose 99% confidence level i.e. α= 0.99 80

c) Step 3: Selection of test static - F test

X ( )
60 Zone 2
• The total no. of observations considered, n=3000
40
• The degree of freedom numerator, dfn =1 Zone 1

• The degree of freedom denominator, dfd = n-2 =2998 20

• The critical tabulated value as per F distribution at α,
0
dfn,, dfd is found of order of maximum in double digits -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
from the statistic tables. R ( )

Fig. 5. Impedance trajectory of unstable swing case

d) Step 4: Calculated value of Fcal

⁄ D. Results for symmetrical fault during swing

𝐹 = −1= ⁄
− 1 =5.8e+05
Where MST, MSE are mean squares of total treatments or
observations and errors respectively, which are derived
from Table II [16].
e) Step5: Compare Fcal with Ftab
In this case, Fcal>>>Ftab . Hence, from the test of
hypothesis, it is inferred that there is enough evidence
against null hypothesis.
Therefore, Alternate hypothesis is accepted. i.e. the
prediction of impedance using exponential smoothing
technique is accurate and the proposed model is valid.
It is difficult to identify a fault due to enormous variations in
power flow measurements [17]. For secure operation, it is
essential to disable PSB for a fault during swing. The
conventional blinder method failed to identify the fault due to
less cross-over time than reference value.
In the proposed method, this case is tested by simulating
a 3-phase symmetrical fault in line1 (which is under influence
of swing) at 6.01 s as shown in Fig. 6. The value of ∆Z is
significant at the instant of fault. Accordingly, the distance
relay tripped the faulty portion of the network.
Differential Impedance (ohm)

3
C. Results for an unstable-swing case
2

The impedance plot of unstable swing case is given Fig. 5. In 1

blinder method, the cross-over time is recorded as 19 ms.
0
which is less than reference value. Therefore, the blinder 5 .7 5 .7 5 5 .8 5 .8 5 5.9 5 .9 5 6 6 .0 5 6.1 6 .1 5 6.2
Tim e (s )
scheme is ineffective to identify swing. In the proposed 1
method, it is obtained from results the estimated impedance
plot entered into the zone 3 region with tolerable differential
PSB

0.5
impedance of 1.1 Ω. Therefore, the method succeeded to
detect unstable swing.
0
The statistical metrics MSE, MAD and SFE of the 5 .7 5 .7 5 5 .8 5 .8 5 5.9 5 .9 5
Tim e (s )
6 6 .0 5 6.1 6 .1 5 6.2

proposed method are compared with auto-regression

technique, as shown in Table III. Fig. 6. Symmetrical fault occurred during power swing

TABLE III. E. Results for different swing frequencies

RESULTS OF SFE, MAD AND MSE FOR UNSTABLE SWING CASE
______________________________________________ The proposed method is evaluated for various slip frequencies
Type of method used SFE MAD MSE
including a fault case during power swing. The results are
______________________________________________
compared with blinders method. It is clear from Table IV that
Autoregression method 5.48e+04 111.881 5.07e+04 traditional blinder scheme failed for slip frequencies more
Exponential smoothing 3.098e+04 63.217 1.78 e+02 than 1.5 Hz.

186
 TABLE III. [2] IEEE Power System Relaying Committee of the IEEE Power Eng. Soc.,
RESULTS FOR DIFFERENT SWING FREQUENCIES “Power swing and out-of-step considerations on transmission line,” Rep.
PSRC WG D6., Jul. 2005. Available: http://www.pes-psrc.org
[3] J. P. E. Mooney and N. Fischer, “Application guidelines for power
Conventional blinders swing detection on transmission systems,” Power system conference,
Swing method PS-2006, pp. 159–168, 2006
Proposed
Frequency (Timer setting = 33 ms) [4] G. Benmouyal, D. Hou and D. Tziouvaras, “Zero-setting power swing
method
(Hz) blocking protection,” The 31st Annual Western Protective Relay
Time (ms) Decision Conference, Washington, 2004.
0.28 182 Block Block [5] A. P. Apostolov, D. Tholomier and S. H. Richards, “Superimposed
components based sub-cycle protection of transmission lines,” Power
1.0 90.0 Block Block Systems Conference and Exposition, IEEE PES, vol.1, pp. 592 – 597,
2004.
1.5 30.3 - Block [6] X. Lin, Z. Li, S. Ke and Y. Gao, “Theoretical fundamentals and
2 22.5 - Block implementation of novel self-adaptive distance protection resistant to
power swings,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol.25, no. 3, pp. 1372-1383,
2.5 15.4 - Block July 2010.
3.0 13.0 - Block [7] K. Seethalekshmi, S. N. Singh and S. C. Srivastava, “SVM based power
swing identification scheme for distance relays,” IEEE Power and
3.5 10.0 - Block Energy Soc. Gen. Meet., pp. 1 – 8, July 2010.
[8] Ibrahim Gursu, Tekdemir, and Bora Alboyaci, , "A Novel Approach for
Fault during Can not be detected Trip Improvement of Power Swing Blocking and Deblocking Functions in
power swing Distance Relays", IEEE Trans. Power Del., available in early access,
DOI 10.1109/TPWRD.2016.2600638, 2016
[9] J. G. Raoand A. K. Pradhan, “Power-swing detection using moving
The proposed method identified power swing in all cases window averaging of current signals,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol.30,
no. 1, pp. 368-376, Feb. 2015.
and blocked the distance relay correctly. The proposed method
[10] H. Khoradshadi-Zadeh, "Evaluation and performance comparison of
is also successful to identify fault during power swing. power swing detection algorithms", IEEE Power Eng. Soc. Gen. Meet.,
vol. 2, pp. 1842 – 1848, June 2005.
[11] A. Esmaeilian, A. Ghaderi, M. Tasdighi and A. Rouhani, “Evaluation
IV. CONCLUSION and performance comparison of power swing detection algorithms in
presence of series compensation on transmission lines,” Int. Conf. on
Environment and Electrical Engg., IEEE, pp. 1-4, May 2011.
In this paper, an algorithm for PSB function is developed
[12] A.V. KoteswaraRao and Aziz Ahmad, “Power swing blocking (PSB)
using exponential smoothing forecasting method. The function for distance relay using prediction technique,” Springer:
proposed method is used to predict impedance trajectory of International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and
relay. The segregation of swing and fault is carried out by Management, DOI 10.1007/s13198-016-0434-2, Mar 2016.
[13] KundurP(1994) Power system stability and control. McGraw Hill, New
measuring differential impedance. The model is validated York,NY,USA.
statistically. The performance of the proposed PSB algorithm [14] Anderson Sweeney Williams (2008), "Statistics for Business and
is tested for various slip frequencies and found to be superior Economics",. Thomson South-Western, USA.
[15] Rob Hyndman, Anne Koehler, Keith Ord and Ralph Snyder (2008),"
to traditional methods. Forecasting with Simple Exponential Smoothing", Springer Series in
Statistics, DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-71918-2, 2008
[16] Eva Ostertagova and Oskar Osterag, “Forecasting using Exponential
Smoothing Method,” Journal of ActaElectrotechnia et Informatica, Vol.
REFERENCES 12, No.39, pp. 62-66,DOI: 10.2478/v10198-012-0034-2, Sep 2012.
[17] J. G. Rao and A. K. Pradhan, “Improved Transverse Current Differential
[1] D. Tziouvaras, “Relay performance during major system disturbances,” Protection Resistant to Power Swing,” Springer, INAE Letter (2016
2006. Available: http://www.selinc.com.

187