1
A review on various power swing detection
methods on transmission lines
Ashley Suresh, Mtech Scholar,
Department of Electrical Engineering
Govt Engineering college-Barton Hill , Trivandrum
Abstract—-Any sudden change in the configuration or the
loading of an electrical network causes power swing between
the load concentrations of the network. In order to prevent
the distance protection from tripping during such conditions,
a power swing blocking is utilized. This paper compares and
evaluates the performance of several power swing detection
algorithms on transmissiom line.This paper is aimed to take
an overview of the behavior of the different algorithms namely
the Concentric Impedance Characteristic Schemes,decreasing
impedance, the Vcosϕ, the power derivation method, detection
algorithm Using Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Technique,detection using
Lissajous Figure,detection algorithm based on Superimposed
Measurements, Power Swing Detection Using the Rate of Change
of Energy in the Current Signal
Index Terms—Power swing, Distance relay, Power angle,power
swing blocking
I. I NTRODUCTION
P OWER systems under steady state conditions operate
typically close to their nominal frequency. A balance
between generated and consumed active power exists during
steady state operating conditions. One of the most important
reasons that lead to the power grid blackout is the power
swing. Power system faults, line switching, generator discon-
nection, and the loss or application of large blocks of load
result in sudden changes to electrical power, whereas the me-
chanical power input to generators remains relatively constant.
These system disturbances cause oscillations in machine rotor
angles and can result in severe power flow swings[1] During
power swings because of variation of rotor angles, the angle
between two areas of the power system fluctuates. If the swing
is stable, the fluctuations die down [2]. However, unstable
swings result in progressive separation of angle between two
areas of the power system, causing large swings of power,
large fluctuations of voltages and currents and eventual loss
of synchronism between such areas [2]. If two areas are in
phase, the voltages will become the maximum value and the
currents will inversely become minimum, while in the out
of phase areas (by 180°), currents and voltages will be at
their peak value and close to zero respectively. Since the
system frequency is a function of rotor speed, the frequency of
voltages and currents during power swings is not constant. The
frequency of occurrence of voltage/current maximum depends
on the rate of change of the power angle between the two areas
and is characterized by a ‘slip’ frequency. The slip frequency
can be as low as 1–3 Hz (slow swing) and as high as 4–7 Hz
(fast swing) [3].
This paper is aimed to take an overview of the behavior
of the different power swing detection algorithms, which have
been used at industrial protective relays. The paper is prepared
in three sections, regarding clear explanation of the concepts.
Sections II have been dedicated to the analysis of various
power swing detection method. Finally, section III remarks
the conclusion of the study
II. DIFFERENT POWER SWING DETECTION ALGORITHMS
A. Concentric Impedance Characteristic Schemes
In this scheme, PSB functions use the difference between
the rates of change of impedance to distinguish a fault from
a power swing. To accomplish this differentiation, typically
two concentric impedance characteristics are set and a timer
records the duration of the impedance locus as it traverses
between the two. If the swing crosses the concentric charac-
teristics before the set time, the relay declares the event as
a fault. Otherwise, if the locus crosses the circles, the relay
classifies the event as a power swing.[4] The swing loci of the
apparent impedance Z seen by the relay at the location R for
both slow swing (fs < 1Hz) and very fast swing (fs > 5 Hz)
is shown in Fig1
From the figure, it is observed that, in case of fast swing,the
impedance locus travels in a very short time across the differ-
ent zones. It crosses Zone B to Zone-2 buffer in a very short
time (approx. 12 ms). The crossing time of Zone-2 to Zone-1
buffer is even faster (< 10 ms). From the above observation,
it is obvious that, this scheme is not able to detect very fast
power swings, because the time spent by the impedance locus
in the buffers of areas between outer concentric circle and
Zone-3 or areas between Zone-3 and Zone-2 is very much
smaller than the delay time used in many blocking schemes
which is usually between 30 ms and 2 s
Fig2 shows the impedance loci of phase-b and phase-c at relay
location for a power swing during single pole open condition.
From Fig2, it is observed that detection of power swing during
single pole open condition by this scheme is not possible,
because the movement of the swing locus of phase-b from
outer concentric circle to Zone-1 is 30 ms which is faster
than the delay time set by the PSB element in the concentric
scheme.
Fig3 shows the impedance locus at relay location for a high
resistance ground fault. From the plot, it is observed that the
change in impedance locus from power swing to fault is not
significant, so it is difficult to distinguish high resistance fault
in this scheme.

Fig. 1: Portion of Impedance loci seen by the relay at location
R, for slow and very fast swing. Time interval between
successive points in the loci is 20ms.
Fig. 2: Portion of Impedance loci of phase-b and phase-c
seen by the relay at location R, for fast swing. Time interval
between successive points in the loci is 40ms.
B. Decreased Impedance Method
The most ordinary method applied to Power Swing De-
tectors (PSD) is on the basis of the transition time through
a blocking impedance area in the RX-diagram. This method
requires a very good knowledge of the system with respect
to setting the impedance blinders or zones that will signal
the movement of the impedance locus towards the distance
characteristics [5]. It uses the feature that the movement of the
apparent impedance during power swings is slow as compared
Fig. 3: Apparent Impedance Z for high resistance (Rg = 1000)
single line to ground fault.
2
Fig. 4: Distance relay output and PSD for a power swing with
fs up to 5Hz
Fig. 5: Distance relay output and PSD for a power swing with
fs up to 5Hz while the line is uncompensated
to its movement for short circuit faults. As seen in Fig. 4
the outer circle is the threshold zone, when the impedance
locus goes into this region, the Transition time begins to
be calculated until it reaches the zone3(or another threshold
zone) of the distance relay. If the time, the swing impedance
requires to pass through the two impedance set points, is
longer than a set time ∆t, the swing detector will block the
distance relay’s tripping signals. Whereas, if there is a fault
condition, the impedance locus will move instantly from the
load situation to the fault situation within the power swing
blocking characteristic, and no blocking will transpire. Fig.4
shows the outputs of distance relay and Power Swing Detector
(PSD) for a power swing which its frequency is close to 5Hz.
As shown, the PSD operates at t=0.07 s and the distance relay
operates at t=0.1s. In this case, the operation of PSD will block
the operation of distance relay.
fig.5 shows the outputs of distance relay and PSD for a
power swing which its frequency reaches to 5Hz, without any
consideration of the series capacitors. As shown, the PSD did
not operate and the distance relay operated at t=0.12s. It can be
concluded that the decreased impedance method works better
in the case of compensated line. By performing more tests
with different power swing frequencies or faults conditions, the
obtained results demonstrate that this method is not capable of
distinguishing the power swings with slope frequencies higher
than 5 Hz or wrong blocking function during a high impedance
fault.
C. The Vcosϕ Method
When power swings occur, different electrical quantities
vary as a function of the angle δ at a greater or lesser speed
whereas following occurrences of a fault, these quantities
change suddenly [6]. If the step of calculating the variation
rate is adopted appropriately (e.g. measuring once in each half
cycle), considerable changes will be found out in the value
of Vcosϕ, during the power swings overall. Therefore, the

Fig. 6: The changes in Vcosϕ for a power swing with fs up
to 5 Hz
Fig. 7: The changes in Vcosϕ for a power swing with fs up
to 5 Hz
power swing detector can operate according to the criteria of
d(Vcosϕ)/dt ¡ K. However, a smaller value shall be specified
as threshold K to prevent the distance relay from unblocking.
Fig6 shows the changes in Vcosϕ on account of a power
swing with fs up to 5Hz. Power swing has occurred at t=0.2s.
As shown in this condition, the value of Vcosϕ was reduced
continuously. Since the distance protection shall operate very
fast, a long time delay via this method will be a good reason
for this method, not to be regarded as a reliable method in the
case of employing in a compensated line. More test results
prove that there is no difference between slow power swing
and the fast one, anyhow output blocking signal is corrected.
D. The power derivation Method
When power swing occurs, the active and reactive power
change continuously while following occurrence of a fault, it
will not change except at the initial instant of short circuit.
Therefore, this phenomenon can be used to distinguish be-
tween the system fault and power swing.[7]
dP
∝ cosδ (1)
dt
dQ
∝ sinδ (2)
dt
This two equation show that dP/dt and dQ/dt have 90° phase
difference when power swing occurred, but when fault hap-
pened this two equation abruptly go to zero.
E. Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Technique
The proposed ANFIS scheme has three inputs, include the
rate of change of positive sequence current, active power
and reactive power. Since power swings are characterized
by slow variation currents, it is very typical to use the rate
of change of currents as an input to ANFIS network. On
the other hand, the maximum between normalized|dP/dt| and
| dQ/dt| is always equal or greater than 0.7 during power
3
swing. However, they will level off to 0 when a three phase
fault occurs during power swings. Use of these two inputs is
also seemed to be appropriate signal selection to distinguish
power swing from fault condition. Test results show that the
method can detect different power swings and block distance
relay from tripping during power swings even in the case of
high swing frequencies. The proposed method can distinguish
faults during power swings and clear the blocking signal very
fast. The presented method is also safe for high resistance
unsymmetrical faults
1) ANFIS Input Data
The proposed network has three inputs dI/dt,dP/dt,dQ/dt
and passed through sugeno model fuzzy system.Since power
swings are characterized by slow variation currents, it is
very typical to use the rate of change of currents as an
input to ANFIS for identifying power swings.in the case of
power swing, the maximum between normalized —dP/dt—
and —dQ/dt— is always equal or greater than 0.7. However,
they will level off to 0 when a three phase fault occurs
during power swings. It is because that there will be no power
exchange between the interconnected systems[8]
2) ANFIS Output Data
After defuzzification, the output is a crisp value in the range
of 0 to 1. If a power swing occurs in power system, the neuro
fuzzy output will approximate to 1; otherwise it will to 0. For
the purpose of classification, a threshold value is set to 0.5
and then all the cases whose neuro fuzzy outputs are less than
0.5 are classified as no power swing, while those exceeding
the threshold are recognized as power swing cases which are
preceded to blocking signal emission.
3) ANFIS Training
For the purpose of testing, a data set consisting of more
than 2500 different power swing scenarios is considered. The
patterns in the testing data set are different from those used
to train the network. Many features comprising fault location,
fault type, source impedance, fault inception time, pre-fault
power flow, load angle and slip frequency are changed to
examine their effects on the capabilities of the proposed
method.
F. Detection Using Lissajous Figure
This method uses a voltage-current (V-I) Lissajous figure.
The tangents perpendicular to the axis of current signal
(denoted as TPI) on the V-I Lissajous figure are located at
exactly half cycle spacing during normal condition, while their
spacings deviate from half cycle and are unequal during the
power swing and large number of TPIs are found within a
small duration during short circuit faults.[9] This feature of
the Lissajous figure is utilized to discriminate the power swing
from faults and to detect faults during power swing condition.
During normal condition, the V-I Lissajous figure is an ellipse
which overlaps for every cycle as shown in the Fig8(a) and the
TPIs are found at uniform interval of N = 100 To discriminate
these figures mathematically, the tangents perpendicular to
the axis of current signal (TPIs) on the Lissajous figures are
obtained as shown in Fig. 8(b)

Fig. 8: (a) Lissajous figure and (b) position of TPIs at normal
condition.
Fig. 9: (a) Lissajous figure and (b) position of TPIs for three-
phase fault at 60 km with fault resistance 50 ohms, fault
inception time = 0.13 s.
When a fault occurs on the hybrid transmission line, the V-I
Lissajous figure changes randomly as observed from Fig.9(a)
where the figure is drawn for 3 cycles including two pre-
fault cycles. During this condition, TPIs are found in large
numbers with very small intervals between them as seen from
Fig.9(b) The value of NTPI remains constant at 2 during
normal condition and starts increasing after the fault initiation
as clearly seen from Fig.9(c) . The fault is detected when
NTPI reaches its threshold limit (NTPIth ). For selection of
the threshold limit of NTPI, its maximum value during power
swings and minimum value during faults are observed for large
number of cases of power swings, faults and faults during
power swings.
G. Detection Using Rate of change of Energy in the Current
Signal
In this method, for detection of power swing and faults
occurring during the power swing, first we take the samples
4
Fig. 10: Variations of the obtained fundamental value during
the power swing and fault.
from the current signal individually in all three phase using
the signal window, which its length is obtained by following
equation
∞
X 2
Es =< x (n) , x (n) >= |x (n)| (3)
n=−∞
the sum of the obtained energies will be calculated using
equation (4)
p
Sum (Es ) = Es (a) + Es (b) + Es (c) (4)
Fourier transform is applied on signal energy obtained by
equation (4) and then the frequency spectrum is extracted.
The extracted fundamental frequency spectrum is used to
distinguish between fault and power swing.[10] Fig.10 shows
the variations of the obtained signal during the power swing
and fault.
H. Detection based on Superimposed Measurements
This method is based on two dissimilar principles and a
number of plausibility checks. Each one is ideal for its specific
conditions, i.e. for fast or slowly moving swings along the
impedance trajectories[11].The methods are as follows
1) Rate of Change in Swing Impedance
The speed of the resistance dR (k) moving along the fault or
swing trajectory is one criterion to distinguish between fault
and swing conditions, Fig.11. The swing impedance movement
is relatively slow when compared with the instant jump from
load to fault impedance during system faults.The continuous
dR/dt rate-of-change measurement along the trajectory covers
slow swing impedances with high accuracy. If a number of
consecutive measurements exceed a threshold a power swing
is detected. This method is optimized for detection of slow
swing impedance movements < 5 Ohm/s.
2) Space Vector Estimation
The space vector estimation is based on speed estimation
and a shape analysis of the impedance trajectories derived from
some consecutive measurements Fig.12. Under swing condi-
tions the impedance vectors describe an elliptical trajectory. By
analysing this ellipse with its estimated centre, one can also
distinguish between stable and unstable swings. The swing

Fig. 11: Rate-of-change in swing impedance
Fig. 12: Rate-of-change in swing impedance
trajectory and its associated centre are continuously assessed
with measurements at consecutive points in time. Thus, any
change in the trajectory shape and swing speed is recognized.
This method enables detection of high slip frequencies of up
to 7 Hz.
3) Plausibility monitoring
For plausibility, the impedances of three fault loops are
continuously monitored for continuity, monotony, symmetry
and stability. Continuity means, the phenomena must prevail
for at least 6 consecutive measurements; monotony prevails
when the impedance trajectory does not change its sign, i.e.
direction. Monotony only need to be checked as long as the
impedance has not yet entered the relay polygon. Inside the
polygon the impedance trajectory may reverse, if the power
swing returns to normal service conditions. When the swing
impedance enters the relay polygon, the detector blocks the
distance relay as per set selection. If for two consecutive
calculations no continuity prevails, a system fault is assumed.
Thus, one can also detect power system faults occurring
simultaneously with power swings. Trajectory stability- When
5
Fig. 13: Rate-of-change in swing impedance
the impedance trajectory enters the relay’s swing polygon, the
power system must be at “steady state instability”. Thus, the
swing detector estimates the swing ellipse center and checks
whether the calculated impedance at the point of entry is closer
to the origin than the center, Fig.13 Once the power swing
is detected it remains picked-up until the swing impedance
vector leaves the power swing polygon (PPOL). This is unless
a fault occurs during this time. The detection of a jump in the
trajectory or non symmetry of the trajectories will reset the
power swing blocking condition.
4) Open Pole Condition
Open pole situations prevail within the dead time of auto-
reclose cycles of the associated, and also parallel or adjacent
lines. Only two of the three phases show a swing impedance
trajectory. The swing detector must also consider that load
may also be transferred via the zero sequence system. On
single pole open conditions the detector reverts to the single
pole dead time mode. It distinguishes between power swings
and two phases to ground faults elsewhere in the system
during the dead time. A comprehensive logic and measurement
secures reliable swing and fault detection under these complex
conditions. For one, the detector distinguishes between sym-
metrical (load, three phase faults and power swings) and non-
symmetrical conditions with unbalanced faults, by symmetri-
cal component evaluation. Phase symmetry is a prerequisite for
the release of the swing detector. During open pole conditions
this applies for the two remaining phases.
III. COMPARISION AND CONCLUSION
This paper characterizes the evaluation and performance
comparison of different power swing detectors. Based on
the study, it is discovered that each of methods have some
advantages and disadvantages.
From the above study, it is observed that concentric impedance
characteristics is not able to detect very fast swings and also
not able to operate for a power swing during single pole
open condition. This method is also unable to distinguish
 6

both symmetrical and high resistance asymmetrical faults from ing Society General Meeting, Montreal, Que., 2006, pp. 8 pp.-, doi:
power swing.The Vcosϕ and power derivation methods have 10.1109/PES.2006.1709042.
[8] A. Esmaeilian and S. Astinfeshan, ”A novel power swing detection al-
good operation but they need a long time delay to determine gorithm using adaptive neuro fuzzy technique,” Proceedings of the 2011
whether or not power swing occurred. Vcoscp based swing International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Informatics,
detection method has shown the difficulty of setting threshold Bandung, Indonesia, 2011, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/ICEEI.2011.6021820.
[9] B. Patel and P. Bera, ”Detection of Power Swing and Fault During
value to distinguish fault from power swing. This method has Power Swing Using Lissajous Figure,” in IEEE Transactions on Power
also shown the inability to distinguish high resistance ground Delivery, vol. 33, no. 6, pp. 3019-3027, Dec. 2018, doi: 10.1109/TP-
faults from power swing. Also the decreasing impedance WRD.2018.2850958.
[10] B. Taheri, S. Salehimehr and F. Razavi, ”A New Method for Fast Power
algorithm does not work for fast power swings in the case Swing Detection Using the Rate of Change of Energy in the Current
of uncompensated line. But this algorithm works better for Signal,” 2019 27th Iranian Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE),
the compensated transmission line. Yazd, Iran, 2019, pp. 464-469, doi: 10.1109/IranianCEE.2019.8786564.
[11] M. Afzali and A. Esmaeilian, ”A novel algorithm to identify power
The method using adaptive neuro fuzzy technique is and ad- swing based on superimposed measurements,” 2012 11th International
vanced model of power derivation method along with the con- Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering, Venice, Italy,
sideration of rate of change of current.The proopsed ANFIS 2012, pp. 1109-1113, doi: 10.1109/EEEIC.2012.6221547.
scheme can detect different power swings and block distance
relay from tripping during power swings even in the case of
high swing frequencies and detect faults during power swings
and clear the blocking signal even when the power angle is
180°. This scheme is stable for high resistance faults. This
method is not affected by factors, such as system parameters,
fault time, fault position, pre fault load flow condition.
Power swing detection using lissajous figure identifies the
power swing accurately for different swing frequencies and
also detects faults quickly during power swing irrespective
of fault type, fault location, fault resistance, load angle,
fault inception time and swing frequency. Its performance
is satisfactory for faults on both the overhead section and
underground cable of the hybrid transmission line.Moreover,
the method will be easy to implement in digital distance
relaying as it requires simple mathematical calculation.
The method using the rate of change of energy in the current
signal can also detect faults occurring simultaneously with
power swings.The proposed method offers Fast detection of
power swing and simultaneous fault with a power swing and it
is independent from the network type.It can detect three-phase
and high impedance faults simultaneously with the power
swing.This method has the implementation capability on a
relay.
R EFERENCES
[1] G. Benmouyal, D. Hou, D. Tziouvaras.: “ Zero setting power swing
blocking protection” 3rd IEE International Conference on Reliability of
Transmission and Distribution Networks(RTDN2005), pp.249–254.
[2] Brahma, S.M.: ‘Use of wavelets for out of step blocking function
of distance relays’. Proc. IEEE Power Engineering Society General
Meeting, June 2006, pp. 1–5. .
[3] M.J. Reddy, D.K. Mohanta “Adaptive-neuro-fuzzy inference system
approach for transmission line fault classification and location incor-
porating effects of power swings” Proc. IET Generation, Transmission
Distribution 2008, Vol. 2 , pp. 235 – 244.
[4] A. Mechraoui and D. W. P. Thomas, ”A new blocking principle with
phase and earth fault detection during fast power swings for distance
protection,” in IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 10, no. 3, pp.
1242-1248, July 1995, doi: 10.1109/61.400902.
[5] H. K. Zadeh, ”Evaluation and performance comparison of power swing
detection algorithms”, Power Engineering Society General Meeting, vol.
2, pp. 1842 Dl848, June 2005.
[6] G. Benmouyal, D. Hou, and D. Tziouvaras, CEero-setting power-swing
blocking protection,Opresented at the 31st Annu. Western Protective
Relay Conf., Spokane, W A, Oct. 2004.
[7] Lin Xiangning, Zou Qing, Lu Wenjun, Wu Kecheng and Weng Hanli, ”A
fast unblocking scheme for distance protection to identify symmetrical
fault occurring during power swings,” 2006 IEEE Power Engineer-