DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

OF MICROCONTROLLER
BASED PROTOTYPE OF
UNDERGROUND FAULT
DETECTOR
Prepared By :

Guided By :

Kumbhani Bhautik A.

Prof. Deepak C. Bhonsle

Vekariya Nandik M.

Prof. Chetan K. Lad

Kaneriya Suresh G.
Yadav Shailesh U.
Chaudhari Rahul R.

CONTENT

Introduction

Abstract

Literature survey

Industry contact detail

Work flow

Block diagram

Conclusion

Suggestions

INTRODUCTION

Till last decades cables were made to lay overhead& currently it is lay to
underground cable which is superior to earlier method. Because the
underground cable are not affected by any adverse weather condition such as
storm, snow, heavy rainfall as well as pollution. But When any fault occur in
Cable, then it is difficult to locate fault. So we will move to find the exact
location of fault. Now the world is become digitalized so the project is
intended to detect the location of fault in digital way.

Fault in cable is represented as:

Inconsistency.
Weakness or non-homogeneity that affect performance
cable.
Current is diverted from the intended path.
Caused by breaking of conductor& failure of insulation.

of

ABSTRACT

The objective of this project is to determine the distance of

underground cable fault from base station in kilometers. The
underground cable system is a common practice followed in many
urban areas. While a fault occurs for some reason, at that time the
repairing process related to that particular cable is difficult due to not
knowing the exact location of the cable fault. The proposed system is
to find the exact location of the fault.

The project uses the standard concept of Ohms law i.e., when a low
DC voltage is applied at the feeder end through a series resistor
(Cable lines), then current would vary depending upon the location
of fault in the cable.

In case there is a short circuit (Line to Ground), the voltage across

series resistors changes accordingly, which is then fed to an ADC to
develop precise digital data which the programmed microcontroller
of 8051 family would display in kilometers

The project is assembled with a set of resistors representing cable

length in KMs and fault creation is made by a set of switches at
every known KM to cross check the accuracy of the same. The fault
occurring at a particular distance and the respective phase is
displayed on a LCD interfaced to the microcontroller.

Further this project can be enhanced by using capacitor in an ac

circuit to measure the impedance which can even locate the open
circuited cable, unlike the short circuited fault only using resistors in
DC circuit as followed in the above proposed project.

Keywords Underground cable ,voltage break down, fault location,

fault detection, location methods, microcontroller, prototype.

LITERATURE SURVEY

Dhivya Dharani .A & Sowmya.T, Development of a Prototype

Underground Cable Fault Detector International Journal of
Electrical, Electronics and Computer Systems (IJEECS), Sri Shakti
Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, India, ISSN
(Online): 2347-2820, Volume -2, Issue-7, 2014
http://www.irdindia.in/journal_ijeecs/pdf/vol2_iss7/4.pdf
Cable faults are damage to cables which affects the resistance in
the cable. If allowed to persist, this can lead to a voltage
breakdown. To locate a fault in the cable, the cable must first be
tested for faults. This prototype uses the simple concept of OHMs
law. In this method the short circuit fault at a particular distance in
the underground cable can be located using simple concepts of
OHMs law enables to rectify fault efficiently.

Tamer A. kawady, Abdel-Maksoud I. Taalab and Mahmoud ElSad,AN ACCURATE FAULT LOCATOR FOR UNDERGROUND
DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS USING MODIFIED APPARENTIMPEDANCE CALCULATION Electrical Engineering Dept.,
Faculty of Engineering, Menoufiya University, Shebin ElKom,Egypt.
http
://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?reload=true&tp=&arnumb
er=5522159&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fab
s_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D5522159
In this paper, a new fault location algorithm is proposed for
underground cables in particular. The algorithm is able to precisely
calculate the fault distance depending on modifying the basic
apparent impedance approach to cope with the aforementioned
characteristics of cable segments. For fault location computation, in
particular, the considerable charging currents play a basic role
affecting most of the known single-end computational fault location
schemes. The proposed algorithm in this paper shows a high
performance for locating faults in underground distribution feeders.

Prof.Suryawanshi R.R, UNDERGROUND CABLE FAULT

DISTANCE LOCATOR INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF
INNOVATIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEAR CHAND
TECHNOLOGY[IJIERT]
NOVATEURPUBLICATIONS,S.B.P.C.O.E.,Indapur,ISSN: 23943696 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 4APR.-2015

http
://www.ijiert.org/admin/papers/1429469524_Volume%202%20Issue
4.pdf
This paper proposes fault location model for underground
power cable using microcontroller. The aim of this project is to
determine the distance of underground cable fault from base station
in kilo-meters. This project uses the simple concept of ohms law.In
this paper we detect the exact location of short circuit fault in the
underground cable from Feeder end in km by using
microcontroller8051.For this we use simple concept of OHMs law
so Fault can be easily detected and repaired.

Conroy, George J. Bureau of Mines research on trailing-cable-fault

locators / by George J. Conroy. (Washington) : U.S. Dept. Of the
interior, Bureau of mines, 1978.

http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc38728/m2/1/high_res
d/metadc38728.pdf
This Bureau of mines publications describes several faults
locators and methods , including different types of methods like
frequency domain reflection ,an infrared method .the Murray loop
method. the bureau of mines has been conducting research into this
method and improve mine safety and safe location of trailing-cable
faults.

Microcontroller based Fault Detector International Journal of

Advancements in Research & Technology Volume 1, Issue 5,
October- 2012 , ISSN 2278-7763.

http
://www.ijoart.org/docs/technical-research-paper-microcontroller-base
d-fault-detector.pdf
Design Approach: The design methodology involves the
use of microcontroller in conjugation with the relay circuitry with
display on a LCD screen. It is a totally new design in the market and
it will be a substitute to ELCBs, MCBs and Relays in near
future .The added advantage of that it shows the type of fault
occurred on LCD and at the same time keeps the circuit in isolation
until the fault is cleared.

INDUSTRY CONTACT DETAIL

Name of the industry : DGVCL

Name of the contact person : Mr. D G Patel

Designation of the contact person : Chief Engg.

Contact frequency :Monthly

WORK FLOW
Work

till the end of first session

Found industry related project

Title selection

Abstract Formalization

Study about different component

BLOCK DIAGRAM

Software
o
o

Requirements

Keill Compiler
Language: Embedded C or Assembly

Hardware
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Requirements

Microcontroller
LCD
ADC
Relays
Relay Driver
Transformers
Diodes
Regulator
Resistors
Capacitors
LEDs
Switches.

PART OF BLOCK DIAGRAM

The project uses the simple concept of OHMs law where a low DC voltage is
applied at the feeder end through a series resistor. The current would vary
depending upon the length of fault of the cable in case there is a short circuit of
LL or 3L or LG etc. The series resistor voltage drop changes accordingly which
is then fed to an ADC to develop precise digital data which the programmed
microcontroller would display the same in Kilo meters. The project is
assembled with a set of resistors representing cable length in KMs and fault
creation is made by a set of switches at every known KM to cross check the
accuracy of the same.

This is proposed model of underground cable fault distance locator using

microcontroller. It is classified in four parts .

DC

power supply part:

DC power supply part consist of ac supply of 230v is step-down using

transformer, bridge rectifier converts ac signal to dc & regulator is used to
produce constant dc voltage.

Cable part:
The cable part is denoted by set of resistors along with
switches.Current sensing part of cable represented as set of resistors
&switches are used as fault creators to indicate the fault at each
location.This part senses the change in current by sensing the
voltage drop.

Controlling part:
Next is controlling part which consist of analog to digital
convertor which receives input from the current sensing circuit,
converts this voltage into digital signal and feeds the microcontroller
with the signal. The microcontroller also forms part of the
controlling unit and makes necessary calculations regarding the
distance of the fault. The microcontroller also drives a relay driver
which in turn controls the switching of a set of relays for proper
connection of the cable at each phase.

Display part:
The display part consists of the LCD display interfaced to the
microcontroller which shows the status of the cable of each phase
and the distance of the cable at the particular phase, in case of any
fault.

CONCLUSION

In this Project we find the exact location of short circuit fault in

the underground cable from feeder end in km by using
microcontroller8051.For this we use simple concept of OHMs
law so fault can be easily detected and repaired.

WORK DURING A NEXT SESSION

Make a 12v power supply

Develop a ADC circuit

Interfacing of ADC with Microcontroller

Interfacing of Display with Microcontroller

ANY
SUGGESTIONS ?