Modern travelling wave based fault location techniques for HVDC transmission lines

Abstract

The modern travelling wave based fault location principles for transmission lines are analyzed. In order to apply the travelling wave principles to HVDC transmission lines, the special technical problems are studied. Based on this, a fault locating system for HVDC transmission lines is developed. The system can support modern double ended and single ended travelling wave principles simultaneously, and it is composed of three different parts: travelling wave data acquisition and processing system, communication network and PC based master station. In the system, the fault generated transients are induced from the ground leads of the over-voltage suppression capacitors of an HVDC line through specially developed travelling wave couplers. The system was applied to 500 kV Gezhouba-Nanqiao (Shanghai) HVDC transmission line in China. Some field operation experiences are summarized, showing that the system has very high reliability and accuracy, and the maximum location error is about 3 km (not more than 0.3% of the total line length). Obviously, the application of the system is successful, and the fault location problem has finally been solved completely since the line operation.

Keywords

fault location / global positioning system / HVDC transmission lines / repeaters

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