Power grid fault traveling wave network protection scheme

Based on study on propagation characteristics of traveling wave in transmission lines, a novel power grid fault traveling wave network protection scheme was proposed in this paper. When a line fault occurs, all traveling wave protection relays (TWPR) record arrival time of initial traveling wave using the precise timing signals from Global Positioning System (GPS). Then the ineffective arrival time of initial traveling wave is eliminated and modified, while the effective arrival time of initial traveling wave is utilized to detect the fault line. Different from the traditional protection schemes, which are only based on fault information of one line, the proposed scheme not only solves the problems of traveling wave protection, which are susceptible to the factors (such as the structure of the lines), but also can make reliable tripping action when one or more TWPRs break down, start-up failure or record wrong arrival time of initial traveling wave. Both theoretical analysis and simulations indicate that the protection method has high reliability, and redounds to further enhancing the practicability of traveling wave protection. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.