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Service continuity is one of the major aspects in the definition of the quality of the electrical energy, for this reason the research in the field of faults diagnostic for distribution systems is spreading ever more. Moreover the increasing interest around modern distribution systems automation for management purposes gives faults diagnostics more tools to detect outages precisely and in short times. In this paper, the applicability of an efficient fault location and characterization methodology within a centralized monitoring system is discussed. The methodology, appropriate for any kind of fault, is based on the use of the analytical model of the network lines and uses the fundamental components rms values taken from the transient measures of line currents and voltages at the MV/LV substations. The fault location and identification algorithm, proposed by the authors and suitably restated, has been implemented on a microprocessor-based device that can be installed at each MV/LV substation. The speed and precision of the algorithm have been tested against the errors deriving from the fundamental extraction within the prescribed fault clearing times and against the inherent precision of the electronic device used for computation. The tests have been carried out using Matlab Simulink for simulating the faulted system.

In this paper, a telecommunication infrastructure for faults management is proposed. The complete automation of the electrical energy distribution requires the implementation of suitable data transmission systems able to easily interface with microprocessor based systems and to handle large amount of data. In particular, reliability and speed of the data transmission system are required in the fault diagnosis and post-fault management procedures, in order to guarantee high quality standards. The proposed diagnostic system indeed works by means of a set of intercommunicating MV/LV dasiaintelligent substationspsila. In this paper, after a brief description of the fault diagnostic system, an optimized telecommunication infrastructure is proposed. It uses the potential of both Wi-fi and GPRS telecommunication systems allowing efficient management of modern distribution systems.

Modern distribution systems must keep up with high power quality standards due to the new regulations of the European Community and of the different national legislations. Efficient faults management is one of the basic tasks utilities must accomplish and this objective can be attained if and only if automation is present and efficient diagnostic procedures have been implemented in the centralized or distributed units all over the network. In this paper, the architecture of an integrated system for management of modern distribution systems is presented. The system includes routines for normal on-line optimal operation of distribution systems and for outage management, the latter including faults identification and location and service restoration operations. Another basic feature that is here analyzed is the required telecommunication infrastructure. After a brief description of the normal and outage management problems, the paper analyzes the different architectures that can implement the centralised and distributed architectures.

PurposeIdentify a new methodology for fault characterization, identification and location in electrical distribution systems, based on the use of matrix algebra.Design/methodology/approachThe developed diagnostic methodology is based on a high precision analytical model of the network using a distributed parameters representation.FindingsTest results have proved the approach to be efficient and precise, while providing a generalized quadripolar model of a line affected by the most common kinds of fault.Research limitations/implicationsGeneralization to a greater number of fault cases, experimental tests.Practical implicationsUtilities are quite interested in such items, since the new required quality standards put severe constraints on faults management and clearance. On the other hand, the system requires a rather complete measurement equipment of secondary substations.Originality/valueThe paper presents a new diagnostic technique for faults identification, location and characterization in distribution systems.