Detection of High-Impedance Low-Current Arc Faults at Electrical Substations

Abstract

Arcing faults in low voltage (LV) distribution systems associated with arc-flash risk and potentially significant equipment damage are notoriously difficult to detect under some conditions. Especially so when attempting to detect using sensing at the line, high voltage side of a substation transformer. This paper presents an analytics-based physics-aware approach to detect high-impedance, low-current arcing faults from the primary side of the substation transformer at current thresholds, below normal operating events, along with transformer inrush currents. The proposed methodology leverages the Hankel Alternative View Of Koopman Operator approach to differentiate arcing faults from standard operations, while the Series2Graph method is employed to identify the time of fault occurrence and duration. Unlike prior studies that detect such faults at the device or secondary transformer side, this work demonstrates successful fault detection at the primary side of the distribution substation transformer for faults occurring on the secondary side. The approach addresses the practical challenges of differentiating primary side expected and acceptable transients from similar magnitude LV arcing fault currents that may occur on the secondary side. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method in accurately identifying fault occurrence and duration, minimizing the risk of false positives during similar characteristic events, thus improving the reliability and operational efficiency of power distribution systems. This approach can benefit both traditional and smart power grids that employ similar transformer configurations.