Transmission lines are designed to transfer electric power from source locations to distribution networks. However, their lengths are exposed to various faults. Protective relay and fault recorder systems, based on fundamental power frequency signals, are installed to isolate and the faulty line and provide the fault position. However, the error is high especially in transmission lines. This thesis investigates the problem of fault localization using traveling wave current signals obtained at a single-end of a transmission line and/or at multi-ends of a transmission network. A review of various signal processing techniques is presented. The wavelet transform is found to be more accurate than conventional signal processing techniques for extracting the traveling wave signals from field measurements.In this thesis, an optimization method has been developed to select the best wavelet candidate from several mother wavelets. The optimum mother wavelet was selected and used to analyze the fault signal at different details' levels. The best details' level, which carries the fault features, was selected according to its energy content. From the line and network data, the traveling wave speed is calculated for each line using the optimum mother wavelet at different detail levels. Accurate determination fault location depends on the proper details wavelet level as well as the propagation speed. A high frequency current transformer model has been verified experimentally using impulse current signals at the high voltage laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology.Single-end method has been studied for several transmission line configurations, including lines equipped with/without overhead ground wires, counterpoises, or overhead ground wires and counterpoises. The time difference between the aerial and ground mode has also been investigated for these line configurations.Multi-ended method, using recordings sparsely located in the transmission network, has been proposed to overcome the weakness of the single-end method. The method is based on extracting the fault transient signals from at least two monitored buses and using the double-end method assisted by the shortest path algorithm is used to find the minimum travel time of these signals to the nearest bus.Validation of the fault location is performed using the ATP/EMTP transient simulations. The method is verified using field data from five traveling wave recorders installed at pre-selected buses of the Finnish 400-kV transmission network.The algorithm will allow utilities to accurately locate line faults the knowledge of transient current signals, network topology, and the shortest-path algorithm. The thesis, which genuinely provides an economic approach to fault location of transmission systems consistent with today's needs, provides a good foundation for further developments.
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