Control system for and method of fault location, isolation and supply restoration

A control system for performing fault isolation and electrical power restoration on an electrical network, of the type comprising:

• a plurality of electrical power supply facilities connectable to a region of a network to provide electrical power to that region of the network, the region comprising a plurality of segments, and each segment being connectable to one or more neighbouring segments by a respective switching device operable to connect and disconnect electrical power transmission between the segments;
• and
• the control system comprising a controller that is communicatively coupled with the switching devices so as to operate the switching devices remotely, the controller having a processing unit comprising one or more processor cores and being operable to execute a plurality of process threads,
• the controller being configured to:
• detect a fault condition within the region;
• execute a plurality of reconnection routines as threads running concurrently on the one or more processor cores, each reconnection routine being associated with a respective reconnection zone comprising a distinct plurality of adjoining segments within the region and each comprising a segment that is connectable to one of the electrical power supply facilities so that each reconnection zone is associated with a different one of the electrical power supply facilities, the reconnection routine including the steps a to d of:
• a) selecting from the set of all unpowered segments within the reconnection zone a single unpowered segment that is connectable to a neighbouring powered segment within the reconnection zone, or is connectible to the electrical power supply facility associated with the reconnection zone,
• b) operating one or more switching devices to connect the selected segment to provide electrical power to that selected segment,
• c) determining whether a fault has occurred within the reconnection zone,
• d) if a fault is determined to have occurred at step c, setting a halt status and identifying the selected segment as the segment causing the fault condition,
• or else repeating steps a to d until all segments within the reconnection zone are electrically connected to the respective electrical power supply facility, or until a halt status is set by another one of the concurrent reconnection routines;
• operating switching devices associated with the segment identified as causing the fault condition to disconnect that segment from its neighbouring segments;
• and
• operating the switching devices to reconnect the segments within the region to an electrical power supply facility, other than the switching devices associated with the identified isolated segment.

A computer program product for a control for performing fault isolation and electrical power restoration on an electrical network of the type including a plurality of electrical power supply facilities connectable to a region of a network to provide electrical power to that region of the network, the region comprising a plurality of segments, and each segment being connectable to one or more neighbouring segments by a respective switching device operable to connect and disconnect electrical power transmission between the segments, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therein, wherein the program code when executed performs operations, the operations comprising:

• detecting a fault condition within the region;
• performing a reconnection routine for each of a plurality of reconnection zones, each reconnection zone comprising a distinct plurality of adjoining segments within the region and each comprising a segment that is connectable to one of the electrical power supply facilities so that each reconnection zone is associated with a different one of the electrical power supply facilities, the reconnection routines for each of the reconnection zones being run concurrently, and each including the steps a to d of:
• a) selecting from the set of all unpowered segments within the reconnection zone a single unpowered segment that is connectable to a neighbouring powered segment within the reconnection zone, or is connectible to the electrical power supply facility associated with the reconnection zone,
• b) operating one or more switching devices to connect the selected segment to provide electrical power to that selected segment,
• c) determining whether a fault has occurred within the reconnection zone,
• d) if a fault is determined to have occurred at step c, setting a halt status and identifying the selected segment as the segment causing the fault condition,
• or else repeating steps a to d until all segments within the reconnection zone are electrically connected to the respective electrical power supply facility, or until a halt status is set by another routine;
• isolating the segment identified as causing the fault condition by operating the switching devices to disconnect that segment from its neighbouring segments;
• and
• operating the switching devices to reconnect the segments within the region to an electrical power supply facility, excluding the identified isolated segment.