Fault location in a non-homogeneous electric power line

A system for determining a location of a fault on a non-homogeneous electric power line with a first terminal, a second terminal, and a plurality of sections therebetween, the system comprising:

• a fault locator comprising:
• an input for receiving electric power line information from the first terminal and electric power line information from the second terminal;
• a memory comprising a representation of a physical property for each of the plurality of sections, the physical property distinguishing at least one of the plurality of sections from at least one other section;
• a processor for executing computer instructions;
• a fault calculation module executable on the processor and using the physical properties for each of the plurality of sections, the electric power line information from the first terminal, and the electric power line information from the second terminal to create a first profile from measurements from the first terminal and a second profile from measurements from the second terminal and
• using the first and second profiles to determine the location of the fault.

A method for determining a location of a fault on a non-homogeneous electric power line with a plurality of sections, the method comprising:

• in a fault locator device configured to interface with an electric power distribution system, determining a faulted section by:
• calculating a negative-sequence voltage magnitude at the left and right sides of each section from a first plurality of measurements from a first terminal of the electric power line, the first plurality of measurements representing electrical parameters received by the fault locator device;
• calculating a negative-sequence voltage magnitude at the left and right side of each section from a second plurality of measurements from a second terminal of the electric power line, the second plurality of measurements representing electrical parameters received by the fault locator device;
• and
• the fault locator device determining the section in which,
• the negative-sequence voltage magnitude at the left side of the section calculated from measurements from the first terminal is less than or equal to the negative-sequence voltage magnitude at the left side of the section calculated from the measurements from the second terminal, and
• the negative-sequence voltage magnitude at the right side of the section calculated from measurements from the second terminal is less than or equal to the negative-sequence voltage magnitude at the right side of the section calculated from the measurements from the first terminal;
• and
• the fault locator device determining the location of the fault within the faulted section.

A method for determining a location of a fault on a non-homogeneous electric power line with a first terminal, a second terminal, and a plurality of sections therebetween using a fault locator device, the method comprising:

• receiving electric power line information from the first terminal and electric power line information from the second terminal;
• storing a representation of a physical property for each of the plurality of sections in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium associated with the fault locator device, the physical property distinguishing at least one of the plurality of sections from at least one other section;
• creating a first profile using the fault locator device based on measurements from the first terminal using the physical properties for each of the plurality of sections, the electric power line information from the first terminal, and the electric power line information from the second terminal;
• creating a second profile using the fault locator device based on measurements from the second terminal using the physical properties for each of the plurality of sections, the electric power line information from the first terminal, and the electric power line information from the second terminal;
• and
• determining the location of the fault using the fault locator device and based on the first and second profiles.