A New Linear State Estimator for Fault Location in Distribution Systems Based on Backward-Forward Currents Sweep

This paper presents a new linear state estimation model based on a current summation load flow method for three-phase distribution systems. The developed estimator may be applied to both the supervision of distribution systems under normal operating conditions and the fault location in cases of low and high impedance faults. Our studies were conducted using a real distribution feeder. For fault location analysis, the system was modeled using the ATP (alternative transient program) in order to emulate measurements of voltages and currents at the substation, and voltage magnitudes registered by other meters during the fault. We used the MATLAB™ software to process the algorithms. The main contributions that arose after integrating the current method into system supervision in case of network failures under normal operating conditions and the fault location are as follows: (i) estimation of system losses; (ii) modeling of loads in real time to consider their contributions in the fault location process; and (iii) low influence of fault resistance in the location algorithm. The results show that the proposed method has good precision, low computational processing time, and is promising for distribution system supervision with a reduced number of meters.