Ground distance relaying with fault-resistance compensation for unbalanced systems

Fault resistance is a critical variable in distance relaying. If not considered due to underreaching phenomenon, it may cause the misoperation of ground distance relays for internal faults. Still, as a consequence of the overreaching phenomenon, the unbalanced nature of loads and asymmetry of lines can affect the distance protection operation efficiency. Mainly due to these aspects, there is low precision in protection zone limits of ground distance relays. In this paper, a new algorithm is proposed to increase the precision of these limits, improving efficiency in the distance protection process. The proposed method is based in phase coordinates and uses a fault resistance estimate to develop the trip decision procedure. The results show that the algorithm is suitable for online applications, and that it has an independent performance from the fault resistance magnitude, the fault location, and the line asymmetry. Index Terms--Fault diagnosis, fault resistance, power system faults, power system protection, protective relaying.