Distributed earth fault detection method for low voltage distribution networks using phase voltage synchronization

The existing earth fault detection methods for low-voltage distribution networks demonstrate poor adaptability to faults with fault resistance. To address this problem, the composition of residual current during non-fault states and its impact on earth fault detection are analysed. A distributed ear...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhongyu Sun, Bingyin Xu, Wei Wang, Tony Yip, Fan Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142061525003199
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Summary:The existing earth fault detection methods for low-voltage distribution networks demonstrate poor adaptability to faults with fault resistance. To address this problem, the composition of residual current during non-fault states and its impact on earth fault detection are analysed. A distributed earth fault detection method is then proposed. This method divides a low-voltage distribution network into multiple protection zones and uses the differential residual current of each protection zone to identify earth faults, effectively reducing the impact of residual current during non-fault states. Furthermore, a time synchronization technique using phase voltage as a reference is proposed, which achieves low-cost time synchronization without relying on external clocks. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulations and field tests in an actual low-voltage platform. Compared with conventional approaches, the proposed method exhibits significant enhancements in both sensitivity and reliability.
ISSN:0142-0615