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Journal of International Council on Electrical Engineering

ISSN: (Print) 2234-8972 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjee20

Detection of high-impedance fault in low-


voltage DC distribution system via mathematical
morphology

Yun-Sik Oh, Joon Han, Gi-Hyeon Gwon, Doo-Ung Kim, Chul-Ho Noh, Chul-
Hwan Kim, Toshihisa Funabashi & Tomonobu Senjyu

To cite this article: Yun-Sik Oh, Joon Han, Gi-Hyeon Gwon, Doo-Ung Kim, Chul-Ho Noh, Chul-
Hwan Kim, Toshihisa Funabashi & Tomonobu Senjyu (2016) Detection of high-impedance fault in
low-voltage DC distribution system via mathematical morphology, Journal of International Council
on Electrical Engineering, 6:1, 194-201, DOI: 10.1080/22348972.2016.1228493

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/22348972.2016.1228493

© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa


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Download by: [Library Services, University of the West of England] Date: 12 May 2017, At: 05:56
Journal of International Council on Electrical Engineering, 2016
VOL. 6, NO. 1, 194–201
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/22348972.2016.1228493

OPEN ACCESS

Detection of high-impedance fault in low-voltage DC distribution system via


mathematical morphology
Yun-Sik Oha, Joon Hana, Gi-Hyeon Gwona, Doo-Ung Kima, Chul-Ho Noha, Chul-Hwan Kima,
Toshihisa Funabashib  and Tomonobu Senjyuc
a
College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea; bDept. of Electrical Engineering, University
of Nagoya, Nagoya, Japan; cDept. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of the Ryukyus, Nakagami, Japan

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY


This study presents a method for high-impedance fault (HIF) detection in a low-voltage DC (LVDC) Received 26 February 2016
distribution system via mathematical morphology (MM), which is composed of two elementary Accepted 23 August 2016
transformations, namely, dilation and erosion. Various MM-based filters are used to detect abnormal KEYWORDS
signals of current waveform. The LVDC distribution system, including power conversion devices, Electromagnetic transient
such as AC/DC and DC/DC converters, is modelled with electromagnetic transient program (EMTP) program; high-impedance
software to verify the proposed method. The HIF arc model in the DC system is also implemented fault; low-voltage DC
with EMTP/MODELS, which is a symbolic language interpreter for EMTP. Simulation results show distribution system;
that the proposed method can be applied to detect HIF effectively in the LVDC distribution system. mathematical morphology

1. Introduction
Mathematical morphology (MM) based filters, which
Recent developments and trends in electric power con- is one of the time domain signal processing schemes, have
sumption clearly reveal the increasing use of DC in end- been utilized for detecting abnormal conditions specifi-
user equipment. According to the trends, a new DC power cally in AC based systems. The filters, however, are more
distribution system has been researched and developed. appropriate for DC-based systems because DC system
[1,2] Compared with the conventional AC power distri- has only information of signal’s magnitude and it can
bution system, a DC distribution system obviously has be fully dealt with MM-based filters with time domain
advantages, such as high efficiency and reliability, low characteristic. Furthermore, the MM based filters using
conversion stage and uninterrupted power delivery.[3,4] only simple calculations have faster calculation time than
Despite these advantages, several challenges remain with other integration technique based ones usually used in
respect to the protection devices for detecting various AC systems. Given the fact that a fault in DC distribution
faults, including high-impedance faults (HIFs), given that system should be cleared very quickly due to damages of
only a few systems are in operation globally. diodes in power electronic devices, the MM-based filters
As in the conventional AC distribution system, an HIF, have a lot of advantages for DC systems.
which may cause a failure of protective relay, can also In this paper, we present a method for detecting HIF
occur in a low-voltage DC (LVDC) distribution system. in the LVDC distribution system via mathematical mor-
However, detecting this fault is difficult because a change phology (MM), which is composed of two elementary
in the magnitude of the current caused by the fault is exces- transformations, namely, dilation and erosion.[6] Various
sively small to be detected by the protective relay through MM-based filters, such as open–close medium (OCM),
the overcurrent element. Therefore, the protective relay for dilation–erosion difference (DED) and closing–open-
the distribution line should be equipped with the function ing difference operation (CODO), which are effective in
of detecting not only the fault with low impedance but detecting disturbances in waveforms, are used to detect
also HIFs. Although many researchers have been devel- the abnormal signals of current waveform. The LVDC
oping algorithms for HIF detection,[5] the target of these distribution system, including power conversion devices,
algorithms is mostly the existing AC distribution system. such as AC/DC and DC/DC converters, is modelled with

CONTACT  Chul-Hwan Kim  hmwkim@hanmail.net


© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Journal of International Council on Electrical Engineering   195

70

60
7.0

50
6.5

normal 6.0

current
5.5

5.0

40 4.5

iarc[A] 4.0

during fault 3.5

3.0

30 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45


(f ile PASI_new_20kW_eachload+MM.pl4; x-v ar t) m:IARC
0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65

20

10

0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Time[s]

Figure 1. Result of arc modelling with EMTP/MODELS.

electromagnetic transient program (EMTP) software to presented in [8] analyses the arc current in the deter-
verify the proposed method. The HIF arc model in the DC ministic perspective, whereas the current shown in (1) is
system is also implemented with EMTP/MODELS, which derived based on laboratory observations. The arc current
is a symbolic language interpreter for EMTP. We conduct in (1) is applied within only (2nπ + π/3 < ωt < 2nπ + 2π/3,
computer simulations considering various conditions and where n = 0, 1, 2, …) to reflect the characteristic of repet-
performance comparison of filters. itive extinction and reignition.
k
Rij + + 35 − VDC × sin 𝜔t
2.  Modelling of HIF in the DC system ij1.2
ij+1 = ij − 1.2k
, (1)
2.1. HIF R− ij2.2

As in the conventional AC distribution system, the HIF


where i is the arc current [A], R is the equivalent resistance
in the DC distribution system cannot be detected easily
[Ω], k is the arc constant and VDC is the rated voltage [V].
with the overcurrent element because the magnitude of
In this study, the HIF is modelled with MODELS,
the fault current is insufficient to activate the conventional
which is a symbolic language interpreter for EMTP. Figure
overcurrent relay.[7] Thus, the protective relay for dis-
1 shows the result of arc modelling. As shown in Figure 1,
tribution lines should be equipped with the function of
the arc current lasts with repetitive extinction and reigni-
detecting not only the fault with low impedance but also
tion, and its magnitude, which depends on the variables in
the HIF, which causes only insignificant change in the
(1), such as R, k and VDC, is insignificant compared with
magnitude of the current.
the normal current level in Figure 1.
One of the characteristics of the HIF is the arcing phe-
nomenon, which is generated when a conductor with a
high-energy potential gets close to another object with 3.  Method for detecting HIF via MM
normal energy potential. This phenomenon lasts for a long
3.1.  Basic principle of MM
time because of its random property and causes repetitive
extinction and reignition. MM is a nonlinear time domain signal processing tool that
transforms the shape of signals. MM has been recently
used in the power system area to extract abnormal features
2.2.  Modelling of the HIF arc using EMTP/MODELS
of a signal since it was originally developed by Matheron
The HIF arc model in the DC system is quite rare, whereas and Serra.[9] Unlike the well-known signal processing
that in the AC system has been well developed by many tools, including wavelet and Fourier transform, MM
researchers. In this study, we alternatively use the arc model has advantages that its operators have fast and simple
in a DC trolley system, which has a voltage level similar calculations without using multiplication and division
to that of the LVDC distribution system.[8] The model operations.[9] MM also needs a small size of sampling
196    Y. S. Oh et al.

window in real-time signal processing, given that it does


yCODO (n) = [(f ⋅ g)(n) − (f ⋅ g)(n)]. (8)
not require the information of full-signal components.
MM is composed of two elementary transformations,
3.2.  Method for Detecting HIF via MM
namely, dilation and erosion, which are defined in (2) and
(3), respectively. We can make various filters, as discussed We perform the modelling of MM via EMTP/MODELS,
in Section 3.2, by combining these two transformations. which enables us to make a user-defined model in EMTP
{ } because transformations based on MM are not provided in
yd (n) = (f ⊕ g)(n) = max f (n − m) + g(m) , (1)
(2) the EMTP environment. The pseudo code for the opening
0 ≤ (n − m) ≤ n, m ≥ 0, (2)
transformation, as an example, is provided in Appendix
{ } A1 so as to give clear information of the transformation.
ye (n) = (f ⊖ g)(n) = min f (n + m) − g(m) , (1)
(3) We can implement MM operations by expressing it as a
0 ≤ (n + m) ≤ n, m ≥ 0, programming language using MODELS (2) function.
where f is the signal to be transformed and g is the struc- As discussed in Section 2, HIF cannot be detected
turing element (SE). SE is the foundation of all MM trans- easily through conventional overcurrent relay because
formations and is used as probes for feature extraction. of insignificant change in fault current. However, we can
[10] detect it with MM-based filters because the filters can
Based on dilation and erosion, opening and closing are effectively detect abnormal features of signals.
defined by (4) and (5). Opening usually makes the sharp Figure 2 shows the results of dilation and erosion pro-
edges of a signal smooth in a contour, whereas closing fills cessing of the HIF arc current shown in Figure 1. As we
narrow valleys and gaps in a contour.[10] discussed previously, dilation increases the size of the
abnormal parts of the original signal, whereas erosion
yo (n) = (f ⋅ g)(n) = ((f ⊖ g) ⊕ g)(n), (4)
smoothens these parts. Thus, several combinations of
MM operation can be obviously a good factor to detect
yc (n) = (f ⋅ g)(n) = ((f ⊕ g) ⊖ g)(n), (5)
the HIF arc current. The choice of SE magnitude should
Morphological filters can be determined by combining be determined in advance because the degree dilated or
the elementary transforms indicated in (2) and (3). Many eroded by operations depends on it. The optimal choice
filters (e.g. OCM, DED and CODO), which are defined by of SE is provided well in.[10]
(6)–(8), are recommended to extract noise or disturbance Protective relay should not operate in the case of
of signals.[11,12] We use these filters in this study to detect steady-state events, such as load change and line switch-
arc current when the HIF occurs. ing, even if it operates well in the case of HIF to achieve
a high reliability of system protection. We can use the
yOCM (n) = [(f ⋅ g)(n) + (f ⋅ g)(n)]∕2, (6)
repetitive characteristic of the arc, as well as the magnitude
of the filtered signal to ensure that it does not operate in
yDED (n) = [(f ⊕ g)(n) − (f ⊖ g)(n)], (7)

Figure 2. Results of dilation and erosion processing.


Journal of International Council on Electrical Engineering   197

Figure 3. Simulation system.

16

14

12 Magnitude of SE : 10
10
yd [p.u.]

4
Magnitude of SE : 1
2

Magnitude of SE : 0.1
0
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Time[s]

Figure 4. Results of dilation according to the SE magnitude.

the case of steady-state events. Steady-state events do not the distribution line is 5  km, and the HIF presumably
usually occur frequently, whereas repetitive extinction and occurs at 1 km on the line. The protective relay placed at
reignition of the arc constantly occur within a few cycles. the second side of the AC/DC converter measures the line
Therefore, we can effectively detect the HIF by sensing the current, and the calculation is conducted with MM filters,
repetitive change in outputs from MM operations regard- such as OCM, DED and CODO.
less of the change in magnitude. The sampling rate of the current signal is 10 kHz, whose
performance can be possibly achieved with high-speed
4. Simulation digital relay. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, filtering perfor-
mance depends on the magnitude and length of the SE.
4.1.  Simulation system and conditions
The results of dilation and erosion have an offset compo-
We conduct the modelling of a simple LVDC distribu- nent according to the magnitude of the SE. However, the
tion system, as shown in Figure 3, to verify the perfor- offset may disappear after applying the difference opera-
mance of the proposed HIF detection method. An AC/ tion between two results, such as CODO. By contrast, as
DC converter is used to convert AC to DC and feed lines indicated in Figure 6, the influence of the length of the SE
with 1,500 VDC, where the AC/DC converter is used to on CODO can be large. Thus, attention should be focused
interconnect the AC and DC grids. The total length of on its selection. In this study, the magnitude and length
198    Y. S. Oh et al.

0.100

0.078

CODO [p.u.]
0.056
Length of SE : 30

0.034 Length of SE : 20

Length of SE : 10
0.012

-0.010
0.285 0.295 0.305 0.315 0.325 0.335 0.345
Time[s]

Figure 5. CODO according to the length of the SE.

0.5
0.140

DED
0.4 0.096

CODO
0.052

0.3
MM output [p.u.]

0.008

-0.036

0.2 OCM
-0.080
0.290 0.295 0.300 0.305 0.310 0.315 0.320
(f ile PASI_new_20kW_eachload+MM.pl4; x-v ar t) m:OCM m:DEDF m:CODO

0.1

0.0

-0.1
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Time[s]

Figure 6. Results of various MM filters.

of the SE are chosen as 0.01 and 30, respectively, based on as an indicator to detect abnormal events in power sys-
the guideline provided in.[10] tem. We can obviously use the filters as an indicator of
The simulations considering various conditions are HIF detection because all outputs through MM filters are
conducted to verify the performance of the proposed changed at every moment when the extinction and reig-
method. Steady-state events, such as load change and line nition caused by HIF occur. However, the output of DED
switching, which should not activate protective relays, are has small offset components, whereas the others do not
also considered to check the possibility of incorrect oper- have those. A problem that the output is not zero even at
ation. In case of the load change event, the amount of load steady state can occur.
injected is 20 kW, which is 12.5% of the total load. Load Between the remaining two filters, the result of CODO
is changed repeatedly (i.e. 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 s) to verify is larger than that of OCM. Therefore, CODO is more
the accurate performance. helpful than OCM when considering the sensitivity of
protective relay. In conclusion, the occurrence of CODO
output exceeding the predetermined setting can indicate
4.2.  Simulation result and discussion
that HIF is detected.
Figure 6 shows the results of various MM filters (i.e. OCM, Figure 7 indicates CODO outputs according to vari-
DED and CODO) which are generally considered effective ous events, including steady-state events. Figure 7 shows
Journal of International Council on Electrical Engineering   199

0.4000
0.10

0.3393 0.08
HIF
0.06
load change
0.2786 0.04
switching

CODO [p.u.]
0.02
0.2179
0.00

0.1571 -0.02
0.295 0.300 0.305 0.310 0.315 0.320
CODO_HIF.ADF: mCodo
CODO_switching.ADF: mCodo
CODO_slowloadchange.ADF: mCodo

0.0964

0.0357

-0.0250
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Time[s]

Figure 7. CODO according to various events.

that steady-state events, such as load change and line Funding


switching, obviously cause only a small change in CODO. This work was supported by the Power Generation and
Comparing OCM with CODO when HIF occurs is insig- Electricity Delivery Core Technology Program of the Ko-
nificant. Thus, we can effectively detect HIF by setting the rea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning
threshold higher than the value generated in steady-state (KETEP) granted financial resource from the Ministry of
events. Furthermore, the concept of count can be used Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea [grant number
20131010501750].
because CODO is changed repeatedly because of the char-
acteristic of extinction and reignition of the arc. If CODO
above the predetermined setting is generated and its count Notes on contributors
exceeds the other setting, then a HIF occurs. Thus, we
Yun-Sik Oh was born in Korea in 1987. At
can protect the LVDC distribution system by activating present, he is working on his PhD thesis at
protective relay. Alternatively, modified algorithms using Sungkyunkwan University. His research
accumulated energy of CODO could be used to improve interests include power system transients,
reliability of the algorithm. Due to characteristic of repet- protection and stability. He received his BS
itive extinction and re-ignition, energy of CODO will be and MS degrees from the School of Electrical
and Computer Engineering in Sungkyunkwan
accumulated in a short time. It can be a key indicator with University, Korea in 2011 and 2013, respectively.
a function that resets the accumulated energy periodi-
cally, in order to distinguish HIFs with steady-state events Joon Han was born in Korea in 1986. At
present, he is working on his PhD thesis at
which slowly happen. Sungkyunkwan University. His research
interests include power system transients,
protection and stability. He received his BS
5. Conclusion degree from the School of Electrical
This study proposes a method to detect HIFs and to distin- Engineering in Soonchunhyang University,
Korea in 2011 and MS degree from the
guish those from steady-state events, such as load change
College of Information and Communication Engineering in
and line switching in the LVDC distribution system. Sungkyunkwan University, Korea in 2013.
EMTP/MODELS is used to implement the HIF model in
Gi-Hyeon Gwon was born in Korea in 1985.
the DC trolley system, which has a voltage level similar to He received his BS and MS degrees from the
that of the LVDC distribution system. MM, which is a non- School of Electrical and Computer
linear time domain signal processing tool that transforms Engineering in Sungkyunkwan University,
the shape of signals, is utilized to detect HIFs by extracting Korea in 2012 and 2014respectively. At pres-
the abnormal features of a signal. The simulations consid- ent, he is working on his PhD thesis at
Sungkyunkwan University. His research inter-
ering various events are performed, and the results show
ests include power system transients, protec-
that HIF can be effectively detected with the CODO filter. tion and stability.
200    Y. S. Oh et al.

Doo-Ung Kim was born in Korea in 1986. He ORCiD


received his BS degree from the School of
Electrical and Computer Engineering in Toshihisa Funabashi   http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5529-7070
Sungkyunkwan University in 2012. At pres-
ent, he is working on his PhD course in
Sungkyunkwan University. His research inter- References
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in Cheju, Korea as a full-time lecturer. He has Meeting; 2006; June 18–22; Montreal, Canada, p. 6.
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Bath, U.K in 1996, 1998 and 1999. Since medium-voltage dc distribution systems. IEEE PES
March 1992, he has been a professor in the General Meeting. 2004;2315–2321.
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Engineering in Sungkyunkwan University, Technique of High-Impedance Arcing Faults in
Korea. His research interests include power system protection, Transmission Lines using the Wavelet Transform. IEEE
artificial intelligence application for protection and control, the Trans. Power Delivery. Oct 2002;17:921–929.
modelling/protection of underground cable and EMTP soft-  [6] Gautam S, Brahma SM. Detection of high impedance
ware. He received his BS and MS degrees in electrical engineer- fault in power distribution systems using mathematical
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respectively. He received his PhD in electrical engineering 1234.
from Sungkyunkwan University in 1990. At present, he is the   [7] Mamishev AV, Russell BD, Benner CL. Analysis of high
director of the Centre for Power IT in Sungkyunkwan impedance faults using fractal techniques. IEEE Trans.
University. Power Syst. 1996;11:435–440.
Toshihisa Funabashi received his BS degree in   [8] Li J, Kohler JL. New insight into the detection of high-
electrical engineering from Nagoya University, impedance arcing faults on DC trolley systems. IEEE
Aichi, Japan in 1975. He received his doctor- Trans. Ind. Appl. September 1999;35:1169–1173.
ate degree in electrical engineering from   [9] Wu QH, Lu Z, Ji T. Protective relaying of power systems
Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan in 2000. In using mathematical morphology. London: Springer,
1975, he joined Meidensha Corporation, 2009.
Tokyo, Japan, where he had been engaged in [10]  Gautam S, Brahma SM. Guidelines for selection of
research on power system analysis and in the an optimal structuring element for mathematical
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April 2014, he has been a professor of Nagoya University, Aichi, disturbances. In: Proceedings IEEE Power & Energy
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Tomonobu Senjyu received the BS and MS Conference – POWERC; Nov 2004; Singapore, p. 1644–
degrees in electrical engineering from the 1649.
University of Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan in [12]  Jing M, Zengping W, Yan X, et al. Single-ended
1986 and 1988, respectively, and his PhD transient positional protection of transmission lines
degree in electrical engineering from Nagoya using mathematical morphology. In: Proceedings
University, Nagoya, Japan in 1994. In 1988, he Power Engineering Conference IPEC; 2005; The 7th
joined the Department of Electrical and International; 2005 Nov–Dec; Singapore.
Electronics Engineering, University of the
Ryukyus, where he is currently a professor. His research inter-
ests include stability of AC machines, advanced control of elec-
trical machines, power electronics, application of artificial
intelligence techniques in power system, renewable energy and
power economics. Senjyu is a member of the Institute of
Electrical Engineers of Japan.
Journal of International Council on Electrical Engineering   201

Appendix
Table A1. The pseudo code of opening operation [9].
Determine the SE, including its definition domain and the value of each element. Suppose m ≤ s ≤ n;
for (each sample of the signal f(x))
  for (m ≤ s ≤ n)
    Calculate ω(s-m + 1) = f(x + s) - g(s) // erosion operation
  end
Return the minimum element of ω and ε(x) = min(ω);
end
for (each sample of the signal ε(x))
  for (m ≤ s ≤ n)
    Calculate ω(s-m + 1) = ε(x + s) + g(s) // dilation operation
  end
Return the maximum element of ω and γ(x) = max(ω);
end

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