Delta V - Fault Location Made Easy

Location of intermittent faults on low voltage electricity distribution cables

In the developed world the electricity supply is so reliable that it is often taken for Industry Reaction
granted. When there is a single disruption, it is seen by most as an inconvenience; I am confident the
however when the disruptions to the supply become more frequent, users become less capital investment in
tolerant, and the matter becomes a serious problem for the distribution companies. this technology will
quickly be recovered
and complaints in
Kelman, an engineering company based in the UK, which specialises in producing fault respect of intermittent
management and asset management tools for the global electricity utility market, has faults will be reduced.
developed a revolutionary new tool to solve the problem of fast accurate fault location, Chris Watson
R&R Zone Manager
even on intermittent faults. This new device is called Delta V. Yorkshire Electricity Distribution Ltd

Most faults on low voltage cables are caused by failure of the outer metallic sheath allowing moisture to
penetrate into the cable. Although such failures can occur as a result of poor repair work or through the
deterioration of the cable over age, it is more likely that accidental contact during excavation work in the
vicinity of the cable is the cause. Such damage normally goes unnoticed and the excavation is filled in. Over a
short period of time moisture will penetrate the insulation and enter the cable resulting in transitory faults that
may take some time to develop into permanent faults.

Unless the fault level in the damaged region is high, it is unlikely that a developing transient fault will cause the
circuit fuse to operate, and will probably go unnoticed. However as this cycle continues the integrity of the
cable will worsen eventually leading to a fuse rupture at the sub-station, disconnecting the cable and all of the
customers joined to it from the electricity supply.

Engineers called out to investigate the outage will typically attempt a fuse replacement and if the fault is in a
non-permanent state the supply will be restored to the consumers. After a period of time the moisture will start
to ingress the cable and the cycle starts over again. Each time a fuse operation occurs consumers are
disconnected for a period of several hours causing severe disruption.

Locating such a transient fault is not easy, especially as the cables that supply electricity, unlike
telecommunications cables, are in a branched network. A cable may have many joints and branches, any one of
which could be the source of the fault.

The Transgradient Principle and Permanent Faults Complicated and time consuming

Figure 1
Graph detailing the
Transgradient
principal in action

An established method for determining the location of permanent faults on low voltage underground cables is
the Transgradient Principle. This technique uses the fact that the fault current flowing in the cable is large
compared to normal load currents. This current causes a voltage drop along the cable in relation to its
impedance. Voltage recorders that record the maximum voltage seen can be placed along the length of the
cable, and down various branches.
The faulted cable is then briefly energised and the voltage recorded. The voltage measured at the source will be
the highest. Measurements made down the cable towards the fault will see less voltage, and once the fault is
passed, there will be a consistent reading, indicating the voltage of the fault. In permanent faults, this voltage is
often zero (see Fig 1).

It is possible to plot the voltage at various points along the cable allowing a gradient to be drawn from the
source towards the fault. The fault voltage can also be plotted from readings taken beyond the fault, a region in
which no fault current flows. The fault lies where the intersection of the two lines occurs. In its basic form, this
is a simple application of Ohms Law.

However, this method can be very time consuming and requires highly skilled and experienced engineers in
order to be successful. A more simplified method of permanent fault location is obviously required.

The Transgradient Principle and Intermittent Faults An even more complicated problem

When dealing with transitory or intermittent type faults, it is not possible to use the simple voltage
measurement devices employed in the transgradient permanent fault location described above. In fact a method
of accurately locating intermittent faults on low voltage underground cables had until recently never been
found, which has caused more than a few headaches for distribution companies. In the UK, the governmental
regulatory body OFGEN, penalises disruptions in supply by imposing substantial fines on distribution
companies based on the number of minutes that customers are without supply. Therefore intermittent fault
occurrence and the inability to locate them can have significant financial consequences for distributors.

Kelman has been the leader in this field for many years offering a range of products to aid in low voltage fault
management. The new Delta V has been designed to locate permanent or intermittent faults and to work in
conjunction with these existing tools. These include:

Rezap - Designed to temporarily replace a fuse in a distribution panel to re-energise a

faulted feeder after an overcurrent event. It essentially is a single phase auto-recloser
with intelligent electronics providing overcurrent protection and programmable delay
characteristics, thereby allowing intermittent faults to be cleared completely or
conditioned to accelerate the onset of a permanent fault and subsequent repair.

The Rezap is also available in a Sigma version equipped with a 2 channel transient
recorder and a GSM modem that can be programmed to alert the engineer of Rezap
operation by SMS. Once again it is particularly useful under intermittent fault
conditions.
Figure 2 Rezap
Retrace Identifies the phase and feeder of any low connected to Sub
voltage circuit from a given substation using a coded Station
power line carrier signal. It can be invaluable in
identifying locations for Delta V node installation that are supplied from a
faulted phase, especially under intermittent fault conditions.

Figure 3 Retrace and accessories

Delta V Simple and accurate permanent and intermittent fault location

The Delta V uses the Transgradient principle, but Kelman have Kelman Comment
employed transient voltage recorders in place of the maximum Using the analysis techniques within Delta V
voltage sensors previously used, and developed unique software it is often possible to find the fault before the
for analysing the waveforms captured by these devices. After next fuse interruption.
Bob Beasant
Senior Engineer
Kelman
successful field trials, the first production units were delivered in the UK in April 2004 with excellent reports
being received from the end users of these units.

Delta V The System

To implement Transgradient Analysis on an intermittent system, Kelman

has designed a unique Node a small transient recording device, about the
size of a mobile phone charger. These come in two forms, a Domestic Node
for placement directly into a socket at a premises and System Nodes, which
can be connected directly to street lamps and link boxes in the network
where fault activity is suspected.

The system also includes a PDA type handheld device into which network
topography and node location information is entered. This handheld can
then be connected to each node individually in order to download the nodes
fault activity logs which it will then analyse and use to provide the user with
diagrammatic and synoptic report details of the fault location. The Delta V
system is delivered in a robust carry case which also acts as a charging unit
Figure 4 The Delta V System
for the nodes and handheld.

Delta V How it works

In order to implement Delta V successfully it is necessary to

first identify the phase on which the fault is occurring. In many
cases this can prove difficult if not impossible for engineers to
decipher from the existing documentation. However the
Kelman Retrace phase identifier provides engineers with a
definitive, simple and quick solution to this problem (see Fig
5).
Figure 6 Delta V
Ideally a Rezap Sigma should then be deployed on the faulted Handset illustrating a
typical network
phase. This will not only ensure that customers will remain
supplied even in the case of a fault, but will also notify engineers by SMS when a fault
Figure 5 - Retrace
Phase Identifier has occurred. This means that engineers know exactly when to visit the Delta V nodes
and download their event logs.

Next the topography of the cable is entered into the Delta V Handset using a simple graphic interface. It is not
necessary for the exact cable configuration to be described, but it is important that major junctions in the
backbone are identified. The Handset will then suggest the best locations for the Nodes to be placed (see Fig 8).

The first Node is always fitted at the substation, ideally with a

Rezap to manage any fault activity. The remaining Remote
Nodes are then installed in suitable premises on the faulted phase
by simply plugging the Nodes into domestic sockets or fitting
into UDBs (Underground Disconnecting Box). There is no need
to connect to a phone service. The location of each Node can be
entered on-screen to allow the operator to find them again after
Figure 7A Delta V Figure 7B Delta V the fault has been repaired.
domestic node domestic and system
deployed in a nodes
standard UK socket
In general, the greater the number of nodes - the more accurate
the fault location, but the system can operate with as few as three
Nodes with a simple cable topography.
 In the case of an intermittent fault it is likely that the Rezap will not trip
immediately and normal supply will be maintained until fault current is
detected.

The Nodes then sense the voltage drop and record several cycles of data
immediately prior to the Rezap operation. Each record is time tagged
permitting information from several fault events to be gathered (see Fig 9).

Figure 8 Typical Delta V
network topography including
suggested node location points
Sn = System Node
Dn = Domestic Node
In many cases the fault can be located successfully even if the Rezap has not
seen sufficient current to trip. The network can be revisited at any time and
the data collected and used to calculate a fault location.
In the case of a permanent fault the Rezap will trip immediately, but the
Nodes will be able to collect enough data to calculate a fault location. If
necessary the process can be repeated to zero-in on a given location.

After a fault of any kind each Node can be visited and the data
extracted using the Handset. The Handset guides the user
through a menu to give the cable parameters necessary for an
accurate location. The Handset then calculates a fault position
based on the voltage gradient and the topography of the network.
Results are presented in both graphical and text form, giving the
fault location in metres from the nearest major cable junction
(see Fig 10).

Figure 9 Graph of Typical Transient Waveforms

Delta V In Action

Company: EDF South, UK

Date: April 2004
Figure 10A Example of a
Delta V Fault Location Diagram
Intermittent fault active since August 2003, which was resulting in, fuses
blowing on a regular basis. EDF had been unable to locate the fault using
traditional methods.

It can be seen from the system configuration illustrated in Figure 11 that it

would always prove difficult to identify any type of fault on this piece of
network.

Prior to connecting Delta V the network was scanned using a Retrace unit
and points identified at which to place the nodes.

To make things easier a more simplified system configuration was entered

into the Delta V handset and a mixture of system nodes [S/n] & domestic
Figure 10B Example of a nodes [D/n] were installed as illustrated in Figure 12.
Delta V Fault Location Text
Report
 Figure 12 Delta V
Representation of
EDF Network
Configuration

Figure 11 Actual EDF Network Configuration

When the next intermittent fault occurred 5 days later, the Delta V nodes Industry Reaction
were interrogated and a fault position calculated to be 11 meters +/- 4
Engineers are usually quite
meters from the tee joint of the service to where the domestic node was reserved in embracing new
connected and the tee joint to Pelham St s/s. Rezap was closed onto the fault technology. however, the Delta V
and the fault was identified approximately 1 meter further towards Pelham unit is simple to install, very user
st s/s than the 11meter position had indicated but still within +/- 4 meter friendly and on its first trial it has
tolerance. proved very reliable and accurate.
Mark Parris
Senior Engineer
From the network drawings this indicated the position of an old tee joint EDF South. UK

/pot end, and on excavation it was found that the main cable had faulted at
the tee joint just outside the joint towards Pelham St s/s.

The fault was repaired and supplies returned to normal the same day.

Company: YEDL, UK
Industry Reaction Date: June 2004

In the space of a month, we have
successfully used the new Delta V
unit on three occasions to aid in the
location of intermittent faults. This
has provided us with increased
confidence in our ability to locate
intermittent faults.
We found the system very easy to
use. It took less than 5 minutes in
each property to confirm the phase
and install a node. Our customers
thought it was excellent and we
have received excellent support
from our friends at Kelman.
On this intermittent fault in Marshland Road, Moorends a Rezap Sigma was
installed at the source substation. This fault was very active with many
current spikes in between fuse failures and Rezap operations.
YEDL carried out a test with the Retrace and made sure that the nodes were
installed on the same phase as the Sigma and also at the premises of a
business customer who had complained of flicker and supply failures. On
this occasion, as the network was fairly simple, YEDL decided to install
only 5 Delta V nodes.
The Rezap Sigma was set up to send an SMS message for current values
over 600A as well as trips.

Chris Watson
The day after the installation, the Rezap sent an SMS indicating fault
R&R Zone Manager
Yorkshire Electricity Distribution Ltd.
activity. The data was duly collected and the circuit details requested by the
software were entered.
The Delta V told YEDL engineers that the fault was near or beyond the last node but was unable to give a more
accurate position unless more nodes were installed.

Although this would have been very simple to do, YEDL found that after examining the fault statistics and the
mains records, there was a likely position for the fault beyond the last node. The cable had previously been cut
and an insulated end made to disconnect an old 3-phase supply. Excavation and tests at this position revealed
the fault to be there, and it was repaired immediately. No further faults have occurred on this network section
since the repair.

Why Delta V?

Accurately locates permanent and intermittent faults;

The user friendly interface means that the system an be used by less skilled engineers;

Automatic operation detects fault activity 24 hours/day;

Capable of finding intermittent faults before another outage occurs.

For further information on Delta V or any of the other products discussed in this article please contact:

Kelman Ltd
Lissue Industrial Estate East
Lissue Road
Lisburn, BT28 2RB
United Kingdom

Telephone: +4428 9262 2915 or email: mail@kelman.co.uk or see our website on www.kelman.co.uk