Condition monitoring of transmission line insulators using PMU for smart grid environment

A new methodology for the detection and classification of insulator arc faults for the smart grid environment based on phasor angle measurements is presented in this study and the real time phase angle data are collected using Phasor Measurement Units (PMU). Fault detection of insulator arcing faults is based on feature extraction and frequency component analysis. The proposed methodology pertains to the identification of various stages of insulator arcing faults in transmission lines network based on frequency characteristics and synchronous phasor measurements of voltage. The methodology is evaluated for IEEE 14 standard bus system by modeling the insulator arc faults using MATLAB/Simulink. The proposed methodology employing PMU is used for fault detection/classification of insulator arcing which further helps in efficient protection of the system and its stable operation.