High Impedance Fault Characterization on Microsynchrophasor Measurements

High impedance faults are faults that occur more often in distribution networks, with currents of low magnitude and appear more like a nonlinear load from the system's perspective. The fault itself does not disrupt normal system operations but the arcing that comes with it might cause fire and safety hazards, making its detection an important task. The development of microsynchrophasors (μPMUs) or PMUs for distribution networks provides a new way to look at the system operations, possibly leading to better characterization of distribution level events. This study focuses on the characterization of a high impedance fault and how this event manifests in μPMU data. The modeling of the high impedance fault and the setup to conduct simulations characterizing and verifying the fault behavior in μPMU measurements are discussed in this paper. Results show that the high impedance fault presents a notable signature in the current angle measurements due to the change in power in the network.