Analysis of arcing fault models

The objective of this paper is to present, discuss and compare, in some detail, the arc models used to represent an arcing fault, in order to determine which of them is the most precise for this purpose. At the beginning of the paper a brief explanation of arcing faults is given, bringing out the importance of a realistic simulation of them. A theoretical description of the black box equations to model arc is explained. The paper concludes with a comparison of the most representative arc models. Results will be useful not only in arcing fault detection but also in the design of autoreclosure schemes on transmission lines. Implementation and simulation method are based on ATP/EMTP.