Optimal Threshold-Based High Impedance Arc Fault Detection Approach for Renewable Penetrated Distribution System

Detection of high impedance arcing faults (HIAFs) in an active distribution network is challenging due to limited fault current contribution from power electronic interfaced distributed energy resources. It may also happen that during the switching operation of any system, component like a transformer, capacitor bank, nonlinear load, and lines, the protection function may fail to maintain security. The secure operation of any detection algorithm depends on the proper selection of key parameters and threshold settings. To enhance the HIAF detection process, the residual current is preprocessed using OTET. The cumulative sum of the fault detection index from the energy coefficients of OTET is used to take a suitable decision. Optimal parameters of the basis function in OTET are obtained using particle swarm optimization algorithm with a wide variety of fault and no-fault datasets. Further, the optimal value of a drift parameter is designed using OTET investigations and utilized in the fault detection index calculation. The selection mechanism incorporated in the method increases both dependability and security. It can be used for grid-connected/islanded modes of the system, different switching events, and grounding connections. The method is also reliable for noise and harmonic contaminated signal and unbalanced system.