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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 28, NO. 2, MAY 2013

Detection of High Impedance Fault

in Power Distribution Systems Using
Mathematical Morphology
Suresh Gautam, Student Member, IEEE, and Sukumar M. Brahma, Senior Member, IEEE

AbstractA high impedance fault (HIF) is characterized by

a small, nonlinear, random, unstable, and widely varying fault
current in a power distribution system. HIFs draw very low fault
currents, and hence are not always effectively cleared by conventional overcurrent relays. Various schemes are proposed to detect
such faults. This paper presents a method to detect HIFs using
a tool based on mathematical morphology (MM). The method
is implemented alongside the conventional overcurrent relay at
the substation to improve the performance of this relay in detecting HIFs. It is rigorously tested on standard test systems using
PSCAD/EMTDC to generate test waveforms, and Matlab to
implement the method. Simulation results show that the proposed
method is fast, secure, and dependable.
Index TermsHigh impedance fault, mathematical morphology,
power distribution system, power system protection.

I. INTRODUCTION

IGH impedance faults (HIFs) cannot be detected or

cleared by conventional overcurrent relays due to very
low fault current. Such faults occur either when a tree limb or
other high impedance objects make contact with the primary
distribution conductor and the ground, or when a conductor
breaks and touches the earths surface such as asphalt, concrete, grass, sod, sand, etc. These surfaces impose very high
impedances and limit the fault currents to very low values. HIF
studies are reported by the Power System Relaying Committee
(PSRC) working group, which indicates less than 20% success
rate using conventional protection schemes [1]. The undetected
HIFs are hazardous to the public as they leave an energized
conductor exposed and uncleared.
HIF has been a topic of interest since the 1970s with research
focused on investigation of distinguishing characteristics in current and voltage waveforms [1]. HIFs typically occur at voltage
levels of 15 kV and below [1], [2]. They are characterized, in
addition to low values of fault currents, by random behavior
with unstable and wide fluctuation in current [1]. HIF currents
are found to be composed of harmonics and high frequency
components. During the initial phase, the researchers were primarily engaged with laboratory models and staged fault studies.
Manuscript received January 18, 2012; revised June 01, 2012; accepted August 14, 2012. Date of publication September 24, 2012; date of current version
April 18, 2013. Paper no. TPWRS-00056-2012.
The authors are with Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003 USA (e-mail:
gautam@nmsu.edu; sbrahma@nmsu.edu).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRS.2012.2215630

However, with a better understanding of the nature and characteristics of HIF and the advancements in simulation software,
the trend has shifted more towards simulation studies. The HIF
models used for simulation studies are discussed in Section II.
Researchers, from both academia and utilities, have proposed
different methods comprising of single or multiple algorithms
to detect HIFs in a distribution system. Majority of the studies
in this area were reported in 1980s and 1990s, but the simulation and detection methods are still being developed and
refined. An extensive literature survey of HIF can be found in
[3]. The HIF detection methods can be broadly classified into
frequency domain algorithms, time domain algorithms, hybrid
algorithms, and expert systems. Statistical techniques using
sequence components and their harmonics [4], third harmonics
[5], second-fourth-sixth harmonics [6], and high frequency
components (210 kHZ) [7] are some of the methods based
on the frequency domain. Other frequency domain algorithms
include the use of burst noise signal [8], improvements over the
use of third harmonic based algorithms [9], [10] and a combination of current magnitude with the magnitude and phase of its
harmonics [11]. Time domain algorithms include proportional
relaying [12], ratio ground relay [13], randomness algorithm
[14], use of current flicker [15], fractal techniques [16], and
signal superposition [17]. Frequency and time domain hybrid
methods such as discrete wavelet transform [18][24] have
also been proposed by researchers. Because of the randomness of HIFs, expert methods using combinations of multiple
algorithms [25][28], multiple tools [29][31], Kalman filter
[32], [33] as well as training based methods such as decision
tree [34], artificial neural networks [35][38], and neuro-fuzzy
method [39] based on genetic algorithm [40] are proposed.
Another expert method [41] uses neural networks with features
extracted using mathematical morphology for the detection of
HIF.
These prior studies and proposed algorithms have helped reveal many hidden properties of the HIF, but they are not capable of detecting all HIFs. These studies also do not report
the detection delay except for [16] and [27], where the detection delays are reported as 4 s and approximately 1 min, respectively. This paper proposes a superior method that tracks the
shape of the voltage waveforms to detect an HIF with excellent
reliability and speed, using a tool based on mathematical morphology (MM). No training or learning is required.
MM is a nonlinear time domain signal processing tool that
transforms the shape of signals [42], [43]. The transformation
is based on set theory and integral geometry, and was originally

0885-8950/$31.00 2012 IEEE

GAUTAM AND BRAHMA: DETECTION OF HIGH IMPEDANCE FAULT IN POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

developed by Matheron [44] and Serra [45]. Dilation and Erosion are two elementary transformations in MM. All other transformations are derived from these two. The transformation is
carried out by a signal processing function called Structuring
Element. The structuring element is defined based on the type
of application and plays a pivotal role in MM operations. The
real-time applications and the performance of the MM operators
have been reported by Gautam and Brahma [46][48]. References [46] and [47] discuss the effect of the structuring element
on the real-time performance of MM. They also demonstrate the
capabilities of MM operators in detecting and extracting transients from voltage and current waveforms that result from different power system disturbances.
Drawing from the observations made in [46][48], this paper
describes how MM operators can be applied to efficiently
detect HIFs, and to distinguish them from other distribution
system events that tend to produce disturbances in current
and voltage waveforms. The proposed method is tested on the
IEEE 13-node and IEEE 34-node test feeders simulated using
PSCAD/EMTDC. Matlab is used to implement the method.
The paper is divided into six sections. Section I presents literature review and an overview of this paper. Section II describes
the selection of test systems, formation of the HIF model, and
selection of waveforms for HIF detection. Section III briefly illustrates the proposed MM operations to detect and distinguish
an HIF, and documents some results that help capture the distinguishing signature of HIFs. Based on these characteristics,
Section IV illustrates the formulation and implementation of a
detection and classification methodology. Section V describes
the simulation results using this methodology. Finally, conclusions are drawn in Section VI.

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Fig. 1. IEEE 13-node test feeder.

Fig. 2. IEEE 34-node test feeder.

II. MODELING
A. Choice and Modeling of Test System
This paper uses standard test systems to demonstrate the
performance of the proposed detection method. IEEE PSRC
Working Group D15 [1] suggests that HIF studies be performed
at voltage levels of 15 kV and below. Therefore, the IEEE
13-node 4.16-kV test feeder [49] shown in Fig. 1 was selected
and modeled using PSCAD/EMTDC. The substation bus was
modeled by an equivalent Thevenin source with an equivalent
impedance of
pu. Distribution lines were modeled
using a coupled-wire model with lumped parameters. Voltage
regulator was modeled by three 1-phase 2-winding transformers
with on-load tap changer. To further verify the robustness of
the proposed concept, the paper also reports the performance of
the method using another standard test systemIEEE 34-node
test feeder [49] shown in Fig. 2. The two systems selected for
testing the proposed detection method have diverse properties.
The 13-node feeder is short and heavily loaded, whereas the
34-node feeder is long and lightly loaded. Although the latter
is a 24.9-kV system, which is rated at higher voltage than that
suggested by the PSRC Working Group, it was chosen for the
current study to test the proposed method on systems with
different sizes and properties.

B. Model of HIF
The HIF detection methods can be broadly classified into two
groups based on the data used for developing the method; one
that uses data obtained from staged faults, and the other that
uses data generated by simulations. Detection methods developed using results from staged faults tend to be more system
(network) specific, and may not be applicable to other systems
(networks). Moreover, staged faults require special gears and
manpower, and naturally involve a risk of service disconnection.
The methods developed using simulation results on the other
hand can be tested extensively, and hence are more adaptable to
various systems (networks) with none or few modifications. A
wide variety of events/situations can be studied by simulation
based methods. Hence, the simulation based method is chosen
for the study reported in this paper. However, the waveforms
resulting from simulation are shown to resemble well with the
waveforms from staged HIFs reported in literature, thus illustrating the validity of the simulation model.
HIFs are almost always accompanied by arcing, which makes
the fault current unpredictable and random. Depending upon the
type of surface involved in the fault path, the fault resistance
may change due to the heat produced by the arc, changing the
magnitude of the fault current randomly. Thus, HIF is a random
phenomenon, and results in a wide variation in the shape of

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 28, NO. 2, MAY 2013

the current waveform, magnitude of the current drawn, and the

frequency content.
Several models have been proposed in the past for the purpose of time domain simulation. A fixed resistance at the point
of fault [2] is the simplest model which was later modified
by including nonlinear impedances [11] to incorporate the
nonlinearity of the fault current. Inclusion of two anti-parallel
dc-sources connected via two diodes [9] modeled the asymmetric nature of the fault current, as well as the intermediate
arc extinction around current zero. This model was further
modified by adding one [34] or two [20], [33], [37], [39], [50]
variable resistances in series with the dc sources to model
the randomness of the effective impedance and thus the randomness of the resulting fault current. Other models used for
the analysis of HIF are TACS (transient analysis of control
systems) controlled switch to connect and disconnect the fault
[18] or randomly vary the effective HIF resistance [51], and
differential equation based models [21], [22], [38].
This paper uses an HIF model shown in Fig. 3, connected
between phase and ground,
being the phasor value of the
phase voltage. It is structurally similar to the source-diode-resistance model described in the previous paragraph using citations; the parameters are tuned to suit the system voltage. The
model is simple, yet captures all the characteristics of HIF current. The two dc sources
and
are connected to two diodes
and
, respectively. The dc sources are of unequal magnitude, and their values randomly vary around and every 0.1
ms. This arrangement models the asymmetric nature of the fault
current and intermediate arc extinction. The values of
and
depend upon the voltage of the system for which the simulation is performed and the amount of asymmetry to be modeled.
When the instantaneous value
, current flows towards
ground, and reverses when
. During the period when
, no current flows. Changing values of
and
also add randomness to the amount of asymmetry and the
duration of arc extinction. Two variable resistances
and
are also connected in series with the diodes. These resistances
vary independently and randomly every 0.1 ms, and model the
randomly varying arc resistance. To test the robustness of the
proposed algorithm, the range of variation of the resistances is
restricted such that the fault current always lies below 10% of
the full load current of the feeder. Below are the model parameters used for HIF simulation with the IEEE 13-node feeder:
%
%

Fig. 4 shows voltage and current waveforms during a high

impedance fault modeled on the IEEE 13-node test feeder using
the HIF model discussed in the previous paragraph. The current
in Fig. 4(b) is random and asymmetric with unequal positive and
negative peaks. The interruptions around zero crossings represent temporary arc extinctions. Fig. 5 shows the
characteristics of this HIF. The current waveform [Fig. 4(b)] and the
characteristics (Fig. 5) are similar to those obtained from a
staged fault [15], from a lab setup [9], [22] and from other high-

Fig. 3. HIF model.

Fig. 4. Arc voltage and current waveforms during HIF.

impedance arc models [21], [22]. Moreover, the fast Fourier

transform (FFT) analysis of the HIF current waveform yields an
average second harmonic content of 4.8%, and third harmonic
content of 11.8%. These numbers are within the observed range
of similar harmonics during the staged fault reported in [15].
Hence the HIF model in Fig. 3 faithfully represents the nonlinearity, randomness and asymmetry in the fault current, as well
as the arc dynamics and intermediate arc extinctions.
C. Selection of Waveform for HIF Detection
The methods proposed for HIF detection either process only
the current waveforms, or both current and voltage waveforms
to obtain signatures that characterize HIFs. However, it should
be kept in mind that the waveform shown in Fig. 4(b) is the
actual fault current, not the current flowing at the substation
source. The current waveform at the substation will be much
less distorted, because the system still draws sinusoidal load current. In our case, in order to test our method against the worst
cases, we have limited our HIF current to less than 10% of the
load current. This means the irregularities of the HIF current
may well be masked substantially at the substation. In order to

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III. DEVELOPING THE BASIS FOR HIF DETECTION USING MM

A. MM Operations
As mentioned in Section I, MM is composed of two elementary transformationsdilation and erosion. Based on these two,
several other transformations are defined [52]. Opening and
closing are other commonly used transformations for one-dimensional signals. These four transformations are defined now.
Equation (1) defines the dilation of a signal
by
:

(1)
Similarly, (2) defines the erosion of a signal
Fig. 5. V-I characteristics during HIF.

by

(2)
In these equations,
is the signal to be transformed, defined in domain
, and
is the structuring element, defined in domain
, and
and are integers such that
.
Based on these two elementary transformations, opening and
closing are defined by (3) and (4):
(3)
(4)

Fig. 6. V-I characteristics during HIF.

examine this, Fig. 6(b) shows the current drawn from the substation during the same HIF. As suspected, this current hardly
shows any traces of the irregularities of the actual HIF current.
The strength of MM based tools lies in the fact that they can
detect and distinguish between very small (seemingly insignificant) changes to a wave-shape. Fig. 4(a) shows the voltage
waveform across the HIF. A zoomed view shows there is a slight
distortion in the waveform. This slight distortion is obviously
also reflected at the substation, as seen in Fig. 6(a). It is possible
that the current waveform at the substation would also contains
a slight disturbance, but the extent of such distortion may vary
for different pre-fault conditions. In contrast, the distortion in
the voltage waveform does not depend on the pre-fault currents,
and is more likely to provide a more consistent signature when
processed by MM. Due to the unique property of MM based
tools to detect very small distortions, and the better likelihood
of the voltage waveforms providing a more consistent signature
when processed by such tools, the voltage waveform is chosen
for processing. The results documented in Sections III and IV
further confirm the validity of this choice.

It can be observed from (1)(4) that these transformations

require only addition and comparison. So, they impose a very
low computation burden, which is a great advantage for real
time applications.
The structuring elements are the foundation of all MM transformations, and are used as probes for feature extraction. They
may have different lengths and can be linear, sinusoidal, square,
circular, or other geometrical shapes [52]. The frequency of interest plays a major role in the selection of a structuring element
for a particular application, though the choice is influenced by
other factors such as the type of signal, frequency spectrum, and
the sampling rate. The optimal choice would be such that it captures the feature of interest while suppressing other features.
Equation (5) defines a Closing Opening Difference Operation (CODO) [48]. This operation is very effective in detecting
any disturbance in waveforms. The application proposed in this
paper uses the CODO operation to detect and classify HIFs. A
low sampling rate of 3840 Hz (64 samples per cycle) is chosen
so that the computation burden is low, while still preserving the
ability to capture the disturbance signature:
(5)
Gautam and Brahma [53] present a detailed analysis that
leads to some guidelines in selecting an optimal structuring
element to detect disturbances in power system. Based on these
guidelines, samples of voltage waveforms from the secondary
of voltage transformer (VT) are selected to be treated with
CODO. The waveforms are normalized by the peak value of
their rated value prior to the treatment with CODO to make
the application general and applicable at all voltage levels.

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Fig. 7. Phase A voltage waveform and the CODO output for High Impedance
Fault.

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 28, NO. 2, MAY 2013

Fig. 8. Phase A voltage waveform and the CODO output for Capacitor
Switching.

Since the waveforms are normalized, the height (magnitude) of

each element of the structuring element is set at 0.01 [53]. The
guidelines also recommend structuring elements with shorter
length for disturbance detection. So, an iterative process was
adopted to determine an optimal length. Structuring elements
with lengths 2 to 5 were implemented and performance was
observed. It was found that all the structuring elements were
capable of detecting the HIFs, but the shortest one resulted in
the least delay. Therefore, a structuring element of length 2 was
selected for this application.
B. Deriving Unique HIF Signature From the CODO Output
Simulations were carried out for high impedance faults and
other disturbances at different locations indicated in Fig. 1. The
legends in the location boxes denote the number of the simulation case with letter prefixes. The prefixes H, C, and L denote
HIF, capacitor switching, and load switching, respectively. For
example, H-2 denotes the second simulation case of HIF. The
voltage waveforms are sampled from the secondary side of VT,
and normalized by the peak value of the rated secondary voltage.
The normalized voltage is then treated with the CODO operation defined by (5), with the structuring element of length 2 and
height 0.01, selected as described in Section III-A.
Figs. 79 show the normalized voltage waveforms and the
corresponding CODO output for three different disturbances.
Since the disturbances in the voltage waveforms are very small,
zoomed parts of the waveforms are inserted to clearly show the
disturbances.
Fig. 7 shows phase A voltage waveform, and the corresponding CODO output for a phase A to Ground HIF simulated
at 6.817 s at location H-4 (Fig. 1). The HIF generates unequal
and non-uniformly distributed series of spikes in the CODO
output over an extended period of time. These spikes are
distinctly larger in magnitude compared to the CODO output
during the healthy condition, which is almost zero.
Fig. 8 shows phase A voltage waveform, and the corresponding CODO output for a three phase capacitor switching
(ON) simulated at 6.8043 s at location C-2 (Fig. 1). The CODO

Fig. 9. Phase A voltage waveform and the CODO output for Load Switching.

output for the disturbance caused by capacitor switching shows

two continuous large spikes, when the disturbance occurs. It
was observed in other cases of capacitor switching reported in
Section V that capacitor switching gave either a single spike or
a series of consecutive spikes, which is distinctly different than
the non-uniformly distributed spikes generated due to an HIF.
Since the effect of capacitor switching on voltage waveforms
is short-lived, the duration of such continuous spikes was never
observed to be more than one eighth of a cycle, as opposed to
the spikes corresponding to an HIF, which continued over time.
Fig. 9 shows phase A voltage waveform, and the corresponding CODO output for a two-phase (A-C) load switching
at 6.8043 s at location L-1 (Fig. 1). The switching is captured
by a single, relatively smaller spike in the CODO output, as the
effect of load switching on the voltage waveforms is minimal.
Figs. 79 show that the inception of disturbances are captured by one or more distinct high magnitude spikes in the
output of the CODO operation, which otherwise lies below
a low threshold during healthy condition. The observation of
the CODO output of the three disturbances also reveal that the

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1231

pattern of a series of spikes generated by the HIF is clearly

different from the single or continuous spikes over a short time
span generated by capacitor switching, and load switching. This
distinction in signatures can be exploited to detect and classify
HIF and non-HIF disturbances. The detection and classification
method is described in the following section.
IV. FORMULATION OF METHOD TO DETECT
CLASSIFY A HIGH IMPEDANCE FAULT

AND

This section describes a method to detect an HIF, and distinguish it from other disturbances discussed in Section III. The
first step in this process is the detection of disturbance. Based
on the analysis of the CODO output for the three different disturbances in Section III, a disturbance is detected if a spike is
present in the output of the CODO operation. A threshold value
is set and the CODO output is tracked for each phase-voltage
to detect the disturbance. For the application proposed in this
paper, the threshold value was set at 115% of the maximum
value of the CODO output during the healthy condition. As
mentioned in Section III, the CODO output is close to zero
during healthy condition; the 15% margin is simply a buffer.
This threshold value translates to approximately 0.0053 pu for
the examples shown in Figs. 79.
The next step is to distinguish an HIF from other disturbances. As mentioned in Section III, the comparison of the
CODO output for different disturbances in Figs. 79 shows that
an HIF generates a series of non-uniformly distributed spikes
over an extended time-period, whereas a capacitor switching
and a load switching generate either a single spike or multiple
consecutive spikes over a short time period never longer than
one eighth of a cycle. The difference in the signatures is so
clear, there is no need for any learning based pattern recognition method. A rule-based method is therefore adopted. This
method, and an algorithm to implement it are described now.
In addition to the threshold value defined previously in this
section to detect a disturbance, the algorithm requires two other
parameterswait-time
and reset-time
for the classification of HIF. Wait-time
is implemented to avoid the
initial multiple consecutive spikes that are sometimes generated
by capacitor switching. To make sure such spikes are no longer
present in the CODO output, a conservative choice of a quarter
cycle is made for the wait-time. For the chosen sampling rate of
64 sample per cycle, the wait-time translates to 16 samples, and
equals to 4.17 ms in a 60-Hz system.
Once the wait time is over, the method prepares to detect another spike in the CODO output. If such a spike is detected, it
is certainly due to an HIF. The detection time for this second
spike, or the detection delay, depends upon the amount of transients present in the voltage waveform. A slower change in the
effective impedance of HIF implies less transients in voltage
waveform and thus, a larger separation of spikes, and a larger
detection delay. Similarly, a faster change implies more transients and thus, a smaller separation of spikes, and a smaller
detection delay. Therefore, it is necessary to wait for some time
to allow even the most sparsely separated spike to be detected.
This time is defined as the reset time
. If no spike is encountered during the reset time, the algorithm determines the
detected disturbance was not an HIF, and resets itself. However,

Fig. 10. Flowchart for the proposed detection and classification method.

if a spike is detected between the end of the wait time and end of
the reset time, the HIF flag is made high. At the end of the reset
time, if the HIF flag is high, a trip or alarm signal is generated,
otherwise the algorithm resets and starts afresh. Based on the
simulation studies, a conservative choice of 1 s is made for the
value of the reset time . This means any HIF will be detected
and classified within 1 s.
The algorithm that captures this logic is shown in Fig. 10.
As can be seen from this flowchart, at the very beginning of
the process, a pickup signal from an overcurrent relay is included. If the relay picks up, it means there is a conventional
fault, and the whole algorithm is simply suspended by resetting
all flags and timers. Thus, the proposed detection and classification method is integrated with a digital overcurrent relay, and
simply suspends operation for all faults detected by the overcurrent relay. The rest of the algorithm is self-explanatory, as it
basically implements the detection and classification logic described in the previous paragraphs. The threshold value Th is
taken as described previously in this section. DF stands for Disturbance Flag.
V. SIMULATION RESULTS
A total of 15 HIF cases were simulated at different locations, on different phases and at different time-instants in the
IEEE 13-node test feeder. The HIF locations were chosen at
nodes as well as at intermediate points. Intermediate points were
chosen in the branches with distributed loads. The locations
were chosen to include 1-phase, 2-phase, and 3-phase branches;
and both unbroken (denoted as type-1) and broken (denoted

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 28, NO. 2, MAY 2013

TABLE I
SIMULATION RESULT FOR IEEE 13-NODE TEST FEEDER

as type-2) conductors were considered. Six cases of capacitor

switching and four cases of load switching were also simulated.
The simulation consisted of switching ON and OFF of the capacitor banks at node 611 and node 675. Capacitor switching
also included switching the banks ON and OFF at different timeinstants (at different points on the voltage waveform). Similarly,
load switching consisted of switching ON and OFF of 2-ph and
3-ph loads at node 692 and node 671 at different time-instants.
The different disturbance inception times were considered since
the transients in the voltage waveforms are dependent on inception times. All these cases are marked out in Fig. 1, with
legend explained in Section III-B. The algorithm described in
Section IV was implemented on the sampled voltage waveforms
from the VT secondary. Table I summarizes the results.
The table shows the disturbances simulated along with their
location, type (nature), and inception time. For the HIF cases,
the time of occurrence of the second nonconsecutive spike, and
the corresponding detection delay are also shown. For other disturbances, there is no second spike detected. As seen from the
table, the algorithm successfully detects all cases of HIF while
segregating all other disturbances. The detection delay varies
from 17 ms for the fastest detection to 588 ms for the slowest
one.
The study was then carried out for the 34-node feeder. The
process of selecting disturbances, their locations, and types was
the same as for the 13-node case. Fig. 2 shows all the disturbances simulated. Table II summarizes the results for 34-node
feeder, which also shows excellent detection and classification

TABLE II
SIMULATION RESULT FOR IEEE 34-NODE TEST FEEDER

of HIFs. The detection delay in this case varies from less than
10 ms for the fastest detection to 66 ms for the slowest one. As
mentioned in Section II-A, the 34-node feeder is lightly loaded.
This means the method is not affected by loading conditions.
To test the reliability and robustness of the method even further,
a study was performed with both test systems operating at half
load. The performance of the method was similar to that observed with full load. This underscores the rationale described
in Section II-C in choosing the voltage waveform for this study,
making the method robust against pre-fault (load) conditions.
These results show that the algorithm is robust, since it successfully works on two standard distribution systems with very different properties, simulated with varying load conditions. The
100% success rate of detection and classification for both systems indicates the proposed method exhibits excellent reliability
and security.
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper summarizes the use of MM to detect high
impedance faults which are otherwise undetected by the overcurrent protection scheme in a power distribution system. An
MM based tool is proposed, implemented and tested to develop
a method that can be integrated as a separate module with a
digital overcurrent relay. The detection method uses voltage
waveforms sampled at the substation. The proposed method is
designed to operate in parallel and assist the existing protection
scheme to detect an HIF. This method is fast, with a detection
delay of 1 s. The method is shown to exhibit reliability, as all
the HIF cases simulated were detected, even for fault currents

GAUTAM AND BRAHMA: DETECTION OF HIGH IMPEDANCE FAULT IN POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

less than 5% of the full load feeder current. It also exhibits

security, since there was no false operation for other disturbances in the system. The method benefits from the inherent
advantage of low computation burden of all MM based tools,
which is an advantage for real-time applications. The method
is successfully tested on different standardized test feeders,
with different types and locations of disturbances at different
inception times, and for different pre-fault loading.
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 28, NO. 2, MAY 2013

Suresh Gautam (S08) received the Bachelor of

Engineering degree and the Master of Science
degree in electrical engineering from the Institute of
Engineering, Tribhuvan University, Nepal, in 2002
and 2007, respectively, and the Master of Science
degree in electrical engineering from New Mexico
State University, Las Cruces, in 2010, where he is
currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree.
From 2002 to 2004, he was with Kathmandu Engineering College, Kathmandu, Nepal, as a lecturer.
From 2004 to 2007, he was with Nepal Electricity
Authority, a public utility of Nepal, as an electrical engineer. His research interests are power system protection, digital relaying, power system transients, and
power quality.

Sukumar M. Brahma (M04SM07) received

the Bachelor of Engineering degree from L. D.
College of Engineering, Ahmedabad, India, in 1989,
the Master of Technology degree from the Indian
Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, in 1997,
and the Ph.D. degree from Clemson University,
Clemson, SC, in 2003, all in electrical engineering.
From 1990 to 1999, he was a lecturer in the
Electrical Engineering Department with B. V. M.
Engineering College, Vallabh Vidyanagar, India.
From August 2003 to June 2007, he was an Assistant
Professor at Widener University, Chester, PA. He is presently an Associate
Professor and Associate Director of the Electric Utility Management Program
(EUMP) at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.
Dr. Brahma is the past Chair of the IEEE Power and Energy Societys Life
Long Learning Subcommittee, Chair of the Distribution System Analysis Subcommittee, Secretary of the Power and Energy Education Committee, and is on
several working groups of the Power System Relaying Committee.