Distributed, Active Grid-Interrogation and Signal Analysis for Advanced Protective Relaying

In addition to producing the threat of electrocution, electric grid faults can ignite wildfires that result in 1) catastrophic damage to property and the environment; 2) death, injury and long-term pollution that damages public health, and 4) extended disruption of energy delivery. To aid in preventing such occurrences, the Department of Energy is fostering innovations in protection relaying. Such innovations would enable: 1) dynamically adjusting relay trip points to optimal settings, based on real-time assessments of grid conditions and events; 2) distinguishing between momentary and sustained faults; 3) reduction of misoperation, such as failure of a protective relay to identify and turn off power to a fault, and 4) detection of hidden faults, such as can occur in grid components, through damage or deterioration. Conventional systems for fault detection generally employ passive methods that rely on direct or indirect measurement of signals arising from the power line signal. Future advancements in protection relaying, such the previously listed innovations, will rely on fault detection achieved through observations made from within the service area and acted upon at the substation. By constructing electronic devices that can transmit, receive, and analyze special interrogation signals, an edge network could be established in the service area and used to “probe” the grid, to expose and localize fault conditions. This use of active interrogation is markedly different from conventional, passive methods of observation, and could be dynamic adjusted, to meet the needs of specific, detection and measurement scenarios. In the proposed project, such a system will be researched and developed, to provide the enhanced capabilities needed to detect and respond to scenarios where faults may be difficult to detect and devastating wildfires might otherwise result. In Phase I of the project, a prototype, intelligent, electronic device, will be constructed and tested to verify that specified, performance requirements have been achieved. This Remote Analytics Device (RAD) will be used in on- grid testing, supporting study of electrical characteristics against which fault assessments will need to be made and the testing the efficacy of inter-RAD signaling. Supplementary equipment will be used to make additional measurements, to provide insight into frequency-dependent electrical characteristics between exemplar transmission and reception points, on the grid. The results of will be used to optimize interrogation signal designs, in Phase II. If carried over into future phases, the resulting technology would significantly improve the ability of existing and new protection relaying systems to detect, localize, classify, and terminate dangerous types of faults that can escape detection by conventional, protective-relaying equipment. The technology can be gracefully extended to provide additional monitoring capabilities that will permit more efficient operation of the grid.