DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A POWER LINE FAULT DETECTION SYSTEM FOR IMPROVED ELECTRICAL NETWORK RELIABILITY

The reliability of modern electrical networks is highly dependent on the ability to rapidly and accurately detect faults in power lines, as undetected or delayed fault clearing can result in equipment damage, power outages, and safety hazards. This work presents the design and implementation of a power line fault detection system that leverages real-time current monitoring and analysis to improve system protection and reliability. The proposed system focuses on the detection of abnormal current behaviors across three-phase power lines, supported by experimental results that demonstrate how current waveforms can be used as diagnostic indicators of fault conditions. The system was tested under different scenarios to evaluate its ability to distinguish between normal operating conditions and faulted states. The results reveal that during fault events, significant variations occur in the current magnitudes and continuity of the affected phases, often accompanied by brief transient ground currents. For example, in one test scenario, it was observed that while one phase current remained continuous throughout, the other two phases were abruptly switched off after a short period, simulating a selective fault condition. In another case, all three phases were energized simultaneously for a defined interval and then disconnected at the same time, with a corresponding small but sharp transient recorded on the ground line. These behaviors highlight the sensitivity of phase currents to switching or fault occurrences and show that synchronized disturbances across multiple phases can be effectively captured for diagnostic purposes. Furthermore, the observed ground current transients, though much smaller in amplitude compared to phase currents, provided critical supplementary evidence of fault clearance or disconnection events, thus demonstrating the importance of monitoring both phase and ground currents simultaneously. the study establishes that a well-designed power line fault detection system based on current monitoring can significantly improve the reliability of electrical networks. The experimental validation shows that both phase and ground currents contain valuable diagnostic information, with each waveform providing unique insights into system behavior during normal operation and faulted states.