Detection of Symmetrical Faults by Distance Relays During Power Swings

For maintaining security of distance relays, power swing blocking is necessary to prevent unintended operation under power swings. To be dependable, distance relays must operate whenever a fault occurs. Therefore, detecting faults during power swings is an important issue since the relay should be able to differentiate the fault condition and not be blocked during that time. This paper presents a new method for detecting a symmetrical fault during a power swing, based on extracting components of the current waveform using the Prony method. The merit of the method is demonstrated by simulating different faults during power swing conditions using the Alternate Transients Program version of the Electromagnetic Transients Program.