Comparison of Power Arcing Faults Electromagnetic Source Detection and Location Methods

Using strategically placed antennas the electric arc electromagnetic (EM) radiation can be detected at remote distance and, at some extent, the arc source location can also be determined. For decades many works have proposed detection methods, but none has been practiced for arcing fault location in power systems. It is because this type of fault is not well understood and the protection against arcing faults has not been developed. A few radiation-based works in power systems have been devoted to partial discharges and lightning detection, and they concern mainly establishing the presence of EM radiation signals without presenting effective means to pinpoint these arc sources. This paper investigates feasibility of detecting and locating the actual source point in 3D Cartesian plane…