A Review on High-Impedance Ground Fault Detection Techniques in Distribution Networks

Despite extensive research, the detection of arcing high-impedance faults (HIFs) in the low and medium voltage transmission and distribution networks remains a formidable challenge. Conventional overcurrent relays fail to detect the high-impedance faults due to their low fault current. However, even the modern digital relays utilizing the advanced signal processing techniques and expert classifiers are not able to solve the issue with conviction because of the random, nonlinear, and asymmetric nature of the arcing current. A lot of research work is carried out to improve the detection accuracy of the HIFs with a higher level of security against non-HIF transient events. This paper proposes a comprehensive review of the traditional as well as modern HIF detection schemes along with their advantages and drawbacks.