Software
Available in PDF
FACES is a software for automated analysis of faults and protective systems in HV networks. In a period of competition in electricity transport and distribution, FACES brings a significant contribution to optimize costs and efficiency.
Fault analysis can be either a work intensive and/or a very long procedure in case of multiple or major disturbances in the high voltage power grid. Most of the time, the operator has to go through all recorded data to identify the faults with a potential impact on grid operation.
Some power companies are spending precious time and resources, withholding system recovery while data are being collected and analyzed, and the faults located.
Others allow system reconnection without a comprehensive fault analysis, taking the risk of subsequent line collapse.
Few spend time and resources analyzing the many protection behaviors considered "nominal", yet sometimes already showing early signs of derating.
Moreover unplanned electrical power outages are major concerns to power utilities throughout the world. Unfortunately, power outages will continue to
happen and cannot be fully prevented. Common sources of outages come from lightning strikes, tree encroachments or equipment failures. Their impact can
be reduced if power system operators use appropriate tools to quickly analyze the most critical events, their location and the root cause of the outages.
FACES offers a practical solution, convenient for the control centre, and providing system operators and protection engineers the fault conditions and system
overview immediately preceding and following any alarming condition or breaker operation.
FACES is a tool for analyzing faults and protection system with special emphasis on automatic selection of the most critical events, fault location as well as fault signature analysis. The key to the successful development of the tool comes from a long experience gained as manufacturer of Digital Fault Recorders (DFR) in close cooperation with electrical power system experts.
Various sources of data are available for incident analysis. Some of them, like DFR, provide high data volumes but the existing tools to deal
with this information lack of standardization. Information from other devices can be used to check or complete the data set to get the full event picture.
System operators have to deal with multiple vendor solutions, each one presenting an increasing complexity as the variety and the technology of the connected devices evolves. Thanks to FACES which offers a common platform to collect and compare data without taking care of device specific features, the operators will focus on their core activity.
The event summary can be painful in case of large power system failures. Good synchronization between various sources of data is essential for accurate and automated fault analysis. However, in practice and despite the development of GPS-based clock synchronization, a number of devices present in the substations do not still provide accurate time stamped data. In this case, FACES will help to re-synchronize the selected events to ensure precise fault analysis and decision making.
Only a few events really need in-depth analysis, most of them appearing as normal network operation. FACES uses an efficient filtering method for
automatic fault selection considering the following criteria: Current level, Location reliability, Relay tripping and Auto-re-close operation.
It allows to focus on the following issues:
Accurate fault location information is essential for reliable operation of an electrical power system. The information can be used by both system operators and power system protection engineers. One significant aspect of power system restoration concerns the time spent to find the actual fault location along the line. But another aspect also involves re-closing performance subsequent to a circuit breaker operation. FACES deals with both aspects.
FACES provides dedicated data processing to distinguish a flashover caused by a lightning strike from tree or crane touching the line, bird collisions or polluted insulators (due e.g. to salty atmospheres, dust, snow, bird excretions, etc.). The digitized information comes from the available Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) installed on the transmission overhead line system.
In addition to fault identification, FACES may evaluate the behavior of the protection system and compare it with performances expected by the electrical power utility. Unexpected results may indicate bad settings or hidden failures and raise warnings or recommendations to the power system operators. These indications represent a significant improvement as they allow future fault prevention.
English
Français