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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/K93655/01
Title: POWER SYSTEM ARCING FAULT LOCATION BY THE DETECTION OF ATMOSPHERICALLY PROPAGATED VLF RADIO WAVES
Principal Investigator: Moore, Professor P
Other Investigators:
Ormondroyd, Professor R Johns, Professor A
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Organisation: University of Bath
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 18 November 1996 Ends: 17 November 1998 Value (£): 106,010
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Power Sys Man, Prot & Control
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Energy No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
Faults on high voltage power systems plant result in the flow of substantial current. During arcing faults, the non-linearities of the arc produce a spectrum of frequencies which can extend into the MHz region. If the fault current has a significant vertical component, such as an earth fault on an overhead line tower, then the tower will act as a radio frequency transmitter and will result in the emission of an atmospheric radio wave a sferic - which can propagate to considerable distance at the speed of light. Due to recent developments in timing technology, it is now feasible to consider a system for mapping arcing faults by detecting and timing the arrival of sferics in a network of geographical dispersed receiving outstations; from this information the fault position may be inferred. Such a system would be able to map faults over a large geographical area, and not be restricted to a defined circuit as is the case for conventional fault locating equipment.
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Organisation Website: http://www.bath.ac.uk