Distance Calculation for Underground Cable Fault

Abstract

Nowadays underground cables are used over than overhead lines in urban areas. Locating the fault in the
underground (UG) cable is tedious and there is a probability of damaging the insulation while digging the cable. The
proposed system offers easy and smart fault detection by automating it using a ATmega16 controller. The basic concept of
Ohm’s law is applied at the feeder end though a series resistor. In case of short circuit of LL or LLG or LG the current
flowing in the faulty sections will vary depending on the length of the line. This paper aims at estimating the location of
fault distance and intimate. It is predictable to find a serious solution in maintenance environment of electric power
applications to find extensive length of power cables using electrical means. This paper clarifies about length
measurement of cable which can be lengthy for finding the location of open circuit point on a power cable using passive
electrical parameters like capacitance. For the parameter calculation micro controller helped with display devices and
resistive circuit are used. The microcontroller use algorithm to find the capacitance of the underground cable. The
algorithm also computes the time charge ratio, with the help of passive parameters like current limiting resistance and
definite capacitance of cable. The time charge ratio thus services the microcontroller to estimate the length of the cable.