Underground Cable Fault Detection Using Zigbee

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CHAPTER 1

1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction
For most of the worldwide operated low voltage and medium voltage distribution lines,

underground cables have been used from many decades. To reduce the sensitivity of

distribution networks to environmental influences, underground high voltage cable are

used more and more. Underground cables have been widely used in power distribution

networks due to the advantages of underground connection, involving more security than

overhead lines in bad weather, eco-friendly and low maintenance .

But if any fault occur in the cable, then it is difficult to locate fault. So this project is used

to detect the location of fault in modern way. The requirement of locating the faulty point

in underground cable in order to facilitate quicker repair, improve the system reliability

and reduced outage period. The underground cable system is very useful for distribution

mainly in metropolitan cities, airport and defensive services. Now the world is become

digitalized so the project is intended to detect the location of fault in digital way. The

underground cable system is more common practice followed in many urban areas. While

fault occur for some reason, at that time the repairing process related to that particular

cable is difficult due to not knowing the exact location of cable fault. Fault in cable is

represented as;

1. Any defect.

2. Inconsistency.

3. Weakness or non-homogeneity that affects performance of cable.

4. Current is diverted from the intended path.

5. Caused by breaking of conductor and failure of insulation.

1.2 Objective of Project


1. To locate fault accurately and precisely.

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2. To locate discontinuities in a connector printed circuit board, or any other

electrical path.

3. To locate the distance of fault in the underground cables from grid station.

1.3 Project Approach


Our Project consist of various elements Arduino, Spdt Relays, zener diodes through which

the fault in the line is being detected and the distance of fault is also calculated.

1.4 Problem Statement


The failures of underground power distribution cables represent a serious threat to the

repairing process related to that particular cable is difficult due to exact unknown location

of the fault in the cable. There may be reduction in the supply voltage of the healthy

feeders, resulting in the loss of industrial loads. Short circuits may cause the unbalancing

of the supply voltages and currents, there by heating rotating machines. There may be a

loss of system stability. The faults may cause an interruption of supply to consumers.

1.5 Project Methodology


There are many other different methods for the solution of this problem. But those are not

that authentic and not reliable as well. In order to decrease man intercession and save the

labor cost. we can use arduino to control, work and synchronize this task. As compared to

other method this is suitable as it involves hardware as well as software in this module .We

can program arduino to detect fault and develop precise digital data and display it on the

screen. We also use zigg-bee technology to send data to the laptop.

1.6 Block Diagram of Project

The fig.1.1 shows the block diagram of our project. The supply is transferred to SPDT

relay after passing through transformer and rectifier circuit. The 220Vac passed to

distribution lines. The supply from the arduino is also passed to switching circuit of relay

through which it connected the relays to the arduino for transmission of data to the zigbee.

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Liquid Crystal display and zigg-bee is connected to arduino to display the output coming

from the arduino

Fig 1.1: Block Diagram of Project

1.7 Overview Thesis

This Report consist of five chapters, advantages &conclusions and reference; detail all

parts are given below:

Chapter 2: LITRATURE SURVEY

Chapter 3: SOFTWARE

Chapter 4: HARDWARE

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

CHAPTER 2

2 Literature Survey

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2.1 Introduction of Underground Cables
The underground system of electrical distribution of power in large cities in increasingly

being adopted, although it is costly system of distribution as compared to overhead

system.[3] It ensures the continuity of supply apart from the following advantages:

• It ensures non-interrupted continuity of supply.

• Its maintenance is less.

• It has a long life.

• Its appearance is good.

• It eliminates hazards of electricity due to breakage of overhead conductors.

2.2 Construction of Underground Cables


Underground cables are consist of parts as given below.

2.2.1 Core or conductor


A cable may have one or more than one core depending upon the type of service for which

it is intended. The conductor could be of aluminum or copper and is stranded in order to

provide flexibility to the cable.

2.2.2 Insulation
The core is provided with suitable thickness of insulation, depending upon the voltage to

be withstood by the cable. The commonly used materials for insulation are impregnated

paper, varnished cambric or rubber mineral compound [2].

2.2.3 Metallic sheath


A metallic sheath of lead or Aluminum is provided over the insulation to protect the cable

from moisture, gases or others damaging liquids as shown in fig.2.1.

2.2.4 Bedding
Bedding is provided to protect the metallic sheath from corrosion and from mechanical
damage due to armoring. It is a fibrous material like jute or hessian tape.

2.2.5 Armoring
Its purpose is to protect the cable from mechanical injury while laying it or during the

course of handling. It consists of one or two layers of galvanized steel wire or steel tape.

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2.2.6 Serving
To protect armoring from atmospheric conditions, a layer of fibrous material is provided.

Fig 2.1: Layer of fibrous material

2.3 Classification of Underground Cables


Underground cables are classified according to their rating,

1. Low-tension (L.T.) Cables...... up to 1000V.

2. High-tension (H.T.) Cables.... up to 11000V.

3. Super-tension (S.T.) Cables....from 22kV to 33kV.

4. Extra-high Tension (E.H.T) Cables.......from 33kV to 66 kV.

5. Extra Super Voltage Cables.........beyond 132 kV.

2.3.1 Low tension cables


Low tension (LT) power cables are used for 1.1KV

2.3.2 High tension cables


A high voltage cable (HV cable) is a cable used for electric power transmission at high
voltage. A cable include a conductor and insulation, and suitable for being run underground
or under water. The HV cables are used upto 11KV.

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2.3.3 Super tension cables
Super tension (ST) cables which are used upto 22KV to 33KV. Such cables using oil or
gas are called pressure cables.

2.3.4 Extra high tension cables


Extra high tension cables are used for 33KV to 66KV.

2.3.5 Extra super voltage cables


Extra super voltage cables are used beyond 132KV.

2.4 Faults
A fault in a circuit is any failure that interferes with the normal flow of current to the load.in

most fault, a short circuit path forms between two or more phases, or between one or more

phases and the neutral (ground).

2.5 Types of fault


There are many types of fault such as symmetrical fault, unsymmetrical fault, open circuit

fault, short circuit fault and ground fault. we discussed these fault in detail given below.

2.5.1 Symmetrical fault

Three-phase fault is called symmetrical fault. In this all three phases are short circuited.

These are very severe faults and occur infrequently in the power systems. These are also

called as balanced faults and are of two types namely line to line to line to ground (L-LL-

G) and line to line to line (L-L-L).

Only 2-5 percent of system faults are symmetrical faults. If these faults occur, system

remains balanced but results in severe damage to the electrical power system equipments.

Below fig. 2.2: shows two types of three phase symmetrical faults. Analysis of this fault is

easy and usually carried by per phase basis. Three phase fault analysis or information is

required for selecting set-phase relays, rupturing capacity of the circuit breakers and rating

of the protective switchgear.[9]

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Fig 2.2: Symmetrical Fault

2.5.2 Unsymmetrical fault

In this fault magnitude of current is not equal & not displaced by 120 degree. These are

very common and less severe than symmetrical faults. There are mainly three types namely

line to ground (L-G), line to line (L-L) and double line to ground (LL-G) faults. Line to

ground fault (L-G) is most common fault and 65-70 percent of faults are of this type. It

causes the conductor to make contact with earth or ground. 15 to 20 percent of faults are

double line to ground and causes the two conductors to make contact with ground. Line to

line faults occur when two conductors make contact with each other mainly while swinging

of lines due to winds and 5- 10 percent of the faults are of this type.

In fig. 2.3 shows the unsymmetrical faults, which are line to ground, line to line, and double

line to ground.

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Fig 2.3: Unsymmetrical Fault

These are also called unbalanced faults since their occurrence causes unbalance in the

system. Unbalance of the system means that that impedance values are different in each

phase causing unbalance current to flow in the phases. These are more difficult to analyse

and are carried by per phase basis similar to three phase balanced faults.

2.5.3 Open conductor fault


An open conductor fault is, where the conductor of a cable is completely broken or

interrupted at the location of the cable fault. It is possible to have a high resistance shunted

faults (to ground) on one or both sides of the faulted conductor‘s location. The most

common causes of these faults include joint failures of cables and failure of one or more

phase of circuit breaker and also due to melting of a fuse or conductor in one or more

phases. Open circuit faults are also called as series faults. These are unsymmetrical or

unbalanced type of faults except three phase open fault.

Consider that a transmission line is working with a balanced load before the occurrence of

open circuit fault. If one of the phase gets melted, the actual loading of the alternator is

reduced and this cause to raise the acceleration of the alternator, thereby it runs at a speed

slightly greater than synchronous speed. This over speed causes over voltages in other

transmission lines. Thus, single and two phase open conditions can produce the unbalance

of the power system voltages and currents that causes great damage to the equipments.

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2.5.3.1 Causes

 Breaking of Conductor

 Joint failures of cables

2.5.3.2 Effects

 Abnormal operation of the system

 Danger to the personnel as well as animals

 Exceeding the voltages beyond normal values in certain parts of the network, which

further leads to insulation failures and developing of short circuit faults.

2.5.4 Shorted fault

A shorted fault is characterized by a low resistance continuity path to ground (shunted

fault). The resistance from the conductor to ground is lower than the surge impedance of

the cable for a shorted low resistance fault. A short circuit fault occurs when there is an

insulation failure between phase conductors or between phase conductor(s) and earth or

both. An insulation failure results into formation of a short-circuit path that triggers a short-

circuit conditions in the circuit (i.e. abnormally high current situations followed by visible

effects like arcing, flashing). As shown in fig. 2.4.

Fig 2.4: Three Phase-to-Earth Balanced Fault Condition

Two other most common unbalanced fault conditions seen in a balanced three phase

electrical system are:

• Phase-to-Phase fault: In this, only two of the three phases get short-circuited, causing an

unbalanced fault condition in the system. Fig. 2.5 below depicts this fault condition.

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Fig 2.5: Phase-to-Phase unbalanced Fault Condition

• Single phase-to-earth fault: In this, one of the three phases get short-circuited with

ground, causing an unbalanced fault condition in the system. Fig.2.6 shows this fault

condition.

Fig 2.6: Single Phase-to-Earth unbalanced Fault Condition

Normally during operations, the fault situations may be dynamic and change the fault types

rapidly based on local conditions. (e.g. a single phase-to-earth fault may in turn change to

a two phase-to-earth fault.[7]

2.5.5 Earth fault

When the conductor of a cable comes in contact with earth, it is called earth fault or ground

fault. An electrical fault can be defined as any abnormal condition which is caused by a

reduction in the insulation strength between energized phase conductors, called a short

circuit, or between a phase conductor and earth or any earthed part of an electrical system,

called an earth fault

2.6 Laying of Underground Cables


The reliability of underground cable network depends to a considerable extent upon proper

laying. There are three main methods of laying underground cables.

1. Direct laying

2. Draw in system

3. Solid system

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2.6.1 Direct laying
This method is cheap and simple and is most likely to be used in practice. A trench of

about 1.5 meters deep and 45 cm wide is dug. A cable is being laid inside the trench and

is covered with concrete material or bricks in order to protect it from mechanical injury.

This gives the best heat dissipating conditions beneath the earth[6].

2.6.2 Draw in system


In this conduit or duct of concrete is laid in ground with main holes at suitable positions

along the cable route. The cables are then pulled into positions from main holes[8].

2.6.3 Solid system


In this system the cable is laid in open pipes or troughs dug out in earth along the cable

route. The troughing is of cast iron or treated wood. Troughing is filled with a bituminous

after cables are laid[9].

2.7 Insulating Materials for Underground Cables


2.7.1 Rubber
1. It can be obtained from milky sap of tropical trees or from oil products.

2. It has the dielectric strength of 30 KV/mm.

3. Maximum safe temperature is very low about 38 C.

4. Relative permittivity varying between 2 and 3.

2.7.2 Vulcanized india rubber


It can be obtained from mixing pure rubber with mineral compounds i-e zinc oxide, red

lead and Sulphur and heated up to 150 C.

1. It has greater mechanical strength,

2. It has greater durability

3. Water resistant property.

4. The Sulphur reacts quickly with copper so tinned copper conductors are used.

5. It is suitable for low and moderate voltage cables.

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2.7.3 Impregnated paper
1. This material has superseded the rubber

2. Consists of chemically pulped paper impregnated with naphthenic and paraffinic

materials.

3. It has low cost.

4. Low capacitance.

5. High dielectric strength.

6. High insulation resistance.

7. The only disadvantage is the paper is hygroscopic.

2.7.4 Varnished cambric


1. This is simply the cotton cloth impregnated and coated with varnish.

2. As the varnish cambric is also hygroscopic so need some protection.

3. Its dielectric strength is about 4KV / mm and permittivity is 2.5 to 3.8.

2.7.5 Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

1. This material has good dielectric strength

2. High insulation resistance

3. High melting temperatures.

4. These have not so good mechanical properties as those of rubber.

5. It is inert to oxygen and almost inert to many alkalis and acids.

2.7.6 Cross linked poly-ethene (XLPE) cables

1. This material has temperature range beyond 250 – 300 C.

2. This material gives good insulating properties.

3. It is light in weight

4. Small overall dimensions

5. Low dielectric constant

6. High mechanical strength

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2.8 Comparison between Underground & Overhead System
Table 2.1: Comparison between Underground & Overhead System
Sr. No Particular Overhead System Underground System

1. Public safety It is less safe. It is more safe

2. Initial cost Less Expensive. More Expensive.

3. Faults Faults occur frequently. Very rare chances of


faults.
4. Appearance It gives Shabby look. Its appearance is good.
. .

5. Flexibility It is more flexible as new It is not flexible as new


conductors can be laid along the conductors are to be laid
existing one. in new channels
6. Location of Fault point can be easily located Fault Point cannot be
Fault easily located.

7. Insulation Cost It has less insulation cost It has more insulation cost.

8. Repair Can be easily repaired Cannot be


easily repaired.

9. Working It can work upto 400 KV It can work upto 66 KV.

10. Voltage Supply More chances of Very little chances of


interruption supply interruption. supply interruption

11. Interference It interferes with communication No interference with


with systems. communication system.
communication
system.

12. Lightning More chances of being subjected Very little chances of being
thunder to lightning. subjected to
lightning

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CHAPTER 3

Software Description
3.1 Software
We have chosen Proteus 8 professional for our simulations most of the simulations can be

done on any software like workbench or MATLAB but we prefer Proteus due to its ease

in arduino. This is the main feature difference in Pspice and Proteus. Some simulations are

also done in MATLAB/Simulink.

3.2 Simulation
It is the simulation model we designed on the proteus.With the help of this simulation

model we are able to develop the hardware model.We choose all the hardware components

that are used in the simulation model after the necessary mathematical calculation. Fig. 3.1

shows circuict diagram of this project on proteus.

Fig 0.1: Proteus Simulation modal

3.3 Arduino Programming


For the programming of the arduino we use simple C Language, because C Language is

very easy to understand. The program of the arduino is given below.

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Fig 0.2: Arduino Programming

3.4 Graphical User Interface (GUI)


Windows Forms are the Graphical User Interface (GUI) libraries of the Microsoft .NET

Frameworks. The Windows Forms library contains most of the graphical controls familiar

to GUI programmers. All of the concepts learned in previous chapters are applied when

doing GUI programming. Of special significance is the use of events to connect GUI

controls, such as buttons, to the code that implements the program's behavior related to

that control.

Windows Forms is not included in the proposed Common Language Infrastructure (CLI)

submission to European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA). However, it is of

such importance to development that its coverage is provided here. Specific emphasis is

placed on how C# is used to produce GUIs, and the language constructs involved. The

same C# language features are likely to be applied to any future GUI library

implementations.

The basic element of most GUI programming in Windows Forms is the window.

Essentially, everything on a GUI screen—buttons, text boxes, and icons—are windows.

Because of this, most of the windows and controls in the Windows Forms package have

the same characteristics. For instance, they all have a Text property.

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CHAPTER 4

3 Hardware Description

4.1 Introduction
Hard ware model is designed after the simulation and necessary mathematical calculation.

In this we describe the hardware components that we used in our project.

The complete list of the hardware components that we used are given below.

• Arduino Mega 2560

• Transformer (Shell type)

• Relay (SPDT)

• Rectifier (IN4007)

• Capacitor (1000 µF)

• Resistor (1 kΩ)

• Voltage Regulator (7805)

• Zig-bee

4.2 Arduino Mega 2560


Arduino is an open-source prototyping platform based on easy-to-use hardware and

software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on a button,

or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning on an LED,

publishing something online. You can tell your board what to do by sending a set of

instructions to the microcontroller on the board. Arduino was born at the Ivrea Interaction

Design Institute as an easy tool for fast prototyping, aimed at students without a

background in electronics and programming. As soon as it reached a wider community,

the Arduino board started changing to adapt to new needs and challenges, differentiating

its offer from simple 8-bit boards to products for various applications, wearable, three

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dimentional printing, and embedded environments. All Arduino boards are completely

open-source, empowering users to build them independently and eventually adapt them to

their particular needs. The software, too, is open-source, and it is growing through the

contributions of users worldwide.

The Mega 2560 is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega2560. It has 54 digital

input/output pins (of which 15 can be used as PWM outputs), 16 analog inputs, 4 UARTs

(hardware serial ports), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, and

a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect

it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with an AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get

started. The operating voltage of arduino is 5v.The input voltage is 7-12 v as shown in

table 4.1. The Mega 2560 board is compatible with most shields designed for the Uno and

the former boards Duemilanove or Diecimila.

The Mega 2560 is an update to the Arduino Mega, which it replaces as shown in the fig.

4.1.

Fig 4.1: Arduino

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Table 4.1: Technical specification of Arduino
Microcontroller ATmega 2560
Operating Voltage 5V
Input Voltage (recommended) 7-12V
Input Voltage (limit) 6-20V
Digital I/O Pins 54 (of which 15 provide PWM output)
PWM Digital I/O Pins 6
Analog Input Pins 16
DC Current per I/O Pin 20 mA
DC Current for 3.3V Pin 50 Ma
256 KB (ATmega2560)
Flash Memory
of which 8 KB used by boot loader
SRAM 8 KB
EEPROM 4 KB
Clock Speed 16 MHz
LED_BUILTIN 13
Length 101.52 mm
Width 53.4 mm
Weight 37 g

4.2.1 Beneficial aspects of Arduino


Arduino simplifies the process of working with microcontrollers, but it offers some

advantage for teachers, students, and interested amateurs over other systems:

4.2.1.1 Inexpensive
Arduino boards are relatively inexpensive compared to other microcontroller platforms.

The least expensive version of the arduino module can be assembled by hand.

4.2.1.2 Cross-platform

The Arduino Software runs on Windows, Macintosh Operating system, and Linux

operating systems. Most microcontroller systems are limited to Windows.

4.2.1.3 Simple, clear programming environment

The Arduino Software is easy-to-use for beginners, yet flexible enough for advanced users

to take advantage of as well. For teachers, it's conveniently based on the Processing

programming environment, so students learning to program in that environment will be

familiar with how the arduino works.

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4.2.1.4 Open source and extensible software

The Arduino software is published as open source tools, available for extension by

experienced programmers. The language can be expanded through C++ libraries, and

people wanting to understand the technical details can make the leap from Arduino to the

C programming language on which it's based.

4.2.1.5 Open source and extensible hardware

The plans of the Arduino boards are published under a Creative Commons license, so

experienced circuit designers can make their own version of the module, extending it and

improving it. Even relatively inexperienced users can build the breadboard version of the

module in order to understand how it works and save money.

4.3 SPDT Relays (MI-SS-112L)


A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to

mechanically operate a switch, but other operating principles are also used, such as

solidstate relays. Relays are used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a separate

lowpower signal, or where several circuits must be controlled by one signal. The first

relays were used in long distance telegraph circuits as amplifiers, they repeated the signal

coming in from one circuit and re-transmitted it on another circuit. Relays were used

extensively in telephone exchanges and early computers to perform logical operations. A

type of relay that can handle the high power required to directly control an electric motor

or other loads is termed as contactor. A simple electromagnetic relay consists of a coil of

wire wrapped around a soft iron core, an iron yoke which provides a low reluctance path

for magnetic flux, a movable iron armature, and one or more sets of contacts. The armature

is hinged to the yoke and mechanically linked to one or more sets of moving contacts. It is

held in place by a spring so that when the relay is de-energized there is an air gap in the

magnetic circuit. In this condition, one of the two sets of contacts in the relay pictured is

closed, and the other set is open. Other relays may have more or fewer sets of contacts

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depending on their function. The relay in the picture also has a wire connecting the

armature to the yoke. This ensures continuity of the circuit between the moving contacts

on the armature, and the circuit track on the printed circuit board (PCB) via the yoke, which

is soldered to the PCB.

When an electric current is passed through the coil it generates a magnetic field that

activates the armature, and the consequent movement of the movable contact either makes

or breaks (depending upon construction) a connection with a fixed contact. If the set of

contacts was closed when the relay was de-energized, then the movement opens the

contacts and breaks the connection, and vice versa if the contacts were open. When the

current to the coil is switched off, the armature is returned by a force, approximately half

as strong as the magnetic force, to its relaxed position. Usually this force is provided by a

spring, but gravity is also used commonly in industrial motor starters. Most relays are

manufactured to operate quickly. In a low-voltage application this reduces noise; in high

voltage or current application it reduces arcing.

Fig 4.2: SPDT Relay

When the coil is energized with direct current, a diode is often placed across the coil to

dissipate the energy from the collapsing magnetic field at deactivation, which would

otherwise generate a voltage spike dangerous to semiconductor circuit components. Such

diodes were not widely used before the application of transistors as relay drivers, but soon

became ubiquitous as early germanium transistors were easily destroyed by this surge.

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Some automotive relays include a diode inside the relay case. The contact capacity is

10A.The contact material used is AgCdo. The contact resistance is 10 miliohm as shown

in table 4.2 as given below. In our project the function of the relay is to detect the fault and

transmit a signal to the arduino. SPDT relays are shown in the above fig. 4.2. Table 4.2:

Specifications of SPDT relay

Model MI-SS-112L

Contact Capacity 10A/10A 250VAC/30vDC

Contact Material AgCdO

Contact Resistance 10 milliohm

Insulation Resistance 100 megaohm

Nominal Coil Power DC : 2W AC : 2.5 VA

Operate Time Pull-in time < 20ms

Terminal Type Screw Mounting

4.4 Shell Type Transformer


This magnetic circuit, know more commonly as the ―transformer core‖ is designed to

provide a path for the magnetic field to flow around, which is necessary for induction of

the voltage between the two windings.

However, this type of transformer construction were the two windings are wound on

separate limbs is not very efficient since the primary and secondary windings are well

separated from each other. This results in a low magnetic coupling between the two

windings as well as large amounts of magnetic flux leakage from the transformer itself.

But as well as this ―O‖ shapes construction, there are different types of ―transformer

construction‖ and designs available which are used to overcome these inefficiencies

producing a smaller more compact transformer.

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The efficiency of a simple transformer construction can be improved by bringing the two

windings within close contact with each other thereby improving the magnetic coupling.

Increasing and concentrating the magnetic circuit around the coils may improve the

magnetic coupling between the two windings, but it also has the effect of increasing the

magnetic losses of the transformer core.

As well as providing a low reluctance path for the magnetic field, the core is designed to

prevent circulating electric currents within the iron core itself. Circulating currents, called

―eddy currents‖, cause heating and energy losses within the core decreasing the

transformers efficiency.

These losses are due mainly to voltages induced in the iron circuit, which is constantly

being subjected to the alternating magnetic fields setup by the external sinusoidal supply

voltage. One way to reduce these unwanted power losses is to construct the transformer

core from thin steel laminations.

Fig 4.3: Shell type transformer

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In all types of transformer construction, the central iron core is constructed from of a highly

permeable material made from thin silicon steel laminations assembled together to provide

the required magnetic path with the minimum of losses. The resistivity of the steel sheet

itself is high reducing the eddy current losses by making the laminations very thin as shown

in the above fig. 4.3.

These steel transformer laminations vary in thickness‘s from between 0.25mm to 0.5mm

and as steel is a conductor, the laminations are electrically insulated from each other by a

very thin coating of insulating varnish or by the use of an oxide layer on the surface.

4.4.1 Construction
In both types of transformer core design, the magnetic flux linking the primary and

secondary windings travels entirely within the core with no loss of magnetic flux through

air. In the core type transformer construction, one half of each winding is wrapped around

each leg (or limb) of the transformers magnetic circuit as shown above.

The coils are not arranged with the primary winding on one leg and the secondary on the

other but instead half of the primary winding and half of the secondary winding are placed

one over the other concentrically on each leg in order to increase magnetic coupling

allowing practically all of the magnetic lines of force go through both the primary and

secondary windings at the same time. However, with this type of transformer construction,

a small percentage of the magnetic lines of force flow outside of the core, and this is called

―leakage flux‖.

Shell type transformer cores overcome this leakage flux as both the primary and secondary

windings are wound on the same centre leg or limb which has twice the crosssectional area

of the two outer limbs. The advantage here is that the magnetic flux has two closed

magnetic paths to flow around external to the coils on both left and right hand sides before

returning back to the central coils.

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This means that the magnetic flux circulating around the outer limbs of this type of

transformer construction is equal to Φ/2. As the magnetic flux has a closed path around the

coils, this has the advantage of decreasing core losses and increasing overall efficiency.

4.5 Field Effect Transistor


The field-effect transistor is a transistor that uses an electric field to control the shape and

hence the electrical conductivity of a channel of one type of charge carrier in a

semiconductor material. FETs are also known as unipolar transistors as they involve

single-carrier-type operation. The FET has several forms, but all have high input

impedance. A FET's conductivity is regulated by a voltage applied to a terminal (the gate)

which is insulated from the device. The applied gate voltage imposes an electric field into

the device, which in turn attracts or repels charge carriers to or from the region between a

source terminal and a drain terminal as shown in the below fig. 4.4. The density of charge

carriers in turn influences the conductivity between the source and drain. The Function of

Field Effect Transistor is to switch the relay.

Fig 4.4: FET

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4.6 Voltage Regulator 7805
A regulated power supply is very much essential for several electronic devices due to the

semiconductor material employed in them have a fixed rate of current as well as voltage.

The device may get damaged if there is any deviation from the fixed rate. The AC power

supply gets converted into constant DC by this circuit. By the help of a voltage regulator

DC, unregulated output will be fixed to a constant voltage. The circuit is made up of linear

voltage regulator 7805 along with capacitors and resistors with bridge rectifier made up

from diodes. From giving an unchanging voltage supply to building confident that output

reaches uninterrupted to the appliance, the diodes along with capacitors handle elevated

efficient signal conveyed. Its function is to regulate the voltage, it provides 5V to the field

effect transistor for the operating it, which are shown in the below fig. 4.5.

Fig 4.5: Voltage Regulator

4.7 Rectifiers
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically

reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The process

is known as rectification. Before the development of silicon semiconductor rectifiers,

vacuum tube thermionic diodes and copper oxide- or selenium-based metal rectifier stacks

were used. With the introduction of semiconductor electronics, vacuum tube rectifiers

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became obsolete, except for some enthusiasts of vacuum tube audio equipment. For power

rectification from very low to very high current, semiconductor diodes of various types

(junction diodes, Schottky diodes, etc.) are widely used. It is used to convert AC supply to

DC in this project as shown in the below fig. 4.6.

Fig 4.6: Diode

4.7.1 Features of Rectifier 6A10


• Peak Repeat. Reverse Voltage (Vrrm): 1000V

• Max RMS Reverse Voltage (Vr): 700V

• Average Rectified Current (Io): 6.0A

• Maximum Reverse Current (Ir): 0.01mA

• Maximum Forward Voltage (Vf): 1.1V

4.8 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)


LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen is an electronic display module and find a wide range

of applications. A 16x2 LCD display is very basic module and is very commonly used in

various devices and circuits. These modules are preferred over seven segments and other

multi segment LEDs. The reasons being LCDs are economical, easily programmable, have

no limitation of displaying special & even custom characters (unlike in seven segments),

animations and so on.

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A 16x2 LCD means it can display 16 characters per line and there are 2 such lines. In this

LCD each character is displayed in 5x7 pixel matrix. This LCD has two registers, namely,

Command and data. The command register stores the command instructions given to the

LCD. A command is an instruction given to LCD to do a predefined task like initializing

it, clearing its screen, setting the cursor position, controlling display etc. The data register

stores the data displayed on the LCD .The data is the ASCII value of the character to be

displayed on the LCD. The pin diagram of LCD is shown in fig. 4.7.

LCD has which 16 different pin, has different own property to do work. Supply voltage

Fig 4.7: Pin Diagram LCD

is given to pin 2, which should be less than 5v. This LCD has two registers which are,

Command and data. The command register stores the command instructions given to the

LCD. The data register stores the data displayed on the LCD which are results of outputs.

This LCD have major advantage, no limitation of displaying special characters.

4.8.1 Pin description of LCD

Table 4.3: Pin Description of LCD16x2

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Pin No Function Name

1 Ground (0V) Ground

2 Supply voltage; 5V (4.7V – 5.3V) Vcc

3 Contrast adjustment; through a variable resistor VEE

Selects command register when low; and data register when

4 Register Select
High

5 Low to write to the register; High to read from the register Read/write

6 Sends data to data pins when a high to low pulse is given Enable

7 DB0

8 DB1

9 DB2

10 8-bit data pins DB3

11 DB4

12 DB5

13 DB6

14 DB7

15 Backlight VCC (5V) Led+

16 Backlight Ground (0V) Led-

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4.9 Zig-bee
Zig-bee is a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh network standard targeted at the wide

development of long battery life devices in wireless control and monitoring applications.

Zig-bee devices have low latency, which further reduces average current. Zig-bee chips

are typically integrated with radios and with microcontrollers that have between 60256 KB

of flash memory. Zig-bee operates in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio

bands: 2.4 GHz in most jurisdictions worldwide; 784 MHz in China, 868 MHz in

Europe and 915 MHz in the USA and Australia. Data rates vary from 20 kbit/s (868 MHz

band) to 250 kbit/s (2.4 GHz band).

Zig-bee system structure consists of three different types of devices such as Zig-bee

coordinator, Router and End device as shown in fig. 4.8. Every Zig-bee network must

consist of at least one coordinator which acts as a root and bridge of the network. The

coordinator is responsible for handling and storing the information while performing

receiving and transmitting data operations. Zig-bee routers act as intermediary devices that

permit data to pass to and fro through them to other devices. End devices have limited

functionality to communicate with the parent nodes such that the battery power is saved.

The number of routers, coordinators and end devices depends on the type of network such

as star, tree and mesh networks.

Fig 4.8: Zigg-bee

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4.10 Working of Project
The input 220 V supply is being fed to shell type transformer which is basically step down

transformer the voltage is step down to 12V. Shell type transformer is used because of its

property to provide us 2 supplies of 12V. Then 12V is transferred to rectifiers which

converts the AC supply to DC after rectification process. There are 2 capacitors 1000mF

and 450mF used which demolish the AC ripples present in the supply and make it pure

DC. This DC supply is given to the voltage regulator which give us constant voltage of

5V. This 5V supply is transferred directly to the arduino and LCD. The other supply circuit

which give us 12V is given to the relay for its operation.

The 220V is directly given to the underground cables. If any fault occur such as open

circuit fault then this 220V is sent to the opto-coupler which converts high voltage to the

low voltage. We use diode for converting the AC into DC. We use resistance of 220kΩ for

limiting the value of current. We use transistor and zener diode which are parts of the light

emitting diode. When this light emitting diode becomes ON, signal send to the relay to

operate and after this send to arduino for necessary calculation. The relay will operate and

trip the circuit. The arduino calculate the distance of the fault and after the necessary

calculation it send signal to the LCD and zig-bee. The each line is connected to the

switching circuit in which we convert AC into DC. The DC is then stepped down by the

resistance and 1V signal is given to the zener diode, the zener diode give signal to the relay

and the relay will give signal to the arduino mega 2560 which display on the LCD and the

zig-bee which send data to the laptop.

There are two parts of the zig-bee, one is the transmitting end and the other one is receiving

end. The transmiting end gets signal from arduino and transmit the signal to the laptop.

The signal goes to the receiving end, which gets the signal and display it on the laptop.

The supply to LCD is also being provided from the arduino there are 6 pins for LCD in the

arduino 4 pins for data transfer and 2 pins for the supply. 16*1 LCD is used in this project.

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We also provided zig-bee which connect to the laptop or computer and send the message

to the computer if any fault occur.

So through this method we can find the exact location and nature of fault in underground
cables and we will remove that fault easily.

Fig 4.9: Hardware in working position

Clips are used to create fault manually so by creating a fault by breaking the line the and

shorting the lines by short piece of wire which shorted the lines. The distance on which

fault occurs will shown on LCD. The reason behind is that there are same voltage on all

the lines so when we short two lines the current in the lines become equal and these two

lines are supposed to have the fault in it and showed on LCD also the resistance of at that

point becomes equal to zero because those two points are shorted, the distance and the fault

is detected by the relays and will display on the LCD.

The distance of the fault is calculated through the time at which the capacitor is charged

which is present in series with the relays and the faulted lines so the resistance is directly

proportional to length and this length is shown as distance in the output.

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CHAPTER 5

Conclusion and Suggestion


5.1 Conclusion
In this project we detect the exact location of short circuit fault in the underground cable

from feeder end in km by using arduino and zig-bee technology. For this we use simple

concept of OHM‘s law, so fault can be easily detected and repaired.

5.2 Results

The project underground cable fault detector is very useful for the correct determination of

the faults and the distance at which the fault occurs. The prototype of the project shows

the output on LCD. Fig. 5.1 shows the output when system works normally.

Fig 0.1: Display Output at normal Condition

Here in fig. 5.1 we see that the lines are not shorted so no fault is displayed on the LCD

but when we shorted the lines then the output showed on LCD in the form of fault so the

output is shown as follows in fig. 5.2.

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Fig 0.2: Display Output at Short Condition

In fig. 5.2 the output depicted that there is a fault in the distribution line and it also shows

the distance where the fault is created. Basically this project is a master piece in its own

way where the type of fault and the distance where it happens is displayed on the LCD.

This project helps in the detection of fault in a precise way.

5.3 Future Work

In this Project we have worked on short circuit and open circuit faults by using zig-bee

technology. In future this work can be done by GSM (Global System of Monitoring) based

technology. In future work can be done on leakage current fault. To detect the open circuit

fault Capacitor is used in AC circuit which measure the change in impedence and calculate

the distance of fault.

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33
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