Can the GVR be used to identify the distance to fault?
A. Yes, the Panacea has the facility to program the lines impedance and length which allows it to give fault distances – either in front or behind the GVR depending on the direction of the fault. However, as with all fault distance locators, this should be used with caution. In all fault location algorithms inaccuracies are introduced because of load flow, fault resistance etc. The algorithms used in the Panacea try to minimise these inaccuracies giving a superior fault distance locator. The fault locator algorithm assumes that the circuit is a plain feeder and is homogeneous. This means that there are no T points and the line is of the same construction throughout. If there are T points then these will make a contribution to the fault and effect the fault location. Similarly if the line is non-homogeneous then further manual calculation is needed. As a simple example lets assume a 15 km line with the first 10km overhead line followed by a 5 km cable. If we assume the O/H is 1 ohm/km a
