A Study on a Catenary Impedance Estimation Technique using Boosting Current Compensation Based on Current Division Characteristics of an AT Feeding System

Generally, an autotransformer(AT) feeding system consists of double tracks, up and down, with the trolley wire and feeder wire of the up and down tracks connected in the sectioning post(SP). Consequently, load current or fault current flows on two tracks based on catenary impedance characteristics, making it difficult to estimate catenary impedance accurately. This paper presents a technique for the estimation of catenary impedance using boosting current compensation based on the current division characteristics of an AT feeding system to improve the operation performance of impedance relay. To verify the technique, we model an AT feeding system through a power analysis program (PSCAD/EMTDC) and simulate various operation and fault conditions. Through the simulation, we confirmed that the proposed technique has estimated catenary impedance with a similar degree of accuracy to the actual catenary impedance