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Overhead Line Fault Passage Indicator
In our conversations with Utilities and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) firms, in the absence of a fault indicator, the standard practice involves several technicians walking or driving along the length of the line to find the exact location of the fault. In the case of a line such as an Aerial Bundled Cable (AB Cable) where the cables are bunched together, this practice becomes even more difficult as the technicians need to lower the line to find the fault. Additionally, if the fault occurs at night or in highly forested or hilly areas, this endeavour becomes increasingly difficult.
These revenue losses for Utilities and the extra cost of O&M for fault detection have led to the development of products to aid utilities or maintenance firms to quickly detect faults in their network.
A Fault Indicator is a device placed underground or on overground electrical lines to provide utilities with either a visual or remote indication and location of a fault. These Fault Indicators are also referred to as Fault Passage Indicators (FPI), help the utility attain early information on the location of the fault, and take immediate action.
What is an Overhead Line Fault Passage Indicator?
An Overhead Line Fault Passage Indicator detects and indicates faults that occur in an electrical distribution network. It monitors the system 24×7 for fault occurrence and reduces downtime time by quickly identifying the fault location. Our Fault Passage Indicator is installed under live conditions with the help of a hot stick and an adapter.
When a fault occurs, the fault indicators in front of the fault point will flash an LED to indicate the fault, the ones behind the fault point will not indicate the fault. The operator can easily identify the fault position (between the flashing and non-flashing indicators) by tracking the flashed indicators. It can help the operator to find out the fault point quickly. Permanent fault, transient fault and battery low voltage alarm can be indicated and distinguished separately by 3 different ultra-bright blinking LEDs. Two different alternating ultra-bright blinking LEDs indicate an Earth-fault. The parameters such as trip current, reset time, blinking interval, etc. are also read and adjusted over the wireless bidirectional network.
The FPI product ultimately aims to reduce the time and effort taken by maintenance technicians to find faults by providing visual and/or remote cues.