Active Islanding Detection Using Pulse Compression Probing

TL;DR

This paper presents a pulse compression probing method for fast and accurate islanding detection in power systems, verified through EMT simulations on a modified IEEE test system.

Contribution

It introduces a novel pulse compression probing technique combined with nu-gap metric analysis for reliable islanding detection at inverter terminals.

Findings

Fast detection with high accuracy under varying grid conditions

Effective classification of islanded vs. grid-connected states

Implementation feasibility at inverter terminals

Abstract

An islanding detection scheme is developed using pulse compression probing (PCP). A state space system realization is taken from the probing output. The nu-gap metric is applied to compare the measured system to fully intact system and classify it as islanded, or grid-connected. The designed detector displays fast operation, accurate islanding detection results under varying grid condition, and is physically implementable at the terminals of an inverter. The method is verified via electro-magnetic transient (EMT) simulation on a modified IEEE 34 bus test system with randomized loads and simultaneous probing at three independent solar plants, with the probing signal directly implemented into the logic of a switching inverter model.