Electrical Faults: Causes, Types, and Effects
An electrical fault is a condition in which abnormal levels of voltage and current are introduced into the electrical system1. These faults can cause equipment failures, disturb the normal working of the system, and even lead to death or injury. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the causes, types, and effects of electrical faults.
Causes of Electrical Faults
There are several causes of electrical faults. Some common causes include lightning, heavy winds, trees falling across lines, vehicles colliding with towers or poles, birds shorting lines, aircraft colliding with lines, vandalism, and small animals entering switchgear.
Types of Electrical Faults
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Open Circuit Faults: Open circuit faults occur when there is a break in the conducting path. This interrupts the flow of current in the phases, making the current equal to zero. These faults are also known as series faults. Common causes of open circuit faults include joint failures of cable and overhead lines, failure of one or more phases of a circuit breaker, and melting of a fuse in one or more phases.
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Short Circuit Faults: Short circuit faults occur when there is an abnormal connection of very low impedance between two points of different potential. These faults are also known as shunt faults. A heavy current flows in the case of short-circuit faults. This fault is caused due to failure of insulation or conducting path failure. This is by far the most common occurring fault. The common causes of these faults include insulator puncture due to lightning or switching surges, accumulation of dirt or dust or foreign particles on the surface of insulators which result in flashover, broken conductor falls to the ground, and short circuit of phases.
Effects of Electrical Faults
Electrical faults can have serious consequences. They can cause equipment failures (in transformers, transmission lines, alternators, busbars, etc.) and disturb the normal working of the system. The faults can also lead to death or injury to humans, birds, and animals along with equipment failure and electric power supply interruption.
In conclusion, electrical faults are a serious issue that can have severe consequences. It’s important to understand their causes and types in order to prevent them from occurring and to minimize their effects when they do occur.