A Particle Filter Approach to Power System Line Outage Detection Using Load and Generator Bus Dynamics

Limited phasor measurement unit (PMU) and varying signal strength levels make fast real-time transmission-line outage detection challenging. Existing approaches focus on monitoring nodal algebraic variables, i.e., voltage phase angle and magnitude. Their effectiveness is predicated on both strong outage signals in voltage and PMUs in the outage location's vicinity. We propose a unified detection framework that utilizes both generator dynamic states and nodal voltage information. The inclusion of generator dynamics makes detection faster and more robust to a priori unknown outage locations, which we demonstrate using the IEEE 39-bus test system. In particular, the scheme achieves an over 80% detection rate for 80% of the lines, and most outages are detected within 0.2 seconds. The new approach could be implemented to improve system operators' real-time situational awareness by detecting outages faster and providing a breakdown of outage signals for diagnostic purposes, making power systems more resilient.