Fault Detection Isolation and Localization (FDIL) Scheme: A Robust ML Framework with Novel Architecture for Fault Localization

Fault detection, classification, and location estimation are paramount in transmission lines to ensure uninterrupted power supply, enhance reliability, and safety. Faster and more accurate fault localization is critical for prompt repair and efficient power restoration, thus minimizing economic losses. This paper presents a novel Fault Detection Isolation and Localization (FDIL) scheme, a machine learning (ML)-based framework, to increase the accuracy of fault location (FL) prediction. The proposed framework utilizes the phasor voltage, current, and frequency data obtained from optimally placed Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) for fault detection, isolation, and localization. This paper also proposes a hybrid deep learning-based approach using Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) networks and an attention mechanism for FL prediction. Extensive simulations using the IEEE 9-bus system, with different types and locations of faults, are performed on the OPAL-RT simulator-based testbed to generate and train the ML models. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated by calculating the Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Squared Error (MSE), and R-squared ( R 2 ) metric. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves high accuracy in FL prediction, with an MAE of 0.0228 km, an MSE of 0.001, and an R 2 of 0.9894. Compared to the best-performing technique reported in the literature (CNN-LSTM, MAE = 0.211km), the proposed approach achieves an 89.2% reduction in localization error. The proposed scheme and model outperform the contemporary model, as reported in various literature, making it an effective solution for real-time fault monitoring in transmission systems.