Arc fault detection and confirmation using voltage and current analysis
First Claim
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1. A method of detecting an arc fault in an electrical circuit, comprising:
- recording phase plane plot data of current versus voltage for at least one electrical cycle of an alternating current signal; and
applying a phase plane plot arc fault monitoring algorithm to the phase plane plot data to determine whether an arc fault is present, the phase plane plot arc fault monitoring algorithm comprising one or more sub-algorithms comprising one or more phase plane plot arc fault detection methods.
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Abstract
An arc fault in an electrical circuit is detected by recording phase plane plot data of current versus voltage for at least one electrical cycle of an alternating current signal, and applying a phase plane plot arc fault monitoring algorithm to the phase plane plot data to determine whether an arc fault is present. An arc fault detection algorithm and an arc fault confirmation algorithm are employed to detect and confirm the presence of series and parallel arc faults in a circuit.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method of detecting an arc fault in an electrical circuit, comprising:
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recording phase plane plot data of current versus voltage for at least one electrical cycle of an alternating current signal; and applying a phase plane plot arc fault monitoring algorithm to the phase plane plot data to determine whether an arc fault is present, the phase plane plot arc fault monitoring algorithm comprising one or more sub-algorithms comprising one or more phase plane plot arc fault detection methods. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An arc fault detector comprising:
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a voltage monitoring module; a current monitoring module; and an arc fault monitoring module operable to record phase plane plot data of current versus voltage for at least one electrical cycle of an alternating current power signal, and to apply a phase plane plot arc fault monitoring algorithm to the phase plane plot data to determine whether an arc fault is present, the phase plane plot arc fault monitoring algorithm comprising one or more sub-algorithms comprising one or more phase plane plot arc fault detection methods. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A machine-readable medium with instructions stored thereon, the instructions when executed operable to cause a computerized arc detector to:
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record phase plane plot data of current versus voltage for at least one electrical cycle of an alternating current signal; and apply a phase plane plot arc fault monitoring algorithm to the phase plane plot data to determine whether an arc fault is present, the phase plane plot arc fault monitoring algorithm comprising one or more sub-algorithms comprising one or more phase plane plot arc fault detection methods. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification