Volume 23, Issue 60, July - December, 2026

Adaptive Thyristor Firing Angle Control of Petersen Coil for Ground Fault Current Mitigation in 11kV Distribution Networks

Nada Ali Mohammed Al-Rubaie¹, Kasim K. Abdalla¹

¹Department of Electricity, College of Engineering, University of Babylon, Babylon, 51001, Iraq

ABSTRACT

The management of single line-to-ground (SLG) failures in 11kV distribution networks is important for the dependability of electrical system and the safety of equipment. In this study, an adaptive control technique for a thyristor driven Petersen coil to reduce capacitive fault currents by maintaining a resonance state is proposed. A detailed model of an 11kV network was constructed using MATLAB/Simulink and a PID based controller was used to vary the thyristor firing angle (α) dynamically. The simulation findings show that the suggested system can effectively deal with the fault transients, where a large fault current spike (around 2300A) has been successfully suppressed. In order to get the best compensation, the firing angle was changed by the adaptive algorithm from an initial value of (80°) to a steady state value of (130°). Moreover, the error between the expected setpoint and the actual RMS value converged to zero in less than 8 seconds, confirming the stability and the robustness of the control rule. This work demonstrates the benefits of adaptive compensation over fixed-parameter coils to enhance the transient stability and fault resilience of current distribution grids.

Keywords: Petersen Coil, Adaptive Control, Thyristor Firing Angle, 11kV Distribution Network, Ground Fault Mitigation, MATLAB Simulink

Indian Journal of Engineering, 2026, 23(60), e18ije1734

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Published: 25 October 2026