TYPES OF IMPEDANCE FAULT IN DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM Low Impedance and High Impedance fault in the distribution system Low Impedance Faults Low impedance faults or bolted faults can be either very high in current magnitude (10,000 amperes or above) or fairly low, e.g., 300 amperes at the end of a long feeder. Faults able to be detected by normal protective devices are all low impedance faults. These faults are such that the calculated value of fault current assuming a "bolted fault and the actual are very similar. Most detectable faults, per study data, do indeed show that fault impedance is close to 0 ohms. This implies that the phase conductor either contacts the neutral wire or that the arc to the neutral conductor has a very low impedance. An EPRI study performed by the author over 10 years ago indicated that the maximum fault impedance for a detectable fault was 2 ohms or less. Figure 2, shown below, indicates that 2 ohms of fault impedance influences the level of fault cur...
Understanding Loss in Electrical System