Patent ID: 8725305

Claim:
A power distribution network fault management system comprising: at least a first partition controller including at least one computing device, the first partition controller being configured to communicate with at least one intelligent electronic device (IED) configured to control conductivity in a first partition of a power distribution network, the first partition controller also being configured to store network data, including data from and the at least one IED, and to send an instruction to the at least one IED; at least one fault interrupt device responsive to at least one IED; and a computer program including computer-readable code that, when executed by a computing device of the first partition controller, responsive to a first fault interruption device being tripped, performs a method comprising: determining a first fault location of a first fault; instructing an IED controlling a node upstream of the first fault location to stop conductivity between a source side of an affected segment of the first partition and the first fault location; instructing an IED controlling a node downstream of the first fault location to interrupt conductivity between the first fault location and a downstream portion of the affected segment; restoring power to the source side of the affected segment, including restoring conductivity through the first fault interrupt device; determining a power requirement of a load on the downstream portion of the affected segment, including analyzing a power requirement of the downstream portion; determining power available to the downstream portion of the affected segment from at least one secondary source; responsive to the power requirement exceeding power availability, interrupting conductivity to a portion of the downstream portion of the affected segment to reduce the power requirement; connecting at least one secondary source to the downstream portion of the affected segment; and responsive to a second fault interrupt device being tripped after connecting the at least one secondary source to the downstream portion of the affected segment: determining a location of the second fault interrupt device; determining a second fault location of the second fault; isolating the second fault; restoring power upstream of the second fault location; and restoring power downstream of the second fault location.