Paper No BXYRAOA TRENDS IN. OF | IN LINE With rapid growth of the power system, there ts a big strain on the Transmission Lines. The voltages are being reppedup day by day. However, while opting for higher voltages there are certain very important Electrical parameters which have 10 be evaluated properly, and ultimately selected for optimum design of E.HLV. venanission line. The cost of line material and support has a direct relation with the chosen electrical parameters and therefore one has 10 be very selective. The design may also be governed by factors like aon dav dization, environment, availabe technology and facility for testing and manufacturing of line material and equipments: The paper here under gives account of various electrical parameters which need to be given due ‘consideration, while designing a transmission line. KEYWORDS: Electrical Design Transmission 1.0 INTRODUCTION: “The vansmission line is a vital ink between the power station and the consumers. Since per capita consumption of electricity is going up day by day, its necessary to have more oad centres and connect and terconnect E.HLV. Transmission lines. While opting for a new transmission line, it becomes necessary to fenefate parameters for design and decide on voltage level & the line material ofthe transmission line “The factors governing electrical design are innumerable. However the most important of them are the system voltage, current, fequency, load to be dispatched seleted cuent density, earth resistivity, climatic Condition, Such as thunder storm, maximum temperature, maximum wind pressure and humidity. Electrical designs may also be governed by the effect of environment. 1.2 The poper here under brings out a summary diseussion of various Electrical parameters which are vital in ‘designing the transmission line. 20 SYSTEM STUDIES: 2.1 Before designing a transmission line itis utmost necessary to carry out system studies which would help in finding out the following, A. Improvement in voltage at the reosiving station by introducing the new line. B. Reduction in Transmission losses. C. The condition of the bus at master substation / power station with and without new lines. D. Increase in power system stability: Increase in redundentey22 23 30 BL 32 33 ‘The system’ studies also include rate of load growth and likely impact on the transmission line with the passage of time. The study also helps in deciding the location of the substation for proper distribution of power, the system studies ultimately arrive atthe cost benefit ratio. ‘The system studies will also be able to identify the voltage level for the transmission line and the configuration of transmission line ie. S/C/, D/C & MIC. CHOICE OF CONDUCTOR : Based on the system studies carried out on innumerable configurations of power system, the choice of conductor has been brought down to few types by various utilities ( Like State Electricity Boards, NT'P.C., P.G.C.1.L, NHPC, etc), and apex body goveming the electricity management in this country (Like Central Electricity Authority, Central Electricity Board and Central Board of Irrigation and Power) Thus they have laid down standard for choosing a conductor suitable for various line voltages, ‘Thus the following conductors are standardised. 1. 66ky = ACSR “Dog” conductor. 2. 132kv - ACSR “Panther” conductor. 3. 220kv « ACSR “Zebra” Conductor, 4, 400kv - ACSR Twin Bundle “Moose” Conductor. Oflate there is also a tendency to use one step higher conductor for heavily loaded lines e.g, 66ky lines can also be laid with “Panther” conductor. The use of higher conductor is preferable in urbanized area. The electrical & mechanical parameters of above conductor are given in Table-1. ‘The choice of conductor stated in 3.2 above is out of compulsion of standardisation and inter Tather than ctu ow of current through them. The manufacture ofthese conductors as well as clampe connectors and hardware have already been standardised in this country, and. therefore the grid system has uniform line material, TABLE -136 40 4a ‘TABLE -2 GrNe | Line Voliage | ___ Power Transfer Capability per 3 phase Clrcult (MW) | Sdkm | 100 km 200 ken 300 km i ee 22 im 5S 36 z Ta2kv 120 ‘60 30 20 3 220kv 400 2007 100 Gi 4 400 Kv 1500 750 375 250 In case of transmission line having a concentrated load and low voltage it may become mandatory to use higher size of conductor e.g, system having 33kv line voltage with two loads of 10 and 30 MW at end of 4 to ‘5 Km, long feeder may require “Zebra” conductor to be_ strung on it. Since with reduction in voltage the ‘current to be carried becomes very high and use of lower size of conductor may be hazardous. Similarly a lightly loaded 132ky lines can also be strung with ACSR “Dog” conductor. ‘The thermal loading limits of the conductor are increasing day by day. Ofte it hes been customary to ‘consider 75° C as a maximum surface temperature of the conductor. Operating lines at high thermal limits is not advisable due to two reasons. 1. Line losses increase with inorease in. temperature. 11. Sag may increase bringing down the statutory clearance below the conductor to non acceptable level ‘With this in view, the conductors used in the substation buses are one size up in diameter or in bundle configuration. Thus the 220 side bus of 400ky substation may have qoudnuple “Moose” conductor and 66kv bus of 220 ky substation may have a Twin “Zebra” or Twin “Moose” conductor (Bus). CHOICE OF INSULATORS: ‘The glazed diso type poreeilin insulators have been a standard material in use for last 50 years in this The insulator string consist of No. of ise unit in optimum width at about 13.5 kv per disc up to a ‘voltage of 220kv. For 400kv class of line the insulator size and orippage distances are higher, and thus No. of insulators to be used are 23 for suspension and 24 for tension tower. The important parameters for disc insulator string used in various voltage of transmission line are given in Table - 3 ‘TABLE -3 ‘No. of Insulator | Wt of Insulator42 43 44 45 50 5a 52 33 34 Other insulators configuration in vogue these days are a solid core insulator stack and high density polymer insulator. Even though the polymer long rod insulators are simpler and low weight they are yet, to be ‘popular in this country because of very high cost. ‘The design of insulators does not only depend upon the crippage distances but they have many intricacies such es the type of material used in the insulators, capacitance grading, thermal capability, back flash over ete. ‘The insulators used on the line are also governed by the basic insulation level selected in a transmission line ‘with reference to the substation basic insulation level. ‘The choice of disc insulators to be used depend upon the terrain & the pollution level through which the transmission line has to pass and thus fog type and antifog type dise insulator are in use for different applications. The antifog type insulators are found most suitable in the polluted atmosphere. ELECTRICAL CLEARANCES : ‘The phase to phase and phese to earth clearances are very important ffm the point of view of mutual inductance and flash over consideration. The clearance between line conductor and the ground on which ‘human being and cattle head are having a clear access have to be maintained as per the provision of Indian Electricity Rules. “The requirement of clearance for different voltages of Transmission are indicated in Table-4. It may be noted. that on a transmission line tower the clearance between the line conductor and the tower body are under zero swing, normal swing and abnormal swing conditions. The later two are having a relevance with the {lash over consideration. TABLE -4 ci & os. r a [27132 kv 64 25 14 Ld 30. 3. 220 kv 70 35 20. 14 BO 4 | 400k BBS 5. 336 18 B5 140) ‘The clearances over the objects like building, Telephone lines, High tension and Extra high tension transmission line, Railways track, Major road crossing, minor road crossing, Village cart track ete. have to be specifically provided as per the statutory requirements. These are taken care of while making the final ‘profiles for the transmission lines. In case of major River crossing it hs to be ascerlained whether the River is navignble 4 ‘The clearance provision for both the cases ae different. = ee ‘The clearance requirement has a direct impact on the mechanical design and ultimately on the cost of the ‘tansmission line and, therefore while selecting the route of transmission li clearances requirement before the view. see one hats 1060 61 62 63 6a 70 nM 72, SHIELDING OF CONDUCTOR : ‘The conductor around the tower location is naturally protected fiom the lightning strock. since, the tower ody is firmly anchored to the ground mass by means of foundation and tower leg going into the foundation, and thus nicely earthed. However, the conductor in the mid span requires protection from the lightning strock. Itis therefore necessary to have a earth wire running parallel to conductor. ‘The principle of insulation co-ordination suggest that an angle or 30 deg. has to be formed between (Vertical line dropped fom the) ground wire point on the top conductor point (Gg-1) “Thus it'can be stated thatthe earth wire is able to protect the conductors which are running parelled to it and which are under its umbrella of 30 X2 = 60 deg: (Fig-1) “The shield angle more than 30 deg. is not desirable, However, reducing angle of shield will mean increase in ength of earth wire peak and consequent increase in the support weight However, in case of tall ‘structures, like 400kv, 500 kv HVDC and 800-kv line and other river crossing structures, angle of shield is kept less than those specified in the 1. 802. (say 10 Deg. to 20 Deg.) “The unshielded line is prone to insulators failure due to. back flash over, besides there is also a danger of conductor cartyirig the lightning surge in the important equipments like circuit breakers, transformers ete and cause heavy damage to the power system. Therefore for higher voltage line, earth wire is a must in EHV. & ULV. lines two earth wines are provided for better shield ‘in case of 400 ky, 500 kv HVDC, 800 ky class the shield angle should be “kept between 10 to 15 deg. and in some cases for D/C configuration two earth wires are provided. INSULATION DESIGN: Insulation design of the EHV Transmission line is a very challenging job. To arrive st optimum design, i is essential to have different parameters as follow. 1 Date of power system : - Line voltage , Conductor size, inter phase spacing, inter circuit spacing, ‘tuling span, tower / structure configuration. Il, Climatic Condition : - Rain fall (Maximum, Minimum and average), Ambient temperature (Max, Min. and Everyday), Wind pressures, Pollution level. Il, Topography Terrain : - Altitude MSL difference from sea cost and terrain along the route, IV... Preference for Insulator ; - Poreiline, dis-electrical fiber, Solid core, Long Rod, Pin type, dise type ete. 'V. Insulator Configuration : - “1” String, “V" String, multiple string. Vi. Power Frequency Voltage :~ Max. voltage Pollution effects, distribution of voltage. Vil... Over Voltages : - Temporary over voltage of low frequency, over voltage from switching, over voltage fom lightning ‘VIII. Corona & RIV: ‘The above parameters are not discussed much in detail due to space constraint, However out of above ‘conditions the terrain, climatic condition and line over voltages as also level of pollution are most important. If the terain is hilly the resistivity is generally very high. This results into high line capacities and “Ferranti" effects at receiving sub-station transposition of line at 3 to 4 places along the route will help in reducing this eflect, Temporary over voltages, harmonic due to switching operation shall also contribute in this over voltages, and this temporary over voltage may sometimes exceed 50% of the rated voltage of the line, and this would put the insulation offline to the test. 1"73 80 81 82 83 84 85 90 9 92 93 94 95 96 Lightning over voltage will become predominant in case of failure of shielding or shield falling short of requirement of lightning attacking on the phase conductor. Incase of negative lightning voltage there will be a reverse discharge ftom line to tower body resulting into back-fashover. Corona / RIV are also important for voltages of 400 kv and above. LOADING CONDITION + ‘The present system of power transmission is based on regional grid ammangement and therefore it is very diffict to load the transmission line or a circuit to an optimum level or for even up to a design level. The loading conditions are determined by the system requirements and it/s0 happens sometimes, that line remains under loaded for major part of the day of month or an year. Contrary to this some short length lines having low impedance may share more power & remain loaded for longer time. 1n addition to carrying active power a line also earres re-setive power and, if the system condition are not controlled, the reactive power may flow in reverse direction and circulate between two buses. Again the system parameters come into picture, which are to be weighed properly. Loading the conductor to the edge of their thermal capacity is an issue of debate but, that matters very litle in case of integrated and inter-connected grid net work. However, if the line is required to feed a large load ‘through single circuit, thermal over loading can ocour. ‘The main cause of heating of the conductor is low system voltage. The line may get over loded in case of shut-down on other parallel line feeding the same load through same bus, and perhaps through a longer route. Providing more transmission line reduce risk of total power failures and increases the system stability to an extent and, also offer additional redundentey. CONDUCTOR DESIGN: ‘As already stated in the preceding paras, the choice of conductor is first ofall made on the amount of power tobe transferred and the length of the line. Table-1 & Table-2 are clear indicative of this aspect. However, ‘when a comparatively lagge block of power is to be transmitted over a short distance, the voltage also plays ‘an important role in choice of conductor. Even though, in India conductor sizes have been fixed for different voltages of tnsthission they are not statutory / binding upon the uflities. Besides for intermediate voltages of transmission, the choice of conductor will also be different. The relevant 1. S. 398 offers various combinations of A(C.S.R. conductors providing different ste] & alumininm diameter and strandings. Calculation of current versus temperature rise based on the conductor resistance, positon of the line on the globe (attitude, Altitude etc), and wind velocity is very much vital for ultimate design / selection of ‘conductor. Caleulation of correct A.C. resistance for different temperature range from 0° C to 100°C will help in ‘The other mechanical design parameters like conductor creep, Elongation, Sag, Tension Stress V/s strain ete. are not discussed here. However, they also contribute a preat deal in mechanical design of conductor. 12100 101 10.2 10 n2 U3 120 1a 122 123 ELECTRICAL FIELDS : “The increase in transmission voltages is also being considered as a threat to the human and animal life and an extensive research work is on hand to obtain a felation between the Electric field and the maximum allowable time of exposure of human being tot ‘The apparent effect of field intensity due to high voltage is on the communication system running parrallel to the lines of E.H.V. The telecommunication lines & cables need protection from the induced voltages fiom the E.H.V. lines passing nearby. If the intensity goes beyond acceptability, proper protection has to. be provided. The P-T.C.C. regulates this aspect. The R.L.V. has also to be contained in the permissible range. EARTHING OF LINES : The EHV, / UHV lines are required to be properly earthed at each & every tower location to discharge the ruraing carth wite in respect ofall the lightning charges & back flash over voltage. The soil resistivity plays very important role in the overall easthing performance of the line. ‘The tower footing resistance should not be greater than 10 ohms in any case. However, in case of U.H.V. lines itis etter to restrict it to 5.0 ohms. Ifthe sol is having low resistivity the pipe type earthing (fg.-2) ‘can be provided for effective grounding. In case of very high resistivity of soil (Hard Murrum, Soft Rock, hard Rock). The tower footing resistance can be kept within permissible limit either by using more than one pipe earthings or otherwise by providing ‘counterpoise type earthing (fig -3) ‘The properly earthed tower will help in increasing the life span of insulators and conductor / earthwire. CONCLUSION > ‘The E.H.V. Transmission line planning & exeoution need lot of considerations of Electrical parameters. The Electrical parameters thus selected have direct bearing on the mechanical design & the cost of the line. ‘The insulation design and the conductor design as well as the statutory clearance requirement coupled. with the need to transfer optimum power ate very important aspect of EHV. lines. Proper earthing of tower is very important for the life of insulators & conductors of transmission line, 13UMBRELLA 7 \ oF eo 6 fe \wprovection \ Ir. PIPE ol FOUNDATION OF Tower of zh ar vie ge ior Luas