CONDUCTORS

For transmission lines operating at high voltages, normally stranded

conductors are used. Stranded conductors are composed of
uninsulated wires twisted together as shown in figure. Stranding
increases flexibility & hence flex-fatigue life.

1.0 Types:
Stranded conductors, used in POWERGRID are generally of following types:-

i) ACSR or Aluminium Conductor Steel Reinforced: These conductors consist of a solid

or stranded galvanised steel core surrounded by one or
more layers of aluminium. ACSR conductors exhibit good
conductivity, are light weight and possess good tensile
strength due to steel core inside.

ii) AAC or All Aluminium Conductors: All strands of these

conductors are of Aluminium. As such these conductors have
very good conductivity, are very light but have very less tensile
strength. Thus these conductors are mainly used for jumper drops
in substations for connectivity with equipments.

iii) AAAC or All aluminium alloy conductors: All strands of these conductors are of
Aluminium Alloy.
These alloy are basically Al- Mg-Si alloy and have a low
conductivity (53% of IACS) vis-à-vis of Aluminium (61%
of IACS) but have higher tensile strength. Because of their
lower weight vis-à-vis ACSR conductors, they possess
lower sag. These are normally used in corrosion prone
areas such as coastal areas or in theft prone areas.
Al59 conductors are a variant of AAAC conductors. These also consist of Al-Mg-Si alloy
strands but have higher conductivity viz. 59% of IACS and their current carrying capacity
is approx. 20-25% higher than equivalent ACSR conductors.
iv) AACSR or Aluminium Alloy conductor steel reinforced conductors are used for high
strength applications such as for river crossings or large valley crossings. These consist of
stranded steel core surrounded by one or more layers of Aluminium alloy. Higher tensile
strength of these conductors enable them to be strung at higher tensions, thereby reducing
sag & thus reducing height of towers.

All the above types of conductors are generally designed for maximum operating
temperature upto 85-95 deg C

v) High Temperature Low Sag (HTLS) conductors are another class of conductors that
are capable of being operated continuously at temperatures of at least 150ºC. However, in
such conductors, the rate of increase in sag with increase in temperature is much less vis-
à-vis ACSR conductors esp. beyond a certain temperature called ‘knee point
temperature’.
At temperatures beyond knee point temperature, the conductor experiences a sag increase
due to the expansion of core alone (such as INVAR, composite or steel cores).

The phenomenon of knee point temperature can be elucidated by an example below:-

i) Thermal expansion rate of aluminium (23 X 10-6/deg C) is higher than that of steel (11
X 10-6/deg C) i.e. aluminium expands by almost twice that of steel for the same amount
of temperature rise.
The effective thermal expansion of a composite conductor (such as ACSS, ACSR) lies in
between that of aluminium & steel.

ii) After a certain temperature called knee point temperature (say 110 deg C), when
aluminium elongates too much vis-à-vis steel, the aluminium layers are left slack over the
steel while the steel remains taut. Therefore, the steel tends to take the entire tension of
the composite conductor.

iii) Since, the entire tension is borne by the steel, the elongation of the composite
conductor, after knee point temperature, is governed by the thermal expansion rate of
steel alone. Thus sag of the composite conductor beyond knee point will be effectively
due to the expansion of steel only.
It is because of this reason that sag of HTLS conductor is much less than the indicative
(extrapolated) sag of ACSR conductor.
 A comparison of sag of HTLS conductor & ACSR Conductor beyond knee point
temperature is illustrated in Figure below.

A Comparison of Sag of HTLS conductor

with Indicative sag of ACSR Conductor

From the above graph, it can be seen that the sag of HTLS conductor at 150 deg C is equal to
that of ACSR at 85 deg C. Thus, it is inferred that by using HTLS conductor, current flow
limit can be raised without any increase in sag.

It is because of the usage of Thermal-resistant aluminium alloy (TAL) or fully annealed

aluminium in HTLS conductors, that such conductors can bear temperatures of the order of
200 deg C.

Some of the commonly used HTLS conductors are as follows:-

(i) INVAR (ZTACIR/ TACIR):

INVAR Type Conductor consists

of core of alloy of iron and nickel
which has low co-efficient of
thermal expansion.

The outer aluminum alloy layers of INVAR conductors are of aluminium- zirconium
alloy. As such INVAR conductors can be operated upto around 200 deg C at low sag.
(ii) ACSS (Aluminium conductor steel supported):
The construction of ACSS conductor is
similar to standard ACSR except that the
Aluminium strands are fully annealed.
The 0-tempered annealed aluminium
(1350-O) has higher conductivity vis-
à-vis hard drawn aluminium wires.
Since, the Aluminium strands do not take any mechanical load beyond the knee-point of the
conductor, the conductor can be operated at temperatures of the order of 200 deg C. ACSS
conductor with trapezoidal aluminium strands are also used.

(iii) GAP conductor (GTACSR/ GZTACSR):

The GAP conductor involves a small gap
maintained between inner steel core &
outer aluminum-zirconium alloy layers.
The conductor is strung by tensioning the
steel core only and the mechanical load
is carried by steel core. As a result, the
stringing temperature becomes the
knee point temperature in such conductors. Therefore, the increase in sag of the conductor is
governed only by the coefficient of expansion of the steel core at all temperatures above &
including the stringing temperature. Thus such conductors exhibit very low sags at extremely
high operating temperatures. The conductor can be operated at temperatures of the order of
200 deg. C at lower sag.

(iv) Carbon fibre composite core conductors:

Carbon fibre composite core conductors
such as ACCC consist of 0-tempered
annealed aluminium wires trapezoidally
shaped and carbon fibre composite core.
Since, the resistivity of 0-tempered
annealed aluminium is lower than
the conventional hard drawn aluminium or thermal resistant aluminium alloy, such
conductors exhibit lower resistance and thus lower line losses. These can be operated upto
180 deg C at lower sag.
(v) Metal Matrix Composite Core conductors:
Metal matrix composite core conductors
such as ACCR consist of aluminium-
zirconium alloy strands and a metal
matrix composite core. The composite
core in such conductors consists of
aluminium & aluminium oxide matrix.
Such conductors can be operated upto temperatures of the order of 200 deg. C.

2.0 Design Basis: Conductors are so selected that these be able to carry the intended current/
power under normal & contingency conditions as detailed above under Transmission Lines-
Design Aspects. At such intended current, the temperature of the conductor shall not exceed
the maximum operating temperature of the conductor. Sag of the conductor at this
maximum intended current, is used for determining height of the tower.
Further, it is necessary that everyday condition tension in the conductor shall not exceed
25% (22% for 400kV & above) of Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of conductor. Also,
tension at full wind shall not exceed 70% of UTS of conductor.
I2R losses or Ohmic losses primarily constitute transmission line losses; other major
component being corona loss. Ohmic losses for transmission lines operating at SIL at
various voltage level are tabulated below:-

Approx. Ohmic losses

Voltage level per 100 km of line (%)
132 kV 4
220 kV 2
+/- 320 kV HVDC 1
400 kV (Twin) 1
400 kV (Quad) 0.7
+/- 500kV HVDC 0.5
765 kV 0.5
+/-800 kV HVDC 0.2
1200 kV 0.3