Electrical Questions and Answers

1. What is substation?

Answer:
A substation is an indoor or outdoor location in which are located transformers, switchgear, bus
bar systems, and protection equipment. It's where transmission or distribution voltages are
stepped up or stepped down, transmission/distribution lines are interconnected, and protected
by circuit breakers that are operated by protective relays that monitor the status of the various
lines. Generation doesn't take place in substations, but in power stations.

2. What are the different substation components?

Answer: 
Circuit Breakers, Disconnecting switches, Grounding switches, Current Transformers, Potential
Transformers or Capacitor voltage Transformers, Line Traps, Lightning Arrestors, Power
Transformers, Shunt Reactors, Current limiting reactors, Station Buses and Insulators, Grounding
system, Series capacitors and shunt capacitors.

3. Which type of bus arrangement is costlier and more reliable?

Answer: 
One and half breaker scheme is most reliable and costlier scheme. In one and half breaker
scheme 3 circuit breakers are provided for 2 bus-bars.  Hence the name is coined as One and
half breaker scheme

4. Factors on which material of station bus bar depends?

Answer: 
Some of the factors on which station bus bar depends are:
Current Carrying capacity
Short Circuit Stresses
Establishing minimum electrical clearances

5. What are the different electrical clearances in Substation?

Answer:
Ground Clearance: This is the minimum distance between any live conductor and the earth or
ground.
Phase Clearance: It is the clearance between the different phases in a circuit or same phases in
different circuits
Sectional Clearance: This is the minimum clearance between the live conductor and the limits of
work, where special clearance is related to the safety of the operating personnel. The limits of
work section may be ground or the platform on which the person is working.
Ground clearance is the vertical clearance between the live parts of the equipment and the
earth surface
Safety Clearances in Substation:

Minimu
m 40 22
765 132 33
Clearan 0 0
kV kV kV
ces kV kV
(mm)

Phase
940 42 21 130 32
to
0 00 00 0 0
Phase

Phase
640 35 21 130 32
to
0 00 00 0 0
earth

Section
al 103 65 50 380 30
Clearan 00 00 00 0 00
ce

Ground
140 80 55 480 37
Clearan
00 00 00 0 00
ce

6. What is the SF-6 gas?

Answer:
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6) is an inorganic, colorless, odorless, non-flammable, extremely potent
greenhouse gas which is an excellent electrical insulator SF

7. What are different insulators employed in substations?

Answer: 
Some of the insulators employed in substations are:
Pin insulators
Post insulators
Strain insulators
Suspension insulators
Hallow apparatus insulators
Dead-end insulators
Solid core insulators

8. What is creep age distance?

Answer: 
Creep age distance is the shortest distance between two conducting points along the surface of
the insulating material.

9. What is Basic Impulse Level (BIL)?

Answer: 
Basic Impulse Level (BIL) refer to the peak value of lightning impuse voltage withstand capability
of the equipment.

10. What are the disadvantages of corona?

Answer: 
Some of the disadvantages of corona are:
Corona causes power loss
Corona causes unacceptable noise
Corona cause radio interference

11. What is Buchholz Relay? 

Answer:
Buchholz relay in transformer is an oil container housed the connecting pipe from main tank to
conservator tank. It has mainly two elements. The upper element consists of a float. The float is
attached to a hinge in such a way that it can move up and down depending upon the oil level in
the Buchholz relay Container. One mercury switch is fixed on the float. The alignment of
mercury switch hence depends upon the position of the float.
The lower element consists of a baffle plate and mercury switch. This plate is fitted on a hinge
just in front of the inlet (main tank side) of Buchholz relay in transformer in such a way that
when oil enters in the relay from that inlet in high pressure the alignment of the baffle plate
along with the mercury switch attached to it, will change.

12. In power transformer what is the meaning of Bucholtz relay?

Answer:
The buchholz relay detects the presence of gas and triggers an alarm and even transformer
disconnection (When gas is generated inside a transformer it is a sign of an electrical
malfunction.) The relay also operates in the event of an oil surge greater than the pre-set value.
Such a relay is unaffected by evolved gas and is suitable for "on-load" tap changer duty.

13. What is power factor?

Answer: 
Power factor is the ratio of true power or watts to apparent power or volt amps.

14. Calculating power factor

Answer:
As was mentioned before, the angle of this “power triangle” graphically indicates the ratio
between the amount of dissipated (or consumed) power and the amount of absorbed/returned
power. It also happens to be the same angle as that of the circuit's impedance in polar form.
When expressed as a fraction, this ratio between true power and apparent power is called the
power factor for this circuit. Because true power and apparent power form the adjacent and
hypotenuse sides of a right triangle, respectively, the power factor ratio is also equal to the
cosine of that phase angle. Using values from the last example circuit:

15. What does power factor mean ?

Power Factor is the relationship between Current and Voltage in an electrical supply. With a
power factor of 1 power equals Volts multiplied by Amps (P = V x I).
Power factor is defined as the real power usage divided by the apparent power usage. Apparent
power usage is equivalent to the vector sum of the real power usage (the power dissipated by
purely resistive elements) and reactive power usage (the power dissipated by reactive elements
such as capacitors and inductors). You are usually billed on kilowatt hours, which only looks at
the real power usage. The reactive component of your load means the power company must
suppy more current to you than you pay for (even if this extra current isn't doing any additional
work). If this is a very large proportion of the current you are using, the power company must
oversize their equipment to handle it, and it begins costing them more per kWh than they make.
This is why there are often power factor requirements, or extra charges.

16. What differences between potential transformer and voltage transformer?

Answer:
Both are same. This is an instrument transformer used for metering & protections.

17. What is a potential transformer?

Answer:
Potential transformers are instrument transformers. They have a large number of primary turns
and a few number of secondary turns. It is used to control the large value of voltage.

18. What are the uses of Current and potential transformer?

Answer:
Both Current and Potential Transformer are instrument Transformers which are used to
measure very high current and voltage respectively. Current Transformer is a Step up
transformer and used to measure high current, its secondary is connected to ammeter of very
small capacity (usually 5 A) but its Scale is calibrated according to actual values. Potential
Transformer is a step down transformer and its secondary is connected to voltmeter of small
range but again the scale is calibrated for actual values.
So as a whole both Current and Potential Transformers are used to measure high values of
Current and Voltage respectively.

19. What is the function of interposing current transformer? 

Answer:
The main function of an interposing current transformer is to balance the currents supplied to
the relay where there would otherwise be an imbalance due to the ratios of the main current
transformers.  Interposing current transformer are equipped with a wide range of taps that can
be selected by the user to achieve the balance required. 

20. How does current transformer works in a substation?

Answer:
A current transformer works on the same principle as that of a simple transformer however it
steps down the high current into a low level so that it can be measured using an ammeter of a
suitable range. In some current transformers extra cores are provided. This is done in order to
prevent the faulty currents i.e. the over currents, earth faults, differential protections. The extra
cores of a C.T. gets saturated as soon as the faulty currents starts flowing and thereby does not
harm the main core of the transformer and the ammeter connected. The C.T. is always
connected in the line carrying current. It first steps down the current to a measureable form and
further gives this current to the ammeter.

21. What is the Purpose of Auxiliary Transformer in Substation?

Answer:
auxiliary transformer is used to supply low voltage for AC power system inside substation such
as lighting ,air conditioners and other AC supply system and DC power system such as protection
relays, batteries, SCADA & telecom system and other DC supply system

22. What is the function of voltage transformer at the substation?

Answer:
A 'voltage transformer' (UK terminology) or 'potential transformer' (US terminology) is an
instrument transformer, which is used to enable high-voltages to be measured with regular
(often, moving-iron) voltmeters, while electrically-isolating the secondary circuit from the high-
voltage primary circuit. VTs (PTs) are also used with protection relays.

23. Why can't you use dc current in transformers?

Answer:
Transformers operate on the principle of changing or fluctuating magnetic fields interacting with
windings. If you used DC, there would be no fluctuation, and thus no useful output. Worse, since
a transformer is an inductor, if you apply DC to it, the current would increase continuously, up to
the point where an overload exists, possibly destroying the transformer or, at best, blowing the
protective device.

24. What is the Difference between lightning arrester and surge arrester?

Answer:
Basically there are two types of arrester , namely Direct arrester (Lightning arrester) & indirect
lightning arrester (surge arrester).
Direct arrester are copper rod of 5 to 6 feet long used to protect the structure, building, etc. It
has pointed shape at the end to make current density at tip maximum and the bottom part is
properly grounded.
Indirect lightning arrester are those used in parallel to the equipment to protect them from
sharp increase of voltage. It has an gap which make a short circuit path for current to flow to
ground when a high voltage is applied or induced across it. For an example, if the lightning falls
on the transmission line away from transformer. the heavy current flow through the
transmission line to the transformer. If a lightning arrester are not installed in parallel to the
transformer, transformer may get burn.
Note here lightning is indirect for transformer.

25. What is surge arrester?

Answer:
A surge arrestor helps prevent a voltage spike on your home electrical supply from damaging
your electronics by shunting that voltage to ground. Here is an article that describes what the do
and how to use them.

26. What is the main function of surge arrester?

Answer:
In order to protect the electrical system from damage. It just limits the magnitude of transient
overvoltage.

27. What is lightning arrestor?

Answer:
A lightning arrester is a self-quenching spark gap. When over voltaged it arcs over, briefly
shorting the power line to ground to prevent the voltage surge from reaching the equipment.
When the over voltage condition ends, the self-quenching mechanism activates to stop the arc
removing the temporary power to ground short and restoring normal operation.

28. What is the use of power transformer in substation?

Answer:
Power transformers are used in electricity transmission systems to either step up, or to step
down, system voltages. They step up the voltage produced by the alternators in the power
station to the very high levels necessary for transmission, then gradually step down the
transmission voltages at substations located in and around load areas.
30. What is the use of an reactor in an electrical substation?

Answer:
A reactor is an application for an inductor. Inductors oppose any change in current. So a reactor
is used to 'slow down' (a simplification) any significant change in current arising from, say, a
short-circuit fault.
Reactors are also used for power-factor correction. If a transmission line has a load with a
permanently poor power factor, reactors would be connected at the receiving end to correct
the power factor and thus reduce the current and the power losses in the resistance of the line.

31. What is the use of silica gel in power transformer?

Answer:
The sole function of Silica Gel Breather is to dehydrate (remove moisture) the air & to remove
dust particles of the air breathed in by the transformer.

32. Is silica gel poisonous?

Answer:
Yes Silica Gel is Poisonous if Silica gel is Toxic because silica gel is made from Sodium Silicate and
including some other acidic chemicals also. 

33. What is the colour of dry silica gel?

Answer:
Silica gel is blue in colour. When the silica gel has soaked up a lot of moisture, the silica gel turns
to pink. Once the silica gel turns pink it cannot absorb any more moisture. It needs to be
regenerated. This can be accomplished by heating it in an oven. The heat expels the moisture,
the silica gel turns blue and becomes reusable

34. How do you recharge silica gel?

Answer:
It can be dried anywhere that is hot/warm & dry however the correct & proper way to
dry/regenerate the packets are to heat in an oven @ 250 degrees F (120 C) for 2 hours.

35. Why silica gel acts as catalyst?

Answer:
Because of the following reasons :
1- The big surface area of the silica gel (up to 800 square meter for one gram) .
2- Silica gel ability to adsorb many other substances & compound which them self may acts as
catalyst .
3 - The high thermal ,chemical & deformation resistance of silica gel .
4-The existence of the active OH groups which can directly make bond to other chemical
particles ,or displaced by other chemical groups or the positive H ion displaced with other active
ions .
5- Silica gel undergoes reverse reactions simply.

36.  What parameters or technical particulars are important to be considered while

designing protection scheme of the transformer?

Answer:
Network Diagram showing the position of the transformer in the system 
kVA or MVA rating of the transformer
Fault Level at the transformer
Voltage Ratio
Winding Connections
Per Unit Impedance
Neutral Point Earthing Resistance
Value of the System Earthing Resistance
Whether Indoor or Outdoor
Dry or Oil Filled
Length and area of cross section of the connecting leads between CTs and Relay Panel

37.  What can be the reasons for the failure of the transformer?

 Answer:
Transformer is one of the most expensive equipments in the Power System. Failure of the
transformer can cause outage of power supply for even days. However, multiple things can go
wrong with the transformer: There can be two types of failure - Internal Faults and External
Faults.
Internal Faults (the faults within the transformer): 
Core Failure
Winding Failure
Lamination Failure
Bushing Failure 
Terminal Board Failure
Tap Changer Failure (OLTC failures) 
Transformer Oil
Oil level low
Moisture absorption
Transformer cooling system
Failure of insulation between Lamination and Core Bolt
Badly made joints and connections.
Frequent exposure to Lightning strokes
External Faults (the faults outside the transformer):
Over Load increases copper losses and consequence temperature rise. 
Through Faults or System Faults not detected by differential protection of transformer,
however, if through faults persist for longer duration, transformer gets damaged by thermal and
electromagnetic mechanical stress detected by over current relays. 
Short Circuits 
Open Circuits
Earth Faults
Over Voltage
Reduced system frequency 

38. How Transformer Protection provided for internal faults? 

Answer:
Bucholz Relay (1st Stage Alarm and 2nd Stage Trip)
Sudden Pressure Relay (1st Stage Alarm and 2nd Stage Trip)
Pressure Relief Valve (1st Stage Alarm and 2nd Stage Trip)
Pressure Switch (1st Stage Alarm and 2nd Stage Trip)
Oil level Gauge Indicator (Alarm) 
Vacuum Level Indicator (Alarm)
Oil Temperature Indicator (Alarm) 
Gas Temperature Indicator (Alarm) 
Silicon Breather (Passive - no alarm) 
Smoke Detector (Alarm) 

39. How Transformer Protection provided for external faults?

 Answer:
Differential Protection
Restricted Earth Fault Protection
Over Current Protection
Over Fluxing Protection
Over current relays with under voltage blocking
Zero sequence protection.
Negative phase sequence protection 

40. What are the tests done to minimize internal faults? 

Answer:
Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA): Faults due to arcing, high current breakdown of oil, localized
sparking, partial discharge of oil, localized overheating or hot spots, etc. causes thermal
degradation of oil and used for analysis.
Thermograph of Transformer: Hot Spots on the transformer bushing, circulation of oil in radiator
tubes, distribution of heat on transformer body, etc.
Capacitance Tan Delta: to detect oil degradation.
Oil Sample Test: to check the oil quality.

41.  What are the reasons for Oil degradation?

 Answer: 
Degradation
Oxidation
Contamination
a) Dielectric breakdown voltage indicates the presence of electrically conductive contaminants
in oil.
b) Interfacial tension and acid number (sometimes called neutralization number or acidity) are
affected by oxidation and contamination.
c) Water content is temperature dependent.
d) Power factor is also temperature dependent.

42. Which type of a capacitor is used for power factor correction?

Answer:
Generally speaking power-factor capacitors are oil-impregnated paper capacitors -i.e. capacitors
whose dielectric is manufactured from oil-impregnated paper. Power-factor capacitors are rated
in reactive volt amperes, rather than in farads

43. What is the use of a capacitor bank?

Answer:
A capacitor can store electrical charge, and a bank of them could store alarge charge. We
sometimes set up a capacitor bank to store a large electrical charge for certain physics
experiments. With the flip of a switch, we can "dump" all that electrical energy into a circuit to
power up something. The pulse of power might be use do drive a big laser to punch a hole in a
missile in a high arc, just to cite one example of the use of a bank of capacitors. In the electrical
trade the capacitor bank is used for power factor correction. The capacitive reactance is used to
offset the inductive reactance caused by inductive loads (motors). Motor loads can cause the
power factor to drop to .8 or lower and for this the customer is penalized by an extra service
charge. The goal is to have a power factor level above .9. where there is no surcharge from the
power supply authority. The cost of installing a capacitor bank is soon played off from the
absence of the surcharge.

44. How power factor can be improved in transformer?

Answer:
Adding a capacitor in parallel with our load (inductive) this would make our voltage and currents
in phase n hence a maximum power factor.

45. Why capacitors are used in power factor correction?

Answer:
Because most power factor problems are a result of an overly inductive circuit. Capacitance is
the opposite of inductance, and thus cancels out the excessive inductance.

46. Why is the power factor important?

Answer:
A power factor of one or "unity power factor" is the goal of any electric utility company since if
the power factor is less than one, they have to supply more current to the user for a given
amount of power use. In so doing, they incur more line losses. They also must have larger
capacity equipment in place than would be otherwise necessary. As a result, an industrial facility
will be charged a penalty if its power factor is much different from 1.
Industrial facilities tend to have a "lagging power factor", where the current lags the voltage
(like an inductor). This is primarily the result of having a lot of electric induction motors - the
windings of motors act as inductors as seen by the power supply. Capacitors have the opposite
effect and can compensate for the inductive motor windings. Some industrial sites will have
large banks of capacitors strictly for the purpose of correcting the power factor back toward one
to save on utility company charges.

47. What are Types of Temperature Indicator of Transformer?

Answer:
There are mainly two types of temperature indicators used in transformer. Principally both of
the instruments are the same but, one is used for oil temperature and the other is used for
winding temperature. There is another type of temperature indicator often used in power
transformer, which is little bit different principally and this is remote temperature indicator.
The types of temperature indicator of transformer are
1) Oil temperature indicator (OTI)
2) Winding temperature indicator (WTI)
48. What is Oil temperature indicator (OTI)?

Answer:
This device is used to measure the top oil temperature. An oil temperature indicator or OTI is
also used for protection of transformer.

49. What is winding temperature indicator (WTI)?

Answer:
This device measures the LV and HV winding temperature. A winding temperature indicator or
WTI is also used as protection of transformer.

50. Why tap changer is required?

Answer:
Tap changers are used to change transformer winding ratios by a specified amount (+/- 10%, for
example). This allows more voltage control of one side with respect to the other. For a
distribution transformer, as load increases, the voltage will sag. If it sags too far, a tap changer
will be required to raise the voltage to acceptable values.

51. What is off load tap changer?

Answer:
An 'off load' tap changer is one that can only be operated when the transformer is disconnected.

52. What is the difference between off load tap changer and on load tap changer?

Answer:
An on-load tap-changer must not break the supply to the transformer's windings while the
transformer is on load. So it has a 'make-before-break' arrangement with its contacts -i.e. one
contact moves to the second tap setting, before the second contact moves away from the first
tap setting, while a reactor balances the load currents when the contacts are on different tap
settings. An on-load tap changer is motor-driven, and can be operated automatically or
manually. 
An off-load tap-changer does not require a make-before-break arrangement, because it is
designed to be operated when the transformer is disconnected.
53. What is distribution transformer?

Answer:
Distribution transformers change the feeder voltage to utilization voltage required by the
consumer. they are essentially step down transformer which changes the voltage to standard
service voltage. their rating is about 200KVA.

54. What are the faults in a distribution transformer?

Answer:
Over current (overload) , short circuit and ground fault. Also there is possibility of over voltage
due to shifting of neutral if it is with ungrounded neutral.

55. What faults occur on transformers?

Answer:
The following faults occur in transformer. 
1. Temperature rise in winding 
2. Temperature rise in oil 
3. Overload 
4. Insulation failure in oil 
5. Earth fault 
6. Short circuit 
7. Failure of tap changing.
8. Open circuit

56. How to calculate fault current for transformer?

Answer:
The fault current of a power transformer will depend on the following; 
Transformer Rating (in KVA/MVA) per unit impedance of the transformer (%p.u.) 
line/phase Voltage (VL/VP) the following formula can be used to find the fault current on the
secondary side of a transformer Fault Current = Transformer Rating /(per unit impedance x
phase voltage) 
The Values of Transformer Rating, per unit impedance & phase/line voltage will usually be
mentioned on the transformer rating plate.

57. How do you calculate transformer ratios?

Answer:
A transformer has an alternating field in the magnetic core with a predetermined amount of
flux that gives a well defined number of volts per turn, or turns per volt for low-power
transformers. Therefore the voltage of a winding is proportional to the number of turns. The
turns ratio is therefore equal to the voltage ratio of the transformer.
a=Ep/Es=Np/Ns=Is/Ip

58. How the CT and PT ratings are calculated?

Answer:
Depending up on the number of windings in primary and in secondary winding, we can
calculate the CT and PT rating of the transformer.
N2/N1=V2/V1

59. What is bus pt and what is the function of it?

Answer:
It is a potential transformer which is used for measuring and protection of bus it is known as
bus PT.

60. What is CT ratio in our substation? 

Answer:
CT ratio is the ratio of primary (input) current to secondary (output) current. A CT with a listed
ratio of 800:1 would provide 1A of output current, when the primary current was 800A. What is
the sequence of operation among Circuit Breaker (CB), Isolator and Grounding Switch?

61. What is pilot wire?

Answer:
whenever a transmission line or equipments is to be protected by using distance relay or by
differential relay or mars price protection. A wire is connected between the 
CT which is located in different ends of the protection zone.

62. What is the use of pilot wires?

Answer:
 This wire provide the path for the circulating current produce in abnormal condition, which is
sensed by the relay and therefore is tripped.

63. Why restricted earth fault protection is needed?

Answer:
Restricted earth fault protection is a protection scheme given in assistance to the differential
protection. it is given to protect an earth fault which occurs very close to the neutral point in
star connected windings of the transformer. This kind of fault a very low fault current only and
this current may not be sufficient to activate the differential protection relays.

64. Why can't differential Protection is sufficient?

Answer:
The sensitivity of the differential relays cannot be increased beyond a limit since this may lead
to unnecessary tripping (the transformer may trip even for an earth fault occurring on the
outgoing feeder Side) Hence a special scheme of protection called REF(Restricted earth fault)is
provided in order to protect a restricted area of the winding from internal earth fault. 

65. How differential protection work in a transformer?

Answer:
Power flowing into a transformer must match the power flowing out (minus losses which are
minimal). If this is not the case, there's something wrong. 

Differential protection monitors current only; current flowing into one side of the transformer
will be equal to current flowing out the other side scaled by the turn’s ratio of the transformer.
Since the turn’s ratio is equivalent to the voltage ratio, this is easily set.

66. Why transformer cannot rotate though the principle behind induction motor is
similar to a transformer?

Answer:
The main principle of motor is “whenever a current carrying conductor placed in a magnetic
field it experiences force”. 
There is a condition i.e. when stator is not physically displaced, when AC supply is given to
stator, there would be production of magnetic field (stationary not rotating). Then rotor would
rotate half forward, half reverse. So ultimately rotor would be stationary. (This condition
happens with Transformer).
But in all the cases of Induction motor the stator is physically also displaced, so Rotating
magnetic field is there, so rotor rotates.
67. What is power factor?

Answer:
 Power factor is the ratio of true power or watts to apparent power or volt amps. They are
identical only when current and voltage are in phase than the power factor is 1.0. The power in
an ac circuit is very seldom equal to the direct product of the volts and amperes. In order to find
the power of a single phase ac circuit the product of volts and amperes must be multiplied by
the power factor. Ammeters and voltmeters indicate the effective value of amps and volts. True
power or watts can be measured with a wattmeter. If the true power is 1870 watts and the volt
amp reading is 2200. Than the power factor is 0.85 or 85 percent. True power divided by
apparent power. The power factor is expressed in decimal or percentage. Thus power factors of
0.8 are the same as 80 percent. Low power factor is usually associated with motors and
transformers. An incandescent bulb would have a power factor of close to 1.0. A 1.0 HP motor
about 0.80kw. With low power factor loads, the current flowing through electrical system
components is higher than necessary to do the required work. This result in excess heating,
which can damage or shorten the life of equipment, a low power factor can also cause low-
voltage conditions, resulting in dimming of lights and sluggish motor operation. Low power
factor is usually not that much of a problem in residential homes. It does however become a
problem in industry where multiple large motors are used. Power Factor Correction Capacitors
are normally used to try to correct this problem.

72. How to calculate KW what is the formula for KW?

Answer:
1. in single phase
POWER = V*I*COS ф /1000 KW
In three phase
POWER = 1.732* V*I*COS ф / 1000 KW

78. If single phase voltage level is 230V than why three phase voltage level is not
660V? But it is only 440V?

Answer:
Because the voltage is measured between the two terminals only in 3 phases we are measuring
it between 2 lines that are why it is 440 and not 660.

87. Why transformer ratings in kVA?

Answer:
 Because, iron loss is depends in voltage and copper loss is depends on currents. Power
factor has no effect on the transformer that is why the ratings are in kVA.

89. What is the Difference between MCCB & ACB & VCB?

Answer:
1. MCCB, ACB, VCB all the three are protective devices only. They are used to isolate the system
which is connected below them at fault conditions. Overload, Short circuit, Earth fault.
Depending upon the operating voltages and level of protection (Fault Level) needed for the
system, these three protection device are selected.

If the operating voltage are below 1100V, depend upon the fault level we can use MCCB or ACB.
Similarly if operating voltage are more than 1100V, VCB are used.
2. MCCB – Thermo magnetic operation-For large surges in ct- In distribution boards-bimetallic
strip responding to less extreme but longer-term over current conditions-applicable for low
voltages.
ACB - low volt power circuit breaker-trip characteristics are adjustable-air s the arc quenching
medium-applicable up to 440V. VCB - medium volt power circuit breaker-trip char. adjustable-
mechanical sys. Used for trip & open Vacuums the arc quenching medium applicable up to 36kV.

91. Why we use star connection on the primary side of a transformer?

Answer:
Transformer primary is not in star we can say for all transformer HV side should be in star,
because in star Phase voltage will be reduced by 1.732 times to delta, so it reduces the
insulation requirement. Second in Generating station transformers load side that means the side
which will be connect to the grid will be in star, because grid disturbances should not circulate in
transformer if it is in delta disturbances circulate in the transformer which reduces the
transformer performance.

94.  What is the deferent between earth, ground and neutral?

Answer:
1. Neutral is used to make the circuit complete. Earth is used to protect the instruments or
whatever, from electrical shock. Ground is used to bypass the electrical leakages
2. Earthling is done for body of equipment to protect electric shock & Neutral means connect
the winding of equipment from earth.

96. How to select the cable size in sq mm for certain load?

Answer:
As we know cable core is made up of aluminum if resistivity of aluminum is”D” and area of
cross-section is 'A' then resistance=D (L/A) where 'L' is length of cable. Then by formula I=V/R
you can calculate the current capacity.

97. How we find the size of cable if we know the current?

Answer:
We can choose the cable according to the current rating After considering overload and voltage
drop factors Usually cables are loaded up to 75-80 % of the rating Specified by manufacturer.

For instance, if you need to choose a cable for a current rating of 25 A, we can simply choose 6
sq.mm cable since it can carry 35 Amps. It is desirable not to use 4 sq.mm cable which has a
current rating of 28 A since it has no sufficient spare capacity for overload condition. Again, the
cable size also depends upon the voltage drop which depends upon the length of the cable.
Usually voltage drop must be within 3-5 % range. If it exceeds this limit then next higher size
must be used until it satisfies the 3% range for calculation of voltage drop in 25A, 240V single
phase feeder having 150M length Voltage drop/Ampere/Meter for 35 Sq.mm cable=2.1mV
Voltage drop= (2.1x25x150)/1000   =7.88V %
Voltage drop= (7.88x100)/240  = 3028%
Since it exceeds the 3% range, take next cable size
Voltage drop of 50Sq.mm cable= (1.6x25x150)/1000 =6V
% Voltage drop =(6x100)/240  =2.5%
Hence, we can select 50Sq.mm cable

107. What difference between Circuit breaker and Isolator?

Answer:
1. Circuit breaker is device which disconnects the equipment during fault condition
automatically, but isolator does not disconnect the equipment automatically during fault
condition. Isolator should be operate after reenergizing the line, because isolator is not having
any special arc quenching facility like sf6 or vacuum in it. circuit breaker is having this facility.

2. A circuit breaker is designed to break a circuit which is carrying current at the time. Where
large currents and/or voltages are present, the opening of the circuit may induce dangerous
arcing, so means such as air blast must be used to "blow out" the arc. An isolator is only
designed to isolate a circuit or other component after the current has already ceased, so it
doesn't need to have any means to stop the arc. Thus in high voltage/high current installations
such as in power stations or grid switching stations, the initial operation to isolate the circuit,
whether planned or as a result of a fault, is by the circuit breaker, the isolator is then used to
isolate the circuit breaker for maintenance or repair.

112. Name different types of circuit breakers and their voltage ratings?

Answer:
1: AIR CB        -UPTO 11KV
2: AIR BLAST CB  -11KV-33KV
3: OIL FILED CB  -33KV-132KV
3: VACUME TUBE CB -UPTO132KV
4: SF6 CB          -MORE THAN 132KV

113. What is relay?

Answer:
Relays are the device that give signal to the circuit
breaker during fault condition protecting the system from
further damage.

120. What are the voltage values for LT, HT, EHT and other voltages?

Answer:
 LT voltage is up to 415 volts.
HT voltage is up to 220KV.
EHT voltage is up to 1100KV.

135. What is PMG in Alternators?

Answer:
PMG is Permanent magnet generator. The alternator generally uses a self excited generator and
converts its voltage to DC and then applies to alternator armature windings. this kind of
alternators are named as brushless modern alternators.

136. What is Impedance Voltage in Transformer?

Answer:
Impedance voltage is nothing but self induced voltage in reverse direction acting against the
applied voltage (across primary) that is why after switching ON, the current intake reduces.

138. What is the function of cooling tubes in transformer?

Answer:
 1. Cooling tubes are used for forced cooling for the transformer.

139. What is the function of conservator in transformer?

Answer:
 Conservator is used to preserve excess oil comes out from the transformer tank, during
expansion due to heat.

141. What is the function of breather in a transformer?

Answer:
1. When transformer undergoes load changes, there will be an volumetric expansion and
contraction of oil. When the oil undergoes contraction, transformer breathes air into the
conservator tank. To avoid moisture and dirt entering into tank, breathers are provided with
silica gel crystals.
2. Breather is used in the transformer for suction of air to the transformer tank for cooling
purposes. When the oil is expanded due to heating. in breather there is an arrangement of oil
cup & silica gel. The silica gel is used for absorption of moisture in the air. The dusty particles are
accumulated at the inlet of the breather of the transformer.

152. Which type of oil is used as transformer oil?

Answer:
Transformer oil, or insulating oil, is usually a highly-refined mineral oil that is stable at high
temperatures and has excellent electrical insulating properties. It is used in oil filled
transformers, some types of high voltage capacitors, fluorescent lamp ballasts, and some types
of high voltage switches and circuit breakers. Its functions are to insulate, suppress corona and
arcing, and to serve as a coolant.

154. Explain the terms real power, apparent power and reactive power for ac circuits
and also the units used.

Answer:
• Real Power: It is the product of voltage, current and power factor i.e. P = V I cos j and basic
unit of real power is watt. i.e. Expressed as W or kW.
• Apparent power: It is the product of voltage and current. Apparent power = V I and basic unit
of apparent power is volt- ampere. Expressed as VA or KVA.

• Reactive Power: It is the product of voltage, current and sine of angle between the voltage and
current i.e. Reactive power = voltage X current X sinj or Reactive power = V I sin j and has no
other unit but expressed in VAR or KVAR.

155. Define the following: Average demand, Maximum demand, Demand factor, Load factor.

• Average Demand: the average power requirement during some specified period of time of
considerable duration is called the average demand of installation.

• Maximum Demand: The maximum demand of an installation is defined as the greatest of all
the demand, which have occurred during a given period. It is measured accordingly to
specifications, over a prescribed time interval during a certain period.

• Demand Factor: It is defined as the ratio of actual maximum demand made by the load to the
rating of the connected load.

• Load Factor: It is defined as the ratio of the average power to the maximum demand.

156. What is Diversity factor in electrical installations? 

Answers:
Diversity factor is the ratio of the sum of the individual maximum demands of the various
subdivisions of a system, or part of a system, to the maximum demand of the whole system, or
part of the system, under consideration. Diversity factor is usually more than one.

158. How many types of cooling system it transformers?

Answer:
1. ONAN (oil natural, air natural)
2. ONAF (oil natural, air forced)
3. OFAF (oil forced, air forced)
4. ODWF (oil direct, water forced)
5. OFAN (oil forced, natural)

159. Why use the VCB at High Transmission System? Why can't use ACB?

Answer:
 Actually the thing is vacuum has high arc quenching property compare to air because in VCB,
the die electric strengths equal to 8 times of air. That y always vacuum used as in HT breaker
and air used as in LT.

 
163. What is vacuum circuit breaker? Define with cause and where be use it Device?

Answer:
A breaker is normally used to break a circuit. while breaking the circuit, the contact terminals
will be separated. At the time of separation an air gap is formed in between the terminals. Due
to existing current flow the air in the gap is ionized and results in the arc. various mediums are
used to quench this arc in respective CB's. but in VCB the medium is vacuum gas. since the air in
the CB is having vacuum pressure the arc formation is interrupted. VCB's can be used up to
11kv.

164. What is Automatic Voltage regulator (AVR)?

Answer:
AVR is an abbreviation for Automatic Voltage Regulator. It is important part in Synchronous
Generators; it controls the output voltage of the generator by controlling its excitation current.
Thus it can control the output Reactive Power of the Generator.

165. What is an exciter and how does it work?

Answer:
There are two types of exciters, static exciter and rotary exciter. Purpose of exciter is to supply
the excitation dc voltage to the fixed poles of generator. Rotary exciter is an additional small
generator mounted on the shaft of main generator. if it is dc generator, it will supply dc to the
rotary poles through slip ring and brushes( conventional alternator). if it is an ac exciter, output
of ac exciter is rectified by rotating diodes and supply dc to main fixed poles.ac exciter is the ac
generator whose field winding are stationary and armature rotates. initial voltage is built up by
residual magnetism. It gives the starting torque to the generator.

173. What is reverse power relay?

Answer:
Reverse Power flow relay are used in generating stations' protection. A generating station is
supposed to fed power to the grid and in case generating units are off, there is no generation in
the plant then plant may take power from grid. To stop the flow of power from grid to generator
we use reverse power relay.
179. In a Tap changing transformer where is the tap connected, is it connected in the
primary side or secondary side?
 
Answer:
Tapings are connected to high voltage winding side, because of low current. If we connect
tapings to low voltage side, sparks will produce while tap changing operation due to high
current. 

181. Why AC system is preferred over DC system?

Answer:
 Advantages are.
a. Easy transmission and distribution.
b. Cost of AC transmission is low and power losses are less.
c. AC is the basic produced current.

183. What requirements are for the parallel operation of Alternators?

Answer:
Same o/p voltage rating, same rated frequency, same voltage wave form.

184. What is synchronization of generator?

Answer:
The process of connecting an alternator in parallel with another alternator or with common bus
bar is called synchronizing.

186. What is exciter?

Answer:
An exciter is a small dc generator to supply dc power to the field magnet system or rotor of the
alternator. 

188. What is sag? Explain its importance?

Answer:
The difference in level between points of supports and the lowest point on the conductor is
called sag.
If the conductors are too much stretched between supports in a bid to save conductor material,
the stress in the conductor may reach unsafe value and in certain cases the conductor may
break due to excessive tension. In order to permit safe tension in the conductors, they are not
fully stretched but are allowed to have a dip or sag.

189. Why is electric power transmitted at higher voltages?

Answer:
Higher the transmission voltage lesser will be the volume of conductor required. Efficiency will
be high at higher voltages. Percentage line drop will be less.

190. What are the different types of insulators in Overhead lines?

Answer:
Pin type insulators, Suspension type insulators, Strain insulators, Shackle insulators.

191. What is frantic effect?

Answer:
Output voltage is greater than the input voltage or receiving end voltage is greater than the
sending end voltage.

196. Define IDMT relay?

Answer:
It is an inverse definite minimum time relay. In IDMT relay its operating is inversely proportional
and also a characteristic of minimum time after which this relay operates. It is inverse in the
sense; the tripping time will decrease as the magnitude of fault current increase.

207. What is meant by Lightning arrester or surge diverter?

Answer:
 A Surge Diverter is a device that is connected between line and earth, i.e, in parallel with the
equipment under protection at the substation. It limits the duration and amplitude of the follow
current.
208. What is Relay Time?

Answer:
 Relay time is the interval between the occurrence of the fault and the closure of the relay
contacts is called relay time.

209. What is fault clearance time?

Answer:
 When the fault occurs relay operates and closes the trip coils and circuit breaker operates and
opens the contacts subsequently and fault is cleared. Therefore fault clearance time is the sum
of relay operating time and circuit breaker operating time and clearing the fault.

211. What are the fundamental elements of relay?

Answer:
 Basic fundamental elements of the relay are:
Sensing element: It is the measuring element measures the actuating quantity. Actuating
quantity is change in current in case of over current relay
Comparing element: It compares the actuating quantity with the relay pre-setting of the relay
Control element: On pick up of the relay control element carryout the final switching operations
such as closing the circuit to operate the circuit breaker

214. What is a Zigzag Transformer?

Answer:
A zigzag transformer is used in connection with 3 phase and is made up of 6 coils connected in a
"Y" manner. Each leg of the "Y" is made up of a coil on a different phase leg of the transformer.
The neutral formed by the zigzag connection is very stable. Therefore, this type of transformer,
or in some cases an auto transformer, lends itself very well for establishing a neutral for an
ungrounded 3 phase system. Many times this type of transformer or auto transformer, lends
itself very well for establishing a neutral for an ungrounded 3 phase system. Many times this
type of transformer or auto transformer will carry a fairly large rating, yet physically be relatively
small. This particularly applies in connection with grounding applications. The reason for this
small size in relation to the nameplate KVA rating is due to the fact that many types of
grounding auto transformers are rated for 2 seconds. This is based on the time to operate an
over current protection device such as a breaker. Zigzag transformers used to be employed to
enable size reductions in drive motor systems due to the stable wave form they present. Other
means are now more common, such as 6 phase star.

1. What is the current rating of the CAT3512B diesel generators?

2. How electrical governor controls the load of a generator?
Single line diagram of the plant’s power production :

G-1

600 V/11 KV 11 KV/132 KV Grid

G-2
Transformer Transformer

G-3