SUPPLY SYSTEMS

NOORNABI SHAIKH
ELECTRICAL ENG, MUET, JAMSHORO
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Historical Background of power system

Historically, the type of electricity delivered to homes and businesses was first DC but then changed to
AC electricity. The standard voltage level started at110V, went to240V, back to110V, and then to 220V.
The frequency started at 60Hz and then went to 50Hz in most areas.
Early in the history or electricity, Thomas Edison's General Electric Company was distributing DC
electricity at110 volts in the United States.
Then Nikola Tesla devised a system of three-phase AC electricity at 240 volts. He had calculated that
60Hz was the most effective frequency. Tesla later compromised to reduce the voltage to120 volts for
safety reasons.
Tesla's AC system became the standard in the United States. Meanwhile, the German company AEG
started generating electricity and became a virtual monopoly in Europe. They decided to use 50Hz
instead of 60Hz to better fit their metric standards, but they stayed with120V.
Unfortunately, at 120V 50Hz AC has greater losses and is not as efficient as 60Hz. Due to the slower
speed 50Hz electrical generators are 20% less effective than 60Hz generators.

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Electrical transmission at 50Hz is about 10-15% less efficient. 50Hz transformers require larger windings
and 50Hz electric motors are less efficient than those meant to run at 60Hz. They are more costly to make
to handle the electrical losses and the extra heat generated at the lower frequency.
Europe stayed at120V AC until the1950s, just after World War II. They then switched over to230V for
better efficiency in electrical transmission. Great Britain not only switched to 230V, but they also changed
from 60Hz to50Hz to follow the European lead.
Since many people did not yet have electrical appliances in Europe after the war, the change-over was not
that expensive for them.
The US has also considered converting to 220V for home use but felt it would be too costly, due to all
the120V electrical appliances people had. A compromise was made in the U.S. in that 240V would come
into the house where it would be split to120V to power most appliances. Certain household appliances
such as the electric stove and electric clothes dryer would be powered at 240V.
The voltage and frequency of AC electricity varies from country to country throughout the world. Most
use 230V and 50Hz. About 20% of the countries use110V and/or60Hz to power their homes. 240V and
60Hz are the most efficient values, but only a few countries use that combination.

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 BASIC STRUCTURE OF AN AC POWER SYSTEM
Power generated at power stations is transported to remote load centers.
Between generating stations and consumers we have transmission, sub transmission, and distribution
levels of voltages.
High voltage is cheap in case of long distance and low voltage is required for utility.
Electrical system may be divided into three main divisions:
1. Generating system
2. Transmission system
3. Distribution system.
➢ An interconnected power system covers a major portion of a country’s territory is called a “Grid”.
➢ Different Grids may be interconnected through transmission lines (called tie - lines) to form a
“Regional Grid”.
➢ When different regional grids are interconnected, they form a “National Grid”.

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 System Voltage & Transmission Efficiency

System voltage affects the capital cost of transmission line. The weight of the conductor, efficiency of the
line, the voltage drop in the line and the system stability depend upon the system voltage. Therefore
choice of voltage becomes major factor in the line design. (T or D)

P = V I Cos 
P
I =
V Cos 
&
I P
A = = Where  = current density in A / m 2
  V Cos 
As resis tan ce of each conductor is  = specific resis tan ce
l  l  V Cos 
R =  = l = length of line in meters
A P

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1. POWER LOSS
Per phase power loss in the line is

PL = I 2 R
2
 P   l  V Cos 
=   .
 V Cos   P
 l P
PL = W
V Cos 

Power loss in the line is inversely proportional to both the system voltage and power factor.

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2. Voltage Drop in Resistance
Voltage drop in resistance per phase
= I R
l
= A  =  l
A
The percentage voltage drop in resis tan ce in the line
IR  l
=  100% = 100 %
V V

That means;

▪ Voltage drop in resistance per phase is constant for a given value of current density and
▪ The percentage voltage drop in resistance decreases with the increase in the system voltage.

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3. Weight of Conductor

Let σ be the density of the material.

The weight of conductor material required for each phase

= Al 
Pl
=
 V Cos 

From equation it shows that, the weight of the conductor material required for the line will decrease
with the increase in supply voltage and power factor

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 Transmission Efficiency

Line output
T =
line output + loss
P 1
= =
 lP  l
P+ 1+
V Cos  V Cos 
−1
  l 
= 1 + 
 V Cos  
 l
= 1 − (approx.)
V Cos 

It shows that, transmission efficiency increases with increase of supply voltage and power factor.

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5. Enhancement of system stability (for higher voltages)

For the effect of system voltages and power factor, P , l ,  , and  are assumed to be constants.
Corona and leakage losses are neglected.

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 Effect of System Voltage on Transmission Efficiency
The transmission of electric power is carried at high voltage due to the following reasons:
1. Reduces volume of conductor material: consider the transmission of electric power by 3 – phase line:
Let P = power transmitted in watts. R = resistance per conductor in ohms
V = line voltage in volts ρ = resistivity of conductor material
cos φ = power factor of the load a = area of cross – section of conductor
l = length of the line in meters
P
Load current I =
3 V cos 
l
Resistance / conductor R = 
a
2
 P  l
Total power loss, W = 3 I 2 R = 3    

 3 V cos   a
P2 l
=
V 2 cos 2  a
P2 l Form equation 1, for given values of P, l, ρ, and W,
 Area of cross − sec tion , a =
W V 2 cos 2  the volume of conductor material required is
Total volume of conductor material required : inversely proportional to the square of transmission
voltage and power factor. Or the greater the
 P2 l 
= 3 a l = 3   l transmitted voltage, the lesser is the conductor
 W V 2
cos 2
  materieal required.
3 P2 l 2
=
W V 2 cos 2 
........ (1)
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2. Increase Transmission Efficiency:
Input power = P + Total losses
P2  l
= P+ 2
V cos 2  a
Assu min g J be the current density of the conductor , then
a = I/J
P2  l J P2  l J 1
 Input power = P + 2 = P + 
V cos 2  I V 2 cos 2  I
P2  l J 3 V cos 
= P+ 2 
V cos 2
P
3PlJ  3 J l
= P+ = P 1 + 
V cos   V cos   Equation (2). As, J, ρ,
output power P 1 and l are constants,
Trasnsmission Efficiency = = =
input power  3 J l  3 J l therefore transmission
P 1 +  1 1 +  efficiency increases
 V cos    V cos   when the line voltage is
 3J l  increased.
= 1 −  approx. ........ ( 2)

 V cos 
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3. Decreases Percentage Line Drop

l
Line drop = I R = I 
a
= I  l  J /I [ As a = I / J ] current density
Jl
% voltage drop =  100 ......... (3)
V

As J, ρ, and l are constants, therefore, percentage line drop decreases when the transmission voltage increases.

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WORKING VOLTAGE
Working Voltage, the maximum voltage that any device can withstand without getting damaged or burnt off, keeping in
mind factors like reliability and safety of the device and circuits for proper operation.
From efficiency and economy point off view, desirability of high voltages over a longer distance and load power factor
should be near to unity.
The heavy currents are more difficult to handle than high voltages.
Considerable savings in the cost of the conductor material are possible when the voltage is high.
But cost of the installation can be effected in the conductor material by employing extra high voltages and as a result the
cost of insulation of conductors whether overhead or underground, increases.
By adopting high voltages, the electrical separation or clearances between the conductor is to be increased. This is done to
avoid electrical discharge.
The mechanical supporting structure becomes more difficult and expensive.
Other problems associated with high working voltage are the insulation of the equipment, corona effect, radio and
television interference.
The insulation costs of the transformers, switchgear and other terminal equipment increase drastically. Corona, radio and
television interference becomes very serious at the extra high working voltages. Thus, higher the voltage the more costly is
the line. The voltage level of a system is therefore governed by the two major factors.
1. Power to be transmitted.
2. Length of the line.
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STANDARDIZATION OF VOLTAGES

Following are the reasons for standardization of voltages;

1. It provides better facilities for research and development.

2. Equipment can be manufactured economically with greater reliability.
3. Maximum possible use of EHV for transmission and interconnection of EHV systems can be made

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CLASSIFICATION OF LINES
1. Direct Current (DC) Systems
▪ DC 2 – wire, mid – point earthed system is used
a. DC 2 – wire, 1 – wire earthed. for transmitting large power over long distances.
b. DC 1 – wire, earth return.
▪ 3 – phase, 3 – wire a.c system is used for
c. DC 2 – wire, mid – point earthed. transmission and primary distribution.
d. DC 3 – wire.
▪ For secondary distribution work, 3 – phase, 4 –
2. Alternating Current (AC) Systems wire system is common.
a. Single – phase, 2 – wire, 1 – wire earthed.
▪ Industrial and other big loads are supplied by 3 –
b. Single – phase, 1 – wire, earth return. phase, 4 – wire system.
c. Single – phase, 2 – wire, mid – point earthed.
▪ Domestic and other small load consumers are
d. Single – phase, 3 – wire. supplied with single – phase power obtained
from individual phases of a 3 – phase supply.
e. Two – phase, 3 – wire.
f. Two – phase, 4 – wire.
g. Three – phase, 3 – wire.
h. Three – phase, 4 – wire.
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SYSTEM COMPONENTS
ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEM can be divided into 3 major parts.

1. Generation
2. Transmission
3. Distribution

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VOLTAGE LEVELS
As major losses in transporting electricity are proportional to the current squared, thus doubling the current
quadruples the loss. POWER is the product of CURRENT times VOLTAGE so as voltage is increased, current
is decreased, and losses are decreased for a given amount of power transfer.
Thus the highest economically feasible voltage is favored for generating, transmitting, and distributing
electrical power.
Rotating machines (G & M) have practical voltage limits set by limitations in insulation and cooling
technology.
Maximum generator voltage are currently about 24kV and about 12kV for motors.
The voltage limits for transmission voltages are set by protective devices (mainly CBs) rather than
transformers and insulators.
Bundled conductors and shielding have removed the past limit of the breakdown of the air around the
conductors.

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Different electric utilities have set different standard voltages, but the following voltages are common:

1. Generators – 11kV TO 24kV (11kV in Pakistan)

2. Extra High Transmission – 345kV, 500kV, and 765kV for ac, and around 500kV (+- 250kV), 800kV (+_
400kV), and 1000kV (+-500kV) for dc.
3. Transmission – 138kV and 230kV. (132kV) [500kV, 220kV, 132kV in Pakistan]
4. Sub – transmission – 34.5kV and 69kV.
5. Distribution – 12.5kV and 34.5kV [11kV in Pakistan]

NOTE:

Utilization voltages in Pakistan are: WAPDA – 230V / 400V (+- 5%)

KESC – 240V
Frequency – 50Hz (+- 2%)

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FREQUENCY
60 Hz is in United States because of the convenient fit with the 60 second minute, and the absence of other
problems.
The lowest possible frequency is desirable for electricity transmission to lower the reactive voltage drop on
the line and reduce radiative loss (like antenna radiation). The lower practical limit on frequency was set by
the flicker of the incandescent lamp.
Europe settled on 50 Hz. Most of Africa and some of Asia followed suit because of European colonization.
Some of Africa and most of South and central America use 60 Hz.
The special circumstances in airport: aircraft generators require small size, light weight, the only way to meet
the power requirements is to increase the frequency, so the corresponding electrical equipment on airplanes
should be 400 Hz, and aircraft-related power supplies is 400 Hz, military uses even higher frequency.
Aircraft power supply uses 400Hz is in order to reduce the size and weight, it is a complex system. 400Hz
being used on military and avionics is mainly depending on the following: 1, High frequency generator or
electro motor has small size and light weight due to the high rotating speed and low torque; 2, The aircraft
generator is driven by the aero engine, it has high speed; 3, Aircrafts have lots of DC machines, high
frequency is benefited for reducing the rectification ripple.
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In electrical system, frequency is a very important basic element.
It was found and summed up the theorem that the cyclical changes in the direction of the current is called
alternating current, the time of the current in one cyclical change called the cycle, the cycle times of the
current changes in one second called frequency, the unit is hertz (in order to commemorate the
contribution of German physicist Hein rich Rudolf hertz). The frequency of alternating current is 50(60)
Hz, the current direction changes 50(60) cycles, 100(120) times per second.
Frequency value is related to the structures and materials of generator, motor and transformer.
50Hz generator synchronous speed is 3000 rpm, if the frequency is 100Hz, then the synchronous speed
will be 6000rpm. Such a high speed will bring a lot of troubles to manufacture the generators, especially
the rotor surface speed is too fast which will limit the generator capacity greatly. In actual applications,
the high frequency will make the reactance increase, electromagnetic loss, and increase the reactive
power. Motor, for example, the current will decrease greatly, the output power and torque will decrease
evidently, which does not has any benefit. In addition, if use a lower frequency such as 30Hz, transformer
efficiency is too low, not benefit for AC power transformation and transmission.

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 Primary Secondary & Tertiary Voltages

➢ National Transmission and Dispatch Company:

Primary Transmission: 500 KV.
Secondary Transmission: 220 KV.
➢ Distribution:
10 DESCOs (Distribution Electricity Supply Companies) have been established .*
Primary Voltage Level: 132 KV.
Secondary Voltage Level: 11 KV.
Tertiary Voltage Level: 400 V /220 V.

10 DESCOs of WAPDA:

1. TESCO 2. PESCO 3. IESCO 4. GEPCO 5. FESCO

6. LESCO 7. MEPCO 8. SESCO 9. HESCO 10. QESCO

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