Various Subsystems in

Substation and Their

Functions
Sl System Functions
No.

1. Substation Earthing System:

 Earth Mat To provide an earth mat for connecting neutral points,
 Earth Spike equipment bodies, support structures to earth, for safety of
 Earthing Riser personnel and enabling earth fault protection.

2. Overhead Earth Wire To protect the outdoor substation equipment from

Shielding lightning strikes.

3. Illumination System:
 For Switchyards To provide illumination for vigilance, operation and
 Buildings maintenance.
 Road etc.

4. Protection System: To provide alarm or automatic tripping of faulty part from

 Relay Panels the healthy part and also to minimize damage to faulty
 Control Cables equipments and associated systems.
 Circuit Breaker
 CT, PT etc.

5. Control Cabling An underground power cable for protective circuits,

control circuits, metering circuits.

6. Power Cable To provide supply path to various auxiliary equipments

and machines.

7. PLCC System For communications, telemetry, power line carrier

protection etc.
 Substation Equipments and
Their Functions

Sl No. Equipments Functions

1. Bus Bar Incoming and outgoing circuits connected to

bus bars
2. Circuit Breakers Automatic switching during normal and
abnormal conditions
3. Isolators Disconnection under no-load condition for
safety, isolation and maintenance
4. Earthing Switches To discharge the voltage on deadlines to earth

5. Power Transformers To step down the voltage at constant power

and frequency
6. CT For measurement of high current and relay
operation for protection
7. CVT For measurement of high voltage and relay
operation
8. Lightning Arrester To discharge lightning over voltage and
switch over voltage to earth
9. Wave trap To provide high frequency signals from
entering other zones
 Design of Capacity of
Transmission Line
Transmission line towers constitute about 28 to 42 percent of the cost of the
transmission line. The increasing demand for electrical energy can be met more
economically by developing different light weight configurations of transmission line
towers. The selection of an optimum outline together with right type of bracing system,
height, cross arm type and other parameters contributes to a large extent in developing
an economical design of transmission line tower.

Description of Tower configuration:

For the present study, 400kV single circuit steel transmission line with a
suspension towers (20˚ angle deviation) is considered. The first model of tower is
triangular base (three legged) self supporting type with angle sections. Thus, for
optimizing the existing geometry, one of these suspension towers is replaced by
triangular base self supporting tower with tube sections (hollow rectangular sections).
The perception of the three legged transmission line top view is shown.

Specifications 400 kV 220kV

Conductor dia 3.177 cm 2.862 cm
Line spacing 13.75 m 5.5 m
Conductor spacing 40 cm (dual conductor) --
 Calculations for Line
Constants and
Surge Impedance Loading
400 KV Line

Ds (for inductance calculation) = 0.071 m, Dm = 17.32 m,

Ds (for capacitance calculation) = 0.0796 m.

L = 2*10-7 loge (Dm/Ds) = 1.098* 10-6 H/m,

C = 2πe / log (Dm/Ds) = 1.033* 10-11 F/m,

Surge Impedance = Z = √ (L/C) = 325.93 Ώ,

Surge Impedance Loading (per circuit) = V2/Z = 490.9 MW

220 KV Line

Ds (for inductance calculation) = 0.37m, Dm = 8.66m,

Ds (for capacitance calculation) = 0.43m

L = 2*10-7 loge (Dm/Ds) = 6.3*10-7H/m,

C = 2πe / log (Dm/Ds) = 1.85*10-11 F/m,

Surge Impedance = Z = √ (L/C) = 184.42 Ώ (Parallel equivalent of both circuit),

So, Surge Impedance per circuit is = 368.85 Ώ

Surge Impedance Loading (per circuit) = V2/Z = 131.21 MW

 Bus Bar Arrangement
Bus bar is the term used for a main bar or conductor carrying an electric
current to which many connections may be made. Bus bars are merely convenient
means of connecting switches and other equipment into various arrangements. There
are different types of bus bar arrangements. The choice
of a particular arrangement depends on different factors
like system voltage, reliability of supply, flexibility and
cost. We have chosen double bus bar and transfer bus
arrangement.

In this arrangement two main buses are available

and one more bus is available which is called transfer
bus. Most of the time, the transfer bus is kept uncharged. If a circuit breaker fails then
the feeder is transferred to the transfer bus without affecting the other circuits and
thus keeping the continuity of supply. The main advantages and disadvantages of this
arrangement are listed below.

Advantages:

 Most flexible in operation

 Breaker failure on bus side breaker removes only one circuit from
Service
 Bus fault does not remove any feeder from the service
 All switching done with breakers
 Either main bus can be taken out of service at any time for
maintenance.
 All switching done with breakers

Disadvantages:
  The main disadvantage of this arrangement is high cost because of
its three buses.

Details about Number of Bays and

Number of Equipments Requirements

No. of Bays and 400 kV Side 220 kV Side

Equipments

Incoming 2 3

Outgoing 4 6

Bus Coupler 1 1

Power Transformer 3 -
(Auto)

Wave trap 18 21

CVT/PT 18 21

CT 23 32

Circuit Breaker 25 28

Isolator 98 110
 Power Transformer
A transformer is a static machine used for transforming power from one circuit
to another without changing frequency. This is a very basic definition of transformer.
Since there is no rotating or moving part so transformer is a static device. Transformer
operates on ac supply. Transformer works on the principle of mutual induction.

Generation of electrical power in low voltage level is very much cost effective.
Theoretically, this low voltage level power can be transmitted to the receiving end.
This low voltage power if transmitted results in greater line current which indeed
causes more line losses. But if the voltage level of a power is increased, the current of
the power is reduced which causes reduction in ohmic or I 2R losses in the system,
reduction in cross sectional area of the conductor i.e. reduction in capital cost of the
system and it also improves the voltage regulation of the system. Because of these, low
level power must be stepped up for efficient electrical power transmission. This is done
by step up transformer at the sending side of the power system network. As this high
voltage power may not be distributed to the consumers directly, this must be stepped
down to the desired level at the receiving end with the help of step down transformer.
Electrical power transformer thus plays a vital role in power transmission.

Two winding transformers are generally used where ratio of high voltage and
low voltage is greater than 2. It is cost effective to use auto transformer where the ratio
between high voltage and low voltage is less than 2. Again a single unit three phase
transformer is more cost effective than a bank of three single phase transformers unit
in a three phase system. But a single three phase transformer unit is a bit difficult to
transport and have to be removed from service entirely if one of the phase winding
breaks down.
 Specifications of 400/220kV power transformer
Rating 315 MVA, 400/220/33 kV
Type 3 phase Auto transformer with tertiary
winding
Rated Capacity (MVA) ONAN - 60% of ODAF
ONAF - 80% of ODAF
ODAF - 100%
Rated voltage (kV) 400/220/ 33
Highest system voltage (kV) 420/245/36.3
System frequency (Hz) 50
Type of cooling ONAN / ONAF / ODAF
Vector Group YNaOd11
Tertiary Winding 33 kV
System of grounding Solidly grounded
Insulation Level
 400 kV
a) 1.2/50μs full wave 1550 𝑘𝑉𝑃
impulse voltage withstand
level
b) 1.2/50μs chopped wave 1425 𝑘𝑉𝑃
impulse voltage withstand
level
c) Switching impulse 1425 𝑘𝑉𝑃
withstand level
 220 kV
a) 1.2/50μs full wave 1050 𝑘𝑉𝑃
impulse voltage withstand
level
b) 1.2/50μs chopped wave 1050 𝑘𝑉𝑃
impulse voltage withstand
level
Power frequency withstand voltage 400 kV 420(L-N) / 680(L-L) 𝑘𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆
220 kV <460𝑘𝑉𝑅𝑀𝑆
Impedances ( % ) a) HV & MV - 12.5% (Tolerance -
±10%)
b) HV & LV - 45% (Tolerance -
±15%)
c) MV &LV – 30% (Tolerance -
±15%)
Tapping range Auto transformer with on load tap changer for
high voltage variation of -10 to +10 % in 16
equal steps, of 1.25% each, provided on
common end of series winding
Type of tap changers ON LOAD TAP CHANGER (Resistance
Transition type)
Connection
 HV & MV Star Auto with neutral
 LV Directly earthed delta
Tap control Full capacity On load tap changer suitable for group
/independent, remote /local electrical and local
manual operation and bi-directional power flow
Service Outdoor
Duty Continuous
Overload capacity As per IS:6600 – 1972 / IEC354
Partial Discharge level 500 pico-coulomb
HV/MV winding neutral end 17.5 kV porcelain without arcing horns
voltage
Bushings PF volt Full Chopped Impulse Withstand
Switching Voltage
Dry Wet Impulse Impulse Impulse

400 630 630 1425 1425 1050

kV
220 460 460 1050 1050 --
kV
33 95 95 250 250 --
kV
Neutral Bushings 17.5 45 45 95 95 ±6
kV
 Substation Earthing
Substation earthing system is essential not only to provide the protection of
people working in the vicinity of earthed facilities and equipments against danger of
electric shock but to maintain proper function of electrical system. Reliability and
security are to be taken in considerations as well as adherence to statutory obligations
(IEEE and Indian standards on electrical safety and environmental aspects).
We are concerned with earthing practices and design for outdoor AC substation for
power frequency in the range of 50Hz.

IMPORTANCE:

The earthing system in a plant / facility is very important for a few reasons,
all of which are related to either the protection of people and equipment and/or the
optimal operation of the electrical system. These include:

Equipotential bonding of conductive objects (e.g. metallic equipment,

buildings, piping etc) to the earthing system prevents the presence of dangerous
voltages between objects (and earth).
 The earthing system provides a low resistance return path for earth
faults within the plant, which protects both personnel andequipment.
 For earth faults with return paths to offsite generation sources, a low
resistance earthing grid relative to remote earth prevents dangerous ground potential
rises (touch and step potentials)
 The earthing system provides a low resistance path (relative to remote
earth) for voltage transients such as lightning and surges / overvoltages
 Equipotential bonding helps prevent electrostatic buildup and
discharge, which can cause sparks with enough energy to ignite flammable
atmospheres
The earthing system provides a reference potential for electronic circuits and helps
reduce electrical noise for electronic, instrumentation and communication systems.

TYPES OF EARTHING:
The earthing is broadly divided as
 System Earthing: This is primarily concerned with the protection of
Electrical equipment by stabilizing the voltage with respect to ground (Connection
between part of plant in an operating system like LV neutral of a Power
Transformer winding and earth).

 Equipment Earthing (Safety grounding): This is primarily

concerned with the protection of personnel from electric shock by maintaining the
 potential of noncurrent carrying equipment at or near ground potential. Connecting
frames of equipment (like motor body, Transformer tank, Switch gear box,
operating rods of Air break switches, etc) to earth. The system earthing and safety
earthing are interconnected and therefore fault current flowing through system
ground raises the potential of the safety ground and also causes steep potential
gradient in and around the Substation. But separating the two earthing systems
have disadvantages like higher short circuit current, low current flows through
relays and long distance to be covered to separate the two earths. After weighing
the merits and demerits in each case, the common practice of common and solid
(direct) grounding system designed for effective earthing and safe potential
gradients is being adopted.

Types of Electrodes:
1. Rod Electrode
2. Pipe Electrode
3. Plate Electrode

Rod Electrode Pipe Electrode

Terms And Definitions:

Plate Electrode