Curso Diseño de Líneas

Aereas de Transmisión
Insulation Coordination for
Overhead Lines – 1st Part:
- General criteria
- Particularities for High Voltage and
Extra-High Voltage Lines
- Special criteria for Compact Lines

Author: J. F. Nolasco
Concepts, definitions and methodology
1. Basic concepts
2. Definitions
3. Electrical stresses (overvoltages)
4. Insulation Strength
5. Influence of atmospheric conditions
6. Deterministic method of insulation coordination
7. Statistical method of Ins. Coordination
8. Differences for HV and EHV Lines, also for DC
Lines
9. Compact Lines
10.Final considerations
 Line Performance versus Cost
• Electrical Performance, function of
Insulation design: overvoltages and
strength → clearances → Towers → Line
performance and costs → System ;
• Voltage stresses considered: power
frequency, fast-front (lightning) and slow
front (switching surge) overvoltages;
• Performance versus Costs → Need to
optimize → Insulation → Towers
 Main Definitions
• External insulation: The distances in air and
the surfaces in contact with open air of solid
insulation of the equipment which are
subjected to dielectric stresses and to the
effects of atmospheric external conditions
such as pollution, humidity, vermin etc
• Internal insulation: The internal solid, liquid
or gaseous parts of the insulation of
equipment which are protected from the
effects of atmospheric and other external
conditions
 Main Definitions
• Outdoor external insulation: External
insulation which is designed to operate
outside buildings and consequently exposed
to the weather conditions
• Self-restoring insulation
insulation: Insulation which
completely recovers its insulation properties
after a disruptive discharge caused by the
application of a test voltage; insulation of this
kind is generally, but not necessarily, external
insulation
 Overvoltages
• Overvoltage: Any time-dependent voltage
between one phase and earth or between
phases having a peak value or values
exceeding the corresponding peak value
2
Um *
3
or Um * 2
respectively) derived from the highest voltage
for equipment
• Slow-front (Switching) overvoltage: A phase-
to-earth or phase-to-phase overvoltage at a
given location on a system due to one
specific switching operation
 Overvoltages
• Fast-front (Lightning) overvoltage: A phase-to
earth or phase-to-phase overvoltage at a
given location on a system, due to a
lightning discharge or other cause.

• Temporary overvoltage: An oscillatory phase-

to-earth or phase-to-phase overvoltage at a
given location of relatively long duration and
which is undamped or only weakly damped
 Critical Voltages
• Critical voltages, shortly V50%, is a voltage
which, when applied a enough big number of
times to an insulation, produces 50% of
flashovers and 50% of non-flashovers.
• Withstand voltage: self-restoring insulation is
typically described by the statistical withstand
voltage corresponding to the withstand
probability of 90%.
 Insulation Strength
The switching-impulse strength or critical
voltage V50% is taken as reference in insulation
coordination studies;
The ratio between the critical flashover voltage
for any gap and the critical flashover voltage for
the rod-to-plane gap is characterized as the
“gap factor” (k): 5
0
%
a
n
y

g
a
p
V
k =
5
0
%
r
p
V
 Methods for predicting V50%
• Testing methods
• Empirical formulae determined from
laboratory tests
VVVV 5 VVVV
====
kkkk
****
5
0
0
****
dddd
- Paris formula (slow-front as basis)

0
,
6
0
%

- Gallet formula ====

kkkk
3 1111
4 ++++
0
0
5
0
%

8
888dddd
Distancias eléctricas conforme Norma
Europea EN 50.341-1
La Norma Europea del Cenelec 50341-1
determina distancias eléctricas para los tres casos
de sobretensiones: operativas, de maniobra e de
descargas atmosféricas
VARIATION OF CRITICAL FLASHOVER VOLTAGES
BY METEOROLOGICAL PARAMETERS
Standard atmospheric conditions

•Air temperature: 20ºC

•Barometric
Barometric pressure: 760 mmHg
•Humidity (vapor pressure, absolute humidity)
13.2 mmHg
•Rainfall resistivity: 17.800 Ω.cm
•Rate of precipitation: 5 mm/min
•Angle of precipitation: 45ºC
 Atmospheric Correction Factor or RIS
(Relative Insulation Strength)
δ n
V r = V st ( ) = V st * RIS
H
Vr → Withstand or CFO voltage at a certain
meteorological condition;
Vst → The same at standard conditions;
δ = (273+15)/(273+t)*exp(-0,00012*h)
H → correction factor due to humidity
n → exponent depending on gap spacing
h → altitud (m)
 Insulation coordination
Insulation coordination comprises the selection of
the electric strength of equipment and its
application, in relation to the voltages which can
appear on the system for which the equipment is
intended and taking the characteristics of available
protective devices into account , so as to reduce to
an economically and operationally acceptable
level the probability that the resulting voltage
stresses imposed on the equipment will cause
damage to equipment insulation or affect
continuity of service
 Standard definitions
IEC: Selection of dielectric strength of equipment in
relation to operating voltages and overvoltages which
can appear on the system for which the equipment is
intended and taking into account the service
environment and the characteristics of the available
preventing and protective devices;

IEEE: The selection of insulating strength consistent

with expected overvoltages to obtain an accepted
Risk of Failure
 Statistical procedures of
insulation coordination
• The statistical procedures acknowledges the
fact that insulation failures may occur; it
attempts to quantify the risk of failure and to
use it as a safety index in insulation design.
• A rigorous determination of the risk of failures
for a given category of overvoltages requires
that both the overvoltage stresses of this
category and the equipment withstand be
described in terms of their respective
frequency distributions
 Conventional procedures of
insulation coordination
the criterion of insulation coordination for
switching or lightning overvoltages is the margin
between an overvoltage conventionally accepted,
as approximating the maximum value to be
expected at the equipment location and a
withstand voltage which may not be rigorously
demonstrable but derived from an impulse test.
This margin determines a safety factor which
should not be less than a value found to be
adequate from experience
Insulation coordination deterministic
method
Statistical Model
 Overvoltages
System Voltage: System voltage is the rms,
phase-to-phase, power-frequency voltage of an
electrical system, f.i. 220 kV, 132 kV etc;
Max Voltage: usually 5 or 10% higher → It
defines Nº of insulators
So, effects of contamination are mainly on the
design of Insulator strings, as a function of
pollution level of the area occupied by the
equipment or crossed by the Overhead Line.
 Number of insulators
System Voltage: System voltage is the rms,
phase-to-phase, power-frequency voltage of an
electrical system, f.i. 220 kV, 132 kV etc;
Max Voltage: usually 5 or 10% higher → It defines
the Nº of insulators
Therefore, effects of contamination are mainly on
the design of Insulator strings, as a function of
pollution level of the area occupied by the
equipment or crossed by the Overhead Lines

V max* i p 242 *16

N= = =13 units
Cdist 320
 Pollution levels and specific
creepage distances
Pollution level Minimum specific creepage
distance required -
(mm/kV)
No pollution 12
I → light 16
II → medium 20
III → high 25
IV → very high 31
 Insulation for power frequencies
• Extreme swing angles + 50 year return period
wind + Power frequency clearance
• Risk of failure for 50 year return period and
withstand for operating voltage Vmax+3σ,
equal to
• RF = 1,35*10-3*1/50 = 2,7*10-5

• Clearance
 Insulation for Switching Surges
• Reduced swing angles + 60% of 50 year return
period wind + Switching surge clearance
• Risk of failure for reduced wind swing angle
and withstand for µ + 3σ surge
• PFO = 10-2 to 10-3
• Clearance
 Insulation for Lightning Discharges
• Still state (No wind) + Lightning surge
clearance
• Nº of outages/100 km/ year limited to figures
between 1 (500 kV) until ≈ 7 (138 kV) and ≈
15 (69 kV)
• Clearance
 Curso Diseño de Líneas
Aereas de Transmisión

Insulation Coordination for

Overhead Lines – 2nd Part:
- Typical example

Author: J. F. Nolasco
 Curso Diseño de Líneas
Aereas de Transmisión
Insulation Coordination for
Overhead Lines – 3rd Part:
- Particularities for HV and EHV lines
- What is a Compact Line?
- Special criteria for Compact Lines

Author: J. F. Nolasco
 Differences for HV and EHV Lines
• What governs Insulation design of HV Lines,
i.e. lines with Vmax < 242 kV ?
- Power frequency and Fast-front (Lightning)
overvoltages

What governs Insulation design of EHV Lines,

i.e. lines with Vmax ≥ 242 kV ?
- Power frequency, Slow-front (Switching
Surge) and Fast-front (Lightning) overvoltages
GMD (Geometric Mean Distance) – Basic factor
GMD uses to be more important than the
conductor itself, for defining reactance, line
capacity ( or SIL or Natural Power) and electric
performance, affecting therefore:
- Inductive reactance of the line;
- Natural Power(SIL)
They are especially important in compact
towers, for increasing SIL.
 Compact Line – Compact Tower
There is no formal definition od compact line
- Compact Line generally refers to a line
requiring a narrow right-of- way
- Compact Tower refers more to a tower with
reduced dimensions, especially related to
clearances and therefore a low GMD, and a
low reactance and a high SIL (Natural Power)
 What may be peculiar for compact
lines/towers regarding insulation ?
1. Low GMD, eventually lower clearance
distances and higher risks of failure.
Which is an acceptable limit?
2. No metallic parts between phases
3. Reducing voltage stresses and keeping
the same risks of failure as in
conventional projects
 COMPACT AND HSIL LINES - BRAZILIAN
EXPERIENCE

THE BRAND NEW FELLOW 230 kV

SINGLE-MAST GUYED TOWER

WITH BUNDLE EXPANSION SIL

→ 224 MW (1,23 m)

Cuiabá / Rondonópolis - 171 km

Mato Grosso – MT - BRAZIL
Start-up of operation: August, 2005
SIL= 224 MW
 Uprating 115 kV Double circuit into Six-
phase 93 kV Compact Line - USA
¨6
 Another Brazilian experience
A new recently constructed line using
a compact family of towers
HV AC Line HVDC Line
Technical Brochure contents
Mechanical Design