358 High Vollage Enginooring 11.5.3. Size and Dimensions of the Equipment In High Voltage: Laboratories. High voltage laboratories may be either (a) indoor type or (b) outdoor type. The indoor type has the advantage of protection of testing equipment against variable ‘weather conditions, simplicity in design and control of the test equipment, and provision of observation facilities during testing. But outdoor laboratories have the advantage of less cost due 10 the absence of building cost and the planned facility Tayout eost, Dut outdoor teat areas have limitations such as (9 absence of lifting and supporting facilities, (i) climatic conditions which may restrictor impede testing, (i) reproducibility of results not being guaranteed due to uncontrolled atmospheric conditions, and (1) artificial and wet test studies which are dificult due to wind variation, etc. ‘When high voltage laboratories are planned as indoor laboratories, the following, figures fix the dimensions ofthe laboratories: {))_Size of the test equipment for a.c., d.c. or impulse generators (i) Distances of clearances between the test object and ground during test conditions and also between all the high voltage terminals and earthed oF ‘grounded surroundings such as walls, roofs of buildings, and other test equipment not energized. Table 14.5 Approximato Dimensions of Testing Apparatus and Tost Objects feat object dimensions Nominal system ac. test re voltage for the wansformer einen) ____ ‘equipment height Tengih breadth height KY (ems) a m m = 400 10 6 7 2 Ww 165 1s 8 u 2 ” 1100 8 ry 0 2 mu 1500, 2 15 28 2 38 ee In Table 11.5 are given the approximate size and dimensions ofthe test transform= xs and impulse generators for different system voltages. The table also gives mini- ‘mum room to be provided for the equipment, Regarding clearances, that is, the minimum distance between the high voltage surfaces and the ground points; they are of utmost importance in high voliage testing. ‘The approximate working clearances recommended are as follows: suc. power frequency voltages: 200 KY (rms)/m dec. voltages : 275 kV/m Impulse voltages: 500 KV /m For switching surges, tne clearance is worked out from the following approximate formula d= (vy where dis in m, and Vin MY,‘Design, lanning and Layout ot High Votage Laberatorios 359 ‘The above clearances are safe, as long as the test voltages do not exceed 1.5 MV for ac. and de. voltages and 2.5 MV for impulse and switching surge voltages. For higher voltages the clearances have tobe worked out by considering the withstand voltages for rod-plane ‘configuration. The characteristic is Withstand voltage, MV Os 10 15 20 given in Fig. 11.1. The necessary : distances to the surroundings for (Oso spacing, m switching surges of along duration 1. Impulse 1.2550 us 50% withstand Will be about 12 m for 760 kV anx voltage, postive polarity 30 m for 1500 kV system voltagr 2. 50 Hz ac. (peak) 50% withstand equipment, Hence, from the abow votage data and from Fig. 11.1 itiseviden 3. Switching surge 120/4000 4s that the h.v. laboratories rated fo 50% withstand voltage, positive 400 kV and above are practicall polarity ‘conditioned by the necessary cleat Fig. 11.1. Withstand votage of rod-plane ances for switching surge tests. configuration (CESLMILANO) 11.5.4 Layout of High Voltage Laboratorles. ‘The layout of ah.v. laboratory is an important aspect for providing an efficient test facility. Laboratory arrangements differ very much from a single equipment to mu dc.,a.c.,and impulse arrangements in different testing programmes. Each laboratc ‘nas to be designed individually considering the type of equipment to be tested, available space, other accessories needed for the tess, the storage space required, € Earthing, control gear, and the safety precautions require most careful consideratic Laboratory Bullding ‘The building construction is not critical except where ionization tesis are conduc To minimize the floor loading problems and 10 simplify earthing arrangement, ‘ground level location is preferred. The floor should withstand the loading imposed | the equipment and test objects. Arrangements should be made to ensure that laboratory is free from dust, draught, and excessive humidity. Laboratory windos ‘may require blackout arrangement for visual corona tests, etc. The control rox should be located in such a way as to include good overall view of the laboratory a test area. The main access door tothe test area must accommodate the test equipme, ‘and the test object and have adequate interlocking arrangements and warning systet to ensure safety to the personnel. A typical layout of a high voltage laborato ‘accommodating a 1.0 MV ac. testing transformer and a3 MV impulse generator shown in Fig. 11.2. The dotted circles indicate the clearances necessaryDesign, Planning and Layout of High Voltage Laboratories, 369 been stated (ref. 6) that a fully screened high voltage laboratory with all west and research facilities will cost Bs. 100 crores or even more. In Table 11.6 details ofa few large size high voliage laboratories inthe world ae listed along withthe ratings of the equipment available. Table 11.7 gives the details of afew high voltage laboratories in India, Some ofthe laboratories like those atthe Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Central Power Research Institute, Bangalore, and Indian Institute of Technology, Madras have adequate research facilities available apart from the normal test facili- “Apart from the above laboratories, medium sized industrial type laboratories are available with organizations like the National Test House, Alipore, Calcutta, and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, R & D Unit, Hyderabed etc., which carry out ‘normal testing and also provide facilities for conducting research. 14.6 GROUNDING OF IMPULSE TESTING LABORATORIES ‘An earth or ground system means an established stable reference potenti normally taken to be zero potential. There are Uree types of grounds (i) the ideal ground, (i) single point ground (Fig, 11.3a) and (i) the bus ground (Fig 11.36). OF all these the test ground is the ideal ground which cannot be realized in practice. The next preferred ground isthe single point ground, and the bus ground is leas satisfactory. Teal ground can be approximated by an equipotential planc realized by a nite conducting material. The laboratory is covered by a shoet of copper metal welded into ‘single unit. But this is very cosUy and is used rarely. A single point ground is commonly used. In this (soe Fig. 11.32) an earthing grid is installed within the Iaboratory floor, and connection from the grid is given by a large sized copper conductor to point identified as acommon ground point. The ground connections of various equipments and ather components ofthe high voltage test eircuit are made 10 the common ground, High voltage impulse tests give rise wo high currents of several tiloamperes, and the rate at which te currens may change ranges between 10" 1010” ‘Als. If proper care isnot taken, fashover or damage to control gear and risk of lie persons can occur. In order to avoid those difficulties, copper sips are used instead bf round conductors to minimize the inductance in the ground circuit, Socondly, metal grid embedded in a concrete floor gives rise 1 less resistance and inductance in the {round circuit, The ground is effective only when large size strips are used with close spacing, The ground system should ensure te following conditions {G) imperfections of grounding system are 10 be avoided, as they cause excessive voltage difference beiween points and cause Nashovers, damage, or danger tohuman life, (G0, the imperfections will cause excessive loop currents along the sheaths of measuring cables, which will introduce errors in measurements, (Gi) the grounding system should be such that tre voltage drop along the ground system, the voltage ata loop, and the circulating currents in the loops are avoided or minimized, (Gs) metal conduits shouldbe used for the measuring and control cables to avoid neural inductance effect bewween the ground grid and the cables,964 High Voltage Engineering (8) Single point grounding system (©) Bus grounding system Fig. 11.3 1—Impulse voltage generator; 2— Sphere gap; 3 — Position of test object {or impulse testing; 4 — Impulse current generator; § — Position of test object for impulse current generator; 6 — Control room and osciloscope position; / — Charging recilior set; E — Singlw point earth position; G — Ground connection position; GB — Ground bus ‘A typical good earthing system consisis of a copper network with meshes of 1 m width laid down below the ground level around the impulse test area and well connected. This network is extended over the entire area comprising all equipment such as testing transformers, charging h.v. rectifier set est bay, etc. The grid should beclectrcally connected to all the metallic frames and reinforcing iron in the concreteDesign, Plansing and Layout of High Voltage Laboratories 365 walls and pillars of the building at their bowom points. Impulse test area must be provided with a spread, suetched, or expanded copper grid on the floor of thickness fof about 2:mm with ground rods driven into the earth wo a depth equal to the height of the impulse generator. The rods are welded tothe inside copper grid as well as surface copper grid. Earth connection facility i to be provided for every 16 sq.m area so that shortest lead can be used from any position inside the laboratory. ‘Where ionization measurements are to be made, the earthing system should keep tho RIV level from extemal sources to the lowest value. In addition, the high frequency energy produced during impulse tests should not cause any trouble around the test area, If this is to be met the entire Isboratory should be buill into a Faraday cage. "The general layout of the laboratory with its conduit pipes for control and measur- ing cables is shown in Fig. 7.55 (See Chapter 7). Such a layout will avoid all interferences. 14.6.1 Electromagnetic Shielding and Earth Return in High Voltage Laboratories A high voltage laboratory, small, medium or lasge in size should have some type of screening against electrostatic and electromagnetic field interference. The screening is essential if partial discharge measurements are 10 be made in the laboratory. An attenuation of less than 40 db is needed for attenuation of electrical signals in the frequency range of MHz, while a still lower attenuation is needed for electromag- netic signals. In larger test laboratories attenuation levels due to interferences are higher and arise mostly due to imperfect screening. One way to check uke screening is to tune a portable pocket-radio and walk around the laboratory tuning the radio to different frequencies between $00 kHiz to 10 MHz, The signal should not be heard, However, itis often found inat une signal level increases significantly when u cable ot an electrical outlet is crossed. IF itis possible, the same check may be carried out with the automatic volume control (gain control) disconnected. The sources of disturbance inside the laboratories are (?) switching transients due to switching on or switching-off of loads like lifts or cranes, transformers et., (i) rectifier circuits, and (ii) shielded cables acting as antennas for outside signals. Care should be taken to see that the above are avoided, The best sereening is obtained ifthe roof, the walls and he flooring ‘zea are sereened with an expanded metal wire mesh and joined gether. Further, al electric conductors are fully screened in metal conduits which are run below the floor metal network, For the purpose of measurement, one point in the test circuit such as the base of & test object or an impulse voltage generator should be made a reference ground or a zero potential point, This is usually disturbed in measurements for fault indication in twansformers during impulse testing, tests with chopped waves ele. as spikes are introduced into th test cirouts du to low-voliage conductors that run inio the control room from the impulse est area which carry the operating signals of large magnitude to control impulse generator, sphere gaps cic. As such a potentially difference is created momentarily during the transient period between the base of impulse voltage366 igh Volige Engineoring generator and haf the base of he measuring voge divider and ts obit TS srrrrenen are eared ont the measuring device which will give erroneous ress aorererertagediferences ean be reduced by reducing te impedance of the grown’ PSerinetesteireut, The most effective method for reducing the voltage differences ee ene the retum conductor in the frm ofa metal sect placed on the top ofthe aro some laboratories use coarse copper nels oF aluminium nets or aluminium sheets, but they are not very effective. “The high voltage iboratory must be eathed to (protect the equipment against she ighuneg suokes, and Gt protect tre equipment fom short crus inside te Teboratony from the power supply source, If nt properly earthed, these wil give Ee to potenals which are different at diferent points inthe laboratory thus causing Uinnecessary danger to human life and damage to the equipment. Hee sical atenuation ofthe building is also important. It is necessary in tre tbensoties to have comfortable and clear communication between persons at dior” raoeretations inside the laboratory. Reverberaion inside the laboratory should bs soided, To get the desired effec, the laboratory should have perforated holes an Fctas or sme such material fixed 10 the walls. The sbove aspects need careful ‘consideration in the design ofa high voltage laboratory. QUESTIONS 1.11. Listoutthe common test facilities available in igh voltage laborsioric, 113 hur are in enero used i selecting the ratings ofthe teting equipment fr hy laboratories? Q.113 Why is grounding very imponant in ah boratony? Describe a typical grounding system used, Q.114 Enimate te cleerances required and the approximate dim a high volige laboratory with the following equipment. ‘AC testing transformer +25 1VA, 250 kV Size + 1.2m diax'3m (including bushing height) mnpolse voltage generstor : BOOKY, 2415 Size: 15mx 1.5mx 3m Charging unit requires a space of Lm x 1m x Im. Sacbecties include a 75 om sphere gap, 900 KV eapacitanes potential divider and ‘200 KV gas filled standard capacitor, 115 Whatareeextra precautions hat ae to be taken while grounding an impulse coment eneator. Give epic grounding srangement fore 1601, 200A impulsecurent generator. jensions ofthe test room for REFERENCES 1. August Metraux.*Some problems an ectua Timits of test techniques atexra high voltages” Haefely Publication, EIS 14 (1968) 2, hupet Mewoux, “Easting of impulse stations", Hoefely Publication, SO8O40"7E 11962). 4. Govirda Raju, O.R,, “Planning of H.V. laboratories™, Lecture Notes on 11. Laboratory Testing Techniques, Surumer School, fSe, Bangalore (1977),