LITERATURE REVIEW

Electricity is a big part of people’s lives and there are different components that engineers need
to work on to transmit power to people’s homes. For Power to reach people’s homes there are 3
major components to making this happen, first is Power Generation second is power
transmission and finally is power distribution. Engineers design all these systems to best fit their
purpose and perform at the highest-level possible factors such as safety, durability and efficiency
are considered for the design for a good power system.

This project focuses on the design of a transmission system, transmission systems carry power at
very high voltage usually over long distances from the generation plant to switching stations and
substations that step down the high voltage in order to distribute it around for people’s
consumption. Transmission lines are rated differently depending on how much voltage they
conduct in Botswana there are 132kV, 220kV and 400kV transmission lines. Generation and
transmission systems are called bulk power supply where bulk power transmission is a high
voltage network, generally 138-765kV AC designed to connected power plants to major load
centers.

Several factors go into the design of a transmission line factors such as the distance of the line,
the terrain the line will be passing on, the size of the conductors that carry the power as well as
the towers that hold the conductors. These factors shall be analyzed in more detail below.

DISTANCE THE TRANSMISSION LINE SPANS

When designing a transmission line the distance of the line affects several factors that will then
alter the design of the line, one such factor is the voltage rating of then line as this is because the
voltage of a transmission line is influenced by the distance of the line as the distance of the line
increases the voltage increases as well and this is because of the resistance and reactance of the
transmission line which causes the voltage drop in the line. The distance of the line also affects
the cost of design as more money is then needed to clear land and buy all the necessary
equipment for transmission.

TERRAIN THE LINE SPANS

The terrain the line travels through influences the design of the of the line mostly the mechanical
design of the line as the weather or climate of a region would bring force certain loadings that
may make the conductors heavier for example windy areas may bring about dust loading while
snowy areas may bring about ice loadings. The temperature of a region is also considered as
when an area is hot the conductors would expand and when a region is cooler the conductors
would then contract hence ground clearance of such conditions must be considered very
carefully during the design for safety reasons. Another factor to consider is if the line traverses
through a hilly region as the air is less dense there causing corona discharge to increase and
causing energy losses.

SIZE OF CONDUCTORS

The selection of the conductors and their cross section is a key point for a transmission line
design because the conductors represent between 30 to 50% of the total line investment. The
choice of a conductor is a toss up between its mechanical and electrical properties as bigger
conductors tend to conduct better. However, they are heavier and provide a higher load on the
transmission lines.

The size of the conductor is dependent on the efficient transmission of power one such means of
conductor sizing is Voltage drop as the larger the conductor the lower the resistance and the
lower the voltage drop and corona discharge hence this makes the transmission line more
efficient. Another such reason is the ability of a conductor to carry required amounts of current
without exceeding the temperature limits.

However, as the conductor size increases it also increases the cost of the conductor and in turn
economic value must be assessed carefully during the design and also an increase in conductor
sizing increases the wind and ice loads on the existing structures

Aluminum conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) is widely used in HV transmission system as it

combines the good electric properties of aluminum with the high strength of steel. Other
conductor types have been developed over the years such as the aluminum alloy conductors
(AAC) that work the same as ACSR conductors but are more corrosion resistant.

POWER TOWERS

High voltage power towers are responsible for most of the mechanical strength of the
transmission line as they support the conductors throughout the length of the land as long as all
the extra loadings that occur to the line like winds and ice. Transmission lines need to be strong
and firmly supported at the base, the base design must be considered for the type of terrain the
line is passing through as some terrains have a rocky surface and some a soft sand surface and
the base supports of these towers need to be different to accommodate whatever type of land the
transmission power tower is standing on. The power towers need to be durable as animals may
and human beings interact with them at times.
There are different types of towers configuration and some of them are seen in figure 1 and
figure 2 below.

Figure 1 single circuit transmission line tower

When single circuit lines are designed the configuration in figure 1 above is preferred since it
has a narrower right of way requirement

Figure 2 manifold transmission configuration for multi circuit lines

The manifold configuration in figure 2 above is used for multi circuit lines, in combination with
220 or 380kV circuits the 110kV circuits are arranged horizontally below the circuits of higher
voltages as seen in the figure above. This arrangement is advantageous as it reduces electrical
and magnetic fields under the line.

400kV TRANSMISSION LINES DESIGN PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED

BEFORE

In Germany a new 400kV Transmission line was considered called the compact line this was to
be a double circuit 400kV scheme of suspension and tension towers that could end up replacing
the existing conventional overhead high voltage lines, this was a very ambitious project. The
transmission line was to have a quad bundle conductor and a overall amperage of 3600A with
minimum ground clearance of 1.25m.

For the Tower, the corridor width was not to exceed 60m while maximum average tower height
was to be limited to 40m with span lengths of up to 420m. To meet these design requirements the
new line had to be differently designed as compared to what was typically designed in the past
hence new components had to be developed and simulated then mechanically tested after which
they were electrically tested. The main concern of designing this line was reducing the conductor
sag without compromising required minimum ground clearance of 12.5m as reducing sag in each
span was key to having much lower tower heights. This was eventually achieved by using two
steel support ropes added to every conductor bundle as seen in figure 3 below.

Figure 3 Decreased Tower height due to reduced sag in each span

Now the additional weight of the high-tension steel ropes and resulting high mechanical forces
require re-design of both suspension and tension towers. The suspension tower was designed as a
tubular conical steel pole with ring flange connections while the dead-end tower was a portal
type with two tubular conical steel poles supporting the cross arm. These stranded suspension
tower has an overall width of 36m and height of 36m. These suspension towers can be seen in
figure 4 below.

Figure 4 stranded suspension tower

With this innovative design formulated in berlin it became possible to condense a 400kV
overhead line into the dimensions normally occupied by a 200kV overhead line hence reducing
environmental and visual impact