Transmission Line Conductors Types

 In general, the types of conductors used for the transmission of electrical power are:
(i) Solid conductors, (ii) Stranded conductors, (iii) Hollow conductors
 Solid conductors:
 Solid copper conductors and copper-clad steel conductors of small cross-sectional area are
used as solid conductors.
 Conductors of large size cannot be used because they are difficult to handle and transport.
Further, when used for long spans, they tend to break at the points of support due to
constant swing caused by the wind blows. Due to less flexibility solid aluminum
conductors are not used.

 Stranded conductors:
 Generally, the stranded conductors (composite) are used in transmission lines for increasing
the flexibility and overall diameter. These conductors normally have a central wire around
which, there are successive layers of 6, 12, 18, etc.
 The expression for the number of strands in a stranded conductor is given by;
 N =3n (n +1)+1
where “n” is the number of layers.
 Conductor types
 The diameter of stranded conductor is;
D = (2n +1)d,
where “d” is the diameter of each strand. used.
 In the process of construction, adjacent layers are spiraled in opposite direction, so that
the layers are bound together. This type of construction is called concentric lay. Another
type of construction used for conductors of large cross-section is rope lay.

 Hollow conductors;
 They have large diameter when compared to solid conductors. Corona loss is reduced or
eliminated due to larger diameter. Skin effect is also less when compared to stranded
conductor.
 These conductors have low inductance and low voltage gradient when compared to solid
conductors. A larger diameter of a conductor exposes a larger surface to wind pressure
and large amount of ice accumulates over the surface of the conductor. This increases the
weight of the conductor.
 This type of conductor is generally used for bay extension in 400 kV substations.
Solid Vs Hollow Vs Stranded
Stranded Conductors
Stranded Conductors
 Bundled Conductors
 A bundled conductor is formed by two or more than two sub-conductors in
each phase as shown in Fig.
 These are used for transmitting huge units of power over long distances.
 In a bundled conductor, the sub-conductors are separated from each other by
a constant distance, whereas in the case of composite conductors, the sub-
conductors are placed in close proximity so that they touch each other.
 The overall diameter of bundled conductor increases due to filler material or
air space in between the sub-conductors.

A two-conductor
bundle A four-conductor
bundle
Advantages & Disadvantages of Bundled conductors

 Advantages:  Disadvantages
 Reduced corona loss due to larger cross-sectional  Increase ice and wind loading because of
area large cross-sectional area.
 Reduced interferences with communication circuits  Increase clearance requirements at
 Reduced inductance per phase due to increased structures.
geometric mean radius (GMR), which in turn reduces  Increase charging kVA.
the net series reactance
 Improved voltage regulation
 Improved stability margin
 Increased power transmission capacity with reduced
power loss leading to increased efficiency of
transmission.
 Resistance
 Defined as: voltage per unit current at constant temperature.
 The resistance of transmission line conductors causes power loss in the transmission line.
 The term resistance means effective resistance. The effective resistance of a conductor is;
Resistance

Home Work: 1
Test Question: Why is the resistance in transmission lines low when compared to
distribution systems?
 Current Distortion Effect
 Steady direct current (DC) distribute the current uniformly over the entire cross-section of the
conductor.
 But, alternating current (AC) does not distribute uniformly over the cross-section of the conductor,
but is distorted due to:
 Skin effect
 Proximity effect
 Spirality effect
 The sum of these effects is small at normal frequencies, but is a main factor in determining the
conductor resistance under high frequency conditions.
Skin Effect
 When DC flows in the conductor, the current is uniformly distributed over
the whole cross-section of the conductor.
 But the flow of AC in the conductor is non-uniform, due to which the
outer filaments of the conductor carry more current than the filaments
closer to the center.
 This results in a higher resistance to AC than to DC and is known as skin
effect.
 Due to skin effect, the effective area of cross-section of the conductor,
through which the current flows, is reduced. Consequently, the resistance
of the conductor is slightly increased when carrying an AC
 Skin Effect
 Cause of Skin Effect
 Consider a solid conductor consisting of a large
number of filaments each carrying a small part of the
current. The inductance of each filament will vary
according to its position.
 Thus, the filaments near the center are surrounded by a
greater magnetic flux and hence have larger inductance
than those near to the surface as shown in Fig.

 The high reactance of inner filaments causes the AC to flow near the surface of conductor. This
crowding of current near the conductor surface is termed as the skin effect.
Skin Effect
 The skin effect depends upon the following factors:
1. Nature of material
2. Diameter of wire – increases with the diameter of wire
3. Frequency – increases with the increase in frequency
4. Shape of wire – less for stranded conductor than the solid conductor
5. The skin effect depends upon the following factors:
6. Diameter of wire – increases with the diameter of wire
7. Frequency – increases with the increase in frequency
8. Shape of wire – less for stranded conductor than the solid conductor.

 Skin effect is negligible when the supply frequency is low and the diameter of the
conductor is small.
Proximity Effect
 Non-uniformity of current in the cross-section of the conductor is also observed in the case
of proximity effect, and is similar to that of skin effect.
 The alternating magnetic flux in a conductor caused by the current flowing in a
neighboring conductor gives rise to circulating currents, which cause an apparent increase
in the resistance of a conductor.
 This phenomenon is called the proximity effect.

 Cause of Proximity Effect

 Let us assume that two conductors A and B are
placed closer to each other. When current passes
through conductor A, a flux is produced around it.
 A fraction or even the whole of this generated flux
links with the conductor B, which is near conductor
A.
 The shaded portion of the conductor, shown in Fig.,
is the part of the conductor which has more flux
than the other part.
Proximity Effect
 In other words, the additional lines of flux in a two-wire system link elements otherwise
situated far apart than the elements nearer each other.
 Therefore, the inductance of the elements farther apart is more as compared to the elements
nearer to each other, and the current density is less in the elements farther apart, than in the
elements situated near each other.
 The effective resistance is, therefore, increased due to non-uniform distribution of current. The
proximity effect can be influenced by the following factors:
 Size of the conductor
 Frequency of supply
 Resistivity of material
 Permeability of material
 Distance between the conductors

 The proximity effect is noticeable in case of cables where the distance between the conductors
is small, whereas for overload lines with usual spacing the proximity effect is negligibly small..
Spirality Effect
 This effect tends to increase both the resistance and internal reactance of a stranded
conductor. The magnitude of the effect depends on the size and method of construction of
the conductor (i.e., solid, stranded or hollow conductor).
 But this effect at normal supply frequencies is very less and can be ignored in nonmagnetic
conductors.

Home work:2
Test Question: Why are skin and proximity effects neglected in
DC transmission?