Transmission and Distribution

AC TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION CABLES & OVERHEAD LINES
(S.R. JAVED AHMED)
CABLES & OH LINES JAVED
INTRODUCTION
Operation of any Electrical Power Transmission & Distribution (T&D) System is critically dependent, along with other things, on the characteristics & performance of Overhead & Cable circuits. Cables and Overhead circuits carry active & reactive power from source to the loads. Almost all faults in any power system occur in the T&D system circuits. It is therefore important to design the circuits and all associated components to minimize faults as well as carry necessary active & reactive power such that system Voltage is within the normal operation range at all times. Design of these circuits involves understanding of many aspects such as physical characteristics, electrical characteristics, safety, fault detection, method of construction, right of way, clearances and environmental issues etc. Electrically, AC T&D circuit parameters are represented as a complex system of series impedances &shunt admittances (i.e. R+jX and G+jB) for normal power frequency applications (e.g. 50Hz, 60Hz etc). For some other studies, another important parameter is also used which is the circuit surge impedances *Zs = (L/C)+. Different studies require these parameters representation to various degrees of details. For 3-phase AC circuits, it becomes easier to perform various calculations & studies (such as load flow, fault calculations, stability, voltage regulations etc) by representing electrical impedances & admittances as set of three symmetrical parameters namely positive, negative & zero sequence. At normal operation (Power frequency), these circuits are designed to meet continuous & short-time thermal capability of the main current carrying part (conductor) and the capability of dielectric (insulation) to withstand highest expected continuous & short-time voltages. These are dependent on the current flowing in the conductor as well as the Voltage distribution along it. Unbalanced load current flow as well as unbalanced construction of circuits, circuit shunt capacitance etc result in various stray currents (not intended) in unwanted loops (e.g. negative sequence currents, circulating currents, charging currents, zero-sequence currents in parallel metallic parts like sheath, shield, armor etc). These stray currents also produce heat as well as affect net circuit impedance distribution. Other effects such as heat generated by other parallel conductors, capability of media to dissipate circuit generated heat (conductors, sheath, shield, armor etc), ambient temperature, radio interference, solar radiation (UV), heat conduction/convection and other parallel metallic paths along the circuit affect this normal operation design (along with temperature rise permitted by the conductor continuously & during faults). These limitations restrict amount of current (power) the circuit can carry continuously and for emergency short time loading. Owing to shunt capacitance of the circuits in series with inductance (being opposite sign with each other), these circuits affect the voltage distribution along the length. These effects become more pronounced at higher voltages and at higher capacitance. With loads being inductive, the circuit capacitance results in rise of voltage (thus can be viewed as generating reactive VArs). Amount of charging currents may also restrict length of the circuit which occasionally exceeds the minimum fault current of the circuit (thus makes fault detection scheme more complicated). T&D circuits comprise of both Overhead & UG Cables. EHV & UHV system circuits are considerably longer and connect between major substations & power plants. These circuits are mostly OH type. Distribution circuits in cities as well as some rural areas may consists of UG or OH circuits depending on the local philosophies & practices among other things. Most cities however tends to migrate towards UGD (underground distribution) system with many Transformers and disconnect switches located underground (with some sort of access for O&M activities). OH circuits need to have more right of way & clearances and hence difficult in thickly populated areas to be routed.
Various regional & international standards specify minimum recommended clearances from live conductors to almost all objects & points of concern. Tall OH transmission structures near the aviation facilities are required to install warning means for both day & night air traffics. Both Cable & Overhead circuits additionally carry various surge waves (switching & lightning surges) which find their path on the circuit. Circuit dielectric shall withstand these surges. These surges shall be conducted over the circuit & diverted away by means of some surge conducting devices such that end circuit devices are not subjected to harmful effects of these surges. Overhead circuits are affected by phenomena like direct lightning strikes & as well as indirect effects of lighting. Lightning surges are common in Overhead lines. These surges are carried along the circuit as electromagnetic field waves. Some of these surges also make their way to cable circuits. Overhead circuits also are affected by other factors like wet (rain, fog), pollution (chemical, salt deposition) conditions, flora & fauna distribution along the path etc. Cable circuits may have inherently many parallel conducting & semiconducting paths along the current carrying conductor and require some way of protection to limit the effect of stray currents (during normal operation as well as faulted conditions). Impedances of these paths for flow of fault current as well as touch potential, duration of fault current flow affect the design of these parallel paths. Finally, cable & overhead circuits often have to meet the safety clearances with other systems which share or cross their path like piping systems, railways, roadways, marine shipping area, fishing area, buildings, water bodies, telecommunication system etc. More recent awareness of extra low frequency (50, 60 Hz) Electric field (V/m) and magnetic fields (T or mG) from power conductors [OH & UG] and aesthetic issues are affecting the route of the power circuits. Various regional statutory limits are imposed [which restricts type of circuit, voltage/current level etc]. UNDERGROUND & OVERHEAD CIRCUITS Underground (UG) cable circuits are used commonly in LV, MV & HV network systems. For long distance HV, EHV & UHV Overhead circuits are invariably used as the cost of UG cable, repair, restoration etc is difficult with distance. For urban thickly populated areas UG cable system is more common. Following are few differences between UG cable circuits and OH circuit: Inductive Reactance of an OH line is higher than that of UG cable of same capacity (ampere). Capacitive Reactance of an UG cable is much higher than that of an OH circuit. Typical Inductance (L) of an OH line is about 3 times that of an UG cable. While the capacitance (C) of an UG cable may be few tens of the OH line. OH lines are usually with bare conductors (other than covered OH lines). Due to absence of insulation material on bare conductor, ampacity of OH conductor (ignoring other loading factors) is dependent on the conduction capacity of conductor. However, in case of an UG cable thermal load is limited due to dielectric life. Life span of an average OH line is 50-60years as compared with 35-50years for UG cables. UG cable circuits since are hidden from normal view (i.e. OH lines are classified as normally accessible) results in accidental damages due to digging. Cost of repair is higher with UG cable and fault detection also difficult.
UG cables are rated for a particular voltage level and power transfer. OH conductors can be used with different voltage levels and hence result in up-rating of capacity. OH line conductor (and hardware at the poles) has to support itself due to its weight & weather loadings (wind, snow, ice etc). OH line is subjected to direct lighting hits and conductors interfere with vegetation, birds, and animals more often. Cost of an UG circuit is very high in case of HV circuits. UG cables cost becomes less high at LV & MV levels in distribution networks (i.e. cost difference between UG & OH circuits reduces drastically with voltage level). Safety clearances for an OH line shall be considered with respect to many crossing & proximity. Accidental injury/death due to electrocution is more common in OH distribution networks (by accidental contact, broken line/structure, tall vehicles/part touching the conductors etc).
IEEE/ANSI Std RUS recommended clearances are indicated below in tables 4.1 & 4.2.
Table- 4.1
Table-4.2
10
11
CONDUCTORS Power Conductor forms main path of power flow in case of cables as well as overhead circuits. These are mostly made of copper & aluminum of various sizes. At Power frequency, electric currents flow in the conductor but tend to be distributed away from the center of conductor. Hence, effective AC resistance of conductor can be viewed as higher than the DC resistance (due to total losses per unit length). This effect is called the skin effect. Conductors may be stranded, solid, hollow type. In case of overhead lines conductors are also made of combination of different material conductor strands (e.g. ACSR, ACAR etc). These are designed in view of physical strength as well as current carrying capacity. Some other factors which affect EHV conductors like corona, inductance, skin effect etc have resulted in various configuration of a number of conductors as bundle phase conductors. OH CIRCUIT CONDUCTOR Most of the OH circuit conductors are bare. However, depending on weather to prevent corrosion effects, reduce fatalities to animals/birds, tree touching etc often covered conductors are used. Covered conductors are available and in use extensively in LV systems (under 1000V). MV covered conductors are commonly used in OH distribution networks between 10-33kV. HV covered conductors are used up to 132kV. Covered conductors span weight increases and require shorter span for same hardware used with bare conductors. They cost 1020% higher than bare conductors. They increase wind/ice/snow loading. But have many advantages mentioned above with increased safety. Covered conductors traditionally were PVC/HDPE covered. Presently XLPE insulation is used with thickness of 23mm. HV covered conductors have additional layers of semiconducting insulation and outer UV resistant insulation. Various improvements are made to reduce failures of covered conductor insulation. OH circuit conductors are made of Copper, Aluminum and some alloys. This is based on the conduction capacity & mechanical strength. Most commonly used conductor materials are: Copper (Hard drawn) Cadmium Copper Alloy Aluminum Aluminum-Magnesium-Silicon Alloy Galvanized Steel Aluminum clad steel Type of Conductor used depends on combination of its conduction property as well as mechanical strength (since it has to support itself against normal forces such as gravity & wind as well as forces during high currents). Thus OH circuit conductors are classified as two types: 1. 2. Bare Conductors Covered Conductors
12
Some of the bare conductors used with OH circuits are: AAC All Aluminum Conductors ASC Aluminum Stranded Conductors AAAC All Aluminum Alloy Conductors ACSR Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced AACSR Aluminum Alloy Conductor Steel Reinforced ACAR Aluminum Conductor Alloy Reinforced ACSS Aluminum Conductor coated Steel Supported BCC Bare Copper Conductors (HD copper Hard drawn copper, Cadmium copper) ACSR & AAAC are often compacted. Some of the Covered Conductors used with OH circuits are: BLX These are black colored XLPE insulation with triple extrusion CC These conductors have 2mm XLPE thickness SAX- These conductors have 2.5-3mm XLPE thickness and are normally used with 20kV distribution CCT - These conductors have 2.3mm XLPE thickness PAS- These conductors have 2.5-3mm XLPE thickness In distribution OH circuits, covered LV & MV cables are used which may be covered & or insulated depending on the local practice. LV & MV Distribution systems also use OH circuits which has insulation: ABC Aerial Bundled Conductors - LV/MV Aerial bundled distribution cables PVC/EPR/PE/HDPE/XLPE insulated Aluminum/Copper for OH distribution (rural/urban) with or without neutral messenger [Single core or multi-core] Dual purpose Underground & Overhead distribution cables (LV & MV) with PVC/EPR/PE/HDPE/XPLE/PVC insulation [Single core or multi-core] Often HV, MV & MV Transmission & Distribution system OH circuits will have weather-proof covering made of PE/HDPE/XLPE material. These coverings are not intended to provide the insulation requirement. Hence these circuits are required to have separate insulators.
13
Conductor life depends on fatigue (due to constant movements at the location of support due to various reasons such as wind etc), creep (inelastic extension of material under stress) & corrosion effects. Often conductor and steel strands are greased to prevent corrosion. Salt corrosion is another factor affecting the conductors in marine area. Other factors like pollution affects the conductor life. CABLE CIRCUIT CONDUCTOR Conductors in case of Underground or submarine (subsea) cables are usually made of stranded copper or aluminum. Cable size and other parameters are based on the ampacity as well as installation (bending radius, working separation, numbers of cores etc). Submarine cables are normally single core type due to handling and maintenance reasons installed with sufficient space between phases [occasionally four single cores are installed to accommodate contingency in case of fault with any one core]. Insulation is usually XLPE, other types like LP/HP oil filled, Gas pressured are also used.
14
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM:
15
Conductor Electrical Parameters: Value of AC conductor resistance is always indicated more than its DC resistance due to Skin effect (where power frequency current tends to concentrate away from the center of conductor). Inductive & Capacitive Reactance of an OH conductor depends on many factors such as the Conductor diameter, phase separation, height of the conductor above the ground plane, soil resistivity etc. Therefore, it is based on the line design. At power frequency, the Inductive reactance is considered to be made up of two components. These are due to magnetic flux from within the conductor itself up to 0.3m radius and second component is due to the magnetic flux from 0.3m radius up to the center of return conductor. Similarly, capacitive reactance is also considered to be made up of two components (one out of 0.3m radius & another with respect to distance of return conductor).
16
OH DETAILS OF SOME CONDUCTORS
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM CIRCUITS
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
OH LINE PARAMETERS:
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
OH CONDUCTOR FAILURE:
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367

Transmission and Distribution

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Transmission and Distribution

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

AC TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION CABLES & OVERHEAD LINES

(S.R. JAVED AHMED)

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

OH DETAILS OF SOME CONDUCTORS

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED

CABLES & OH LINES JAVED