EET 2026 Power Transmission and Distribution Chapter 1 Introduction and Basic Concepts

Chapter 1 Introduction and Basic Concepts 1.1 Transmission and distribution voltage levels An electric power system, in general, includes a generating system, a transmission and distribution system, and loads. Transmission and distribution system is an important connecting link between the bulk power generating stations and the load centers. Generation plants are normally located in a place where the resources are available to generate power economically. The recent trend in power system practice is to locate the generation plants away from the heavily populated areas. The generated power is then transmitted to the general area of use by transmission lines and distribution networks. Bulk power transmission is made of a high voltage network, generally 110 765 kV ac. It is a well-known fact that higher the voltage level of a transmission line, lower is the transmission power loss. However, the voltage limits for the transmission line voltages are set by insulation and protective devices. The standard transmission line voltages depend upon the country and they are: 765, 550, 500, 400, 345, 275, 230, 169, 145, 132, 110 kV The sub-transmission refers to a lower voltage network normally 33 110 kV. Here in our discussion, we refer to both transmission and sub-transmission networks as transmission system. The voltages in the range of 345 765 kV are classified as extra high voltage (EHV). The voltages above 765 kV are considered as ultra high voltages (UHV). Currently, the UHV systems, at 1000-, 1500-, 2250- kV voltage levels are in research stage. Point to point transmission is, some time, preferred by HVDC. The voltage levels used for HVDC power transmission are: 250 kV, 400 kV, 500 kV and 550 kV. Higher dc voltages are being planned. Distribution system is the connecting link between the transmission system or subtransmission system and the loads. The major investment in the power system has been in the generating sector, with distribution system a close second. Also, the major operation and maintenance expense has been in the generating sector, followed by the one for the distribution sector. Thus the economic importance of the distribution system is very high. Further more, the distribution being the system close to the consumer, it plays a significant role in providing good quality and cost effective power supply. Thus, the economical and technical importance of the distribution system dictates careful planning, design, construction, and operation. Distribution level voltages are: 11kV, 6.6 kV, 4.16 kV, 415/400 V, 240/230 V single phase and in USA 110 V single phase.

Prof. K. Ramar

EET 2026 Power Transmission and Distribution Chapter 1 Introduction and Basic Concepts

1.2 Overhead and Underground systems The power transfer in transmission and distribution systems may be using overhead transmission lines or underground cables. Most of the transmission systems use overhead lines, but the power distribution within the city or crowded places is done using underground cables. Less than one percent of the total transmission lines are placed underground. Although underground ac transmission would present a solution to the environmental and aesthetic problems involved in overhead lines, there are technical and economical reasons that make the use of underground ac transmission prohibitive. For low voltage distribution applications there are no technical problems in using cables. The aesthetic and safety requirements override the economical considerations in most of the distribution systems and hence the underground cables are invariably used. Overhead transmission line construction is much less expensive than underground transmission. Bare wires are used in overhead lines with insulation employed at the points that the wire is supported. Wood or galvanized steel towers are used to support the conductors. The insulators at the conductor support points are usually ball and socket porcelain or fiberglass rods covered with skirts made of a compound similar to silicon rubber. Lines are well protected against lightning with lightning arresters and shield wires. Bundled conductors are used for 230 kV and above to reduce line reactance and corona effects. But bundled conductors must be supported better, at a higher cost, than single conductor line. There is a trade off between the line losses and the cost of constructing the line. Lowering the I2R losses usually means larger conductors at higher voltage operation. This increases the cost of conductors and supporting tower cost. Thus, the reduction in line loss must be carefully weighed against increased cost. Obtaining right of way for the transmission line construction is another important problem. This fact also should be taken into consideration while planning transmission line. Two overhead transmission lines are shown in Fig.1. Underground lines are most commonly used to feed urban substations in high load density areas. The highest underground transmission line voltage is 525 kV. Since the cost of an underground line is 9 to 15 times the cost of an overhead line they are installed only when they offer a clear advantage or there is no alternative. The reasons for the high cost are: EHV insulation is expensive. The cables must be installed in pipes made of steel or bronze which is costly. Proper cooling with oil circulation is required. Difficult to locate the fault and expensive to repair. The cables are constructed with oil impregnated paper insulation in many layers. The cable has a spiral metal wire wound around the outside of the insulation to prevent damage to the cables while laying. The entire cable is covered with a thin lead sheath that keeps the oil impregnation in the insulation. After the cable is installed, the pipe is filled with oil. The oil is pumped through the pipe to cool as well as insulate the cable. The oil circulation system includes pumps, filters and oil tanks. Sulpher hexaflouride (SF6) is some times used to insulate underground transmission cables. The popularity of
Prof. K. Ramar

EET 2026 Power Transmission and Distribution Chapter 1 Introduction and Basic Concepts

SF6 is increasing because of its simplicity. The underground transmission lines are more reliable if properly installed. A typical three-phase underground cable is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 1 Overhead transmission lines

Fig. 2 A typical three-phase underground cable

Prof. K. Ramar

EET 2026 Power Transmission and Distribution Chapter 1 Introduction and Basic Concepts

1.3 Conductor and insulator types Conductors In the early days, copper conductors were usually used, but aluminum conductors have almost replaced copper for overhead lines because of low cost and lightweight compared to copper of same resistance. Also, because of the higher size of the aluminum conductor, the corona effect is reduced. The conductors used in modern overhead power transmission lines are bare aluminum conductors, which are classified as follows: AAC all aluminum conductor AAAC all-aluminum-alloy conductor ACSR aluminum conductor steel reinforced ACAR aluminum conductor alloy reinforced Alternate layers of wire of a stranded conductor are spiraled in opposite direction to prevent unwinding and to make the outer radius of one layer coincide with inner radius of the next layer. (Refer to Fig. 3)

Fig. 3 Spiraling of ACSR conductor Stranded conductors provide flexibility to handle. The normal number of strands used is 7, 19, 37, 61, 91 or more. An ACSR stranded conductor is shown in Fig. 4. It has 7 steel strands forming a central core and 24 aluminum strands. It is usually specified as 24Al/7S or in short as 24/7.

Fig. 4 Cross section of ACSR, 7 steel strands and 24 aluminum strands A type of conductor known as expanded ACSR has filler such as paper separating the inner steel strands from the outer aluminum strands. This type of conductor is used for EHV lines. For voltage above 230 kV bundled conductors are used.
Prof. K. Ramar

EET 2026 Power Transmission and Distribution Chapter 1 Introduction and Basic Concepts

Insulators There are two basic types of insulators used in overhead transmission line to insulate the bare conductors from the towers. They are pin type and suspension type and are shown in Fig. 5.

(a)

(b) Fig. 5 (a) Pin-type insulators (b) Suspension-type insulator

In pin type insulators, the conductors are supported on the top of the insulator. This type is used for lines up to 33 kV. Suspension type insulators consist of a string of interlinking separate discs made of glass or porcelain. A string may consist of many discs depending upon the line voltage; for 400 kV lines, 19 discs of overall length 3.84 m are used. The conductor is held at the bottom of the string, which is suspended from the tower. 1.4 HVAC transmission Most of the bulk power transmission is done by High voltage AC. Higher the voltage larger the amount of power that could be transmitted with minimum power loss. We know that for a particular amount of power the current through the line is less if the voltage is higher and therefore the power loss in the line is small. At present the highest voltage used for power transmission is 765 kV. The highest voltage that could be used is limited mainly by insulation technology. In our studies we shall mainly concentrate of HVAC. 1.5 Introduction to HVDC transmission HVDC transmission originated in Germany during the second word war and its use has grown steadily ever since. The growth was accelerated at the advent of high voltage and high current SCRs. The invention of effective dc air blast and SF6 circuit breakers and lightning arresters also did much to encourage the use of HVDC transmission. Today there are over 40 HVDC lines throughout the world as high capacity long haul lines or asynchronous ties between systems.

Prof. K. Ramar

EET 2026 Power Transmission and Distribution Chapter 1 Introduction and Basic Concepts

HVDC lines have lower line losses (about two-third) than the HV ac lines. Both ac and dc lines of same voltage level have the same transmission capability and can transmit the same amount of power. However, the dc line has two conductors rather than three in the case of ac line and thus requires two-thirds as many insulators. Therefore, the required towers and right-of-way are narrower in the dc line than the ac line. Also the power losses due to corona phenomena are smaller for dc than that for ac lines. Underground cables used for ac transmission can also be used for dc and they can normally carry more dc power than ac due to the absence of capacitive charging current and better utilization of insulation and less dielectric wear. The major advantages of dc transmission can be summarized as: If the cost of converter station is excluded, the dc overhead lines and cables are less expensive than ac lines and cables. A dc link is asynchronous. The corona loss and radio interference are less. For dc line, reactive power compensation is not needed. However, reactive power support will be required at both ends as explained later. The line length is not restricted by stability. The interconnection of two separate ac systems via a dc link does not increase the short-circuit capacity, and thus the circuit breaker ratings of either system. The dc line loss is smaller than for the comparable ac line. The major disadvantages are: The converters generate harmonic voltages and currents on both dc and ac sides and therefore filters are needed. The converter consumes reactive power. The dc converter stations are expensive. The dc circuit breakers are difficult to design.

HVDC converters use three-phase full controlled bridges to convert ac to dc and vice versa. Both 6-pulse and 12-pulse converters are used. Using 12-pulse converter produces smooth dc with fewer harmonics. The converter output voltage is adjusted by SCR gate firing control. The dc converters require a lot of reactive power (about 40 to 60% of power transferred). Since the ac to dc converter can send only real power, the reactive power support must come from the input ac source. Shunt capacitor banks and harmonic filters provide much of the VAR requirement. At the dc to ac converter (inverter) end the VAR requirement is met from the ac system they supply. Again capacitors and ac filters supply much of the VAR support. 1.6 Superconductors Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by Dutch scientist Heike Onnes. Superconducting materials lose all resistance and exclude external magnetic fields when they become superconducting. The temperature at which they become superconducting is known as transition or critical temperature Tc. At temperature above Tc the resistance of the material is not zero. In like manner the magnetic field strength at which a superconducting material loses its superconductivity is the critical field. A useful superconductor has a high critical temperature and field. In January 1987
Prof. K. Ramar

EET 2026 Power Transmission and Distribution Chapter 1 Introduction and Basic Concepts

superconductivity critical temperature of a compound of yttrium, barium, and copper oxide was found to be about 90o K. This is above the temperature of liquid nitrogen, which boils at 77o K. Higher critical temperatures have been reported, but have not been reliably reproduced yet. The new superconducting compounds are brittle, but have been drawn into fine wires. Superconducting materials found so far show promise for electronic devices. Much work remains to be done before they can be used for superconducting transmission lines. Short experimental superconducting lines have been built and operated, but have not yet been shown to be economical.

Prof. K. Ramar