ABOUT THE MECHANISM OF TONAL EMISSION FROM HIGH

VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINES

U Straumann
1
and M Semmler
2
High Voltage Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, CH-8092 Zurich,
Switzerland
1
straumann@eeh.ee.ethz.ch,
2
msemmler@eeh.ee.ethz.ch
ABSTRACT
It has been discussed whether tonal noise emitted
from overhead high voltage transmission lines during
and after precipitation originates from corona
discharges and ion clouds or from oscillating drops
acting as acoustical membranes. Here, new insights
are added, both theoretically and experimentally,
which support a discharge mechanism. Tonal noise is
emitted not only from wetted conductors with drops
deformed by the electric field, but from conductors
with rigid protrusions, too. The role of periodically
deformed drops for the origin of tonal noise is
reduced to providing sources of charge injection.
Relatively symmetrical discharge currents feed ion
clouds that surround the conductor and induce density
fluctuations through thermal expansion by energy
transfer by collisions. For such processes sound
pressure levels of tonal noise have been calculated on
the basis of a physical model. Calculations and
experimental results are in fairly good agreement.
INTRODUCTION
Tonal noise is the low frequency humming part at
twice mains frequency (2f) of what is generally
referred to as audible noise of high voltage overhead
transmission lines [1]. At the time when research on
audible noise was started, the origin of tonal noise
was attributed to switchyard and transformer noise
[2]. Focus was on the hissing noise at high
frequencies. Several formulas have been developed to
predict this type of audible noise (see [3] for a
summary). Voices that argued that tonal noise should
be included in annoyance levels were rare [4], and
only after recent complaints by residents attention to
tonal noise has increased [5]. Todays experience
shows that tonal noise becomes unacceptable when
the conductor is wetted by foul weather, an
observation that is in common with that of hissing
noise. While high frequency noise has been
successfully linked to discharge activities during the
positive half-cycle [6], the origin of tonal noise has
been recently discussed controversially.
Oscillatory movement of ionic space charges created
during both half-cycles of the voltage are thought to
transfer energy to air molecules through collisions and
thus give rise to tonal noise emissions [1]. When
attempts to measure such space charges failed, it has
been assumed that the vibrating drops in the AC field
would act as oscillating membranes, thereby emitting
tonal noise [5]. This idea is supported by the
interpretation of an experiment where the freezing of
water drops led to a sharp decrease of tonal noise
emissions [7]. We have revisited the problem and
found clear evidence for a discharge mechanism with
ionic space charges. The physics behind is similar to
that of acoustical emissions from a plasma [8], [9]. To
the authors best knowledge the first application of
this model to tonal noise from overhead high voltage
transmission lines is presented.
LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS

Experimental setup
The general technical description can be kept short
since details of the laboratory equipment are found in
ref. [5]. In brief, a single-phase model line with
tubular conductors (diameter 2 cm) has been set up
with a conductor-ground distance of 78 cm. This
results in electric field strengths on the surface of less
than 20 kV
rms
/cm at an applied voltage of 100 kV
rms
.
Diagnostics include sound pressure level L
p
(r)
detection with third-octave band filter, PD emission
displayed against AC waveform, the overall current
i(t) flowing to the conductor which is measured with a
shunt at high voltage and transferred via opto-link to
an oscilloscope, recording of the applied voltage u(t),
and VIS to near UV light detection against AC
waveform by a photomultiplier tube with signals fed
into the PD measurement device.
For the purpose of revealing the origin of tonal noise
the following model conductors have been used:
Tubular Al-conductors (cleaned with ethanol, no
further treatment) have been exposed to fine spray of
water (rain rate: 100 mm/h) for at least 10 minutes to
establish a dynamical equilibrium of droplets residing
on the surface. Drops are bimodally size-distributed.
The large drop fraction (av. diameter ~5 mm) is the
important fraction for tonal noise emission due to the
stronger deformation in the electric field as compared
to the smaller drops.
Inspired by natural drop sizes and shapes we have
further prepared conductors with metallic protrusions
in two variations: Firstly, a brass conductor with spiky
protrusions (av. length: 4.6 mm) made of solder and
orientated towards the ground. An overall number of
54 protrusions have been lined up in a single row but
statistically spaced on a total length of 48 cm.
Secondly, regular Al cones (height: 2.9 mm), where
the tip has been abraded to become spherical with a
radius of about 0.70.2 mm. The conical Al-tips are
placed uniformly spaced 2 cm from each other along
two lines, 22 tips each on opposite sides of the
conductor (top and underside).

Tonal noise emissions
All three model conductors give rise to pronounced
tonal noise ( ) ~15 dB above the background
level (noise emitted by the transformer when operated
at 100 kV with a dry untreated Al-conductor) at 1.2 m
distance from the source. Conductors with protrusions
are rigid, so that a mechanical origin of the emitted
tonal noise is impossible. The noise must have its
origin in the gas phase that surrounds the conductor.
Figure 1

10 31.5 100 315 1k 3.15k 10k
10
20
30
40
50
Third-Octave / Hz
S
o
u
n
d

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

l
e
v
e
l

/

d
B
Figure 1: Noise frequency spectra in third-octaves
emitted from different sources: Brass conductor with
spiky protrusions (solid line); conductor with conical
Al-tips (dashed-dotted line); conductor of untreated
aluminium under continuous rain (dashed line);
transformer only (dotted line).
Differences in the spectrum are observed at higher
frequencies. L
p
is largest for the Al-conductor with
heavy rain, while for the spiky protrusion conductor
there is no hissing noise. This shows that both
phenomena, hum and hiss, are to a certain extent
decoupled. The mechanism that is known to produce
the hissing noise [6] does not apply to tonal noise.

Overall Current
The overall current i(t) flowing to the conductor
consists of a displacement current and a current due to
charge carriers i
c
(t) (carrier current). Further, the latter
consists of pulsed injections of charges through PD
and the drift of these charges in the non-ionising field
afterwards.
An example of a measured overall current is given for
the spiky protrusion conductor in . Similar
findings for the conical protrusion conductor exist.
The striking feature of the overall current is its
symmetry with respect to both half-waves. The
question arising is: Which discharge mechanisms
contribute to this current? In one detects a
superimposed disturbance in the negative half-cycle
which is due to Trichel pulses. Burst pulses in the
positive half-cycle are not evident.
Figure 2
Figure 2

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

/

m
A
Time / ms
-200
-100
0
100
200
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

/

k
V
Figure 2: Overall current (distorted sine), 1
st
harmonic
(fundamental frequency) of the carrier current (dashed
line), and applied voltage (sine) of a spiky protrusion
conductor.
The displacement part of the overall current is
distorted from the ideal sine wave through
magnetically induced overtones of the transformer
that supplies the high voltage. The relative magnitude
of the largest disturbance, which in our case is the 5
th

overtone, is less than 8%. As the impedances in the
setup are mainly capacitive (both voltage divider and
model conductors), the impact of the disturbance on
the voltage signal is much smaller (factor 1/5 for the
5
th
overtone).
Because of the non-sinusoidal form of the
displacement current the exact form of the carrier
current cannot be extracted. However, the voltage u is
fairly sinusoidal, such that only the in-phase current
i
c1
contributes to the active power P. Therefore i
c1
, the
1
st
in-phase harmonic of the carrier current, may be
calculated by
( ) sin
2
) (
1
t P
u
t i
el
eff
c
= .
(1)
Since i
c1
is the sole component of i
c
which is known,
the sound emission model presented in this paper can
only be applied to acoustical emission at 2f.

Partial discharges and photonic emissions
Trichel-pulses in the negative half-cycle are
confirmed by partial discharge measurements. In the
positive half-cycle, however, there is not a single
partial discharge registered for the spiky protrusion
conductor ( , centre). On the other hand we
detect light emissions in both half-cycles ( ,
bottom). This finding points towards glow discharges
with slow dynamics that are not picked up by the PD
detector. The forward phase shift of the PD and
photonic emission with respect to the applied voltage
in is consistent with the assumption of the
Figure 3
Figure 3
Figure 3
The solution of (3) at distances r from the source is existence of a space charge of ions remaining from
the previous half-wave.
.
1
sin
) 1 (
4
1
2
2
r c
r
t H
c
p
o

|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|

(4)
Figure 3: Partial discharge (centre) and photo-
multiplier signal (bottom) against waveform (top) for
the spiky protrusion conductor.
With this the sound pressure level
[ ]
o p
p p L
10
log 20 =
(5)
(with p as the rms-value of p and Pa)
can be calculated.
5
10 2

=
o
p

Ions in the electric field
Neglecting diffusion and the effect of space charges
on the electrical field around the conductor, ions
emitted in one half-wave are reabsorbed again in the
next. In this case ions follow field lines, and as they
are not emitted at the beginning of the half wave, ions
have enough time to return to the initial point on the
conductor in the next half-wave with anti-parallel
field. The maximum distance ions drift in one half-
wave is for our setup with a potential of 100 kV
rms

and a typical ion mobility of 3 cm
2
/Vs estimated to
amount to 30 cm.

THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Considering this it has to be expected that the carrier
current transports the same amount of charge in every
half-wave. However, this does not yet explain the
symmetrical form shown in . Symmetry
demands charge injection of the same magnitude in
both half-waves.

Monopole and multipole sources
Calculations for drops of typical sizes (1-100 l)
acting as acoustical membranes reveal that the
acoustical power of oscillating drops is too low by
many orders of magnitude. Drops of this size are
much smaller than the wavelength of the acoustical
emission so that a multipole expansion is applicable.
Due to the incompressibility of water monopoles are
not existent. Analytical calculations for drops sitting
on an infinite plane show that for such tiny sources
and frequencies, multipole (higher than monopole)
emission is too inefficient to explain the measured
sound levels. Tonal noise as a foul weather
phenomenon, however, indicates that water drops
support the emission process. The role of drops is to
provide protrusions where discharges occur.
Figure 2
Because of these considerations one expects to have
relatively large ion concentrations within a tube of
30 cm radius around the conductor. In the non-
ionisation part of this cylinder (drift region) ions
scatter, mostly with neutrals which thereby gain
kinetic energy. It is well known that this energy is
practically completely transferred into a temperature
rise of the gas, rather than into directed kinetic energy
that is a macroscopic displacement of the barycentre
of the gas. This is correct as long as one does not
consider an (almost) completely ionized plasma. In
the ionization region energy is not a priori transferred
into heat, but as its contribution to the active power is
assumed to be relatively small, it can be neglected.
Therefore the potential energy ions possess due to the
electrical field is in good approximation completely
transferred to heating of the ambient gas.

Acoustic emission from a monopole heat source
For later uses the physics of acoustical emission of a
monopole heat source is sketched (for more details
see e.g. [ ). The inhomogeneous wave equation of
the sound pressure p for heat source densities per unit
volume
o
h, is
10]
The momentary active power p(t) which is introduced
into the gas by the 1
st
in-phase harmonic of the carrier
current is according to :
,
1 1
2
2
2 2
2
2 |
|
.
|

\
|

t
h
c
p p
t c
o


(2)
(2)
(1)
( ) . ) 2 cos( 1 ) ( t P t p
el
=
(6)
The constant term in (6) results in a continuous
heating of the gas which does not produce acoustical
emission. The gas in the cylindrical volume gets
warmer until the heat flux from the volume due to
heat conduction equilibrates the heating process by
the discharge current. In this balance the heat is
dissipated by heat conduction to the surroundings. As
the time constant of the cooling process of a cylinder
with 30 cm radius is much larger than the period T,
the cooling process can be regarded to be continuous.
where is the adiabatic exponent and c is the sound
velocity.
A single sinusoidal heat source
o
H that is confined to
a point at the origin ( is a monopole heat source
for which becomes
) 0 = x
r
( )
. ) ( ) sin(
1 1
2
2
2
2
x t H
c
p p t
c
o o
r

=
(3)
Here
o
H
o
is the amplitude of the overall heat which
flows into the gas and is the Dirac -function. ) (x
r

The second term in (6) is time-dependent and yields

the temperature and thus the volume fluctuations that
result in acoustical monopole sound emission. The
power equals the time derivative of the heat of (3), i.e.
( ) . ) 2 cos( t P H
el o t
=
(7)
(7)
Thus the power leads to expansion and contraction of
the volume with a frequency of 2f. The sound level is
obtained by combining , and to give (4) (5)
.
2
) 1 (
log 20
2
10 (

=
o
el
p
p
r
P
c
L

(8)

0 1 2 3 4 5
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
Distance / m
S
o
u
n
d

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

l
e
v
e
l

/

d
B
Measurement
Fit
Calculation
Figure 4: Measured absolute sound pressure levels as
a function of distance from the source, corresponding
theoretical prediction, and least square fits
[L
p
(r)=const.-log(r)] for the conductors with spiky
protrusions (full circles, solid lines) and conical
protrusions (open squares, dashed lines).
COMPARISON
The prediction of the sound level by (8) is compared
in Figure 4 to experimental results from both
protrusion conductors, where the measured sound
pressure level is given as a function of distance from
the source. Obviously the predictions are too low by
up to 6 dB. One possible reason for the difference is
the fact that the actual noise source is not a
mathematical point but an extended tube of a length
comparable with the distances chosen in the
measurement. Further the transformer of the high
voltage supply emits tonal noise, too, which can be
close to the signal level, in particular at larger
distances for the conical protrusion conductor which
has smaller overall noise levels.
For a first approach, a difference of a factor of 2 in the
sound pressure level seems acceptable, since the
power of the acoustical emission is more than 7 orders
of magnitude smaller than the electrical active power
input to the system.
CONCLUSION
Tonal emission from high voltage transmission lines,
which residents classify as a foul weather problem,
has been traced back to a discharge mechanism where
charges are injected into the air nearby. Water drops
on the conductors surface contribute thus to tonal
noise emissions only indirectly as sources of these
charge injections. Further work has to be directed
towards the discharge mechanism in order to improve
the physical model, which so far can predict the sound
pressure within a factor of 2. Complete understanding
of the mechanism shall eventually support efforts to
prevent tonal noise emission.
ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS
Financial support by EnBW Regional AG (D),
BUWAL (CH), Voralberger Illwerke AG (A),
Verbund-Austrian Power Grid GmbH, and PSEL
(CH) is greatfully acknowledged. The authors wish to
thank K. Heutschi of EMPA (CH) for advice on
acoustical problems and K. Frhlich, T.H. Teich and
H.J. Weber for comments and general support.
REFERENCES
[1] P. S. Maruvada, Corona performance of high-
voltage transmission lines, Research Studies
Press Ltd., Baldock, pp. 163-175, 2000.
[2] E.R Taylor Jr., V.L. Chartier, and D.N. Rice,
Audible noise and visual corona from HV and
EHV transmission lines and substation
conductors-laboratory tests, IEEE Trans. PAS,
Vol. 88, No. 5, pp. 666-679, 1969.
[3] IEEE Committee Report, A comparison of
methods for calculating audible noise of high
voltage transmission lines, IEEE Trans. PAS,
Vol. 101, No. 10, pp. 4090-4099, 1982.
[4] D.E.Perry, An analysis of transmission line
audible noise levels based upon field and three-
phase test line measurements, IEEE Trans.
PAS, Vol. 91, No. 3, pp. 857-865, 1972.
[5] T.H. Teich and H.J. Weber, Origin and
abatement of tonal emission from high voltage
transmission lines, Elektrotechnik und
Informationstechnik e&i, Vol. 119, No. 1, pp.
103-113, 2002.
[6] F. Ianna, G.L. Wilson, and D.J. Bosack,
Spectral characteristics of acoustic noise from
metallic protrusions and water droplets in high
electric fields, IEEE Trans. PAS, Vol. 93, No.
6, pp. 1787-1796, 1974.
[7] T.H. Teich, H.J. Weber, Tonal emission from
high voltage lines, Proc. of 14
th
Int. Conf. on
Gas Discharges and Their Appl., Liverpool, UK,
Vol. 1, pp. 259-262, 2002.
[8] U. Ingard, Acoustic wave generation and
amplification in a plasma, Phys. Rev., Vol. 145,
No. 1, pp. 41-46, 1966.
[9] F. Bastien, Acoustics and gas discharges:
applications to loudspeakers, J. Phys. D: Appl.
Phys., Vol. 20, No. 12, pp. 1547-1557, 1987.
[10] A.P. Dowling and J.E. Ffowcs Williams, Sound
and sources of sound, Ellis Horwood Ltd.,
Chichester, pp. 154-55, 1983.