Introduction to Distribution Systems

1
1.0 Introduction
Power systems are comprised of 3 basic electrical subsystems.
Generation subsystem
Transmission subsystem
Distribution subsystem
The sub transmission system is also sometimes designated to indicate the
portion of the overall system that interconnects the EH and H
transmission system to the distribution system.
!e distinguish between these various portions of the power system by
voltage levels as follows"
Generation" 1#$3% #
EH Transmission" &%%#$'(&#
H Transmission" )3%#$3*&#
+ub transmission system" (,#$1(,#
Distribution system" 1)%$3&#
-ur focus in this course is on the distribution system. .bout *%/ of power
system investment is in the distribution system e0uipment 1*%/ in
generation2 )%/ in transmission3.
)
The distribution system may also be divided into three distinct subsystems.
Distribution substation
Primary distribution system
+econdary distribution system
The remainder of this introduction will focus on each of these three
subsystems.
1.1 Distribution substations
The distribution substation receives power from one or
more transmission or subtransmission lines at the
corresponding transmission or subtransmission voltage
level and provides that power to one or more distribution
feeders that originate in the substation and comprise the
primary networ#. 4ost feeders emanate radially from the
substation to supply the load.
There are five main functions of the distribution substation"
1. Voltage transformation: -ne or more
transformers will always be located within the substation
to step down the voltage to the primary distribution
voltage level. These transformers will always be three$
phase ban#s2 or they will be three single$phase ban#s
connected in a three$phase configuration. The standard
primary distribution voltage levels include *.1(#2
'.)#2 1).*'#2 13.)#2 1*.*#2 )3.,#2 and 3*.&#.
3
). Switching and protection: Different #inds
of switchgear will be located at the substation2 including
the following"
a.Switches: devices that can carry and interrupt
normal load current and thus disconnect portions of
the networ#.
b. Circuit breakers: devices that can carry
and interrupt normal load current2 li#e switches5 in
addition2 they interrupt short$circuit 1fault3 current.
6ircuit brea#ers are always paired with a relay which
senses short$circuit condition using potential
transformers 1PTs3 and current transformers 16Ts3.
c.eclosers: devices similar in function to circuit
brea#ers2 e7cept they also have the ability to reclose
after opening2 open again2 and reclose again2 repeating
this cycle a predetermined number of times until they
loc#out.
d. !uses: devices that can carry a defined load
current without deterioration and interrupt a defined
short$circuit current.
6ircuit brea#ers2 8eclosers2 and fuses are protection
devices. -ften2 switches are used on the high side of the
transformer2 and protection devices are used on the low
side2 but substations supplying large amounts of load
may have protection devices on both sides of the
transformer. +pecial substation designs to achieve high
reliability may utili9e multiple circuit brea#ers2 as shown
in :ig. 1. ;ess e7pensive designs may use protection
only in series with the feeders2 as shown in :ig. ). <n
*
these figures2 switches and circuit brea#ers are normally
closed unless there is a =>.-.? 1normally open3 indicated
beside it. The :ig. 1 design provides that all feeders can
remain supplied for a transformer outage 1caused by
maintenance or fault3 or a sub transmission line outage.
The low voltage brea#er scheme of :ig. 1 is called
=brea#er and a half? because it re0uires 3 brea#ers to
protect ) feeders.
3. Voltage regulation: @ecause current I flows
from source to load along the length of the feeder2 and
because the feeder has some amount of impedance per
unit length Z2 the feeder will cause a voltage drop IZ
volts per unit length. Thus2 loads connected along the
length of the feeder will see different voltage levels with
the load at the far$end of the feeder seeing the lowest
voltage of all. This is illustrated by the solid line in :ig.
3. >ote that this line indicates the voltage at the
substation end of the feeder is 1.%)pu. However2 the
voltage at feeder far$end is about %.,'pu 1residential
&
customers would be seeing about 11( volts instead of
1)%3. <f the load were to increase2 the far$end voltage
would drop to an even lower value. .s a result2 we must
regulate the voltage along the feeder as the load varies.
!ays to do this include substation load tap$changing
transformers 1;T6s32 substation feeder or bus voltage
regulators 1employed in :ig. 332 line voltage regulators2
and fi7ed or switched shunt capacitors.
:ig. 3" <llustration of feeder load variation
*. "etering: 4ost substations do have some sort of
metering device that records2 at a minimum2 e7isting
current and current ma7 and min that have occurred in
the last time period 1e.g.2 1 hour3. Digital recording is
also heavily used and capable of recording a large
amount of substation operational information.
(
4ost distribution substations carry between & and (% 4..
1.# $rimary Distribution
The primary distribution system consists of the feeders
emanating from the substation and supplying power to 1 or
more secondary distribution systems. +uch feeders are
usually 3$phase circuits.
:eeders are almost always radial from substation to loads
1i.e.2 one way flow of power3 in rural areas2 usually radial
in residential neighborhoods2 and they are often radial even
in urban areas. <n densely populated urban areas2
particularly commercial and business districts where
reliability is critical2 feeders may be looped. The prices to
pay for such a reliability benefit are as follows"
Protection is more costly since a given fault on the loop
will re0uire at least two protective devices to operate2
and to obtain the reliability benefits2 multiple switching
devices must be installed along the feeder.
The fault currents tend to be lower2 closer to normal load
currents2 and therefore there is less margin between
brea#er trip current and normal load current.
oltage control is comple7 since there are ) control
points.
-ne way to obtain the reliability benefit of a looped
configuration while avoiding some of the above difficulties
is to operate a looped configuration in open$loop2 i.e.2
employ a normally open switch mid$way in the loop. Then
when the loop is faulted2 the normally open switch can be
'
closed while a switch Aust downstream of the fault can be
opened2 and all of the de$energi9ed loop up to the
downstream switch can be supplied. This is illustrated in
:ig. *.
:ig. *" >ormally open looped system
.s indicated previously2 the standard primary distribution
voltage levels include *.1(#2 '.)#2 1).*'#2 13.)#2
1*.*#2 )3.,#2 and 3*.&#.
However2 e0uipment is specified in terms of voltage class.
E0uipment of one voltage class may be utili9ed in at any
operating voltage assigned to that class. :or e7ample2 an
insulator of voltage class 1& # may utili9ed in a 1).*'#2
13.)#2 and 13.B# system. There are four maAor
distribution$level voltage classes" &#2 1&#2 )&#2 and
3&#. The 1&# voltage class is the most prevalent.
>orth .merican utilities have been gradually increasing the
percentage of distribution primaries at the higher voltage
B
range2 mainly because it allows for greater power carrying
capability using less current. <n addition to the increased
capacity2 higher voltage also results in
;ess voltage drop
Decreased losses
.bility to operate over greater distances2 thus decreasing
the number of substations re0uired to serve a given area.
-ne disadvantage of the greater reach is that it tends to
result in more customer interruptions due to the greater
number of customers per protected circuit.
Typical feeder mains are between 1$1& miles in length.
1.% Secondary Distribution
@ranching from the main feeder are laterals2 also referred to
in the industry as taps or branches. The laterals may be
three$phase2 two$phase 1two phases of the three$phase
feeder with a neutral32 or single$phase 1one phase from the
single phase feeder and a neutral3. The laterals are usually
protected with fuses so that faulted laterals do not cause
interruption at the feeder level.
+tandard secondary voltage levels are
1)%C)*% single phase
1)%C)%B 3 phase
)''C*B% 3 phase
,
The 1)%C)*% configuration is obtained from the low$side of
a HC)*% volt transformer2 where H is the rated voltage
on the high voltage side2 and the )*% is the rated voltage on
the low voltage side. Then a center tap is connected to the
low voltage winding and grounded along with the low side
of the primary winding. This provides three wires on the
low voltage side. -ne is D1)%2 one is $1)%2 and one 1the
center tap3 is %. Thus2 two are =hot2? one is ground
1neutral3. The )*% connection is obtained by connecting
across the two hot wires. The 1)% connection is obtained
by connecting from either hot wire to the neutral wire.
1.& Some other essential e'uipment
+ome other essential e0uipment not yet mentioned
includes"
;ightning arrestors
<nsulators
!ood poles
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