Electrical Design Department

SJVN LTD
Electrical Design Department

Fire Fighting Equipment Selection & Planning

for proposed expansion Works at NJHPS for
420KV Bus Reactor (80 Mvar) and 25MVA,
420/22KV Station Supply Transformer .

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 Electrical Design Department

Introduction:-
NJHPS site has initiated a proposal to install one no 25MVA, 420/22KV Station
Supply Transformer along with the 22KV system to strengthen & derived a
reliable supply from 420KV BUS. This supply shall be extended/supplied upto
Nathpa BTRDT & Rampur HEP. The proposal was also sent to CEA for
appraisal and they have accorded the approval to proposal .This will require an
expansion of existing facility by utilising one of the future bays available at GIS-II.
It is to mention here that multiple failures have been taken place in the 420KV
GIS at NJHPS in year 2009-10. The CB failure events were discussed at NRPC
forum by special Sub Group which was formed to deliberate/discuss the issue.
During deliberation it was felt that Bus reactor of appropriate rating (80 Mvar
capacity) shall be installed at 420KV NJHPS bus to mitigate the occurrence of
overvoltage phenomenon during every lean season (less flow) in NJHPS area.

If one no Bus Reactor is supposed to be installed at Pot Head Yard of NJHPS,

This will require an expansion of existing facility by utilising one of the future bays
available at GIS-II.

In view of above mention fact, it is evident that the two future bays envisaged in
GIS-II shall need to be utilised for installation of 420KV Bus Reactor (80Mvar)
and 25MVA, 420/22KV Station Supply transformer along with 22KV HT board,
cabling etc. Thereby both the future bays will be utilised to realise the above
mentions expansions schemes.

Selection of Fire Protection System for Reactor & Transformer

We had to accommodate the present expansion proposals into the earmarked
spaces of original scheme & it was decided to install the Reactor & Transformer
at EL 1166M/1167M i.e. Bottom benches of PHY in extreme right in front of GIS-
II building.

Expansion work for both Bus Reactor as well as Station supply transformer will
involve the installation of the Fire Protection system.
The following options are available for installation of the Fire Protection System :

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 Electrical Design Department

A) Automatic High Velocity Water spray system for Transformers( Water

supply system using gravity):-
This system shall automatically detect, control and extinguish any outbreak of fire
and simultaneously give audible alarm. This system shall be controlled by Deluge
Valve Hydraulically actuated by quartzoid bulb heat detectors mounted on the
water detection circuit.The pressure in the water circuit for both transformer as
well as reactor shall be maintained by a common header.The water for this
common header shall be supplied by gravity from One no. water storage tank of
adequate capacity located at BVH (EL- 1273 ).

Merits:-

1. More Reliable

2. Least Auxiliaries required.

3. Least Running Cost

4. Less space requirement.

5. Least spare requirement.

Demerits:

1. More construction /civil cost involved.

B) Automatic High Velocity Water spray system for Transformers( water

supply system using pump scheme):-

This system shall automatically detect, control and extinguish any outbreak of fire
and simultaneously give audible alarm. This system shall be controlled by Deluge
Valve Hydraulically actuated by quartzoid bulb heat detectors mounted on the
water detection circuit.The pressure in the water circuit for both transformer as
well as reactor shall be maintained by a common header.The water for this
common header shall be supplied by one electrical motor driven pump with
another pump, driven by diesel engine, shall be used as standby. One no.
water storage tank of adequate capacity will have to be constructed by
SJVN . Pump shall work under positive suction head. (A Tentative general
arrangement drawing enclosed at Annex-1)

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 Electrical Design Department

Merits:-

1. Less civil works involved.

2. Reliable
3.
Demerits:-

1. High running cost compared to scheme at (A) above.

2. More auxilliaries and panels involved, hence more maintainence cost

involved.

3. More will be the requirement of spares.

4. More space required.

C) Nitrogen Based fire fighting System

Nitrogen Injection Fire Prevention and extinguishing System used on the transformer
prevents rupture of the transformer tank and fire due to internal failures and
extinguishes external fire. Apart from automatic operation, the system also operates on
remote electrical and local manual controls. The system works on the principle of DRAIN
AND STIR and on activation, drain a pre-determined quantity of oil from the tank top
through outlet valve, to reduce the tank pressure and inject nitrogen gas at high pressure
from the lower side of the tank through inlet valves to create stirring action and reduce
the temperature of top oil surface below flash point to extinguish the fire. Conservator
tank oil is isolated during tank explosion and oil fire, to prevent aggravation of oil fire.
Transformer isolation is an essential pre-condition for activating the system. The system
has been designed tmanually, in case of failure of power source. ( a tentative general
arrangement shown at Annexure-2)

Advantage of the System

1.System can be tested on energised transformers, not possible with conventional

systems.

2.Suitable for indoor / outdoor installation.

3.Multi activation signals, eliminates possibility of mal-operation.

4.Unaffected by climatic changes.

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 Electrical Design Department

5.System can be installed on existing/installed transformers at site with minimal outage

typically 8 hours.

6.Indication available for N low pressure.

7.Alarm and visual indication for DC supply fail.

8.Low investment compared to conventional systems.

9.Very low maintenance and running cost compared to Conventional systems.

10.Minimal post-fire and no secondary damage.

11.Space required is less than conventional systems.

Comparison with respect to water Based Protection system

Consumption of large amount of water; hard to maintain because the water pipe is
rustable and its lip is easy to be blocked; a large investment spends on storing water in
a tank and required to disconnect electricity for testing and maintenance.

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