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ROSHAN BHATTARAI
13.K., M.Tcch. (Electrical Engineering)
D octor o f P hilosophy
S chool o f E n g in e erin g
2011
UMI Number: U585483
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D E C L A R A T IO N
T h is w o rk has not p rev io u sly been accep ted in substance for a n y d e g re e and is not
STA T E M E N T 1
T his thesis is b e in g su b m itte d in partial fulfilm ent o f the requirem ents for the deg ree o f
PhD.
STA TEM EN T 2
STA TEM EN T 3
for inter-library loan, and for the title a n d su m m a ry to be m ade available to o u tsid e
organisations.
STATEM ENT 4
(M a n u ) H addad and Dr. H uw G riffith s for their reg u lar guidance, en co u ra g e m e n t and
a d v ic e throu g h o u t m y PhD . I w ould also like to thank Dr. N oureddine H arid for his
T hanks to all m y friends w ith in H igh V o ltag e E n erg y S y stem s R esearch G roup for th eir
encouragem ent. Last but not the least, I w o u ld like to thank and dedicate this th esis to
my beloved w ife (Sanju) and m y tw o little b o y s (B ib h u and B ishesh) for th eir p atien ce,
research.
ABSTRACT
T his th esis establishes a rigorous pro ced u re for o v erh ead line u p rating w ith g u id an ce fo r
c a lc u la tin g the in crease in vo ltag e rating that m ay be achieved for given c o n fig u ratio n s.
It in itia lly in v estig ates differen t technical issues and conventional m eth o d s o f v o ltag e
u p ratin g o f o v erh ead tran sm issio n lines. V arious issues such as clearance, in su latio n ,
p o llu tio n , tra n sie n t overv o ltag es, surge arresters; and its com binations w ere stu d ied fo r
optim ised in sulation co o rd in atio n o f voltage uprated transm ission sy stem s w ith
reference to intern atio n al stan d ard IEC 60071 and B ritish standard B SEN 50341. It then
considers a case o f e x istin g 2 7 5kV line in ‘L 3 ’ structures to analyse th ese issues and
propose a p p ro p riate p ro ce ss for its p o ssib le uprating to 400kV system .
T his w ork has d e m o n stra ted that the v o lta g e u p ratin g o f overhead tran sm issio n lines is
possible w ith m inim al m o d ificatio n to the e x istin g line. In this case, the p h ase-to -earth
clearance w as found to be the critical fa c to r w h ic h determ in es the level to w hich the
voltage level o f the line can be in creased . C o m p u tatio n s o f overvoltages due to
sw itching and lig h tn in g p h e n o m e n a w e re c o n d u c te d to estim ate o vervoltage levels and
optim ise the p ro tectio n sch em e req u ired to m in im ise the required m inim um electrical
clearances. E m p lo y in g g ap less m e ta l-o x id e line su rg e arresters w ere p roposed to be the
m ost effective solution to control the o v e rv o ltag e s, th ereb y reducing the m inim um
phase-to-earth clearan ce req u irem en ts. T h is so lu tio n is preferred to m od ify in g the to w e r
structure in o rd er to ach ie v e the req u ired c le a ra n c e for 400kV system . T he stu d y o f
lightning and sw itch in g su rg e p e rfo rm a n c e s a lo n g the line under d ifferent a rre ste r
configurations w a s carried out so th at the a p p ro p riate surge arrester c o n fig u ratio n co u ld
be selected to m ain tain o v e rv o ltag e lev els w ith in the targeted w ithstand level for the
line. The e x ten siv e tran sien t sim u la tio n s p e rfo rm e d in this w ork id entified that, for a
double circuit o v erh ead tra n sm issio n line as u sed on the U K system , the to p -m o st ph ase
conductors are prone to sh ie ld in g failu re lig h tn in g strik es w hilst the b o tto m -m o st p h ase
conductors are likely to be su b jected to b a c k fla sh o v e r surges for the case o f high to w e r
footing resistance.
The assessm ent o f electric and m ag n e tic field p ro file s o f a 275kV line up rated to 4 0 0 k V
was com puted. It show ed that, the field in te n sitie s o f voltage uprated lines are w ith in
the lim its adopted by national and in te rn atio n a l stan d ard s and requires no ad d itio n al
w ayleave for uprating.
iv
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
Sym posium on H igh Voltage E ngineering (ISH), C ape T ow n, South A frica, A ug.
2009.
v
G l o s s a r y o f T erm s
NG N atio n al G rid
UK U n ited K ingdom
W oC W idth o f C o rrid o r
TABLE OF CONTENTS
C h a p t e r 1 . I n t r o d u c t i o n ........................................................................................................... 1-1
l . I A i m s a n d O b j e c t i v e s ............................................................................................................................... I -4
l .2 C o n t r i b u t i o n o f P r e s e n t W o r k .................................................................................................. I -6
l .3 T h e s i s C o n t e n t ........................................................................................................................................... I -6
C h a p t e r 2. U p r a t in g o f O v e r h e a d L in es : A R e v ie w .................................................... 2-1
2 . 1 I n t r o d u c t i o n ................................................................................................................................................. 2-1
2 . 2 O v e r h e a d L i n e I n c r e a s e d U t i l i s a t i o n O p t i o n s ......................................................... 2-2
2 . 2 . 1 R e v i e w o f D e f i n i t i o n s .................................................................................................................. 2-4
2 . 2 . 2 C I G R E D e f i n i t i o n s .......................................................................................................................... 2-5
2 . 3 C o n s t r a i n t s o f O v e r h e a d L i n e U p r a t i n g ......................................................................... 2-5
2 . 3 . 1 T h e r m a l C o n s t r a i n t s ........................................................................................................................ 2-6
2 . 3 . 2 V o l t a g e C o n s t r a i n t s ......................................................................................................................... 2-7
2 . 4 R e q u i r e m e n t s f o r O v e r h e a d L i n e U p r a t i n g ................................................................ 2-8
2 . 4 . 1 D e c i s i o n M a k i n g P r o c e s s ........................................................................................................... 2-9
2 . 5 M e t h o d s f o r U p r a t i n g O v e r h e a d L i n e s ............................................................................ 2-11
2 . 5 . 1 C u r r e n t U p r a t i n g ............................................................................................................................... 2-13
2 . 5 . 2 V o l t a g e U p r a t i n g ............................................................................................................................... 2-20
2 . 5 . 3 S u p p l e m e n t a r y M e t h o d s .............................................................................................................. 2-25
2 . 6 E n v i r o n m e n t a l I m p a c t s o f U p r a t i n g .................................................................................... 2-27
2 . 8 C o n c l u s i o n s .................................................................................................................................................... 2-34
viii
C h a p t e r 3. Im p o r t a n t A s p e c t s o f In s u l a t i o n C o o r d i n a t i o n f o r V o l t a g e
U p r a t i n g ........................................................................................................................... 3-1
C h a p t e r 4. A n a l y s i s of E l e c t r i c a l C l e a r a n c e s ................................................................. 4-1
IX
4.4.1 Estimation o f Additional Creepage for Uprated 400kV S y s t e m ................ 4-15
C h a p t e r 5. C o m p u t a t i o n o f T r a n s i e n t O v e r v o l t a g e s o n S e l e c t e d N e t w o r k
f o r V o l t a g e U p r a t i n g .............................................................................................. 5-1
5 . 1 I n t r o d u c t i o n .................................................................................................................... 5-1
x
5 . 8 C o n c l u s i o n s ................................................................................................................................................................ 5 - 25
C h a p t e r 6. A p p l i c a t i o n o f S u r g e A r r e s t e r s f o r L ig h t n in g O v e r v o l t a g e
C o n t r o l o n U p r a t e d L i n e s .................................................................................... 6-1
6 . 1 I n t r o d u c t i o n ................................................................................................................................................. 6-1
7 .1 In t r o d u c t i o n .................................................................................................................... 7-1
xi
7. 4. 3 Electric Field C o n t o u r s ................................................................................................... 7-10
7.5.1 M agn etic Field Profiles at D ifferent P osition s along the L i n e .................... 7-14
7.5.2 Effect o f C o n d u cto r-to -G ro u n d C l e a r a n c e .......................................................... 7-16
8 . 1 F u t u r e W o r k .......................................................................................................................... 8-6
R e f e r e n c e s ............................................................................................................................................... 1
C h a p t e r 1 ........................................................................................................................................... i
C h a p t e r 2 ................................................................................................................................................................... ii
C h a p t e r 3 ................................................................................................................................................................... ix
C h a p t e r 4 ........................................................................................................................................... x
C h a p t e r 5 ................................................................................................................................................................... x ii
C h a p t e r 6 ................................................................................................................................................................... x jv
C h a p t e r 7 ........................................................................................................................................... xv
A p p e n d i x A .................................................................................................................................................. XV1
A p p e n d i x B .................................................................................................................................................. xvii
A p p e n d i x C .................................................................................................................................................. xix
A p p e n d i x D ................................................................................................................................................. xx
A p p e n d i x E .................................................................................................................................................. xxii
xii
C h a p te r 1
In t r o d u c t i o n
T h e dev elo p m en t in tec h n o lo g y and increase in the quality o f life, w hich the m ost
have led to an in cre asin g d e m a n d for electrical pow er. A ccording to the E nergy
Inform ation A d m in istra tio n (E lA ), U .S. D epartm ent o f E nergy [ l . I ] , the p ro jected
grow th o f w orld net e le c tric ity g e n e ra tio n o v er the next 20 years w ill be 2.4% p e r year.
The statistics p rese n ted in EIA and In tern atio n al E nergy A gency (IE A ) reports [ l . l , l . 2]
show that the grow th rate for e le c tric ity g en e ra tio n varies from l% to 3% p er annum in
In the case o f d ev elo p ed co u n tries, th e e le c trica l p o w e r tran sm issio n and distrib u tio n
in frastru ctu res are 50 to 60 years old. T h e d e sig n life o f m ost o f the in frastructure being
50 years, th ey are now m atu red b e y o n d th e ir e n g in e e rin g perform ance and econom ic
life [ l . 3]. W ith the increase in g e n e ra tio n c a p a c ity o f the system to m eet in creasin g
dem and and the grow th o f tra n sm issio n c a p a c ity often lim ited due to physical o r
en v iro n m en tal co n strain ts, there is a n eed to tra n sm it g rea ter quantities o f b ulk electrical
pow er th ro u g h the ex istin g tra n sm issio n stru ctu re. F urtherm ore, due to g rea ter
unevenness in gen eratio n , d istrib u tio n , e.g. o ff-sh o re w ind, existing tra n sm issio n
In the U nited K ingdom (U K ), the tra n sm issio n system operated by N atio n al G rid
com prises a p p ro x im ately 15,000 circu it k ilo m etres o f 275kV and 400kV o v e rh e a d lines
supported by m ore than 26,000 tra n sm issio n to w e rs [1.4, 1.5]. T his netw o rk o f p o w e r
lines w as constructed m ain ly du rin g the 1950s and 1960s, and m uch o f the system is
alm ost at the end o f its a n ticip ated tech n ical life [1.6, 1.7]. A ccording to N atio n al G rid,
1-1
the p e a k u n restric te d dem and on the national e le c tricity tran sm issio n system in 'a v e ra g e
av e ra g e grow th rate o f 1.2% per annum [1.8]. O n the o th er hand, to m eet the B ritish
gen eratio n c a p ac ity is req u ired that m ay add an add itio n al 32G W g en eratio n from w ind
and 17GW from n ew n o n -ren ew ab le generation, and this w ill be req u ired to be
transm itted th ro u g h the grid [1.8, 1.9]. Such changes m ean the size and location o f
technology w ith the p o ssib le in tro d u c tio n o f dem and m anagem ent could also lead the
dem and, there w ill be a need for an e le c tric ity g rid w ith larger capacity and the ab ility to
m anage g rea ter flu ctu atio n s in e le c tric ity d e m a n d and supply. H ow ever, the m ajo rity o f
the lines in the ex istin g 5 0-60 y ears old n e tw o rk in U K are ru nning at th eir full cap acity
flow on the U K tran sm issio n system is from N o rth to South. T he lines betw een S cotland
and E ngland are op eratin g at th eir full c a p a c ity and also a num bers o f 2 7 5kV lines
w ithin the U K n etw ork are o v e rlo a d ed d u e to in cre asin g clustering o f g en erato rs in
p articular areas. For exam ple, sig n ific a n t g e n e ra tio n dev elo p m en t is p ro p o sed in E ast
their full cap acity and c h an g es w ill be req u ired to accom m odate this new g en eratio n
netw ork betw een 2010/11 and 201 6 /1 7 [1.8]. A s can be seen in the figure, the line
1-2
UPPCRNOKTtl
24*77
Figure 1.1: Changes in power flow pattern in the United Kingdom |1.8|.
betw een north and south Scotland and betw een south-east (estuary) to central England is
The solution to this m arked increase in p redicted pow er flow is to either to construct
new lines or to increase transm ission capacity b y uprating or upgrading the existing line.
In the UK , there are on-going projects to construct new lines (e.g. B eauly-D enny 400kV
system [1.9]) in Scotland. In addition, the m ain Scotland - England interconnections are
proposed to be uprated (e.g. O verhead line betw een Stella W est and Eccles, Stella W est
and Spennym oor [1.11]) and som e lines to upgrade (e.g. D ounreay-B eauly-K intore
In a global context, w ith the increase in population and urban expansion, the
construction o f new transm ission grid is lim ited to a certain extent. C onstructing new
1-3
o v e rh e a d lines is b e co m in g m ore d ifficu lt d u e to the fo llow ing co n cern s and
im p e d im e n ts [ 1 .1 2 - 1.14]:
- visual im p act
- ecological im pact
• L ack o f inv esto rs in te rested in fin a n c in g the p roject as they get b etter return from
In the future, u tilities are ex p e ctin g g ro w in g p ressu res from regulators and are looking
for d ifferen t w ay s to m in im ise th eir costs. T h e o p p o rtu n ity to increase the tran sm issio n
cap acity by u p ratin g ex istin g lines is th ere fo re o f interest because it can be done at
sig n ifican tly less cost than b u ild in g a n ew o v e rh e a d line and w ith a shorter lead-tim e.
1.1 A im s and O b j e c t iv e s
The aim s and o b jectives o f this th esis are to find up ratin g solutions to increase the
capacity o f e x istin g o v erh ead lines. T o a c h ie v e this, three different ap p ro ach es are
available.
Previously, m uch research w as carried out to find tech n ical and econom ical so lu tio n s to
increased transm ission cap acity req u irem en ts. M an y utilities around the w o rld have
1-4
in cre ase d the cap acity o f o v erhead lines by im p ro v in g current carry in g cap acity [1.15 -
1.20]. In the U nited K ingdom , N ational G rid (N G ) has increased the cu rren t c a rry in g
c a p a c ity o f lines through the installation o f high tem p eratu re low sag c o n d u c to r [1.21].
H o w ev er, to in cre ase the current carry in g c a p ac ity o f lines, the m ajo rity o f the
techniques req u ire the structural m o d ification o f the line or change in ex istin g c o n d u c to r
w ith high tem p e ra tu re low sag c o n d u c to r [1.22] to g eth e r w ith longer outage problem .
On the other han d , even th o u g h the c o n v ersio n o f a long AC transm ission line to H V D C
is econom ical an d tec h n ica lly feasib le and can offer benefits in term s o f system stab ility
and control, the o v erall co st for a H V D C line up to certain distance (breakeven distan ce)
is high due to the high cost o f term in al e q u ip m e n ts used in converter stations [1.23,
1.24]. T h erefo re, this m eth o d is not e c o n o m ic a lly su itab le for short and m edium lines.
W hile cu rren t up ratin g and H V D C so lu tio n s are b e in g adopted, there has been less
raise an d /o r m o d ify tra n sm issio n line stru c tu re s/su p p o rts in order to com ply w ith the
m inim um safety distances. W ith v o lta g e u p ratin g , the challenge to increase the
insulation stren g th o f the line req u ires b e tte r in su la tio n coordination techniques. A t the
sam e tim e, lig h tn in g and sw itch in g o v e rv o lta g e s req u ire additional air clearances in the
system p aram eters such as clearan ce, in su la tio n , pollution, transient o v erv o ltag es,
surge arresters; and th eir c o m b in a tio n s for o p tim ise d insulation co o rd in atio n o f
1-5
• T o e sta b lish a rigorous procedure fo r fu tu re o v erh ead line u p rating p ro jects w ith
g u id a n c e for calcu latin g the increase in v o lta g e rating that m ay be ach iev ed from
v a rio u s m easures.
1 .2 C o n t r ib u t io n of Present W ork
T h e im portant c o n trib u tio n s achieved du rin g the co u rse o f this research w ork are as
follow s.
• E xtensive critical rev iew o f d iffe re n t u prating m ethods and associated tech n iq u es
countries.
• O p tim ised insu latio n co o rd in a tio n p ro ce ss for tran sien t and tem porary overv o ltag es
overv o ltag e level and o p tim isa tio n o f the p ro te c tio n schem e required to m in im ise the
• R eco m m en d atio n s o f cost e ffectiv e a p p ro p ria te surge arrester co n fig u ratio n for
• A ssessm ent o f electric and m ag n etic field s in voltag e-u p rated line to en su re pu b lic
1.3 T h e s is C o n t e n t
researchers and utilities aro u n d the w o rld are p re se n te d in C hapter 2. T he rev iew co v ers
1-6
d iffe re n t o p tio n s o f in creasing utilisatio n and differen tiates up ratin g from o th er
a v a ilab le o p tio n s such as upgrading, refu rb ish m en t, life extension, and exp an sio n . T his
In C hapter 3, th e insu latio n coordination pro cess required for vo ltag e u p ratin g is
theoretically a n aly sed . T he co o rd in atio n process is explained for both tran sien t and
tem porary o v e rv o ltag e s to id en tify c learan ce req u irem en ts for the standard in sulation
level under d iffe re n t o v e rv o ltag e s. Insu latio n levels are also assessed based on d ifferen t
pollution levels.
C h ap ter 4 d eals w ith the d e te rm in a tio n o f the a v ailab le electrical clearances in the case
o f an ex istin g 2 7 5kV o v e rh e a d tra n sm issio n line, and com pares the values w ith required
electrical clearan ces for u p ratin g to a 4 0 0 k V sy stem . T he requirem ents for additional
o f an e x istin g structure is rep laced b y the a lte rn a tiv e approach o f reducing the
overvoltage level in the system so th a t the re q u ire d m inim um clearance d istan ce for
In C hapter 6, th e app ro p riate surge a rre ste r c o n fig u ratio n for the control o f lig h tn in g
footing resistance on o v erv o ltag e w hich can d ire c tly influence the p ro p o sed altern ativ e
1-7
d isc u sse d in the chapter. L ightning p e rfo rm a n c e an aly sis o f a 275kV tra n sm issio n line
u p rate d to 4 0 0 k V is perform ed together w ith a rre ste r en erg y duty and its risk o f failure.
In C h a p te r 7, in o rd er to identify any p o tential env iro n m en tal and public h ealth effect,
electric and m ag n e tic fields are com puted for p ro p o sed uprated line. T he v alu es are
co m p ared w ith th o se p ro d u ced prior to uprating and also another con v en tio n al line o f
the sam e voltage level. T he field profiles for the uprated line are ch eck ed ag ain st the
1-8
C h a p te r 2
T he term uprating is derived from the w ord rating (noun) w hich in the E nglish
perform ance [2.1]. In the general co ntext o f electrical term s, rating m eans the load
varies a c co rd in g to the kind o f ratin g in question [2.2], In the context o f this specific
w ork, the rating is the a p p a re n t p o w e r cap acity o f the line. T herefore, the term uprating
2.1 I n t r o d u c t io n
interest to electric u tilities all o v er the w o rld to deal w ith increasing dem an d for pow er.
T here are v ario u s tech n iq u es u sed a ro u n d the w o rld to increase the p o w er tran sfer
capability o f overh ead lines. P o w er b e in g m u ltip le o f current and voltage, all these
adopted tech n iq u es e ith er resu lt in in c re a sin g the overhead line cu rren t capability,
p articular o v erh ead line is n o t an easy task. It d ep en d s upon the future req u irem e n t o f
the line capacity, the ex istin g line p a ra m e te rs to g e th e r w ith line design and co n stru ctio n
com prehensive and inn o v ativ e p ro ce d u re for v o lta g e uprating o f overh ead tra n sm issio n
lines that helps increase u tilisation o f ex istin g sy ste m s w ith careful co n sid eratio n o f the
costs. Initially, how ever, it is essential to sc ru tin ise o th er different availab le tec h n iq u es
2-1
for in cre asin g utilisation o f existing tran sm issio n system s. T h erefo re, the first part o f
N ext, the v ario u s co n strain ts on the p o w er tra n sfe r capability o f o v erh ead lines and
requirem ents fo r o v e rh e a d line uprating are co n sid ered . T herm al, vo ltag e and o p eratio n
related co nstraints are d isc u sse d in detail. D ifferent factors that influence the decisio n
m aking for u p ratin g e x istin g lines as o p posed to b u ild in g a new line are considered.
researchers and u tilitie s aro u n d the w o rld are ex ten siv ely review ed. B oth cu rren t and
voltage u p ratin g te c h n iq u e s are d isc u sse d to g eth e r w ith exam ples o f application o f such
overhead line u p ratin g are also d isc u sse d . F inally, a b rie f history o f o v erhead line
2 .2 O v e r h e a d L in e I n c r e a s e d U t il is a t io n O p t io n s
U prating is o n e option for in cre asin g u tilisa tio n o f ex istin g assets. In the co ntext o f
overhead lines, there are several o p tio n s fo r in cre asin g utilisation. C IG R E T echnical
B rochure 353 [2.3] gives o p tio n s for in c re a sin g u tilisa tio n o f overhead tran sm issio n line
technical co n sid eratio n s for tra n sm issio n line a sse t renew al and any c o m b in a tio n o f
The choice o f the a p p ro p riate m eth o d to in cre ase the utilisation o f ex istin g o v e rh e a d
lines is influenced by d ifferen t factors. T h e lim ita tio n o f the existing o v erh ead line and
its future needs are the tw o key issues to be ad d ressed . If the lim itation is due to v o ltage
control, stability or m axim um p o w er flow , then uprating could be the b est choice.
H ow ever, u p grading is done to im p ro v e the re liab ility o f the ex istin g line and
2-2
re fu rb ish m e n t is done to restore or extend the w o rk in g life o f the line. T ab le 2.1 gives a
g e n e ra l o v erv iew o f each option, and c learly d ifferentiates up ratin g from the o th er
R efurbishm ent
U prating U p g rad in g or E xpansion
Life extension
Table 2.1: O verview o f transm ission line increased utilisation options |2.3]. Symbols shown are
represented as: increased (T), decreased ( i ) , unchanged (=).
Failure risk, ( R - P x C )
Failure consequence, C
Failure probability, P
2-3
i
1 - 1 structure strength
foundation strength
Restoring to conductor strength and capacity
arrest
Refurbishment design
degradation by
restoring insulation pollution performance
working life fitting strength
lightning performance
1 - I structures
Repairing foundations
without conductors
arrest insulators
Life Extension restoring to
degradation by
repairing
original fittings
design life earthing
earth wires
4, - | improve maintainability by adopting live line
increasing techniques
availability by
Expansion T T
provide third telecommunication equipment
installing fibre optic
party access by
In rev iew in g certain p u b lish e d literatu re [2.4 - 2.7], it has been found that it is d ifficult
to d ifferen tiate b e tw e en the o p tio n s for in creasin g utilisation o f o v erhead lines. For
exam ple, sim ila r m ea n in g s are p ro v id e d fo r u p ratin g and upgrading. In m any cases
[2.7], life ex ten sio n , refu rb ish m en t, an d ex p a n sio n s are considered all w ithin u p rating or
uprating guide [2.8] defin es u p ratin g as “ In crease in the p o w er transm ission cap acity o f
This d o cum ent also d ifferen tiates re fu rb ish m e n t from life extension and ex p ansion. A
m ore recently p u blished C IG R E T ech n ical B ro ch u re No. 353 [2.3] p ro v id es the m ost
com prehensive defin itio n s and c la ssifica tio n o f all o p tions for increasing u tilisatio n o f
overhead lines.
2-4
2.2.2 CIGRE Definitions
C IG R E T ech n ical B rochure No. 353 [2.3] p ro v id es the follow ing d e fin itio n s for
U prating w ill in crease the electrical cap acity o f the line thereby p o ten tia lly
• Upgrading: In creasin g the orig in al m echanical strength o f an item due to, for
ex am p le, a req u irem e n t for h ig h e r m eteo ro lo g ical actions. U pgrading does not
• Refurbishment: E x ten siv e ren o v a tio n o r rep air o f an item to restore their
original design w o rk in g life. If the o rig in a l d esig n w orking life is restored, life
ex ten sio n b ecom es refu rb ish m en t. L ife e x te n sio n results in a decrease o f the
• Expansion: Increasing the fu n c tio n a lity o f tra n sm issio n line com ponents.
T herefore, u p ratin g o f overh ead lines m ea n s in cre asin g its M V A capacity w ith o u t any
w holesale stru ctu ral m o d ificatio n s, re c o n stru c tio n , or replacem ent o f existing structures.
2 .3 C o n s t r a in t s of O v e r h e a d L in e U p r a t in g
Pow er b ein g m ultiple o f current and v o lta g e , p o w e r tra n sfe r capability o f o v erh ead line
is lim ited eith er by co n strain ts related to cu rre n t (th erm al) or the co nstraints related to
voltage.
2-5
2.3.1 Thermal Constraints
T h e rm a l co n strain ts are related to the cu rren t flo w in g in the line and e n v iro n m en tal
co n d itio n s. T he m ag n itu d e o f current c o n tin u a lly flow ing over tim e d issip ates heat. In
the case o f d istrib u tio n lines, and short and m ed iu m transm ission lines, ex cessiv e
current will o v e rh e a t the line conductors resu ltin g in therm al expansion that p ro d u ce
alum inium a n n e a lin g and ex cessiv e sag. T he co n seq u en ce o f increase in sag is that the
transfer ca p ab ility o f a line is lim ited b y its therm al lim it w hich is related to the current
carrying c a p ac ity (cu rren t ratin g ) o f the line. A cco rd in g to EPRI G uide [2.8], although
the therm al lim it is not a fu n ctio n o f tra n sm issio n line length, the po w er tran sfer
capability o f lines that are sh o rte r than 50 m iles in length are m ore affected by its
therm al lim it as bey o n d th is length tra n sie n t sta b ility restrict po w er transfer. L onger
lines w ith high tra n sfe r rea c ta n c e are p ro n e to instability. For short lines, w here line
reactance is sm all, the m ax im u m p e rm issib le p o w e r tra n sfe r to satisfy tran sien t stability
req u irem en ts co u ld ex ceed the lin e ’s c u rre n t carry in g capacity (therm al lim it).
C onversely, for long lines, the sta b ility lim it m ay be reach ed before the therm al lim it o f
the line.
F igure 2.2 sho w s the load in g c a p a b ility o f a ty p ical high voltage tran sm issio n line
co n sid erin g b oth system stab ility and th erm al lim its [2.8, 2 .11]. The figure show s the
am ount o f p o w e r tran sm itted for 45° p h a se shift b etw een sending and receiv in g end
voltage (d) for a typical tran sm issio n line in p e r unit (p.u) o f Surge Im pedance L o ading
(SIL). It is c le a r from the figure that for sh o rt tran sm issio n lines, the therm al lim it
applies w hereas above a certain length, the sta b ility lim it restricts. EPR I G u id e [2.8]
defines SIL as a product o f the term in a tio n bus vo ltag es divided by the c h aracteristic
2-6
reactiv e p o w e r balance o ccu rs betw een the c a p ac itiv e and inductive elem en ts o f the line
[2 . 12 ].
4 -i
T> 3 -
0)
£ g
{2 (0 T herm al limit
2*5
3
oS
* Stability Limit
o
Q. S - 45°
■i ■ ■ 111"1 — i
Figure 2.2: M aximum power flow considering system stability |2.8, 2.11].
v o ltage w ith so m e variations. N orm ally, the a llo w a b le variation in transm ission system
v o ltage is lim ited to ± 5 % o f n om inal sy stem v o lta g e . T he upper lim it o f sy stem vo ltag e
d ep en d s upo n d ifferen t line param eters. O v e rv o lta g e in the system can cause short
circuits, rad io interference and corona, w h ile un d erv o ltag e can cau se in ad eq u ate
related c o n stra in ts for o v erh ead line p o w e r tra n sfe r c a p ab ility are governed by [2.14]:
• E lectrical clearances
• In sulation levels
2-7
• C o ro n a and noise
T h e im p u lse w ith sta n d level o f a system is d iffe re n t for each voltage class. A n increase
in the voltage class w ill result in an increased req u ired w ithstand level o f the system and
accordingly all o th e r d esig n param eters w ill vary. T he International E lectro tech n ical
C om m ission (IE C ) stan d ard on Insulation C o o rd in atio n (IE C -6 0 0 7 1-1) [2.15] details
the w ithstand levels for system voltages b etw een lk V and 800kV and m in im u m
clearance req u irem e n ts for electrical safety. E nergy N etw ork A sso ciatio n (E N A )
T echnical S p ecificatio n 43 -8 [2.16] also gives clearances required for o v erh ead lines
in clu d in g gro u n d c learan ce req u irem e n ts. B ritish Standard (B SEN 50341) [2.17, 2.18]
ap p lies for new o v erh ead lines o p e ra tin g at 45 k V and above. An increase in o v erv o ltag e
w ith stan d level increases the m in im u m req u ired clearances [2.16, 2.19] resu ltin g in
m o d ificatio n to oth er system p a ra m ete rs su ch as insu latio n levels and structural designs.
au d ib le noise. T he electro m ag n etic field s resu ltin g from corona discharge m ay create
radio freq u en cy noise cau sin g p o ssib le in terferen ce w ith radio freq u en cy
2 .4 R e q u ir e m e n t s fo r O v e r h e a d L in e U p r a t in g
U tility o p erato rs frequently are faced w ith d e c isio n s o f w hether to upgrade o r uprate
tran sm issio n lines for im proving p o w e r tra n sfe r c a p ab ility o r reliability. T h e d ecisio n is
guided by technical, financial and e n v iro n m en ta l issu es together w ith the ch aracteristics
o f the ex istin g system . For exam ple, in the U n ited K ingdom and o th er E uropean
countries, additional tran sm issio n cap acity is n ow req u ired to deal w ith the a n ticip ated
grow th in renew able en ergy g e n eratio n s [2.21, 2.22]. D etailed system d esig n stu d ies o f
2-8
th ese fu tu re planned netw orks enable stu d y o f line p erfo rm an ce, tran sm issio n
c a p ab ility , vo ltag e drop, fault, line loss etc. T h e o utcom e o f such studies can help
p red ic t the req u irem en ts for future overh ead lines and accordingly facilitate p lan n in g
the system .
process on in cre asin g c a p ac ity o f overh ead lines. T h e process is based on a question:
m ax im u m po w er flow
vo ltage control
stab ility
• P hysical (line design and co n stru ctio n ) and in stitu tio n al considerations
T he p o w er flow lim itation due to sy stem sta b ility and voltage control can be im p ro v ed
2-9
lo ad in g c o n tin g e n cy can be tackled by detailed an aly sis o f the therm al ratin g o f the line,
real tim e m o n ito rin g and, dynam ic line ratin g [2.8]. P ow er flow lim itation due to
In general, m ajo r lines in a netw ork cannot be taken out o f service for long p erio d s o f
tim e. T herefore, the d e c isio n o f uprating such lines is also influenced by line o utage
lim itations. In such case, the m eth o d s that require long outage can be p o stp o n e d and
o th er short-term m easu res can be tak en into account. For exam ple, if the line is to be
c o n d u cto rin g , then the first tw o m eth o d s can be used as a tem porary m eth o d befo re re-
c o n d u c to rin g is done. In som e cases, at d istrib u tio n level w here co n d u cto r clearan ce is
not an issue, voltage u prating can be a c h ie v e d by rep lacin g insulators un d er live line
co nditions.
institu tio n al and physical constraints. O b ta in in g w a y leav es for the construction o f a new
line m ay be d ifficu lt, and this can be an in ce n tiv e to im prove capacity o f ex istin g lines
p lay sig n ifican t role in th e d ecision m ak in g p ro ce ss. Physical constraints are linked to
the structural perfo rm an ce cap ab ilities o f an e x istin g line. C onstraints such as the
the structure, av ailab le c o n d u c to r air c learan ce, c o n d u c to r size, and insulation electrical
In som e cases, financial and eco n o m ic factors are dom inant. C ost includes ad d itio n al
w ayleave, m aterials, co n stru ctio n , m ain ten an ce and operation o f the uprated line [2.13,
2.23], B efore m aking any d ecisio n , the o v erall cost o f line u prating is n o rm ally
2-10
c o m p a red w ith the cost o f other m eth o d s o f increased u tilisatio n an d /o r new
c o n stru c tio n . Baldick and O ’Neill [2.24], Shankle [2.14], and Piernot and Leahy [2.25]
co m p are the cost o f num ber o f c o n v e n tio n al a n d em erging transm ission line up ratin g
tech n iq u es w ith the cost o f b u ild in g a n e w line, and based on the tech n ical and
eco n o m ic facto rs, th ey recom m end u p ratin g e x istin g lines rather than b u ild in g n ew lines
to increase p o w e r flow capacity. S o m etim es, a lte rn a tiv e and technically feasible o p tio n s
are available for u p ratin g , e.g. different c o n d u c to r types for reconductoring m ay o ffe r
differen t u p ratin g c a p ac itie s at d ifferent c o sts. In such cases, the econom ics o f the
2 .5 M etho ds fo r U p r a t in g O v e r h e a d L in e s
T here are n u m ero u s m eth o d s and tec h n iq u es th a t h av e been applied to uprate o v erhead
case, and w ill d ep en d upon the location, c h a ra c te ristic s and perform ance o f the existing
E xam p les o f cu rre n t uprating o f lines in Ire lan d , U K , South A frica, and Israel are given
in [2.22, 2 .26 - 2.28] w hile pro jects in v o lv in g v o ltag e uprating in South A frica, U S A ,
and tec h n iq u es for current up ratin g [2.4, 2 .1 3 , 2.31 - 2.33] and voltage u p ratin g [2.13,
su m m arised the m ain m ethods and to o ls to u p rate overhead lines, and fu rth er d etails on
[2.3]. B ased on these p u b licatio n s, T a b le 2.2 lists the m ost com m on cu rren t and voltage
2-11
u prating m ethods together w ith the associated techniques and processes [2.3, 2.4, 2.10,
2 .1 3 ,2 .3 3 ,2 .3 4 ].
Table 2.2: Methods for overhead line uprating |2.3, 2.4, 2.10, 2.13, 2.33, 2.34|.
U p ra tin g M e th o d T e c h n iq u e P rocess
2-12
2.5.1 Current Uprating
C u rren t u p ra tin g is the m ost com m on o p tion for o v erhead line uprating. It is effectiv e
for short tra n sm issio n lines w h ere the line lo ad in g is lim ited by the therm al c a p ac ity o f
tem p eratu re and, hence, the m eth o d is also know n as “ Am pacity Uprating ’ o r “ Therm al
constant current which w ill m eet the design, security a n d safety criteria o f a pa rticu la r
current, which can he safely ca rried in an overhead transmission line (same m eaning as
ampacity')”.
D ifferen t m eth o d s to ach iev e c u rre n t u p ratin g are explained in the fo llow ing su b
sections.
c o m p a rativ ely expensive than any o th e r c u rre n t uprating m ethod, it is ch eap er than
b u ild in g a new line [2.24, 2.26]. R e p la c e m e n t b y a conductor w ith a slightly high cross
c o n d u cto rs can p ro v id e sig n ifican t c u rre n t u p ratin g w ith o u t any structural m o d ificatio n .
2-1 3
Extra high-tensile
Thermal resistant
ealvanised steel core
aluminium allov resistant grease
a) TACSR
b) GTACSR
(Extra) Thermal
Annealed aluminium
resistant aluminium
Zinc-coated invar Steel core %
alloy or Aluminium
c) TACIR
H T LS conductor has com paratively low sag to conductor tem perature ratio i.e. the rate
o f increase o f sag w ith increase in co n d u cto r tem perature is low. Therefore, for the sam e
sag, these conductors can operate at h ig h er tem peratures (above 100°C) thereby
increasing the therm al rating o f the ov erh ead lines. Low sag at high tem perature helps
m aintain required clearances w ithout any structural m odification. Figure 2.4 show s the
final sag and conductor tem perature relationship for different HTLS conductors based
on a case study [2.35]. From the figure, it can be seen that G ZTA C SR has the low est
had been installed around the w orld at that tim e. Exam ples o f line uprating using H TLS
2- 14
E
T
s
u.
• « w w » a
Conductor Temp - deg C
|—• —430-GCTACSR — A3Q-ZTAC1R • o - Zafar»ACSR -*-49& A C S S nW l
Figure 2.4: Sag variation with temperature for original Zebra ACSR and ACSS/TW, TACIR and
GZTACSR replacement conductors |2.35.|
conductors are given in [2.22, 2.26, 2.38 - 2.41]. In the UK, N ational Grid, has replaced
in Spain, G Z T A C SR has been used to increase therm al rating by 70% [2.39]. In Brazil,
a 50% increase in therm al rating w as achieved using TA C SR and TA CIR [2.38]. W hile,
replacem ent by A C SS/TW in the U SA resulted in a 70% increase in line rating [2.41].
Technical and financial evaluations o f d ifferent HTLS conductors was carried out for
projects in R om ania [2.40] and Ireland [2.22] and recom m ended ACSS and G T A C S R
respectively.
tem perature m aintaining ground clearance. T his technique m akes use o f w eather
conditions (w ind speed, w ind direction, am bient tem perature, and solar radiation) to
calculate current rating considering the m axim um allowable conductor tem perature
low w ind sp eed , full solar radiation and m ax im u m load current). In this m ethod,
an n ealin g and v io la tio n o f sa fe ty clearance. T h erefo re, this m ethod can o nly be used
w ith p ro p er an aly sis o f risk d u e to high current. P rovided w ith sufficient w e a th er data o f
the area, an overh ead line w ith lo w -ra ted tem p eratu re can be uprated using this m ethod.
T he tem p latin g tem perature (te m p e ra tu re lim it for a given clearance) can be increased
by in creasin g co n d u cto r ten sio n an d c o n d u c to r attachm ent height. T his can be d one by
re-ten sio n in g , using a n eg ativ e sag d e v ic e , e x ten d in g line structures, using insulated
cro ss-arm s, and m id-span stru c tu re s [2.3]. A n exam ple o f the application o f the
d eterm in istic m eth o d (re -te n sio n in g an d to w e r w aist-ex ten sio n ) is d escribed in a case
a m o u n t o f tim e allow able for a c o n d u c to r tem p eratu re to exceed its lim it, the
w h ere the line is located [2.4, 2 .3 1]. A n e x a m p le o f the application o f this m eth o d to
[2.45], and d ifferen t pro b ab ilistic m e th o d s are d escrib ed in [2.46]. U sing this m ethod,
the risk level can be kept c o n sta n t at a d e fin e d exceedence level w h ilst v a ry in g the
2-16
the w eather condition. R eal-tim e m onitoring helps system operators to develop and
apply the line ratings in real tim e, based on actual conductor position. V arious m ethods
and new technologies are used for online condition m onitoring o f overhead lines.
W eather stations, tem perature sensors, load cells, cellular or radio com m unications,
G eographic Positioning S ystem (G PS) technology are some o f the techniques used for
line m onitoring.
U sing this m ethod, conductor tem perature rarely exceeds the design tem perature and,
hence, the risk o f exceeding the an n ealin g tem perature o f the alum inium is reduced
[2.31]. In com parison w ith the rated cap acity (static rating), this m ethod provides higher
line capability for 98% o f the tim e and provides around 15% to 30% additional
capability for over 95% o f the tim e as can be seen in Figure 2.5 reproduced from [2.3].
T his m ethod w as applied to obtain the dynam ic therm al ratings o f 400kV lines in Spain
[2.48] and 1 15kV line in the U SA by m easu rin g am bient conditions in real tim e using
Capability (MVA)
200 -
250 -
Actual real time rating
100 -
200 -
40 60 100
Percent of time (%)
Figure 2.5: Additional available capability with overhead line monitoring real-time rating |2.3].
2- 17
m easurem ent), span-by-span sag adjustm ent and conductor tem perature m easurem ents
w ere used to obtain a 30% increase in am pacity rating o f a 230kV line in the U SA
[2.50]. O ther exam ples o f tension and sag m easurem ent are described in [2.51] and
[2.52]. Figure 2.6 illustrates som e techniques used for real-tim e m onitoring o f overhead
Figure 2.6: Techniques for real-time monitoring (a) Truck-based laser survey system (2.50] (b)
Temperature measuring device on a 230kV line (2.50] (c) Conductor tension monitor (2.3] (d)
conductor sag monitor |2.3|.
A s described earlier, the pow er tran sfer cap acity o f short transm ission lines is lim ited
m ainly by therm al capacity. H ow ever, the rating o f long Extra High V oltage (EH V )
lines m ainly falls below its therm al lim it and can be restricted by system stability lim its
that confines loading up to the Surge Im pedance Loading (SIL) level [2.12]. W ith
increasing the SIL level i.e. low ering the characteristic im pedance o f the line. This
2.7 (reconstructed from [2.53]) has increased the SIL close to its therm al lim it. The
HSIL technique also helps to im prove voltage regulation and can reduce the electric
2-18
field intensity at the surface o f the conductor [2.53]. A case study m ade on a 400kV
quadruple bundle conductor line in India indicated 22% increase in SIL level w ith EXB
configuration [2.12]. This im provem ent in SIL level increases transm ission capacity o f
the line. As show n in Figure 2.8, H SIL/EX B technique has been adopted for uprating a
230kV and a 500kV line in B razil [2.53, 2.54]. A 38% increase in transm ission capacity
• O • • • •
c
CD
A
C onventional Bundle • • • •
•
•
o O
O
O Q
B c
>
• •
H SIL-EX B • • •
A * c
• • B. •
• •
Figure 2.7: Cross section view o f different bundle configurations used for increasing surge
impedance loading (reconstructed from |2.53|).
Figure 2.8: Lines in Brazil (a) 230kV HSIL line prototype (2.3] (b) 500kV HSIL-EXB line (2.53).
2-19
2.5.2 Voltage Uprating
C o m p ared w ith c u rren t uprating, very few cases o f uprating the line by in creasin g its
[2.10], out o f 40 u p ratin g cases th ro u g h o u t the w orld, only 10 cases w ere found for
u p ratin g d u e to the req u irem e n t o f m o d ificatio n s o f term inal substation equipm ents.
H ow ever, voltage uprating can p o te n tia lly achieve m uch higher p o w er tra n sfe r
c ap ab ility w ith reduced electrical lo sses than in the case w ith current uprating. T his
m eth o d can be su itab ly used w ith m in im u m line m odification for overhead lines w here
p o w e r tra n sfe r cap ab ility is in flu e n ce d b y v o ltag e regulation or stability co n sid eratio n s
[2.13].
required. First, to identify the a v a ila b ility o f the req u ired air clearances for a hig h er
w ith sta n d o v erv o ltag es due to p o w e r fre q u e n c y , lig h tn in g im pulse and sw itching surge.
o v erh ead lines is to p rovide su fficie n t a ir c le a ra n c e for the higher uprated voltage level.
• C o n d u c to r p h ase-to -p h ase c le a ra n c e
W hen in creasing the v o ltage level, the a v a ilab le clearance in an ex istin g line m ust be
2-20
su fficien t to w ith sta n d o vervoltages w ith p o w e r frequency, sw itching and lig h tn in g
a ctiv ities at th e u p rate d v o ltage level as stated in regulatory guidelines and in dustrial
codes o f p ractice. D iffe ren t countries follow d ifferen t guidelines for this purpose. F or
w h ereas IEC 60071 [2.15, 2 .1 9 , 2.56] is used in Europe. In the U K , 'B S E N 50341
[2.17, 2.18] and B SEN 50423 [2.57] are used to g eth er w ith IEC 60071 and an ind u stry
stan d ard E N A T S 43-8 [2.16]. T h e se sta n d a rd s specify values o f clearances for d iffe re n t
show s the standard insulation lev els fo r 2 7 5 k V and 400kV nom inal system voltages
[2.15], and T able 2.4 co m p ares e le c tric a l clearance requirem ents specified in IEC
60071-2 w ith those given in a N a tio n a l G rid standard [2.58] and EN A T ech n ical
S p ecificatio n [2.16].
Table 2.3: Standard insulation levels for transm ission systems [2.15]. Values in bold are standard
withstand level considered for overhead line design in the UK.
1300
950 1050 1.50
1425
2-21
T a b le 2 .4 : C o m p a r i s o n o f w it h s t a n d v o lt a g e a n d e le c t r ic a l c le a r a n c e
In m ost o f cases, the o p p o rtu n ity to in cre ase the voltage level o f an overhead line is
d eterm in ed by phase-to -earth clearan ce. In so m e cases, it is also n ecessary to exam ine
and satisfy the clearance req u irem en ts fo r p a rtic u la r w eather conditions such as w ind
and snow .
D ifferent tech n iq u es are used to in cre ase c o n d u c to r a ir clearance and these are d escrib ed
R aisin g and / or m o v in g to w e rs
2-22
Increasing distance betw een subconductors in a bundle
• C onverting low voltage double circuit line to high voltage single circuit line
E xam ples o f structural extension for achieving appropriate conductor air clearance for
cases o f voltage uprating in the USA are described in [2.59 - 2.61]. In Japan, insulator-
supported ju m p e r devices and com pact phase-to-phase spacers were developed for
ensuring clearances for the uprating o f a 66kV line to 154kV operation [2.30]. O ther
exam ples o f application o f phase-to-phase spacers are in use in Canada, G erm any and
the U SA [2.3, 2.29] w hile com posite insulators w ere used in Brazil for a com pact line
solution o f voltage uprating [2.62]. The A m erican Electric Pow er C om pany has
introduced an outw ard extending conductor loop, nam ed “U pgrade-Loop” for increasing
electrical clearances o f conductors from ground and tow er structure w ithout any
m odification in the existing structures [2.63]. F igure 2.9 shows exam ples o f different
w as achieved in uprating a 69kV double circuit line to a single circuit 138kV line in
Figure 2.9: Different techniques for ensuring conductor air clearance (a) phase-to-phase spacer in
161 kV line [2.3] (b) insulating crossarm in 230kV line |2.62] (c) view of an Upgrade-Loop [2.63|.
2-23
B razil and, [2.5] describes application o f a V -string insulator for uprating a 275kV line
9 ISSUUT03S «
146 * 2i4
Figure 2.10: (a) uprating 69kV double circuit line to l38kV single circuit line in Brazil [2.10] (b)
use o f V-string insulator for uprating 275kV line to 400kV in South Africa (2.51.
electrical strength o f available insulation. D eterm ining the actual strength o f the
insulators o f an overhead line requires assessm ent o f voltage stresses under the
• Pow er frequency,
• Sw itching surges
The basic objective o f the assessm ent is to establish sufficient clearance to m eet the
increased required m inim um creepage and basic insulation level for uprated voltage
[2.3]. The required insulation electrical strength for pow er frequency can be determ ined
by evaluating the insulation level based on a pollution level that determ ines the
2-24
m in im u m req u ired creepage for insulators. IEC 60815 [2.64] defines d ifferen t Site
P o llu tio n S ev erity (SPS) classes and specifies specific creepage for each class.
T he req u ired in su latio n strength for h ig h er vo ltag e lines or lines w ith low earth
w h ereas lig h tn in g su rg e c o n d itio n s d eterm ine the req u ired insulation strength for low er
voltage lines or lines w ith high earth resistance o r in regions o f high k eraunic levels
[2.3],
the structure. A part from this, in su la to r nu m b ers and geom etry (I-strut, vertical and
h o rizontal V -string, ten sio n , p o st etc.) p lay s a m ajo r role in the process. F urther,
clim atic factors such as air d e n sity , h u m id ity , p recipitation, pollution, tem perature and,
rep la cin g stan d ard insulators b y p o ly m e ric o r an ti-fo g units, I-string converted to V-
strings and in som e cases use o f in su la te d c ro ss-arm s [2.13]. E xam ples o f app licatio n o f
these tech n iq u es for voltage u p ratin g in co u n tries such as South A frica, U S A , B razil,
follow s:
- H V A C line to H V D C line
2- 25
R esearch w as carried out to investigate m u ltip h ase technology for e n h an cem en t o f
p o w e r tra n sfe r capability o f overhead lines and 6 -p h ase and 12-phase tec h n o lo g y w ere
found quite p ro m isin g [2.66]. A study o f a 138kV double circuit, 3-phase line in the
U SA show ed the p o ssib ility o f uprating the line to 6-phase operation w ith o u t deg rad in g
its reliab ility and en v iro n m en tal perfo rm ance [2.67]. H ow ever, this m ethod is not
and layout than any o th e r u p ratin g m ethod. Further, m ultiphase operation o f a 3-phase
system produces ad d itio n al a u d ib le noise, radio noise and increases electric field
m ag n itu d e at ground level [2.67]. T h erefo re the m ethod is not suitable for any line
tra n sfe r cap ab ility o f o v erhead lines w ith a d v an tag es for stability, co ntrolled em ergency
cap acity w as possible w ith o u t any c h a n g e o f line com ponents w hile a 500% increase
d em o n strates the po ssib ility o f a 350% in cre ase in transm ission capacity by con v ertin g
an A C line to H V D C .
2.11 has been p roposed for up ratin g o v e rh e a d lines and involves sim ultaneous A C -D C
p o w er tran sm issio n in a sam e line. S tu d ies m ad e in Sw eden [2.70] and in India [2.71]
lines by u tilising one o f the circuits as a b ip o la r DC w ithout any m ajor alteratio n to the
2-26
ex istin g structure. T he Indian study [2.71] d e m o n stra ted that an 83% increase in line
Double Hybrid
circuit AC AC/DC
AC DC
Figure 2.11: Conversion of double circuit AC line to hybrid AC/DC line |2.70].
2 .6 E n v ir o n m e n t a l I m p a c t s of U p r a t in g
T here are v ario u s environm ental im p acts o f o v erh ead lines. A survey b y EPR I show ed
that the m ajo rity o f people oppose o v e rh e a d lines due to visual effect, p roperty
de v a lu a tio n and concern about health and sa fe ty [2.8]. W hile uprating w here existing
lines are still in use, the visual im pact re m a in s the sam e. H ow ever, the health and safety
issue is a sso ciated w ith the electric and m a g n e tic fields, and these w ill be affected by
uprating.
m ag n itu d es, resu ltin g in the risk o f c o ro n a effect, w hereas an increase in m ag n etic field
can lim it the current uprating process. W ith o u t the change in conductor co o rd in ates, the
increase in the nom inal voltage leads to an increase o f the electric field in the
resu ltin g in audio noise, visible light and radio interference. A lso, the change in
co n d u cto r co ordinates d uring v o ltage u p ratin g has a significant effect on m agnetic fields
produced around the line. T he e le c tro m ag n e tic field issue, therefore, sh o u ld be analysed
2-27
w h en u p ratin g voltage o r current to ensure th at electric and m agnetic fields v alues are
w ith in the lim its dictated by different g u id elin es. In the UK, N ational R adiological
P rotection (IC N IR P ) [2.73] and supports the recom m endation o f the C ouncil o f the
reference to th ese g u id elin e s, N ational G rid [2.75] lists the exposure lim its o f electric
T able 2.5. T he IC N IR P and N atio n al G rid lim its w ill be com pared in C hap ter 7. T ypical
groun d -lev el U K field levels from o v e rh e a d p o w er lines o f different voltage levels are
Table 2.5: Electric and magnetic field exposure lim its applicable in the UK |2.75|.
P u b lic E x p o su re O ccupational E xp o su re
9 kV /m 360 p T 46 kV /m 1800 pT
Table 2.6: Typical ground-level UK field levels from overhead power lines of different voltage levels
|2.76|.
2-28
T h e electric and m agnetic fields produced aro u n d a line are d eterm ined by param eters
such as o p e ra tin g voltage, co n d u cto r spacing, diam eters, bundle con fig u ratio n , and the
n u m b er o f su b -co n d u cto rs in the bundle. T able 2.7 show s the effect o f ad ju stm en ts to
Radio
Electric M agnetic Audio
Param eter Interfere
Field Fields Noise
nee
P hase-to-phase c learan ce y t V I
t
C o n d u c to r height ab o v e g ro u n d f V V
* I
N u m b er o f su b -co n d u cto rs a
=
(for a given total cro ss-sectio n ) ■ t \
T ech n iq u es can be used to m in im ise the electric and m agnetic fields w hile up ratin g
overh ead lines. T he use o f b u n d led c o n d u c to rs o r m odifying the bundle con fig u ratio n
can help in red u cin g both electric and m ag n e tic field effects together w ith co n sid erab le
circuit) line to high voltage sin g le o r d o u b le circ u it line can help voltage u p ratin g w ith
less audio noise. In G erm any, a fo u r-c irc u it 2 2 0 k V tw in bundle line w as co n v erted to a
p o w er tra n sfe r cap ab ility [2.77], L ik ew ise, radio interference and audio noise w ere
2-29
2 .7 C h a r a c t e r is t ic s o f O v e r h e a d L in e U p r a t in g W o r k s in
D if f e r e n t C o u n t r ie s
O v erh ead line u p ratin g w ork has been carried out in different co u n tries around the
the fifties. In 1955; O n ta rio H ydro in C anada up rated 50 m iles o f an ex istin g 115kV
w ood pole line for o p eratio n at 2 3 0kV by sim ply adding tw o insulator units in ex istin g
strings [2.78]. In the m id six ties, v ario u s utilities in the USA carried out ex p erim en tal
and inv estig ativ e w ork to id en tify p o ssib ility o f uprating their lines [2.79, 2.80]. In m id
sixties, in C anada, O tter Tail P o w er C o m p a n y in the U nited States carried out u p rating a
v arious cases o f uprating o v e rh e a d lines are found. H ow ever, literatures show that the
u p rating w orks w ere ex ten siv ely c a rrie d o u t o n ly after late eighties.
B ased on the responses to the q u e stio n n a ire sent abroad, C IG R E W orking G roup B 2.06
T ech n ical B rochure 294 [2.10] and o th e r literatu res are presented here in alphabetical
o rd er o f c o u n try nam e.
In A u stralia, differen t m ethods o f u p ra tin g are u se d to achieve greater line ratings. In the
past, 33kV and 66kV lines w ere u p rate d to 1 lO kV and 132kV. Synthetic co m p o site line
p ost insulators w ere used [2.65]. In re c e n t y ears, a few 330kV lines w ere up rated and
v arious 66kV and 330kV lines are p ro p o se d to uprate to 132kV and 500kV resp e c tiv e ly
[2.81, 2.82]. Sim ilarly, to c o m p e n sa te high su m m er dem and, a few 132kV lines w ere
In B elgium , d u rin g the p erio d 1999-2002, 10 lines w ere therm ally uprated by in creasin g
2-30
the therm al ra tin g from 40 °C to 75 °C [2.10]. C o p p e r conductors w ere rep laced w ith
A A A C co n d u c to rs o f sim ilar w eight. In recen t years, various lines are e x am in ed for the
p o ssib ility o f u p ratin g , an d a few 220kV lines are pro p o sed to uprate its therm al ratings.
In B razil, m an y cases o f v o lta g e and therm al u p ratin g w ere found. C o n v ertin g 69kV
d o u b le circuit line to 138kV sin g le circuit line by regrouping the sam e c o n d u cto rs in
tw in b undle has helped in cre ase the line cap acity at relatively low cost [2.10]. A 50%
in su lato rs and EX B tech n o lo g ies are u sed in in creasin g transfer capacity o f 230kV and
years, this w ork is m ore focussed on re lia b ility issues due to failures caused by ice
load in g [2.10]. T herefore, u tilities are m o re fo cu ssed on upgrading rath er than uprating
th eir lines. H ow ever, a few cases o f c u rre n t u p ratin g o f 230kV line by replacing A C S R
c o n d u c to rs w ith A C SS co n d u cto rs w ith so m e stru ctu ral m odifications are know n [2.10].
In France, du rin g the early eig h ties, a 3 0 k V o v erh ead line built in late fifties w as
c o n fig u ratio n fo r sufficient c learan ce. T h e tra n sm issio n capacity increased 9 tim es
A 220kV fo u r-circu it line in stalled in 1965 in G erm an y had its transm ission cap acity
co n d u cto rs has helped in cre asin g th e c a p ac ity by 31% and considerable red u ctio n in
2-31
In Italy, u p ratin g o f a few 70kV and 132kV lines w ere possible by reco n d u cto rin g w ith
R equirem ent o f u p ratin g m o re than 1000 km o f 220kV netw ork in Ireland is identified.
A p ilo t uprating project o f a few 161kV lines in Israel w as carried out in the y ear 2000.
ten sio n and second is to sh o rten th e su sp en sio n low ering the conductor under the
For use o f e x istin g 66kV lines for 154kV o p e ra tio n in Japan, insulator-supported ju m p e r
increase ph ase-to -p h ase clearan ce at h ig h e r v o ltag e level w ere used [2.30], Line
In N orw ay, several 132kV d o u b le -c irc u it lines w ere converted to single-circuit 300kV
T ran sm issio n cap acity o f a 2 2 0 k V line in P o lan d w as doubled by use o f reco n d u cto rin g
2-32
and it co n sid e rab ly red u ced p o w er losses in the sy stem thereby m inim ising the cost.
S im ilarly, in S erb ia and M o n tenegro, rep lacin g e x istin g conductors w ith co n d u cto rs o f
large cross sectional area, h elp ed w ith therm al u p ratin g o f 1 lOkV lines [2.10].
In South A frica, cases o f u p ratin g 66kV , 275kV and 400kV lines w ere cited [2.5, 2.10,
tem p eratu re. A irborne L aser S u rv e y w as carried out on the entire line and a P L S -C A D D
m odel w as built to d eterm ine the real p o sitio n o f the conductors [2.27]. Increasing the
the rep lacem en t o f existing U 120 an d U 135 ty p e cup-and-pin insulators w ith U 160 type
glass in su lato rs having high sp ecific c re e p a g e and sim ilar diam eter. In order to obtain
required cond u cto r-to -earth clearan ce, in su la tio n in central phase w as changed to V-
S tring assem b ly . Sim ilarly, u p ra tin g 66kV line to 132kV w as possible w ith
m o d ificatio n s to the attachm ent and in su la tio n o f the ex istin g structures [2.10].
[2.39, 2.86].
S everal lines b u ilt during the fifties an d six ties in the U nited K ingdom w ere up rated
du rin g late eighties and nineties. In 1986, a 2 7 5 k V interconnection betw een S cotland
and E ngland w as uprated to 4 0 0 k V o p e ra tio n [2.87, 2.88]. The transm ission cap acity o f
a n u m b er o f lines in E ngland and W ales are lim ited due to insufficient therm al capacity.
rating by n early 25% [2.32]. F u rth er im p ro v em en t in line rating (up to 130% co m p ared
2- 3 3
to original A CSR conductor) w as ob tain ed by application o f gap type A CSR
S cotland to be u p rate d fo r w h o le sale electricity m arket. Further, requirem ent for vo ltag e
tran sm issio n cap acity by u p ratin g the e x istin g double circuit 275kV line betw een Blyth
to H aw thorn Pit su b statio n s alo n g the N orth E ast coast o f E ngland [2.89]. U prating
O v er the last 55 years, su b sta n tia l ca se s o f increase in the transm ission capacity o f
o v erhead lines in the U n ited S tates o f A m e ric a w ere reported. R ange o f techniques for
cu rren t and v o ltage u p ratin g w as used. O tte r T ail P ow er C om pany has perform ed
several in v estig ativ e w orks and hav e e x p e rie n c e o f uprating th eir overhead lines [2.29,
circu it up ratin g to 2 3 0kV u sin g d iffe re n t v o lta g e u p rating techniques [2.59] and several
2 .8 C o n c l u s io n s
In this ch ap ter, an ex te n siv e literatu re rev iew on uprating overhead lines w as carried out
clarified. U p ratin g o f o v erh ead lines is co n sid ered as “increasing its M V A cap acity
2-34
w ith o u t any w holesale stru ctu ral m o d ificatio n s, reconstruction, or rep lacem en t o f
C o n strain ts for increasing p o w e r tra n sfe r cap ab ility w ere described. It w as show n that
c o n d u c to r therm al lim it. H ow ever, in cre asin g voltage level o f the line is lim ited by
design and o th er environm ental im pacts such as electrom agnetic field and audio noise.
T o increase the capacity o f the line, it is im p o rta n t to decide w hether to build a new line
in stitu tio n al and financial issues. A rev iew o f several cases in w hich these issues had
co n strain ts p lay a decisive role. T he c u rre n t-u p ra tin g process being com p arativ ely
D ifferen t m eth o d s and techniques for u p ra tin g o v e rh e a d lines w ere review ed. C urrent-
uprated line used new conductors, o n lin e c o n d itio n m onitoring techniques and,
vo ltag e-u p rated lines used in sulating c ro ssa rm , in ter-p h ase spaces, new insulators and
strength. It w as found that the tech n iq u es su ita b le fo r uprating overhead lines d iffer case
param eters to g eth e r w ith its physical an d su rro u n d in g environm ental co nditions. It is,
th erefo re, d ifficu lt to dev elo p a c o m m o n tec h n iq u e applicable to uprate all k inds o f
o v erhead lines. A separate study o f each case is n ecessary to decide for any tech n ically
2-3 5
C hapter 3
Im p o r t a n t A s p e c t s of In s u l a t i o n C o o r d i n a t i o n
for V o l t a g e U p r a t in g
3.1 I n t r o d u c t io n
which can appear on the system fo r which the equipment is intended and taking into
account the service environment and the characteristics o f the available preventing and
insulation failure is self-resto rin g and the failu re p ro b ab ility to fall w ithin the acceptable
lim it. Insulation coordination o f o v e rh e a d lines is based on the estim ation o f m ost
severe o v erv o ltag e produced due to p o w e r fre q u e n c y , sw itching and lightning activities
w hich then is used to d eterm ine m a x im u m tem p o rary , slow front and fast front
o v erv o ltag es respectively. T h ese o v e rv o lta g e s are then related to the insulation
netw o rk com p o n en ts for a given sta tistic a l risk o f insulation failure. T he w ithstand
v o ltage is then used to id en tify the m in im u m electrical clearance requirem ent and the
T he u p rating pro cess requires the stu d y o f in su la tio n coordination o f overhead lines at
its voltage ratin g based on co m b in ed c o n sid e ratio n o f stress applied to the line and its
th eo retically analysed. T he insu latio n co o rd in a tio n process is explained for tran sien t and
tem p o rary overv o ltag es so that the risk o f failure can be determ ined. T he values and
relevant eq u atio n s d eriv ed from d iffe re n t international and British stan d ard s such as
3-1
IEC 60071 [3.1 - 3.3], IEC 61865 [3.4], B S E N 50341 [3.5, 3.6], and B SEN 50423 [3.7]
are used to calculate and com pare electrical c learan ce distances for standard insulation
levels un d er different overvoltages. F inally, insu latio n levels o f overhead lines are
3 .2 O vervoltages
O v e rv o lta g es in overhead transm ission and d istrib u tio n system s are generated due to
are key for d e term in in g the voltage rating o f sy ste m com ponents, their risk o f failure
and the selectio n o f the required w ith stan d level for equipm ent as w ell as air gap
insulation for transm ission and d istrib u tio n to w e rs / poles. A m ethodical analysis o f
o v erv o ltag es on the existing system is req u ired so th at the possibility o f choosing a
red u ced w ith sta n d voltage level can be ex p lo red , th ereb y , achieving a reduced clearance
level, n o tin g also that the shape o f o v e rv o lta g e across the air gap determ ines the
d ielectric strength o f the gap. W ith referen ce to F ig u re 3.1 [3.3], IEC 60071-4 classifies
T e m p o ra ry overvoltages,
F ast-fro n t overvoltages
In the vo ltag e uprating process, c o n sid e ratio n o f slow -front and fast-front overv o ltag es
are m ore im portant to identify the a d d itio n a l a ir clearance requirem ents for up rated
p aram eters such as line voltage level, earth resistance, and keraunic level o f the area
w here the line is located. T ab le 3.1 show s the classes and shapes o f d ifferen t
3-2
Lightning overvoltages (FFO)
0)
o>
(0
*-< Switching overvoltages (SFO)
O
>
3
d
Temporary overvoltages (TOV)
i System voltage
Vs ms Duration
Table 3.1: Different overvoltage shapes and their standard shapes [3.3j.
d.
00
3-3
D ue to the statistical natu re o f ov erv o ltag es, the electrical clearance d istan ce ( Dei) is
ev alu ated for m axim um value o f o v erv o ltag e or overvoltage w ith a p ro b ab ility o f 2% o f
b ein g ex ceed ed [3.4]. IEC 61472 [3.8] outlin es a m ethod to derive the ‘2 % ’ v alu e from
the m ax im u m value o f o v erv o ltag e and gives the follow ing general ex p ressio n s
W here,
o v e rv o ltag e ) respectively; and uej and uP2 are th e ir corresponding values in p er unit.
3 .3 I n s u l a t io n C o o r d in a t io n P r o c e s s and R is k of F a il u r e
sources each have a significant role in d e fin in g the w ithstand voltage level and
overh ead line is based on the d e te rm in a tio n o f risk o f failure. R isk o f insulation failure
occu rren ce o f the tran sien t p h e n o m e n o n , the overvoltage probability o f this event and
the pro b ab ility o f insulation failure [3.2]. If the probability o f occurrence o f ov erv o ltag e
(stress) is defined by P(x) and the insu latio n failure (strength) pro b ab ility by P(y), then
3-4
the risk o f failure (R) o f the insu latio n is o btained by m ultiplying stress and strength as
R = P(x) x P ( y ) (3 -3 )
P ( x ) = f ( V ) dV (3-4 )
dR = f ( V ) P{V ) dV (3 -5 )
N ow , the total risk o f failure (R) in an in su la to r due to the entire range o f overvoltage
(3 .6 )
0
Figure 3.2 illustrates the risk o f failure. In th is figure, the shaded area represents the risk
A sim p lified statistical m ethod o f in su la tio n co o rdination for sw itching overv o ltag es as
stated in IEC 60071-2 d efines the d istrib u tio n o f overvoltages and insulation strength by
points on each o f the curves rep re sen te d b y f ( V ) and P(V) as show n in Figure 3.2. T he
3-5
90% withstand f P ( V )
probability I
Risk o f failure
\f
2% overvoltage
probability
insulation such that the f (V) and P(V) do not overlap. Therefore, the insulation is
selected such that the 2% overvoltage prob ab ility (denoted by Ve2 o n / ( F ) , know n as
‘coordination overvoltage’) coincides w ith the 90% w ithstand (10% failure) probability
by IEC and show n in Figure 3.2. W ith the insulation coordination for lightning
return rate by the total num ber o f overvoltages and the distribution function, f (V), is
control techniques and the m inim um req u ired insulation withstand level can be changed
by use o f appropriate insulation in the line. T herefore, the control o f these param eters
represented by the f (K) and P(V) curve in Figure 3.2 can solve different technical issues
for voltage uprating and, hence, the control m ay possibly produce the opportunity for
3-6
3.3.2 Low Frequency Overvoltage
T he w ith stan d voltage for p o w er frequency o v e rv o ltag e is generally co n sid ered as the
m ax im u m system voltage for phase-to -p h ase insulation. Pow er frequency overv o ltag es
are also statistical in nature and are rep resen ted by frequency distrib u tio n
based on the d eg ree o f p o llu tio n level on the in sulator surface, and this dictates the
d eterm in ed for each in su la to r to be used. D ifferent Site Pollution Severity (SPS) classes
w ith th eir specific c reep ag es as d e fin e d in IEC 60815 [3.9, 3.10] and the effect o f
3 .4 C learance E nvelo pe
p o ssib ility o f voltage uprating w h ich req u ires confirm ation o f available electrical
clearance. T he electrical clearance re q u ire m e n ts for a particular line voltage level are
d eriv ed from fundam ental b reak d o w n v o lta g e characteristics w hich d eterm ine the
req u ired clearan ce envelope for p o w e r freq u en cy , lightning and sw itching overvoltages.
due to w ind in the case o f both p o w e r fre q u e n c y and sw itching conditions [3.11]. In the
case o f a lightning surge, it also d e p e n d s on the nature o f the backflashovers on the line.
3 -7
Lightning
Overvoltage Switching
Overvoltage
Power Frequency
Voltage
Figure 3.3: Electrical clearance envelope for different overvoltages (reproduced from |3.11]).
Dotted lines show envelope for lower flashover rate (lightning), lower flashover probability
(switching) and higher pollution level (power frequency).
In the case o f a lightning stroke hitting the earth w ire, the distance that the surge travels
along the line is less with tow ers o f low footing resistance (norm ally < 30 U).
Therefore, un d er such conditions overvoltages are likely to occur at tow ers near to the
stroke position. On the other hand, it is very unlikely to have wind conditions that
produce a large sw ing angle exactly at the tim e o f stroke and around the striking area
[3.5]. T herefore, the effect o f sw ing angle under lightning is neglected. As a result, the
ideal geom etry o f the electrical clearance envelope for lighting overvoltage is circular in
shape as show n in Figure 3.3. The radius o f this circular envelope is a function o f the
flashover rate (flashes/ lOOkm/per year) and the radius o f the circle is inversely
Unlike lighting surge propagation along the earth wire, a switching surge voltage can
travel a long distance along the line w ith relatively little attenuation. This results in
stress applied to m ultiple tow ers along the line. Due to this, there is a higher possibility
3-8
o f fla sh o v e r in any one in su lato r w ith a sig n ific a n t sw ing angle due to w ind. T herefore,
in th is case, w ind sw ing and the c o rre sp o n d in g d ev iation angle can have significant
o f fla sh o v e r [3.11].
T he m ag n itu d e o f the pow er frequency v o ltag e is m uch less than transient overvoltages.
flash o v er d u e to extrem e w ind sw ing that red u c e s air clearance in the line. Even though
the clea ra n c e req u irem en t in this case is m u ch lo w er than the case w ith transient
o v erv o ltag e; the envelope here is highly e lo n g a te d as show n in Figure 3.3 to account for
freq u en cy is a lso determ ined by the in su la to r strin g g eom etry and its contam ination
level.
3.5 S t a n d a r d R e co m m en d atio n s f o r E l e c t r i c a l C le a r a n c e
D is ta n c e B ased on BSEN 50341 a n d BSEN 50423
T his sectio n addresses m ethods for c a lc u la tin g electrical clearance distances for
h ere is b ased on B SEN 50341-1 [3.5] for v o lta g e s g reater than 45kV and B S E N 50423
[3.7] for d istrib u tio n system voltages up to 4 5 k V . B S E N 50341-1 uses the sam e m eth o d
calcu late the app ro x im ate break d o w n stren g th in air under positive p o larity stan d ard
lightning im p u lses ( l .2/50) app licab le to ro d -p lan e gap distance (d) up to 10 m etres.
3-9
^5o%rpjf — 5 3 0 . d (3 .7 )
W here, U^orpjgr *s the 50% w ith sta n d voltage o f a rod-plane gap for fast front
T his eq u atio n does not account for the statistical scatter o f data, the actual o v erhead line
factors such as the statistical d ev iatio n facto r the gap factor and the
altitu d e co rrectio n factor (Ka) are in tro d u ced . V alues o f these factors are given in B SE N
50341-1 [3.5]. For determ ination o f e lectrical clearan ce under lightning, the o v ervoltage
to be co n sid ered is assum ed to create a su rg e th at propagates beyond a few tow ers from
im pulse w ith sta n d voltage o f the in su lato r strin g s (U 9 o%//j s) installed on a line need to
be c o n sid ered fo r calculating p h ase-to -earth clearan ce. T he required electrical clearance
S im ilarly, for phase-to-phase clearance, the w ith sta n d voltage o f the in su lato r strings
clearance, i.e. the w ithstand voltage in th is case is taken as 1.2 Ugo%j iS. T herefore, for
the p h ase-to -p h ase configuration, the req u ired electrical clearance d istance ( Dpp) is
calcu lated usin g E quation (3.9) [3.5], R efer to the next section for calculated results.
1.2 U9QQ/0J f J s
Dpp = m n
5 3 0 . Ka . Kz J f . Kg--------
Jf ( 3 -9 )
3 -1 0
3.5.2 Approach for Switching Overvoltages Calculation
C o m p ared to lightning o v erv o ltag e perfo rm an ce, for a given gap distance, the
w ell e sta b lish e d that air clearances n e e d ed for sw itching im pulse w ith stan d levels are
hig h er than those required for the sam e m ag n itu d e lightning im pulse w ith stan d level
[3.2]. IEC 6 0 071-2 uses a sem i-em pirical e q u a tio n proposed by Paris (E q u atio n (3.10))
[3.13] to calc u la te the air gap d istance fo r 50 % w ith stan d voltage (C%%).
Uso% = 5 0 0 d 0 6 (3 .1 0 )
B SEN 50341-1 [3.5] uses a different eq u atio n , p ro p o sed by C R IE PI, to calculate the
sam e clearan ce. E quation (3.11) ex p re sse s the 50% breakdow n strength (6%%^.*/)
m.
^ 5 0 %rp_sf — 1 0 8 0 /n (0 .4 6 d -1-1) (3 .1 1 )
A n u m b er o f research studies [3.13 - 3.17] hav e p roduced experim ental results o f the
d istance (d) u sin g sw itching overvoltages. In [3.18], different equations d e scrib in g the
b reak d o w n vo ltag e w ere com pared and rea so n a b ly close agreem ent w ith the p u b lish ed
e x p erim en tal results was found. A sim p le lin e a r equation is proposed here to describe
^ 5 0 % — Q - d + C2 ( 3 .1 2 )
C o efficients C/ and C2 w ere calcu lated to o btain a best curve fit w ith m in im u m least
square error. F or rod-plane gaps w ith p o sitiv e polarity im pulse shape, values o f C / and
3-11
In Figure 3.4, P aris’s equation (E quation (3.10)), CRIEPI equation (Equation (3.11)),
and the proposed linear equation (E quation (3.12)) are compared. The figure show s that
the breakdow n strength predicted by the three equations are quite close to each other in
the gap distance range 2m to 7m , w hich is sufficient for determ ining insulation
requirem ents for 275kV and 400kV system s. H ence, use o f any o f the three equations in
determ ining the required clearance for the system considered in this study is justified.
Sim ilarly to the case o f lighting overvoltage, to account for the statistical nature o f
breakdow n, the actual overhead line gap geom etry and geographical conditions, a
statistical deviation factor (Kz s/), a gap factor (Kg sj) and an altitude correction factor
( Ka) are used. T he applicable overvoltage in this case is the value having 2% probability
CR IEPI equation is then obtained by m ultiplying Ue2 %_sf by the statistical coordination
factor ( Kcs) to account for the risk o f failure [3.5]. The required electrical clearance
1800
1600
Paris Equation
^ 1400
2
^
O)
1200
Linear Equation
£<S 1000
800
600 -
CRIEPI Equation
400 -
200 -
G ap D istan ce (m)
Figure 3.4: Comparison of switching impulse breakdown strength predicted by three different
equations.
3-12
distance o f a phase-to-earth c o n fig u ratio n ( Dei) for sw itching overv o ltag e is then
1080 . Ka . k (3 .1 3 )
Sim ilarly, for phase-to-phase clearance, the w ith sta n d voltage as per B SEN 50341-1 is
c o n sid ered 4 0 % m ore than that o f p h a se -to -e a rth configuration, i.e. the w ith stan d
voltage in this case is taken as \.4Ue2% .>/. T herefore, for the p hase-to-phase
E quation 3.14 [3.5]. R efer to the next sectio n fo r calcu lated results.
1080 . Ka . K ( 3 .1 4 )
T he 50% b reak d o w n voltage in this case is c o n sid e red constant and equals to the peak
v alu e o f the system voltage ( t/,). i.e. (V2 . Us) fo r phase-to-phase and ( ( V 2 /V 3 ) . Us )
for p h ase-to -earth configurations. A s w ith the lig h tn in g and sw itching o vervoltages, a
statistical dev iatio n factor ( Kz pf), a gap fa c to r ( Kg pf), and an altitude correction factor
(Ka) are ap plied to yield the req u ired e lectrical clearance distance o f a ph ase-to -earth
con fig u ratio n (Dc/ pj) and a p h a se-to -p h a se config u ratio n (Dpp pj) for p o w er frequency
overv o ltag e using E quation (3.15) as sh o w n in Equation (3.16) and (3.17) resp ectiv ely
[3.5].
3 -1 3
3.6 A p p r a is a l of E le c tr ic a l C le a r a n c e D is ta n c e s
C a l c u l a t e d U s in g CRIEPI E q u a tio n s w ith IEC 60071
S p e c ifie d V a lu e s
calculated for standard insu latio n levels specified in IEC 60071-1. T he calculated
clearances are com pared w ith the p u b lish e d clearances given in IEC 60071-2
system voltages.
IEC 60071-1 classifies the standard m ax im u m r.m .s. value o f system voltages ( Us) in to
tw o ranges [3.1].
R ange I : 1kV < Us < 2 4 5kV (co v ers tra n sm issio n and distribution system s)
governed by b o th lightning and sw itching o v erv o ltag e s [3.5]. The clearance req u irem en t
for p o w er freq u en cy voltages is sig n ifican tly less com pared to the req u irem en t for
transient overvoltages. T herefore, the electrical clearan ces determ ined by tran sien t
o v ervoltages also cover the req u irem en ts due to p o w e r frequency voltage. T he po w er-
frequency w ithstand voltage for system s in R ange I can be ignored w hen the ratio o f the
lightning im pulse to the p o w er frequency w ith stan d voltage is greater than 1.7 [3.2].
S ince, the sy stem s considered in this study fall w ithin the stated category, the
calcu latio n s m ad e here are based on the lightning and sw itching overvoltages only.
clearance req u irem en ts for five stan d ard lightning im pulse w ithstand voltage levels (60,
75, 95, 145 and 170kV ) c o rre sp o n d in g to m axim um system voltage o f 12kV and 36kV
T he follow ing assu m p tio n s as rec o m m e n d e d by B SEN 50341-1 have been m ade.
up to the 200kV w ith sta n d level; a v alu e o f altitude correction factor, Ka = 0.938
the gap factor for lig h tn in g o v e rv o ltag e , Kgj = (0.74 + 0.26 Kg) = 1.117 (for
co n d u cto r-stru ctu re g e o m e try c o n sid e rin g Kg = 1.45) and Kgj = 1.156 (for
clearance (using E q u atio n (3 .9 )) fo r w ith sta n d voltage levels specified above are show n
in T able 3.2. IEC 60071-1 sp ecifies lig h tn in g im pulse voltage level o f 145kV and
170kV for a 36kV m ax im u m sy stem voltage. It can be seen from Table 3.2 that for
low er value o f w ith sta n d level (14 5 k V ), the m inim um clearance o f 0.27m and 0.31m
resp ectiv ely for p h a se-to -e a rth and ph ase-to -p h ase is required for uprating a line to a
m ax im u m system v o lta g e o f 36kV . Figure 3.5 com pares the calculated phase-to -earth
3-1 5
Table 3.2: C alculated electrical clearance values for IEC 60071-2 specified lightning im pulse
w ithstand levels corresponding to system voltages o f 12kV and 36kV in Range I
M axim um System
12kV 36kV
V oltage
L ightning im pulse
60kV 75kV 95kV 145kV 170kV
w ithstand voltage
Phase-Earth clearance
0.11 0.14 0.17 0.27 0.31
(m )
Phase-Phase clearance
0.13 0.16 0.20 0.31 0.36
(m)
Figure 3.5: Comparison of calculated electrical clearance values (phase-to-earth) with clearance
specified in IEC 60071-2 for specified lightning impulse level corresponding to system voltage of
12kV and 36kV in Range I. Values in parenthesis are percentage error.
voltage uprating to 400kV . C learance in R ange II is governed by both the lightning and
sw itching transient overvoltages. T herefore, calculations are done for all standard
lightning and sw itching im pulse w ithstand levels as shown in Table 3.3 for 275kV (Us =
3-16
Table 3.3: IEC 60071-1 specified standard lightning and switching impulse withstand levels for
275kV and 400kV system (3.11-
M axim um
N om inal System Standard Im pulse W ithstand Level (kVpeak)
System Voltage
V oltage
m
(kVr.m.s.) Sw itching L ightning
(kV r.m.s.)
850
750
950
275kV 300kV
950
850
1050
1050
850
1175
1175
400kV 420kV 950
1300
1300
1050
1425
The clearance requirem ents for standard lightning im pulse w ithstand voltage levels are
calculated using Equations (3.8) and (3.9); and clearances required for standard
sw itching im pulse w ithstand voltage levels are calculated separately using E quations
(3.13) and (3.14). The calculated clearance values for each w ithstand level are then
T he assum ptions m ade for calculating clearances in this study are as follows:
- the statistical deviation factor for lightning, Kzjr = 0.961 and for sw itching, Kzsf
= 0.922,
3-17
the gap factor for lightning overvoltage, Kgj - = (0.74 + 0.26 Kg) = 1.117 (for
Table 3.4 show s the calculated clearance values for phase-to-earth and phase-to-phase
clearances for different lightning im pulse w ithstand levels, and Figure 3.6 show s a
com parison o f these clearances w ith IEC 60071-2 specified values. As can be seen in
Figure 3.6a, the calculated phase-to-earth clearance value equals IEC specified value at
950, 1050, and 1425kV w ithstand voltage. The m axim um error o f 6.6% is found at
Table 3.4: Calculated electrical clearance values for IEC 60071-1 specified lightning impulse
withstand levels corresponding to system voltage of 300kV and 420kV in Range II
Lightning im pulse
850kV 950kV 1050kV 1175kV 1300kV 1425kV
w ithstand voltage
Phase-Earth
1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.6
clearance (m )
P hase-Phase
1.7 1.9 2.2 2.4 2.7 2.9
clearance (m )
3-18
Calculated ■ IEC 60071 Specified
( 6 .6 % )!, (0%) I
%
850 950 1050 1175 1300 1425
Lightning Im pulse Withstand Voltage (kV)
a) P h a s e -to -e a r th
r
(4.5%) (3.7%)
b) P h a s e - to - p h a s e
Figure 3.6: Comparison of calculated electrical clearance values with clearance specified in IEC
60071-2 for specific lightning impulse level corresponding to system voltages of 300kV and 420kV
in Range II. Values in parenthesis are percentage error.
Sim ilarly, T able 3.5 sum m arises calculated clearance values for phase-to-earth and
phase-to-phase clearances for different sw itching im pulse w ithstand levels, and Figure
3.7 com pares these clearance values w ith IEC specified values. As can be seen in Figure
3.7a, the calculated phase-to-earth clearance value has 5.2% error at 850kV. At all other
w ithstand level; the calculated values are sam e as that o f IEC specified values. In case
o f phase-to-phase clearance (Figure 3.7b), the calculated values differ w ith IEC
3-19
T able 3.5: C alculated electrical clearance values for IEC 60071-1 specified sw itching im pulse
w ithstand levels corresponding to system voltage of 300kV and 420kV in Range 11
Sw itching Im pulse
750kV 850kV 950kV 1050kV
w ithstand voltage
(5.2%)
a) P h a s e - to - e a r th
b) P h a s e - to - p h a s e
Figure 3.7: Comparison o f calculated electrical clearance values with clearance specified in IEC
60071-2 for specified switching impulse level corresponding to system voltages of 300kV and
420kV in Range II. Values in parenthesis are percentage error.
3-2 0
T he calcu lated values o f clearances for lig h tn in g and sw itching o v erv o ltag es are
u sed by u tilities in the U nited K ingdom . In the U K , w ithstand voltage levels o f 1050kV
/ 850kV (lig h tn in g / sw itching) are ad o p ted for 275kV line. A 400kV line adopts
ex istin g 275kV line to 400 k V , these w ith stan d level increases require a considerable
ex istin g line. F or a 4 0 0 k V line, IEC 60071-1 specifies four different lightning w ithstand
levels (1050, 1175, 1300 and 1425kV ) and three sw itching w ithstand levels (850, 950
and 1050kV ). In o rd er to satisfy the c learan ce requirem ent for uprating an existing
sw itching w ith sta n d levels for 4 0 0 k V system . Figure 3.8 show s the IEC 60071-2
specified clearan ce req u irem e n ts [3.2] fo r six p o ssib le com binations o f w ithstand levels
It can be seen from the figure th at the p h a se-to -e a rth clearance requirem ents could be
upon the ch o sen c o m b in a tio n o f w ith sta n d level. O ut o f six possible com binations o f
lightning and sw itc h in g o v e rv o ltag e levels show n, the phase-to-earth clearance value for
five differen t co m b in a tio n s are e ith e r d o m in ated so lely by lightning overvoltage or have
equal influence to th at o f sw itch in g overv o ltag e level. It is also observed that for phase-
to-earth cle a ra n c e , lig h tn in g o v erv o ltag e d ictates the clearance requirem ent w hen the
ratio o f lig h tn in g to sw itch in g overv o ltag e is greater than or equal to 1.23. H ow ever, as
show n in F ig u re 3.8b, for any com b in atio n o f w ithstand voltages, the phase-to -p h ase
clearance req u irem e n t is solely dictated by the sw itching overvoltages. In this case, a
sw itching o v e rv o ltag e requires m ore clearance than the lightning overvoltage. A d o pting
3-21
different com binations o f overvoltage level for a 400kV system could effectively reduce
the clearance requirem ent for an uprated line. In order to consider w hich levels to adopt,
Q
u)
C
2
_n
a>
>
O
cr
a>
or
0)
uc
2CO
_QJ
O
T3
Q)
'5
cr
CD
cr
b) P h a s e - to - p h a s e
Figure 3.8: Clearance requirements for IEC 60071-2 specified combination of lighting and
switching overvoltage levels for 420kV highest system voltage.
3-22
3 .7 I n s u l a t io n E l e c t r ic a l S treng th A c c o u n t in g fo r
P o l l u t io n
In v o ltage u prating, apart from electrical clearan ce distance, the insulation electrical
stren g th also plays significant role. A ny increase in voltage level o f an ex istin g system
strength for up rated voltage level. T he new insulation system m ust satisfy the m inim um
required creep ag e d istan ce for the uprated voltage level w hich is determ ined by the
pollu tio n sev erity level co rre sp o n d in g to the overhead line site. Five classes o f site
pollu tio n se v erity (S P S ) levels are d efin ed in IEC 60815-1 [3.9] as show n below :
(i) a - V e r y light
(ii) b -L ig h t
(iii) c - M edium
(iv) d -H e a v y
R anges o f v alues o f specific c re e p a g e d istan ce in each SPS class are based on the
typical en v iro n m en tal co n d itio n s and the level o f pollution. The R eference U nified
for a 275kV an d a 4 0 0 k V system for each SPS class is calculated and show n in T able
3.6. It is cle a r that, w h en in creasing the voltage level o f the system , the required
m inim um cre e p a g e d ista n c e needs to be increased. H ow ever, it should be noted that, for
the sam e in cre ase in voltage level, the d egree o f increase in the required m inim um
creepage d ista n c e is g reater m oving from ‘very lig h t’ to ‘very h eav y ’ SPS class.
3-2 3
60.0
55,0
> 50.0
1 45.0
Q 40.0
%
D
35.0
s 30.0
i 25.0
20.0
a b c d e
SPS Class
Table 3.6: Calculated value o f required minimum creepage distance for 275kV and 400kV line
insulators under different pollution levels
T his is g rap h ically illustrated in Figure 3.10. As can be seen in the figure, for uprating
the voltage level from 275kV to 400kV , the additional required m inim um creepage
distance varies from 1525m m in ‘very lig h t’ SPS class to 3720m m in ‘very h eav y ’ SPS
class. If a conventional cap and pin insulator string is used, the voltage uprating m ay
require an in crease in the insulator length by adding m ore discs. Figure 3.10 also show s
3 -2 4
3720
ro ro %
S P S C la ss
Figure 3.10: Additional required minimum creepage distance and number of glass insulator discs
for increasing voltage from 275kV to 400kV under different pollution severity levels.
uprating it to 400kV system u n d er d ifferent pollution levels. The num bers are calculated
assum ing glass insulator discs each having creepage distance o f 540m m used in the
275kV system . H ow ever, adding m ore discs to an existing insulator string increases its
length thereby reducing the phase-to -earth clearance o f the line w hich w ould not be
D ifferent techniques th at p rovide high creepage w ithin the same or shorter insulator
lengths are required to be investigated to ensure insulation electrical strength for voltage
uprating. R eplacing existing insulators w ith com posite insulators can provide high
specific creepage en suring air clearance in the line and could offer a solution to this
problem . C hap ter 4 considers such options for increasing creepage w hile uprating a
3.8 Conclusions
The insulation coordination process for voltage uprating was theoretically analysed for
tem porary and transient overvoltages. It w as show n that the probability o f occurrence o f
3-25
overv o ltag e at a p articu la r im pulse voltage V can be m inim ised by the control o f
frequency d istrib u tio n c u rv e f ( V ) and failure pro b ab ility curve P{V). A co m p ariso n o f
im pulse b reak d o w n stre n g th pred icted by d ifferent equations has show n satisfacto ry
requirem ents and e lectrical c le a ra n c e for up to 400kV transm ission system . It has been
show n that the ca lc u la te d c le a ra n c e req u irem en t for overhead lines using the C R IE P I
equation for IEC 60071-1 sp e cifie d stan d ard insulation levels com pares w ell to the
A nalysing the clearance re q u ire m e n ts for six d ifferent com bination o f IEC specified
lightning and sw itching o v e rv o lta g e levels fo r a 400kV system , it w as found that the
phase-to-earth clearance req u irem e n t fo r m ajo rity (5 out o f 6) o f the com binations are
com b in atio n o f w ith stan d v o lta g e s w as id en tified to increase the possibility for uprating.
It w as show n that to sa tisfy in su la tio n e lectrical strength w hile uprating a 275kV line to
400kV requires add itio n al cre e p a g e ran g in g from 1525m m to 3720m m depending on
the class o f p o llu tio n levels o f the tra n sm issio n line environm ent. The sim ple concept o f
increasing electrical stre n g th b y in cre asin g in su lato r length was discarded due to the
consequent red u c tio n in c le a ra n c e s w h ich w ould further restrict options for uprating in
3 -2 6
C h a p te r 4
A n a l y s is of E l e c t r ic a l C l e a r a n c e s
4 .1 I n t r o d u c t io n
A voltage uprating study n e c essita te s identification o f the new voltage level in w hich
th e existing line will uphold its reliab ility . T o increase the pow er transfer cap ability o f
e le c trica l clearance, and this is a c h a lle n g in g task and is fundam ental to ensure
In this chapter, an extensive an aly sis o f the electrical clearance issues for voltage
u p ra tin g o f a transm ission line is c a rrie d out. Initially, the available clearances o f the
h ig h e r voltage level are identified. T h en , tech n iq u es are explored for satisfying the
v o lta g e uprating are in v estig ated b a se d on an operational 275kV transm ission line w ith
Issu e s such as co n d u cto r air c le a ra n c e and insulation electrical strength are taken into
4 .2 D e t a ils of t h e S e le c t e d 2 7 5 k V O v e rh e a d Line
T h e line under c o n sid e ratio n for uprating is a 35km long, double circuit 275kV line o f
‘L 3 ’ steel co n stru ctio n . F o r this type o f construction, the height o f the steel lattice to w er
is 36.88m [4.1]. T h e line is assum ed to be located on flat terrain w ith an av erage span
4-1
length o f 300m . Figure 4.1 show s a section o f a typical 275kV line in ‘L 3 ’ tow er
structure.
T he phase co n d u cto rs o f the line com prise tw in 175m m A C SR (A lum inium C onductor
Steel R einforced) ‘L y n x ’ conductor, and a single ‘L ynx’ conductor is used for the earth
w ire. Som e o f the ex istin g 275kV lines in the U K have had the A C SR conductors
transfer capability o f th e line [4.2, 4.3]. H ow ever, m ost o f the 275kV lines w ere
designed and co n stru cted in the 1950s and 1960s to accom m odate A C SR ‘L ynx’
scenario o f the ex istin g system for w hich the line w as initially designed [4.4]. W ith
‘L ynx’ conductors, the p hase and earth conductors have a 7.05m and 6.66m m id-span
sag respectively u n d er norm al w e a th er (no w ind and ice loading w ith average
Sp*n ■ 300 m
Figure 4.1: Section o f a 275kV overhead transmission line in ‘L3’ tower structures.
4 -2
4.2.1 Tow er Structure and Conductor Geometry
Each crossarm o f the to w er can support m axim um w eight o f 30kN. Figure 4.2 show s
The values in the p a re n th ese s are m idspan heights o f conductors. C onductors Aj, Z?/, C/
on left are phase co n d u cto rs o f the first circuit and A 2 , B2 , C2 on right correspond to the
second circuit w ith the p h asin g arrangem ents as show n in the figure. The shielding
2.15 m
6.09 m
4.03m
30.48 cm
6.09 m
4.26m
36.88 m
(30.22) m
,57m
31.42 m
(24.37) m
25.33 m
(18.28) m
22.55 m
19.24 m
(12.19) m
Figure 4.2: A typical ‘L3’ lattice tower showing its key dimensions and conductor positions. Values
in parentheses show the midspan height o f conductors.
4 -3
4.2.2 Conductor Specifications
The sp ecificatio n s for the conductors are show n in Table 4.1 [4 .1 ,4 .4 , 4.5].
Table 4.1: Specifications for the phase and earth conductors |4 .1 ,4.4,4.51.
C onductor Lynx (A C SR )
C ross-sectional area 175m m 2
D iam eter 19.53m m
T he insulator string co n sid ered for this system follow s the N ational G rid specification
for a 275kV o v erhead tran sm issio n in su lato r set for ‘L 3 ’ tow ers [4.6]. T he ‘L 3 ’ tow er is
[4.7]. H ow ever, a string length o f 3.31m is considered in this study as per the EN A
recom m endation [4.8] and the N ational G rid specifications [4.6] as show n in Figure 4.3.
The specifications used for suspension insulator strings are shown in Table 4.2.
3311
ARC GAPS 429
1Q6 20 6 8 .5 57.5
Figure 4.3: 275kV suspension insulator set for ‘L3’ towers (Reconstructed from [4.6])
4-4
T a b le 4 .2 : S p e c i f ic a t i o n s f o r s u s p e n s io n in s u la t o r s
P a ram e te rs D escription
N u m b er o f d iscs in a strin g 16
4 .3 A n a l y s is of C o n d u c t o r A ir C l e a r a n c e s
W ind load
T hese c o n d itio n s are c o n sid e red as the general approach for loading in the U nited
and N orthern Ire lan d ” fo r o v erh ead electrical lines exceeding AC 45kV [4.10]. In o rder
to in crease the v o lta g e level, su fficien t clearance m ust be achieved betw een the m id
span o f lo w est p h ase and ground, ph ase-to -p h ase, phase-to-earth structure / w ire, and
4 -5
4.3.1 Clearances under Still Air (Normal Load I Maximum
Conductor Temperature I Ice Load)
C o n d u c to r a ir c le a ra n c e in still air is calculated for the ‘L 3 ’ 275kV system operating
(i) n o rm al load,
In all the cases, u n d e r still a ir c o n d itio n , the req u ired m inim um clearance is determ ined
in S ection 3.5 o f this th esis. T h e sta n d a rd co n d itio n s specified in the N N A [4.10] are
adopted for the d ifferen t lo ad in g c o n d itio n s in still air (w ind speed less than 0.6m /s) and
is d escribed in T ab le 4.3:
P a ram e te rs D escription
In su lato r sw in g 0°
4-6
T he ‘L 3 ' 2 7 5kV line considered in this study operates w ith lightning and sw itching
im pulse w ith stan d vo ltag e level o f 1050kV and 850kV respectively. S im ilarly, for a
400kV system , w ith sta n d v o ltag e level o f 1425kV / 1050kV (lightning / sw itching) is
generally used in the U K . T h erefo re, the m inim um required clearances for 275kV and
400kV system s for the ab o v e m en tio n e d w ithstand voltage levels are calculated using
E quations (3.8) and (3.9) fo r lig h tn in g overvoltage; Equations (3.13) and (3.14) for
sw itching overvoltage and; E q u atio n s (3.16) and (3.17) for pow er frequency voltage
(see C hapter 3 for further d e ta ils o f a b o v e equations). The calculated values that are
applicable to clearances at to w ers an d w ith in the spans are show n in T able 4.4. It can be
seen that there is a significant in crease in clearan ces w hen uprating the line from 275kV
to 400kV system .
Table 4.4: Calculated values o f m inim um required clearances (in meter) under still air condition
for 275kV and 400kV overhead line.
2 7 5 k V O H L in e 400kVO H L in e
P hase-to-
Earth 0.51 1.9 1.9 0.69 2.6 2.6
(A-,)
Phase-to-
Phase 0.83 2.7 2.2 1.16 3.7 2.9
(A»)
G round 1.0* 7.3*
* The value is according to the N N A specificatio n for UK and Northern Ireland [4.10].
T he p h ase-to-phase and p h a se-to -e a rth clearances available for the existing 275kV line
are show n in Figure 4.4. T h e g round clearances at the tow er attachm ent points and at
m idspan are sh o w n in F igure 4.2. A s expected, the design o f the 275kV line satisfies all
clearance req u irem e n ts betw een conductors and conductor-earth to p rev en t flash o v er
4-7
3.31m
7.7 1 m 3.10m
* •
2.49m
6.05m
8.17m 3.14m
• •* *♦ •
2.48m
8.79m 3.11m
Figure 4.4: Available air clearances between critical points for standard ‘L3’ 275kV line with
normal suspension in still air.
due to all types o f overvoltages. T he available clearances are exceeding the m inim um
satisfactory clearance should be achieved betw een phase and ground, phase to phase,
T he available m inim um phase-to -g ro u n d clearance w ithin the span is 12.19m for the
low est tw o phase conductors (F igure 4.2). This value is significantly greater than the
required ground clearance for the 400kV system by 4.89m under norm al loading
condition. The excess o f 4 .8 9 m clearance provides sufficient room for further sag due to
w ithin the project on the sam e line has show n no violation o f ground clearance for
4-8
Figure 4.5: PLS-CADD simulation of conductors at various temperatures. Earth wire (£) and
phase conductors {A and B) are at 65 °C. Bottom phase conductor (C) is in temperature range from
- 5 °C to 9 0 °C [4.12].
The clearance betw een the earth w ire and top phase conductors at the tow er attachm ent
position and at m idspan, are show n in F igure 4.6. The values o f clearance are 6 .6 6 m at
the tow er attachm ent position and 6 .9 8m at m idspan w hich are significantly higher than
E arth
C o n d u c to r
Earth
C onductor
6.66m 5.46m v»
U pper p h a s e 5.85m
6.98m
co n d u cto rs
U pper p h a se
O
3.85m conductors
o 4
3.85m
31.42m 36.88m
24.37m 30.22m
G round Ground
a) A t to w e r a tta c h m e n t b) A t m idspan
Figure 4.6: Clearances between the top phase conductors and earth wire at a) tower attachment
point and b) midspan.
4- 9
th e req u ired p h a se-to -e a rth clearance (2.6m fo r sw itching) for the 400kV system .
c le a ra n c e ) for th e 2 7 5 k V lin e in still a ir co ndition are 7 .7 1m, 8 .17m and 8.79m across
th e top, m iddle and b o tto m p h a ses respectively. Sim ilarly, m inim um vertical clearances
b e tw e en the phases at the to w e r an d w ith in th e span are 6.05m (Figure 4.4 a). As show n
in T able 4.4, the m in im u m req u ired p h ase-to -p h ase clearances are 2.7m for a 275kV
e x istin g 275kV line in still air c o n d itio n show s that there are adequate air clearances
th e m ost onerous req u ired cle a ra n c e o f 3 .7m needed to w ithstand sw itching im pulse
lin e are o n ly 2 .48m b e tw e e n the m id d le p h ase a n d low er crossarm , and 2.49m betw een
th e top phase an d the m id d le cro ssarm . F rom T able 4.4, it can be seen that the available
w ith sta n d th e lig h tn in g an d sw itch in g overv o ltag e level for a 400kV system . T herefore,
m o d ific a tio n to the e x istin g line to satisfy the m in im u m required clearances for 400kV
sy stem .
T h e h o rizo n tal c le a ra n c e s b etw een the phase conductor and tow er structure, as show n in
F ig u re 4 .4 b are 3.1 0 m , 3 . 14m and 3 .1 lm b etw een tow er structure and top, m iddle, and
b o tto m p h a ses respectively. T hese horizontal clearance values are higher than the
re q u ire d m in im u m ph ase-to -earth clearance (2.6m ) for 400kV system . H ow ever, these
4-10
p h ase-to -earth cle a ra n c e s (betw een phase and to w er structure) are for a still air
W ind load for 3 y ears retu rn p e rio d : D esign w ind load for determ ination o f
W ind load w ith 50 y ears retu rn p erio d : W ind load for gust conditions (E xtrem e
w ind)
In case o f norm al w ind load, sim ila r to th at o f still air condition, the m inim um required
the required clearan ces u n d e r th is case m a y be less than that o f the still air condition due
to the low p ro b ab ility o f o v e rv o lta g e c a u sin g any risk o f failure [4.9]. T herefore, the
p h ase-to-earth and p h a se -to -p h a se cle a ra n c e s req u ired for lightning and sw itching
clearances ( Dei and Dpp) u n d e r still a ir b y a facto r ki, know n as the reduction factor for
electrical c le a ra n c e s, [4.10].
have a tra n sie n t o v erv o ltag e s o ccurring sim u ltan eo u sly w hen the conductor sw ings due
to w in d load and the clearan ces should only w ithstand the highest system voltage
4-11
requirem ent in this case is governed m ainly by the pow er frequency overvoltage and the
values are the sam e as those o f still air condition represented by Deij,f and DPPJ)f
Table 4.5 show s the calculated values o f m inim um required clearances for 275kV and
400kV operation under norm al and extrem e w ind conditions. For norm al w ind, the
calculated Dei and Dpp values show n in T able 4.4 are m ultiplied by clearance reduction
Table 4.5: Calculated values of minimum required clearances (in meter) under wind load (normal
wind & extreme wind) for 275kV and 400kV overhead line under different overvoltages
300kV 420kV
E x tre m e
P hase-to-earth
W in d 0.51 0.69
(D e l_ p f )
P hase-to-phase
0.83 1.16
( D p p jp j )
Figure 4.7 show s the co n d u cto r air clearances during norm al swing (under norm al wind,
show n on the left hand circuit) and extrem e sw ing (under extrem e wind, show n on right
hand circuit). T he norm al sw ing angle assum ed to be 20° and the extrem e sw ing angle is
4-12
19.8'
,34m
2 .3 6 m
19.8
►•i*
,41m •
2 .4 5 m
1.38m
Figure 4.7: Available air clearance for standard ‘L3’ 275kV line with normal suspension in wind
load. Left hand side phases under normal swing and right hand side phases under extreme swing.
w ind load are 2.36m and 2.4 5 m for the top and m iddle phase conductors respectively.
C om pared to the still air co n d itio n (sh o w n in F igure 4.4), these clearances decrease by
0.13m for the top phase and 0.03m in the b o tto m phase. The reduction in the clearance
is due to the insulator sw ing and the m inim um clearances occur at 19.8° sw ing angle.
C om paring these reduced clearan ces d ue to norm al sw ing (2.36m and 2.45m ) w ith the
required m inim um clearances sh o w n in T able 4.5, it is seen that the available phase-to-
crossarm clearances in b o th the p hases o f the existing 275kV line satisfies the required
U nder extrem e w in d load, (35° sw ing angle) the available clearances in all phases
exceed 1.3m. W ith referen ce to the required m inim um values under extrem e w ind as
show n in T able 4.5, it can be seen that the available clearances are sufficient to operate
at 400kV .
4-13
4 .4 A n a l y s is of I n s u l a t o r E l e c t r ic a l S t r e n g t h
the p h a se -to -e a rth c le a ra n c e o f the ex istin g 275kV line is not sufficient for still air
co ndition w h en u p ra tin g th e line to 400kV . If this clearance is satisfied, the line w ill
crossarm length. A d ju stm e n t to the cro ssarm could provide adequate earth clearance
betw een the c o n d u c to r a n d cro ssa rm at the top and m iddle phase positions. H ow ever,
the m ethod w o u ld req u ire c h a n g es to all to w e r structures and w ould involve a long out-
length o f in su la to r strin g from its c u rre n t length o f 3.31m to 3.2m . Figure 4.8 show s the
Increasing the v o lta g e ra tin g o f the line adds to the creepage requirem ent o f an existing
insulator. T h e refo re, red u c tio n o f the in su la to r length is only possible if the reduced
in su lato r len g th can p ro v id e a h ig h er creep ag e value required for the uprated voltage
altern ativ e p o ly m e ric in su lato rs that can p rovide hig h er value o f unified specific
estim ate th e ad d itio n a l creep ag e req u ired for the increased voltage level w hich is
4-14
E
3.2 m
in su la to r
string
3.12m
V
2 .6 4 m
3.16m
2 .6 3 m
3.12m
T he existing 275kV glass in su lato r strin g has a total creepage o f 8640 m m [4.6]. This
gives a m inim um u n ified specific creep ag e distance o f 49.883 m m /kV betw een phase
and earth related to the p h a se-to -e a rth highest system voltage ( U S/ V T ) for a system
voltage o f 275kV a c co rd in g to IEC 60815-1 [4.13]. T his value, according to Figure 3.9
in C hapter 3, is ad eq u ate fo r a site p o llu tio n severity (SPS) betw een ‘H eav y ’ and ‘V ery
h e a v y ’ levels th at req u ire av erag e values o f U S C D o f 43.3 m m /kV and 53.7 m m /kV
respectively. T o m ain tain the sam e SPS class and the sam e corresponding U SCD , the
insulators o f the u p rate d line at 400kV system w ould require a m inim um creepage o f
4-15
insulators can p ro v id e high specific creepage and, hence, the required creep ag e for
400kV system co u ld be ach iev ab le w ith shorter insulator string thereby in creasin g the
phase-to-earth cle a ra n c e s [4.14]. In the U K , such insulators are already in trial use on
the 400kV system p ro v id in g b e tte r u n ified specific creepage distance [4.15]. H ow ever,
the com m ercial av a ilab ility o f a 3.2m long com posite insulator w ith creepage length o f
conditions due to th eir h y d ro p h o b ic ity p ro p erties. Such perform ance helps since the
option for the uprated line. S uch e x te n d e rs in crease the creepage length o f the insulator
string and im prove the electrical stre n g th b y red u c in g leakage current and surface stress
[4.17], T his m ay help in red u c in g fla sh o v e r d u e to transients in the line. H ow ever, this
Table 4.6: Examples o f few com m ercially available composite insulators [4.16].
System
N o. o f In su la to r L en g th D ry A rc Length C reepage L ength
V oltage
S heds (m ) (m ) (m m )
(kV )
4-16
The solutions d e scrib ed , so far, have focused on satisfying the m inim um req u ired phase-
levels low er than 1425 / 1050kV (lig h tn in g / sw itching) com m only used for 400kV
transients in the system co u ld be red u ced . In the follow ing section, the opportunity to
apply this unique altern ativ e a p p ro a c h o f red u c in g the requirem ent o f air clearance in
4 .5 R e d u c t io n o f the R e q u ir e d M in im u m P h a s e - t o -E a r t h
C learances
As prev io u sly stated, the re q u ire d p h a se -to -e a rth clearance o f an overhead line is
d eterm ined m ainly by the m ag n itu d e o f o v e rv o ltag e s produced by lightning surges and
sw itching events [4.18], an d the o v e rv o ltag e considerations for transm ission lines
this general rule m ay n o t alw ay s a p p ly as the electrical clearances for overhead lines
the lightning and sw itc h in g o v e rv o ltag e s depends upon the selected com bination o f
lightning and sw itc h in g w ith sta n d v o ltage levels. A s outlined in Section 3.6.2, there are
six possible d iffe re n t co m b in a tio n s o f lightning and sw itching w ithstand levels for
400kV system .
For the case c o n sid e red here for u p rating 275kV line w ith 1050kV / 850kV (lightning /
sw itching) w ith sta n d level to 400kV system , one set o f overvoltage level m ust therefore
4-17
be selected from th ese six different com binations. A s seen in Figure 3.8 (C h ap ter 3),
phase-to-phase c le a ra n c e req u irem en ts for 400kV system are dictated only b y sw itch in g
sw itching), w hich is g e n e ra lly u sed in the U K for 400kV system , the phase-to-earth
considered here has a c ritical p h a se-to -e a rth clearance requirem ent for uprating, and
therefore, both the lig h tn in g and sw itc h in g overvoltages should be considered w hile
T he m inim um required p h a se -to -e a rth cle a ra n c e is 2.6m for 400kV system as given in
T able 4.4 based on the w ith sta n d v o lta g e level o f 1425kV and 1050kV for lightning and
sw itching overvoltage resp ectiv ely . H o w ev er, i f the lightning w ithstand level is reduced
to 1300kV, the clearance req u irem e n t fo r lig h tn in g overvoltage reduces from 2.6m to
2.4m . Furtherm ore, if the sw itc h in g o v e rv o ltag e level is reduced to 950kV , the
4 .6 L im it a t io n of Im p u l s e W it h s t a n d Level
T he overv o ltag e w ith sta n d level on a system can be lim ited by control o f overvoltages
earth electro d es o r in cre asin g insulation in the system [4.20]. Sw itching overvoltages
are c o n v e n tio n a lly c o n tro lle d by using the point-on-w ave sw itching technique or by the
use o f p re-in se rtio n resisto rs in parallel w ith the line circuit breakers. H ow ever, these
4-18
resisto rs m ake the c irc u it b rea k e r m echanically m ore com plex and, therefore, are n o t so
p o p u lar due to co n c ern s o v e r circu it b reak er reliability [4.21]. A lso, the use o f sw itch
synch relays can red u c e the sw itch in g overvoltage to som e extent [4.22, 4.23].
H ow ever, this m eth o d is n o t alw ay s capable o f reducing overvoltage level b elo w the
sw itch in g im pulse w ith sta n d level [4.22]. A n alternate solution is the application o f line
su rg e arresters along the line for lim itation o f overvoltages to below the system
sw itch in g and lightning o v e rv o lta g e w ith stan d levels [4.24, 4.25]. The application o f
in v estig ated in the fo llo w in g c h ap ters; the com putation o f netw ork overvoltages
4 .7 C o n c l u s io n s
tra n sm issio n line w ere in v estig ated . A p a rtic u la r d esig n o f 275kV transm ission line used
th at the available p h a se -to -e a rth c le a ra n c e in a still air condition w as the lim iting
co n d itio n for u p rating the line to 4 0 0 k V system . R eplacem ent o f an insulator w ith the
A s an a lte rn a te so lu tio n , it w as p roposed to lim it the overvoltage level allow ing a low er
4-19
standard lig h tn in g / sw itch in g w ith stan d level and a correspondingly low er clearance
requirem ent. F o r in cre ase d reliab ility o f the line and to lim it the overvoltage o f the
4-20
C h a pt e r 5
C o m p u ta tio n o f T r a n s ie n t O v e r v o lta g e s o n
S e l e c t e d N e tw o r k f o r V o lta g e U p ra tin g
5.1 I n t r o d u c t io n
level w ith the help o f su rg e a rresters. In p a rticu lar, the application o f line surge arresters
M etal oxide surge a rre ste rs w e re d e v e lo p e d in 1980s, and are w idely used for
im prove lightning and sw itc h in g p e rfo rm a n c e s can be found in [5.1 - 5.6]. H ow ever,
the application o f surge arre ste rs fo r u p ra tin g o f overh ead lines is not reported in the
literature.
lightning strikes are in v estig ated . F irstly , the a p p licatio n o f surge arresters for sw itching
o vervoltage control is co n sid ered . T h e resu lts ob tain ed from a parallel collaborative
study on surge a rre ste r a p p lic a tio n fo r c o n tro l o f sw itching overvoltage (under the sam e
E ngineering and P h y sical S cien ces R e search C o u n cil (E PSR C ) project on “U prating o f
O verhead L in es” ) is p rese n ted . T h en , the o v erh ead line is m odelled for com putation o f
lightning o v e rv o ltag e s an d the a p p licatio n s o f line surge arresters are investigated. The
e le ctro g eo m etric m odel is used to d eterm in e lightning term ination statistics. The
lightning o v e rv o ltag e m ag n itu d e, the im pulse w aveshape due to shielding failure and
5-1
5 .2 C ontrol of S w it c h in g O v e r v o l t a g e
T he sw itch in g o v e rv o ltag e studies w ere carried out on the 275kV overhead transm ission
the line to represent m o re c lo se ly the actu al o p eratio n al line. The line is 35km long w ith
w ire. G lass in su lato r d iscs w ith to tal in su la to r string length o f 3.31m are assum ed.
height o f the ‘L 3 ’ tow er. T ab le 5.1 sh o w s the details o f the tow er type and length o f
each section in the line. T h e stru c tu re o f som e typical interm ediate tow ers (L 3D E 16,
T he E M T P m o d el o f the line uses the J. M arti m odel [5.9] w hich is the m ost com m only
used m odel fo r tra n sie n t sim u latio n . T he freq u en cy dependent J. M arti m odel for
tran sm issio n line a p p ro x im ate s the line surge im pedance and the propagation constant
5-2
Table 5.1: D escrip tion o f line sections used for sim ulating 35km long transm ission line.
3 L3 D E 8 38.7 5.97
5 L3 D 30 36.8 3.18
6 L3 D E 16 42.0 5.19
7 L3 D E 24 42.0 1.03
Figure 5.1: Structure of few ‘L3’ intermediate towers listed in Table 5.1 (PLS-CADD Model).
T he line surge arre ste rs are m odelled in E M T P as per their V -I characteristics. Polym er-
housed m eta l-o x id e surge arresters w ith the A B B specifications as show n in Table 5.2
5.2.
5-3
Table 5.2: S p ecification s for the m etal oxide surge arresters [5.101.
1000 -
900 -
800 -
700 -
£ 600 -
So
re 500 -
o 400 -
300 -
200 -
100 -
0 -
0.
C urrent (kA)
Figure 5.3 show s the E M T P m o d el o f th e transm ission line used for the sw itching
Sw itching o v e rv o ltag e s on tra n sm issio n line are produced due to opening and closing
o perations o f c irc u it b reak ers u n d er fault and also on line energisation and re
energisation. L ine re-e n e rg isatio n w ith trapped charge w ill produce the w orst case
o vervoltages. T h e refo re, to obtain the w orst case scenario, the three-phase circuit
b reak er clo sin g is m o d elled such that the closing occurs at voltage peak and m axim um
trap p ed c h a rg e w ith o p posite polarities in all three phases. T he circuit breaker closing is
5-4
N1 N2 N3 N4 NS N6 N7 N8 N9
done using sy stem atic sw itc h e s w h ich operate in constant tim e interval from m axim um
400 x V2/V3 = 3 2 6 .6 k V ) is a p p lied on one end o f the line before energising the other
end w ith 4 00kV A C v o ltag e. T h e sw itc h in g overvoltage in each phase is determ ined for
for trapped ch arg e v alu es o f -1, 1 and -1 pu in phases A , B and C respectively, and
therefore is c o n sid e red as a w o rst case scen ario for sim ulation. The variation o f the
trapped charge fo r th e 4 0 0 k V tra n sm issio n line for w orst case is show n in Figure 5.4.
400
300 -
Phase B
200 -
-100 -
-200 -
Phase A iase C
-300 -
-400
0.00 0.02 0 .0 4 0 .0 6 0 .0 8 0.10
Time [s]
Figure 5.4: Trapped charge modelling for worst case scenario using EMTP (reconstructed from
|5.7|).
5-5
5.2.5 Statistical Switching Analysis
E M T P sw itc h in g o p e ra tio n s are m o d elled statistically using system atic sw itches in all
three phases. T h e o v e rv o ltag e p ro d u ced in the line depends upon the point on voltage
show n in Figure 5.5 w ith sw itch clo sin g tim e varying from 0 to 6.67m s in 10 steps in
each phase g iv in g rise to total o f 1000 sw itching operation for l/3 rd o f the voltage
1.3pu are observed. T he m ax im u m overv o ltag e occurs at phase B w hile closing the
sw itch at Vmax. F igure 5.6 sh o w s the o vervoltage w aveshape for the m axim um
overv o ltag e o b tain ed in th is case [5.7]. T his overvoltage occurs w ith the system atic
- Phase A : 15.36m s
- Phase B : 16.03m s
- Phase C : 15.36m s
exceeds the sw itc h in g o v e rv o lta g e p ro te c tio n level o f 1050kV norm ally adopted for
600 t
500
200
C lass (p.u)
Figure 5.5: Distribution o f overvoltage along the line (Trapped charge = -1 pu) [5.71.
5-6
600- Ph. B Ph. A Ph. B
(1pu trapped charge)
400-
^ 200-
£ -400-
0)
Ph. C
O -600 -
-800-
Ph. B
- 1 000 -
-1200
20 25 30 35 40
Time (ms)
other con v en tio n al m eth o d s o f sw itc h in g o vervoltage control. From the econom ic point
arresters on the line so th a t the req u ired control o f the overvoltage can be obtained w ith
the m in im u m n u m b e r o f a rre ste r units. T he overvoltages along the line are calculated
for d iffe re n t a rre ste r c o n fig u ratio n s to o ptim ise the num ber o f surge arresters. The
- C o n fig u ra tio n B : A rresters only at the line ends ( N odes N1 and N9)
5- 1
- C o n fig u ra tio n C : A rresters at line ends and in the m iddle o f the line
nodes along the line and p lo tte d in F igure 5.7 [5.7]. T he sw itching conditions rem ain the
sam e as explained in S e c tio n 5.2.5 and the sim ulations w ere carried out w ith trapped
charge in the system re p re se n tin g w o rst case scenario. W hen the line is not protected
w ith arresters (co n fig u ratio n A ), it is o b serv ed that the sw itching overvoltage m agnitude
increases along the line as it g ets c lo se to the open end and reaches m axim um value o f
3.5pu at node N9. T he o p tim u m o v e rv o ltag e red u ctio n at each node is obtained w ith
arresters at every alternate node. In this case, ex cep t node N8, overvoltages in all other
W ith reference to Figure 5.7, the m a x im u m sw itch in g overvoltage can be reduced from
3.5pu ( 1 143kV ) to 2.0 5 p u (6 6 9 .5k V ) in c o n fig u ratio n B , i.e. w ith surge arresters applied
3.5 ■m—
3
Q.
o) 2.5
3
| 2
o 1.5
x Conf. A
s 1 Conf. B
Conf. C
0.5
Conf. D
N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 N7 N8 N9
N o d es
Figure 5.7: O vervoltage along the line for different arrester configurations (reconstructed from
|5.7l
5-8
at the line ends only. T his w o uld be sufficient to allow a sw itching im pulse w ithstand
level o f 850kV for the u p rate d 400kV application and, thereby, allow ing a reduction in
the m inim um p h ase-to -earth clearan ce requirem ents from 2.6m to 1.8m for sw itching
overvoltages. T he p o ssib ility o f 850kV w ith stan d level is even better than targeted value
adding one m ore set o f arresters in the m id d le o f the line (C onfiguration C) o r w ith
arresters at alternate tow ers (C o n fig u ra tio n D ), the overvoltages are not further reduced
significantly com pared w ith c o n fig u ra tio n B. T herefore, it w ould be uneconom ical to
choose configuration C or D.
H ow ever, surge arresters ap p lied at line en d s alone w ill not help to control lightning
overvoltages along the line. It is e x p e cte d th at low er values o f lightning w ithstand level
th ro u g h o u t the line [5.12]. H o w ev er, ap p lic atio n o f large num bers o f surge arresters
along the line m ay not be eco n o m ical. In the follow ing sections, an investigation o f
num ber and p lacem ent o f surge arre ste rs alo n g the line is investigated in C hapter 6.
5 .3 A n a l y s is of L ig h t n in g O v e r v o l t a g e s
standards and g u idelines are a v a ilab le to assist w ith such study [5.13 - 5.15].
H ere, a lig h tn in g o v e rv o ltag e in v estig atio n is perform ed for the existing 275kV ‘L 3 ’
line. T he o v erv o ltag e lev els are determ ined in the line for energisation at 400kV . T he
line insulators are a ssu m e d to have a length o f 3.3m and to have to provide sufficient
5- 9
The lightning events p ro d u cin g overvoltages in the line are as a result o f a stroke
hitting:
The application o f line surge arresters is co n sid e red to control the overvoltages.
5 .4 S im u l a t io n T o o l s for L ig h t n in g S t u d y
D ifferent softw are is available for stu d y in g lig h tn in g and its perform ance in overhead
pow er line. T hese include IEEE FL A S H , A n d e rso n and T hom pson’s digital w eather
m odel D C O R T L , SIG M A -Slp, EPRI T F lash , an d the E lectrom agnetic transient program
EM TP. In this study, the SIG M A -S lp [5.16] and the EPR I program , T Flash [5.17] are
used.
transm ission line electrical p erform ance w ith special reference to the application o f
surge arresters. This program is used b e c au se it can m odel single and m ultiple circuit
lines using M onte-C arlo sim ulation (see A p p e n d ix A ) o f lightning perform ance [5.16]
and uses the E lectrogeom etric m odel (E G M ) fo r determ ination o f stroke term ination.
E lectrom agnetic transients on the line are c o m p u te d by the m ultiphase travelling w ave
sim ulate line perform ance o f both sh ie ld e d and unshielded transm ission line. T he
softw are is specially designed to p e rm it rap id and sim ple determ ination o f an optim um
representation o f expected line fla sh o v e r p erform ance and expected energy ab sorption
5-1 0
by the arresters. Shielding failure sim u latio n is based on graphical representation o f the
conductor striking distances. S IG M A -S lp can also calculate electric and m agnetic field
TFlash is a com prehensive tran sm issio n line lig h tn in g perform ance sim ulation program
developed by EPRI. The program e v alu ates all aspects o f lightning reliability and
grounding, transm ission voltage etc. T h e so ftw a re can sim ulate m ultiple lines on a
single w ayleave and has the facility to use the E G M o r the EPR I stroke attraction m odel
(see A ppendix B). W ith reference to F ig u re 5.8, the program has tw o m ajor
com ponents. The first com ponent is w h ere u sers b u ild a m odel o f the line to be
Project
Tow er M odels C omponent Data
Parameters
c
o T o w tr
c Line Voltage,
o Lightning Param eters CFO, MCOV,
a Parameters, Line S izes
E etc.
o
u
Line M odel
File
<N
Traveling Wave
C Simulation
(J
c
o
Q
E
o
U
5-11
analysed. T he second co m ponent takes d ata from the line m odel and builds the electrical
m odel for the travelling w ave sim u latio n and creates reports.
5 .5 L in e M o d e l l in g fo r C o m p u t a t io n of L ig h t n in g
O vervoltage
M uch literature has been published c o n c e rn in g the m odelling o f transm ission line
com ponents for lightning overvoltage sim u latio n [5.14, 5.18 - 5.23]. In this study,
m odels o f the existing 275kV line c o m p o n e n ts w ere set up in SIG M A -Slp and TFlash.
T he m odels require the selection o f to w ers, c o n d u cto rs, insulators, earth type and
arresters. U sing this data, electrical m odels o f a sh o rt section o f the line are constructed.
T he program s sim ulate lightning current a tta c h m e n t to the line and the propagation o f
the current along the line and tow ers. T he d e ta ils o f m o d ellin g process are explained in
long section is added to each side o f the line length considered for sim ulation. In
addition, at the line ends, SIG M A -Slp c o n n e cts co u p lin g m atrices w hile T Flash adds
m atching im pedances. Each sim ulated span se ctio n is further divided into shorter sub
5.5.2 T o w e r Model
T he EPR I T F lash program m odels a high v o lta g e transm ission tow er as a netw ork o f
short tran sm issio n lines carrying tra n sie n t cu rre n t from its top to the earth and its
reflection back tow ards the top [5.15]. T h e refo re, in TFlash, tow er is m odelled as a
short vertical transm ission line section w ith co nstant surge im pedance and earthed
5- 12
through its footing resistance at the end. In SIG M A -Slp, the tow er is m o d elled by a
sim ple propagation elem ent m odel rep re sen te d by the tow er surge im pedance ( Z j ) and
its propagation length (lprop) as show n in F ig u re 5.9a. The propagation length is equal to
T he surge im pedance o f the steel lattice to w e r u sed in both program s is calculated u sin g
the sam e C IG R E m odel show n in F igure 5.9b u sin g E quations (5.1) and (5.2) [5.14].
•i / ravg A
Zr = 60 In c o t 0.5 ta n (5 .1 )
V/ii + h2)
r-i h2 +r2
(h j + h2)+ r3h
Tavg ~ (h, + h2) K >
W here,
Z j is tow er surge im pedance and ravg is th e w e ig h te d average tow er radius, hi and h 2 are
the tow er height from base to m idsection an d m id se c tio n to tow er top respectively, rj,
0 , and r j are the radii at the top, m id sectio n and b ase o f the tow er respectively. Figure
5.9b show s these dim ensions w ith c o rre sp o n d in g valu es for the ‘L 3 ’ tow er structure.
Osl
'prop
3.57 m
Propagation
section element
7 777 7777
<■
(b)
Figure 5.9 : Tower models a) Sim ple propagation element model in SIGMA-Slp and b) Assumed
model geometry for computation o f tower surge impedance in both SIGMA-Slp and TFlash.
5-13
5.5.3 Tow er Footing Resistance Model
R0
R t = r— — (5.3)
F t
w here;
Ig = soil ionisation lim iting current (k A ) a n d is c a lcu lated using Equation (5.4)
E oP _
to ( 5 '4 )
w here;
flash o v er m odel w h ereas SIG M A -Slp, uses a leader progression m ethod as ad o p ted by
C IG R E [5.14].
5-14
T he D E m e th o d d efin es the disru p tiv e index by:
DE = (5 .5 )
W here, V(t) is the in sta n ta n e o u s value o f the im pulse voltage, and A and B are constants.
coefficient in d ic a tin g th a t the b reak d o w n p ro cess is not linear. W hen the disruptive
u (t) 0 .0 0 1 5
V, = 1 7 0 d - E0 e (5 .6 )
d -L
W here, Vt is the leader v e lo c ity , d th e g a p d istan ce, // the leader length, u(t) the applied
voltage and, E() the vo ltag e g rad ie n t (5 2 0 k V /m ). In th is m odel, the flashover m echanism
progression. W hen the lea d e r c ro sse s the p h a se-to -e a rth air gap, flashover occurs.
In both above p ro g ram s, the lig h tn in g stro k e is m o d elled as an ideal current source w ith
lightning flashes are ran d o m in n ature. T he po sitiv e polarity lightning strokes being
very rare (h ard ly e x c ee d in g 10% o f the total gro u n d flash [5.26]), the lightning current
[5.26], as rep ro d u c e d in F ig u re 5.11, is used in this study. T able 5.3 show s the statistical
5-15
100
'90
th time
Table 5.3: Statistical param eter o f negative return stroke [5.14, 5.26].
L ogarithm ic S tandard
P a ram e te r M e d ia n V alue
D eviation (B ase e)
strike p o in t on the line. F ig u re 5.12 sh o w s a b asic concept o f this m odel for determ ining
the strik in g d ista n c e. A s th e lea d e r ap p ro ach es the transm ission line, each conductor
em its an u p w a rd lea d e r w ith a strik in g d istan ce R. I f the dow nw ard leader falls on area
ends up in are a C, it strik es to earth. T he conductor, and earth striking distances used in
Rs = Rp = 10 / 0 65 (5 .7 )
5-16
To shield wire
T o p h a se wire
k To earth
Shield Wire
Phase W ir e #
Earth
W here, Rs is th e strik in g d istan ce to the sh ield w ire, Rp is the striking distance to the
In o rder to set a p p ro p riate p a ram eters o f the lightning stroke and to understand its
random b e h a v io u r fo r o v erv o ltag e calcu latio n , the lightning stroke term ination statistics
are d e te rm in e d u sin g the E lectro g eo m etric m odel (E G M ) in SIG M A -Slp and TFlash.
In S IG M A -S lp , ran d o m lig h tn in g strokes are generated w ith m agnitudes betw een 1.2kA
and 161.1kA to acco m m o d ate bo th sh ielding failure and backflash, and w ith rise tim es
in the ran g e fro m 1.2ps and 4 .3 8 p s. A total o f 20,000 lightning strokes are used w ith the
im pulse sh ap e v ary in g ran d o m ly w ith in 2000 sam ples. In TFlash, how ever, the stroke
cu rren t ran g e can be selected b etw een lk A and 300kA , and the range is divided up to
current bins a n d a peak cu rren t range from 2.5kA to 160kA w ere selected in TFlash.
5-17
T he line is a ssu m e d to be on flat ground w ithout any external natural shielding (e.g.
trees, b u ild in g s etc.) w ith an average span o f 300m . The line is energised at 400kV w ith
operation.
T able 5.4 show s th e lig h tn in g stro k e term in atio n statistics using EG M in SIG M A -Slp.
O ut o f 2 0,000 stro k es, m o re than 70% (14123) o f strokes attach to earth and 27% o f
strokes are c o lle cte d b y th e sh ie ld w ire (4827) and tow er tops (521). O nly about 3%
(529) o f the strokes are p red ic te d to hit th e p h ase conductor. O ut o f the strokes that are
collected b y p h ase c o n d u c to rs, 100% attach to the top tw o phases (Ai and C 2).
Table 5.4: Distribution of stroke term ination along the line using EGM in SIGMA-Slp.
% o f total
stroke
To Phase A l 254
To Phase B1 0
T o Phase C l 0
N u m b e r o f stro k e s to p h ase conductors 2.65%
To Phase C2 275
To Phase B2 0
To Phase A 2 0
5-18
lig h tning c u rre n ts resp o n sib le for shielding failure and backflashover in the line. W ith
referen ce to F ig u re 5.13a, o f those w hich hit phase conductors, the lightning current
strokes c a u sin g sh ie ld in g failu re in the line. It is also observed that the m agnitude o f the
figure, high m ag n itu d e c u rre n ts (up to 150kA ) are likely to hit tow er tops or a shield
w ire that could ca u se b ac k flash o v e r. H ow ever, the probability o f very high m agnitude
0.11
0.1
0.09
0.08
0.07
-C 0.06
re
-D 0.05
O 0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
ro tn n oi
h m in s THr HTHr Hr Mr Mf Nr MCNr o r o mmm^ t ^ ' ^ ^ t ' i t L n m
r Hr n i n r ^ c r * THmLn r ^ a i r Hr o i n r ^ a * i Hr o i n r ^ c r > A
F igure 5.13: D istrib u tion o f ligh tnin g stroke currents along the line (SIG M A -Slp sim ulation).
5-1 9
5.6.2 Distribution of Lightning Strikes to the L3 Overhead Line
using TFlash
The stro k e te rm in a tio n statistics obtained using the EG M in T Flash program are closely
sim ilar to the resu lts o b tain e d w ith S IG M A -S lp sim ulations. Figure 5.14 show s a
pictorial d istrib u tio n o f stro k e term in atio n for different stroke current values. A s seen in
the figure, the m a jo rity o f strokes attaching to the line term inate at the tow er tops or
shield w ire. M o re th an 9 5 % o f strokes to phase conductors, hit the top tw o phases only.
2.5kA
80kA
160kA
Figure 5.14 : Distribution o f stroke termination for different values of lightning current simulated
in TFlash.
5-20
F igure 5 .14 a lso in d ic a te s that, for this design o f line, a single shield w ire present is not
su fficien t to p ro te c t the line from direct phase strikes as currents up to 80kA m agnitude
5 .7 L ig h t n in g O v e r v o l t a g e s in t h e U p r a t e d L3 L in e
L ightning o v e rv o lta g e s p ro d u c e d in an o v erhead line result from the stroke hitting the
com ponents. In th is se ctio n , the c o m p u te d overv o ltag es on the phase conductors due to
peak cu rren t m ag n itu d e , sy stem v o lta g e an d the insulation strength [5.13, 5.14]. The
peak value o f lig h tn in g o v e rv o lta g e d u e to a stroke hitting the phase conductor are
com puted for all p o ssib le lig h tn in g stro k e cu rre n t m agnitudes up to 30kA determ ined by
20,000 sta tistic a l sim u la tio n s u sin g th e E G M . T h e front tim e o f the return stroke w aves
are ran d o m ly se le c te d in th e ran g e b e tw e e n 1.2 p s and 4.38 ps. A fixed half-value tim e
Figure 5.15 sh o w s th e o v e rv o lta g e m ag n itu d e o btained from Sigm a-S lp and T Flash
sim u latio n s fo r e ach re tu rn stro k e h ittin g the ph ase conductor. O ne can observe that the
im pulse w h ic h is sig n ific a n tly h ig h er than the lightning overvoltage p rotection level o f
1425kV re q u ire d n o rm a lly for 4 0 0 k V system in the UK. Even for an average stroke
5-21
4 ,0 0 0 k V an d o n ly im p u lse current m agnitudes less than 6kA w ould produce
o v e rv o ltag e s th a t fall w ith in the pro tectio n level o f the system . T he figure also show s
the p o ssib ility o f in su la tio n flash o v er due to shielding failure for stroke currents m ore
m odel pred icts a faste r in itial rise tim e causing early flashover resulting in low er
6000
O v erv o lta g e for 22.6kA
5000 str o k e .cu rren t .772!;
i 4000 -
01 Sigm a-Slj
j? 3000 -
TFlash
> 2000
1000
■ No flashover ■ Flashover
10 15 20 25 30
Figure 5.15: Overvoltage for lightning stroke currents causing shielding failure.
6000
Sigma-Slp
5000
TFlash
4000
3000
2000
1000
-1000
-2000
10 11 12 13 14 15
Time (ps)
5-22
5.7.2 Stroke to Tower Top or Shield Wire on the Uprated L3 Line
T he o v e rv o lta g e m a g n itu d e o f strokes to tow ers and shield w ire in this case not only
also in flu e n ce d b y th e p a ra m e te rs such as lightning im pulse current w ave front and the
to w er fo o tin g re sista n c e s [5.13, 5.14]. In o rd er to sim plify the analysis, the overvoltages
are ca lc u la te d fo r c o n sta n t fro n t tim e o f the im pulse w aveshape in all cases for different
tow er fo o tin g re sista n c e s an d c u rren t m agnitudes. H ow ever, the im pulse front tim e
the line [5.14]. A 4 /7 7 .5 im p u lse sh ap e is co n sid ered for the sim ulation. Figure 5.17
show s the o v e rv o lta g e m a g n itu d e s fo r stro k es term in atin g (a) at the to w er top and (b) at
From F igure 5.17, it can be seen th a t o v e r th e ran g e o f lighting current and the footing
resistance stu d ied , the o v e rv o lta g e m a g n itu d e on the phase conductors due to
b a c k flash o v e r can reach 4 6 0 0 k V w h e n the h ig h c u rren t lightning w ave term inates at the
exceed 1300kV i f the fo o tin g resista n c e is lim ited to 6 0Q provided that the stroke
o v erv o ltag es are p ro d u c e d in the line w h en b a c k flash o v e r occurs as the overvoltage due
this case c o u ld be lim ite d b y c o n tro llin g the b ackflashover in the line. A typical
fo o tin g re sista n c e o f 8 0 H and c au sin g flash o v er across the line insulators is show n in
F igure 5.18.
5-23
5000
4500 ........................................................... ...... ^ ...... ♦ 1 0 Q
F la s h o v e r ___ » • *
4000 ............................................ ............................
♦ -f-»......# B
■ 20**
..................... ..... .............. ................. ........«..................
« 3500 A *3 0_frvt
8P 3000
±i ...............................♦ ......- .......T......«......• ......x x 4 0 ft
I 2500 --- ■ - * T .A. *
♦ * X 5 0 ft
U 2000 ..................................................
♦ y • 6 o ft
S 1500
S 1000 ............................................................ ~ __ A * « ft 1 I t t i ft +70Q
. . 1 1 1 1 1 I I I I * 1 1 1 1 - 80f t
500
- 90f t
0 i ■ > i i I i i i t t —i i— r ' i —I
) 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 * 10° Q
3500 10ft
3 1000 7 0 ft
s
500 . . . . . * .. 8 0 ft
9 0 ft
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 100ft
Figure 5.17: O vervoltage on phase conductors for lightning stroke currents causing backflash.
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
-1000
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Time ( lis)
5-24
F igure 5 .1 7 b a lso show s th at the overvoltages are significantly less w hen the lightning
o b serv ed fo r th e ran g e o f fo o tin g resistan ce studied and the im pulse current m agnitude
im pulse w ith sta n d level. A s can be seen in the figure, the flashover in this case only
occurs at 160kA stro k e c u rre n t and 100L2 footing resistance p roducing 3033kV o f
overvoltage.
From the resu lts o f th e stu d ie s c a rrie d out w ith S IG M A -S lp and T Flash, it can be seen
that there are high o v e rv o lta g e s d u e to sh ie ld in g failure and backflash on the uprated
im provem ent in the lig h tn in g p e rfo rm a n c e o f the line through the application o f line
surge arresters is e x a m in e d in C h a p te r 6.
5 .8 C o n c lu s io n s
voltage p e a k w ith tra p p e d c h arg e), a sw itch in g im pulse overvoltage o f 3.5pu ( 1 143kV)
arresters w as fo u n d e ffe c tiv e for red u c in g these overvoltage levels. A m ong different
a rre ste r c o n fig u ra tio n s stu d ied , a co n fig u ratio n w ith arresters only at the line ends w as
found te c h n ic a lly an d e c o n o m ica lly feasible solution to reduce the overvoltage level to
5-25
im p le m e n tin g th e targ e te d sw itch in g im pulse w ith stan d level o f 950kV w hich requires
for the sh ie ld in g failu re a n d 2 7 % o f the stroke result into backflash. In the line studied,
it w as show n th at, a lm o st 100% o f th e strokes term in atin g on phase conductors hit the
m agnitudes fo r d iffe re n t stro k e c u rre n t m ag n itu d es and shapes show ed that the
S im ilarly, w h e n the stro k e h its th e sh ie ld w ire o r the tow er top, the overvoltage
though the o v e rv o lta g e in th is case can go up to 4600kV , the value can be lim ited w ithin
current s trik in g th e sh ie ld w ire at the to w er top. In this case, for a tow er footing
5-26
C h a pt e r 6
A p p l ic a t io n of S urge A rresters for L ig h t n in g
O vervoltage C ontrol on U p r a t e d L in e s
6.1 I n t r o d u c t io n
Faults cau sed b y lig h tn in g are th e m ain source o f line outages especially in the areas
w ith high g ro u n d flash d e n sity , h igh earth re sistiv ity and po o r shielding. A p p lication o f
S uitable selectio n o f a rre ste r ra tin g an d c o n fig u ratio n along the line are crucial for
Line arresters used to co n tro l lig h tn in g o v erv o ltag e s are exposed to high m agnitude
lightning current. In c o m p a riso n to the su b sta tio n arrester, the line arrester m ay
o f a line a rrester also d e p e n d s u p o n a sse ssin g its e n erg y absorption capability so that it
does not fail u n d e r c o n d itio n s o f lig h tn in g strik in g either the phase co n d u cto r or the
shield w ire.
In this chapter, o p tim ise d lig h tn in g o v e rv o ltag e control by use o f surge arresters along
the line for v o lta g e u p ra tin g is c arried out. O vervoltages due to shielding failure and
backflash are a n a ly se d sep arately . In S ectio n 5.2.6 (C hapter 5), it is dem onstrated that
not a d e q u a te ly c o n tro l lig h tn in g overv o ltag es along the line. U nlike sw itching
o v e rv o ltag e s, th e co n tro l o f lig h tn in g overv o ltag e requires closely spaced surge arresters
6 -1
alo n g th e line. In o rd e r to op tim ise the n u m b er o f surge arresters, various arrester
in stallatio n c o n fig u ra tio n s alo n g the line are studied and com pared. A system atic
ca lcu latio n o f a rre s te r cu rre n ts and en erg y duty is carried out w ith single stroke cases
and also sta tistic a lly fo r g a p le ss m eta l-o x id e surge arresters installed on the line.
6 .2 S u r g e A r r e s t e r S p e c if ic a t io n
G apless m e ta l-o x id e su rg e a rre ste rs w ith the fo llo w in g specifications are used [6.1].
T he V -I c h a ra c te ristic o f th e a rre ste r is m o d e lle d u sin g the equal area law [6.2] from the
Table 6.1: Line surge arrester discharge voltage for im pulse currents.
/(k A ) 0.5 1 2 5 10 20 40
6 .3 L im it a t io n of L ig h t n in g O v e r v o l t a g e
U sing S IG M A -S lp so ftw a re , an eig h t span ‘L 3 ’ line section is selected from the m iddle
(S ection 5.5). S in g le stro k e an aly sis is p e rfo rm ed to estim ate the overvoltage level in
the line. In th is stu d y , S IG M A -S lp is used since it has a tool to perform m ultiple studies
by a u to m a tic a lly v a ry in g d iffe re n t param eters such as tow er footing resistance, ground
flash d e n sity , in su la tio n level and surge arrester configurations. W hile in T F lash the
6 -2
stu d y n e e d s to be p e rfo rm e d by v ary in g individual param eters one by one w hich is
m uch tim e c o n su m in g . A p art from this, in the statistical sim ulations using SIG M A -Slp,
the ran d o m d istrib u tio n o f lig h tn in g stroke param eters and corresponding sim ulation
A range o f d iffe re n t lig h tn in g im p u lse shapes are used in sim ulating lightning strikes to
the tra n sm issio n line. In th is study, a d o u b le exponential, 4/77.5 im pulse current w ave,
peak cu rren t m ag n itu d e o f less th an o r equal to 20kA under shielding failure scenario
shielding failu re in the line. F ig u re 6.1 sh o w s overv o ltag es calculated for each phase at
calculated at th e stru c k p h ase; w h ile at n o n -stru ck phases, the overvoltages are less than
a q uarter o f th is value.
Figure 6.1: O vervoltages produced at different phases due to lightning stroke at phase A l.
6-3
T he m ax im u m o v erv o ltag e on phases at the struck tow er and neighbouring tow ers are
calcu lated w ith and w ith o u t surge arresters. R esults are com pared for three different
- A rreste rs at e v e ry th ird to w er
- A rresters at all to w e rs
Figure 6.2 sh o w s the e ffe c t o f o v erv o ltag e control by the use o f line surge arresters. As
can be seen in the fig u re, th e m ax im u m overvoltage w ith arresters applied at every third
tow er or at altern ate to w e rs in all p h ases along the line can significantly reduce the
considered, the o v e rv o ltag e s at stru ck and n eighbouring tow ers are below the targeted
lightning im p u lse w ith sta n d level o f 1300kV required for uprating the line to 400kV .
The m axim um o v erv o ltag e at the stru c k n o d e is reduced from 4534kV to 1276.5 kV. A t
neighbouring to w e rs red u c tio n to 7 9 9 .5kV and 7 2 5 .8kV are calculated w hen arresters
a;
OJO
*ro
■>
o>
k-
<
>u
O LI withstan i level ( I3G )kV)
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9
Tower Num ber
►
— No a rrester — * — A rresters at ev e r y third tow er
«— A rresters at e v e r y altern ate to w er » ■ A rresters at all to w ers
Figure 6.2: O vervoltage along the line due to shielding failure for different arrester configurations,
x and A marks in the figure represent presence o f arrester in the tower for corresponding arrester
configuration indicated.
6-4
are p lac e d at e v e ry th ird to w e r and every alternate tow er respectively.
W hen arre ste rs are p laced at all tow ers, no significant further reduction is obtained.
From this in itial a n aly sis, as w ith the sw itching surge control (S ection 5.2.6), the
reduction in the m in im u m p h a se-to -e a rth clearance requirem ents from 2.6m to 2.4m for
It is im portant to n o te th a t the resu lt is ob tain ed for the case w hen lightning strikes the
tow er at w h ich arre ste rs are in stalled . H ow ever, if lightning strikes at or near to a tow er
w ithout surge arresters, the arresters at neig h b o u rin g tow ers do not help in reducing
w ith no surge a rresters alo n g the line. T h is m ay dem and the use o f surge arresters in all
20kA, 4/77.5 im p u ls e * -^
5000 t *
4500
4000
5 2500 -
| 2000 -
LI withstand :vel(130p k y
O 1500 -
1000
500 -
T1 T2 13 T4 T5 T6 17 T8 T9
Tower Num ber
Figure 6.3: O vervoltage along the line due to shielding failure when stroke hits phase conductor
near to the tow er without surge arrester. * indicate tower with arresters.
6-5
W ith refe re n c e to the lig htning stroke term ination statistics for the line in Section 5.6, it
top tw o p h a ses (A 1 a n d C 2). T herefore, if arresters w ere installed at the top phases only
Figure 6.4 sh o w s th at lig h tn in g ov erv o ltag es on the line w hen arresters are installed at
the top p h ases o n ly are sim ila r to w hen arresters are installed at all phases, and the
values are less th an th e ta rg e te d im p u lse w ith stan d level o f 1300kV. Since the lightning
strike hits o n ly th e top p h ase c o n d u cto rs in the low current range, the m axim um
5000
4500
4000 No a r r e s t e '
3500 a r r e s t e r s ^ all p h a s e s a n d t o w e r s
A r r ester s; t top tw o p h a se s in al to w e r s
v 3000
If
o
2500
ir. 2 0 0 0
o 1500 1 ,1 V M t h .s U i l l d
1000
500
T1 T3 T4 T5 T6 T8 T9
Tower Number
Figure 6.4: O vervoltage along the line due to shielding failure for arresters only in top phases.
U nlike sh ie ld in g failu re, o v erv o ltag es due to backflash are influenced by additional
p aram eters. A s seen earlier, in p articular, tow er footing resistance plays an im portant
role. A 160kA , 4 /7 7 .5 im p u lse shape is applied to a tow er to sim ulate a high m agnitude
6-6
im p u lse th a t resu lts in a b a c k flash o v e r on the line. The m axim um overvoltages
p roduced in th e line at stru ck and neig h b o u rin g tow ers are calculated for different
values o f to w e r fo o tin g resistan ce and the results are plotted in Figure 6.5. A m axim um
T he o v erv o ltag e s are sig n ific a n tly hig h above the targeted lightning im pulse w ithstand
is below the w ith sta n d level for fo o tin g resistance up to 30£X Therefore, for voltage
values.
arresters on the line. A s can b e seen in the figure, considerable reduction o f overvoltage
m agnitude is o b tain e d w ith arresters at e v e ry th ird or at alternate tow ers. H ow ever, the
5000
4500 -
4000
~ 3500 -
V 3 000
J2 2500 ■
1000 ■
500 — — ----------- *
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9
— 1 0 0 0 — 90G — 8 0 0 — 7 0 0 — 6 0 0 — 5 0 0 — 4 0 0 — 3 0 0 — 2 0 0 — 1 0 0
Figure 6.5: O vervoltage along the line due to backflash for different tower footing resistance.
6 -7
160kA, 4/77.5 impul
4 .5 0 0 -
4 .0 0 0 <
3 .5 0 0 -
| 3 ,0 0 0 -
ju
(y 2 9,5 0 0 -
§ 2,000 -
LI withst ind level
> 1 ,5 0 0 - <430 k V ).......
O 5
1.000 *
500 -
T1 T3 T4 T6 T7
Tower Number
No a rrester A rresters at ev ery third tow er
Figure 6.6: M aximum overvoltage along the line due to backflash for different arrester
configuration, x and ▲marks in the figure represent presence of arrester in the tower for
corresponding arrester configuration indicated.
o vervoltages are no t b e lo w th e targ e te d w ith stan d level and also these configurations
presented in F igure 6.7, an o v e rv o ltag e at a struck tow er in this case equals the case
T his is an ideal case o f a lin e on a flat terrain w here the tow er footing resistance is the
sam e. In practice, th ese are h ig h ly v ariab le, and the arresters should be located at tow er
that are h ig h er (o r at h ig h e r a ltitu d e ) and w here the footing resistance is very high.
the top and m id d le p h ase co n d u cto rs in this case are found to be 50% less than those o f
the bo tto m p h a ses. T h e refo re, the m axim um overvoltage w ith arresters placed only at
the b o ttom tw o p h ases in all tow ers is sim ulated, and the results are show n in Figure 6.8
and c o m p a red w ith the case w here arresters are installed at all phases in each tow er. As
6-8
160kA, 4/77.5 impulse
4500
i i I 1
4000
3500
| 3000
2500
g 2000
| 1500
1000
500 r e s te r s a t
0
T4 T5 T6 T7
Tower Num ber
Figure 6.7: O vervoltages along the line due to backflash when stroke hits shield wire at tower top
without surge arrester. * indicate tower with arresters.
4/77.5 impulse
I
4500
4000
3500
| 3000
m 2500
g 2000
| 1500
1000 N o ; r r e ste r
A m s t e r a talL .j
500
Arr< s te r s a t bo to m tw o p to w ers
0
T4 T5 T6
Figure 6.8: O vervoltage along the line due to backflash for arresters only in bottom phases.
seen in the fig u re, to o b tain sim ila r p erform ance as in case o f arresters in all phases and
tow ers, it is su fficie n t to p lace the arresters in the bottom phases only. H ow ever, it is
results p ro d u c e d so far do n o t fulfil the requirem ent o f targeted overvoltage level. The
6-9
o v erv o ltag e m ag n itu d e s at the struck tow er and the tw o adjacent neighbouring tow ers
backflash p o in t o f view , in high footing resistance range, surge arresters are capable o f
reducing the o v e rv o ltag e levels bu t not sufficient enough to control w ithin our
reduce the fo o tin g resista n c es o f the tow ers along the line to below 40f2 in addition to
installing a rre ste rs fo r v o ltag e uprating. Figure 6.9 show s the m axim um overvoltage
along the line for 40£2 fo o tin g resistan ces w hich are below the w ithstand level by use o f
surge arresters at the b o tto m tw o ph ases o f the line. F or a footing resistance equal to or
less than 30£2, th ere is no n e e d to install surge arresters as the overvoltage values are
3000
2500
£ 2000 -
9
5 1500
5 1000 -
Tower Number
Figure 6.9: O vervoltage along the line due to backflash for tower with 40Q footing resistance with
arresters at bottom phases in all towers.
6-10
6 .4 L ig h t n in g F l a s h o v e r P e r f o r m a n c e of the U p r a t e d L3
O v e r h e a d L in e : S t a t is t ic a l A n a l y s is
L ig h tn in g is a m a jo r cau se o f o v erh ead line faults. B etw een 5% to 10% o f the lightning-
caused fau lts a re th o u g h t to resu lt in p erm an en t dam age to pow er system equipm ent
p erfo rm an ce, th e re fo re , is fu n d am en tal w hen d esigning new lines and for uprating
existing lines to h ig h e r v o ltag es. In th is section, a statistical stroke analysis is m ade w ith
different a m p litu d e s o f the in jected stroke cu rren t in order to estim ate the flashover
perform ance o f the u p ra te d 4 0 0 k V line. T he objective o f this study is to estim ate the
im provem ent in fla sh o v e r rate b y im p lem e n tin g surge arresters along the line. T he
failure and b a c k fla sh o v e r s e p a ra te ly in the line. T he param eters such as tow er surge
im pedance, fo o tin g resista n c e, e a rth re sistiv ity , insulation strength and the ground flash
electrical stre n g th and to w e r fo o tin g resista n c e are the key param eters for the prediction
o f the line lig h tn in g p e rfo rm a n c e [6.4]. In this study, a low current tow er footing
resistance v a lu e is v a rie d from 10Q to 100Q keep in g the ratio o f soil resistivity to
footing re sista n c e c o n sta n t ( p/Ro = 20). T he line is assum ed to be located on flat terrain
w ith a g ro u n d fla sh d e n sity o f 1 flash p e r kilo m etre square p er year (fl/km /yr) w hich is
[6.6]. A n initial stu d y w as carried out w ith line surge arresters positioned at every tow er
and on e v e ry p h a se co n d u cto r. T his resulted in a zero flashover rate, but, practically the
It is u n d e rsto o d from the E G M study (S ection 5.6), in the low current range, the
6 -1 1
lightning h its o n ly the top phase conductors o f the tw o circuits during shielding failure.
occurs at b o tto m p h a ses w h en the lightning strikes tow er top or the shield w ire.
Figure 6.10 w ere p ro p o se d fo r the analysis o f flashover rate w ith its application on the
line.
N N o a rre ste r
Figure 6.10: A rrester configuration with its code. Red lines indicate arrester in the phase at all
towers along the line.
T able 6.2 su m m a rise s th e results obtained from the SIG M A -SIp sim ulations. The
lightning fla sh o v e r rates (flashes/lO O km /year) for different tow er footing resistances
and u n d e r d iffe re n t a rre ste r configurations are show n. A total o f 20,000 lightning
6 -1 2
strokes g e n e ra te d w ith m agnitudes betw een 1.2kA and 161.1kA and rise tim e in the
range from 1.2p.s and 4.38jns are used w ith the im pulse shape varying random ly w ithin
2,000 sam ples. F ix ed tail tim e o f 75jis as standardised in the softw are is used.
From T able 6.2, it is c le a r th at the applications o f surge arresters are a suitable m eans o f
protecting the line ag ain st lig h tn in g flashover. It can be seen that by placing arresters on
the top phases only, a ze ro sh ield in g failure flashover rate (SSFR ) is obtained. H ow ever,
this arrangem ent can o n ly su p p ress backflashover under low footing resistance
conditions. O n the o th er hand, w ith arresters installed on the bottom phases only, a zero
are installed at the top an d b o tto m ph ases, both SFFR and BFR can be nullified. The
line lightning p erfo rm an ce, it is m o re eco n o m ical and practical to install arresters only
in the top phases at to w ers w ith low fo o tin g resistance and in the top and bottom phases
at tow ers w ith high foo tin g resista n c e as hig h lig h ted in the table.
Table 6.2: Flashover rate (flashes/1 OOkm/year) for different arrester configuration and footing
resistance (SIGMA-SIp sim ulation), (a) SFFR (b) BFR (c) Total flashover rate
6-13
F o o tin g (b ) B a c k fla s h o v e r R a te (fl/lO O km /yr)
R e sista n c e
N T M B F
(ft)
10 0 0 0 0 0
20 0 0 0 0 0
30 0 0 0 0 0
40 0 0 0 0 0
50 0.03 0 0 0 0
60 0.08 0.01 0 0 0
70 0.12 0.04 0 0 0
80 0.21 0.06 0 0 0
90 0 .3 0 0.09 0.04 0 0
100 0 .4 4 0 .12 0.05 0 0
F ooting (c) T o ta l F la s h o v e r R a te (fl/lO O km /yr)
R esistance
N T M B F
( ft)
10 1.12 0 1.10 1.12 0
20 1.12 0 1.10 1.12 0
30 1.12 0 1.10 1.12 0
40 1.12 0 1.10 1.12 0
50 1.15 0 1.10 1.12 0
60 1.20 0.01 1.10 1.12 0
70 1.24 0 .0 4 1.10 1.12 0
80 1.33 0 .0 6 1.10 1.12 0
90 1.42 0 .0 9 1.14 1.12 0
100 1.56 0.12 1.15 1.12 0
T able 6.3 sh o w s th e re su lts o b tain e d from T FIash sim ulations. H ere, the sim ulations
w ere carried o u t w ith 32 d iffe re n t stro k e current range betw een 2.5kA and 160kA. The
6-14
Table 6.3: Flashover rate (flashes/1OOkm/year) for different arrester configuration and footing
resistance (TFIash sim ulation), (a) SFFR (b) BFR (c) Total flashover rate
6-15
6 .5 E n er g y S tress on S urge A rresters
d escrib ed in [6.7]. In th is in v estig a tio n , the in su lato r flashover is n eg lected since the
protected by a su rg e arrester.
Figure 6.11 sh o w s the e n e rg y stress d istrib u tio n in surge arresters installed in all phases
different. A s e x p e cte d , th e a rre ste r in sta lle d on a stricken phase absorbs the highest
en ergy c o m p a red w ith a rre ste rs on o th e r p h ases. H ow ever, w hen high current lightning
hits the sh ield w ire, it is sh o w n th a t an y tw o arresters installed at the sam e height absorb
equal energy. A lso , th e a rre ste rs in sta lle d on the bottom tw o conductors absorb m ore
en ergy than th e a rre ste rs in sta lle d on the fo u r con d u cto rs above.
6-1 6
60 ------------------------------------------------------------
S troke to phase cond u cto r Stroke to shield w ire
cu 30
® 10
As show n in F ig u re 6 .1 1 , a rre ste r e n e rg y req u irem e n t can be such that the top arresters
are m ore likely to e x p e rie n c e d ire c t strik es o f low er m agnitudes w hile the low er ones
A p p ro p riate se le c tio n o f an a rre ste r as a fu n ctio n o f its energy stress depends upon a
lightning stro k e p a ra m ete rs. P a ram e te rs such as arresters in neighbouring tow ers, tow er
p aram eters w h e re a s stro k e peak c u rre n t m ag n itu d e, front tim e and tail tim e are
c o n sid e red as lig h tn in g stro k e p a ra m ete rs. T he single stroke analysis is carried out to
u n d erstan d the e ffe c t o f th ese p a ra m ete rs for bo th the case o f stroke hitting a phase
c o n d u c to r an d th e sh ie ld w ire.
a rre ste rs at n e ig h b o u rin g tow ers. T he nature o f influence o f these adjacent arresters on
the “ s tru c k ” a rre s te r’s en erg y stress depends upon the position o f the lightning stroke
6 -1 7
h ittin g th e line. F ig u re 6.12 show s the energy discharged b y an arrester as a function o f
the n u m b e r o f a rre ste rs at n e ig h b o u rin g tow ers. It is found that, w hen the stroke hits the
p hase c o n d u c to r, th e n e ig h b o u rin g arresters help in sharing som e o f the duty and, hence,
this red u ces th e e n e rg y stre ss on the a rrester at the struck tow er. H ow ever, the case is
different w h e n a h ig h c u rre n t lig h tn in g stroke hits the shield w ire or the tow er top. In
increasing n u m b e r o f a rre ste rs at the ad jacen t tow ers. T his is because the current
passing th ro u g h the a d ja c e n t a rre ste rs is o f opposite polarity, and flow s back to the
striking p o in t re su ltin g into th e in crease o f energy absorbed by the arrester at the struck
tow er.
reducing the stress o f the a rre ste rs at strick e n tow er. C om pared to the stress o f the
800 - 30
J. 16QJjA
25
4
kA i
%
t — T
0 1- 0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17
N u m b e r o f T o w e rs w ith A rre ste rs
6 -18
100 — 20
90 -- -■ 18
2 0 kA
2 80 - - 16 f
> 70 - - 14 >
j? 60 -
S 50 - — 10
te 40 - 160'kA
20 - -
10 -
T o w e r n u m b e r fro m p o in t o f strik e
Figure 6.13: Energy shared by arresters at neighbouring towers. Tower 0 is the struck tower.
arrester in sta lle d at a to w e r lo cated at eig h t spans aw ay from the stricken arrester
A rresters at the far en d s (8 -sp a n s aw ay ) do n o t p lay any significant role as the arresters
w hen a lig h tn in g stro k e o f a 2 0 k A cu rren t m agnitude hits the phase co n d u cto r and
F igure 6.1 4 b sh o w s th e a rre ste r en erg y for the case w hen a 160kA lightning stroke hits
the sh ield w ire an d the to w e r fo o tin g resistan ce is varied from 10Q to 100H. In the case
o f the sh ie ld e d line, fo r a stro k e to phase conductor, the energy absorbed by the arrester
sh ield w ire, h o w e v e r, a high value o f footing resistance increases the arrester energy
6-19
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
20 30 40 50 60 70
T o w e r F o o tin g R e s is ta n c e [Q]
(a) S tr o k e to p h a s e c o n d u c to r
20 30 40 50 60 70
T o w e r F o o tin g R e s is ta n c e [£2]
(b) S tr o k e to s h ie ld w ire
discharge. A rre ste rs in sta lle d on the top p hases are m ore stressed w ith low tow er
footing re sista n c e v a lu e w h e re a s b o tto m phase arresters are m ore stressed in the case o f
high fo o tin g re sista n c e valu e. T h e resu lt assum es no flashover on the phase conductor
o th er p h ases.
6-20
6.5.2.3 In flu e n ce o f P ow er Frequency Voltage Angle
F igure 6.15 sh o w s the effect o f p o w er frequency voltage angle on arrester energy stress.
A sig n ific a n t in flu e n ce o f th is p a ra m ete r is seen on both the case o f lightning hitting the
phase c o n d u c to r an d th e sh ield w ire. W hen a stroke hits the phase conductor, the
case o f a stro k e h ittin g th e sh ield w ire, the m axim um energy is found at negative peak
voltage (an g le = 1 8 0 °). W ith c h an g e in vo ltag e angle from 0° to 180°, the energy stress
on arrester in cre ase s w h e n the stro k e hits the shield w ire, but the energy discharge in
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360
P o w e r F re q u e n c y V o lta g e A n g le in p h a s e A1 [0]
Figure 6.15: A rrester energy dependence on power frequency voltage angle at lightning strike.
Figure 6 .16 sh o w s the e ffect o f stroke peak current m agnitude on arrester energy. This
a rre ste r in cre ase s n o n -lin e a rly w ith increasing peak current m agnitude, and this is
6 -2 1
100
80
60
40
20
-20
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Stroke Peak Current Magnitude [kA]
(a) S tr o k e to p h a s e c o n d u c to r
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225
Stroke Peak Current Magnitude [kA]
(b ) S tr o k e to s h ie ld w ire
The effect o f im pulse front tim e for different stroke peak current m agnitudes is shown
in Figure 6.17. In the case o f lightning hitting the phase conductor, the change in front
tim e does not have any influence on the arrester energy. However, the arresters are less
stressed w ith slow er front tim e w hen lightning hits the shield wire.
6 -2 2
100
h-------- *-------------------*------------------ *------ ------------*------------------i ------------------ A
90 1i 1i 1i ii ii
80 - . i _____ ,i o n i/A ____________ 1____________
ii
!
ii
V 1 1 1 i i
70 ■m fi1 1
11
T
i1
t
ii iii
60 ii ii
o>
k. i i i i i
0) 50 ii ii
c hO kA i i
ID 40 r ------------------- r x '
ii ii
30 it i i
ii ii
20 ................................................... -1
ii iii iii
10 i
* i
i
i
i ii ii
0 ----------------------1-------------------- 1--------------------1------------------- ------------------- 1------------------- 1
F r o n t T im e Qxs]
(a) S t r o k e t o p h a s e c o n d u c t o r
70
60
50
O
u.
)
0) 40 J-80Q
c
ID
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
F r o n t T im e [ps]
(b) S t r o k e t o s h i e l d w ire
Unlike front tim e, the stroke current tail tim e has a significant influence on the energy
absorbed by line arresters as show n in Figure 6.18. The arrester energy increases with
6-23
160 t ...........
|
=T 140 4 -
O)
120
5j 100
£ 80
1 60
t 40
200kA
o>
©
C
LU 30
[120kA
20
0)
10
0
0 25 50 75 100 125 150
Tail T im e [ps]
(b) S t r o k e t o s h i e l d w ire
6 .6 A r r e s t e r F a il u r e P e r f o r m a n c e
to g u aran tee th a t the a rre ste rs in sta lle d on the line have sufficient energy cap ab ility to
w ith stan d lig h tn in g strik es to the ph ase conductors or to the shield w ire, a detailed
in v estig a tio n w a s c a rrie d out. T o determ in e the arrester failure probability, the
in teg rated e n e rg y fo r each a rre ste r is calculated and com pared w ith the failure
T he sta tistic a l sim u la tio n m eth o d is used. To integrate the energy through the arresters
o v e r m o st o f the stro k e du ratio n , the m ethod used in T Flash softw are adopts different
6-24
sim u la tio n tim e lim its fo r stro k es to the phase co n d u cto r and the shield w ire. T hese tim e
lim its a re m u c h lo n g er th an the fla sh o v e r statistics tim e lim its (5 0 0 p s for a stroke to the
phase c o n d u c to r a n d lOOps for a stroke to the shield w ire). Figure 6.19 show s an
T he a rre s te r fa ilu re p e rfo rm a n c e is a n aly sed for the w hole line section w hen arresters
are in sta lle d on e ach p h a se an d at e v e ry tow er. T able 6.4 gives a sum m ary o f the
arrester failu re s fo r th e 3 5 k m line. It can be seen that the line is expected to be hit by
9.070 stro k e s p e r y e a r re su ltin g in an a rre ste r failure rate o f 0.018 failures p er year. A
co n sid e rab ly low v a lu e o f failu re rate is o b tain e d i.e. one arrester in the line m ay fail
chances o f th e a rre ste r at th e sa m e p o in t failin g again is very low . T he table also show s
the failu re rate on each p h a se. N o risk o f a rre ste r failure for stroke term inating on the
shield w ire o r to w e r to p is o b se rv e d d e sp ite the fact th at m ore than 87% (7.904) o f the
total stro k e s hit th e to w e r to p o r th e sh ie ld w ire ev ery year. H ow ever, the m ain risk here
25
20
F ig u r e 6 .1 9 : A t y p i c a l e q u a l p r o b a b i li t y w a v e f o r m ( 2 0 k A s t r o k e c u r r e n t ) .
6-25
T a b le 6.4: A r r ester failu re p erform an ce o f the 35km long L3 line.
A r r e s t e r F a ilu r e b y P h a se
-------------------------------- ■-
A1 0 .5 7 6 0 0.009 0.009
B1 0 .007 0 0 0
Cl 0 0 0 0
C2 0 .5 7 6 0 0.009 0.009
B2 0 .0 0 7 0 0 0
A2 0 0 0 0
F igure 6 .2 0 sh o w s th e a rre ste r failu re ra te at each to w e r along a section o f the line. The
y ear m ean s an a rre ste r at th at p a rtic u la r to w e r fails every 1000 years. T herefore, the
arresters c o n sid e re d in th is stu d y can o p erate at low risk o f failure. T his o f course
0.0012
§ 0.001
>-
g> 0.0008
_3
« 0.0006
£ 0.0004
V)
£
j= 0.0002
0
49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65
Tower N um ber
F igu re 6.20: A rrester failu re rate at each tow er along a section o f the line.
6-26
6 .7 C u m u l a t iv e F r e q u e n c y D is t r ib u t io n of A rrester E nergy
E n erg y d u tie s are c o m p u te d sta tistic a lly w ith 2,000 sim ulations for selected arrester
c o n fig u ra tio n s, a n d th e resu lts are p rese n ted in the form o f cum ulative frequency
T he p a ra m e tric a n a ly sis c a rrie d o u t in S ection 6.5 show ed that the energy stress on the
line a rre ste rs m a in ly d e p e n d s u p o n the tw o im p o rtan t param eters o f the lightning stroke:
current an d p ro b a b ility d e n s ity fu n ctio n o f the tail tim e [6.9, 6.10]. In this study, tw o-
line C IG R E d istrib u tio n [6.2] is u se d to rep re sen t stroke peak current distribution.
Stroke cu rre n t w ith 77.5 p s o f tail tim e (m e d ian v alu e w ith standard deviation 0.577) is
Since the a rre ste rs in th e to p tw o c o n d u c to rs o n ly are su fficien t for line section w ith low
arresters is used:
c o n d u c to rs)
W h en tw o o r m o re a rre ste rs are in stalled , th ey are not equally stressed. T herefore, only
c o n d u c to rs an d T a b le 6.6 sh o w s the resu lts for footing resistance greater than 50f2 w hen
6-2 7
Table 6.5: A rrester Energy (kJ) in terms of cumulative frequency distribution for different tower
footing resistance values - Arresters in top two phases (A1 and C2)
P ro b a b ility —>
Table 6.6: A rrester Energy (kJ) in term s o f cum ulative frequency distribution for different tower
footing resistance values - Arresters in top two and bottom two phases (A l, C2, C l and A2)
P ro b ab ility —>
10% 5% 2% 1% 0.5% 0.1%
F o o tin g
R esistan ce i
5), the line u n d e r stu d y c o lle cts 11.3 strokes p e r year. T herefore, the p ro bability o f this
o c cu rren ce is o n ly o n c e in 88.5 years. T ables 6.5 and 6.6 show that the arresters are not
hig h ly stre sse d e v e n w h e n th ey are installed on the bottom phase conductors. A s can be
6-28
a rre ste r e n e rg y c a p a b ility . H ere, a line a rre ste r w as chosen w ith a disch arg e class 3 as
a n aly sis o f e n e rg y d u ty sh o w s th a t the arre ste rs w ith low er voltage ratin g w ith line
d isc h a rg e c la ss 2 c o u ld a lso be in sta lle d to a ch iev e the req u ired p ro te c tio n level in the
line.
6 .8 C o n c l u s io n s
effe c tiv ely c o n tro l o v e rv o lta g e s due to lig h tn in g im pulse, thereby, red u cin g the
solu tio n , th e c o n tro l o f o v e rv o lta g e s d u e to b a c k fla s h o v e r is not alw ays offered for high
sig n ifican t lev e l su c h th a t th e ta rg e te d w ith sta n d level could be ch o sen to reduce the
from the b a c k fla s h o v e r p o in t o f v iew , v o lta g e u p ra tin g b y use o f surge arrester is only
to a v a lu e e q u a l to o r less th an 4 0 Q .
T h e lig h tn in g fla s h o v e r p e rfo rm a n c e an aly sis o f the p ro p o sed up rated L3 line show ed
6 -2 9
th a t th e a rre s te r c o m b in a tio n su itab le for con tro llin g lightning overvoltage is sufficient
s e le c tio n o f th e a rre s te r c o n fig u ra tio n in the line can significantly im prove lightning
a b s o rp tio n stu d ie s w e re c a rrie d o u t fo r th e line and stroke p aram eters w hich are
6-3 0
C hapter 7
7.1 I n t r o d u c t io n
th eir v icin ity . T h e so u rc e o f the e le c tric field is the po ten tial on the con d u cto rs and the
m ag n etic field is th e c u rre n t flo w in g th ro u g h the line. O ccu p atio n al o r pu b lic exposure
to th ese field s is o f s ig n ific a n t h e a lth c o n c e rn [7.1, 7.2] and plays a role in d efining
falls to 0 .4 p T [7.3].
‘L 3 ’ line. T h e fie ld p ro file s in d iffe re n t co n d itio n s are then co m p ared w ith those o f
the U K g rid sy ste m . T h e fie ld p ro file s for u p rate d lines are co m p ared w ith the allow able
7-1
7 .2 L im it s on Exposure to E l e c t r ic and M a g n e t ic F ie l d s
D ifferen t n a tio n a l a n d in te rn a tio n a l g u id elin e s are available, w h ich ad v ise on lim iting
[7.4] p ro v id e s lim its o f e x p o s u re to e le c tric an d m ag n etic fields. T h ese lim its are set as
e lectric and m a g n e tic fie ld s [7.9]. F ig u re 7.1 c o m p a re s N atio n al G rid specified lim it o f
IC N IR P .
A s can be seen in the fig u re , th e N G lim it fo r e le c tric and m agnetic field is 9kV /m and
values are g re a te r th a n th e IC N IR P s p e c ifie d lim its o f 5kV /m and lOOpT for public
7-2
ICNIRP
■ N ational Grid
>■
-£
2
OJ
2000
National Grid
1800
p 1600
% 1400
2
<u 1200
IL 1000
W
«->
<U 800
c
% 600
s 400
200
0
Public Exposure Occupational Exposure
(b) M a g n e t i c field
Figure 7.1: C om parison o f N ational Grid specified electric and magnetic field limits with ICNIRP
limits at power frequency (50H z). Data source: |7.4, 7.9].
Table 7.1: Typical ground-level UK field levels from 275kV and 400kV overhead power lines [7.9,
7.10|.
M ax im u m F ie ld (u n d e r lin e) 11 100
7-3
7 .3 L in e M o d e l fo r C o m p u t a t io n of E l e c t r ic and M a g n e t ic
F ie l d s
L6 to w e r o f w h ic h th e w id th is m o re th a n 20 .5 m .
7 -4
r ------ i------ - i 5 5 - 1 ------ r — i------ -1-55--I ------ r “ r "i" "i" i 5 & -« ’ T T T T r
i • i i i i i 1 i i i i i i 1 1 1 1 1
1i-------- 11---------i150
-* i 1 • i __ 1 kC 1 1 1 1 '
-- ------ i-------- 1-------- 150 -- ------
i i i i i i i 1 ............................... i i i i i
i 1 i i i i i .j i i i i i
J ------- 1---------i 4 5 - ' ------ r ------ 4 5 - ' ------ i— i— i - - l - - , 4 S - * - r -i— i- - 1 - 1 -
i i i i 1 i i i i i i i i i i i
1 i i 1C21 1
c 1r - r' - ilA *ai, - i 4 8 - - - r -I— 1P-1 - 1 -
------ i ------ —
i 1 1i il 1i 1i 1i
"O* I I„ E i "D* I I E 1 ■Oi I 1 1 l J 1 1 1 1 1
""C c" — C r - i— i— i - t 3 S -> . - r -f—- i - -
1 1 1 1 1
M D 9i i i i i 1 1 1 1 BC2
-------- ----------J-3 0 - - 5 ,-------- 1-------- 1-3 0 - ' .- r -I - 10-
(Ui I I I I I 1 1 1 1 r
£ Bk ! 1 1 1 1 1
g — f i t - S
o 'k - i' - - i' - h' - -t 2 S - - - H -1----1- H - -* -
i 5 ' ' r ! 'i ■i ,' 11 11 11 n i 11
^ C i1 1 5 Ca! * 1A2
------p g i - " £ K- f H - -t 2 0 "J . - - 1 — 1- p . -* -
I* 0- Ml l I l I I 1 1 1 1 1
i ’SP 1 « i «' ' ' ' 1 1 1 1 1
S -------- i -------- I-1 5 - . ------ 1-------- . 1 5 - . 11 - - I - -I - - I - -• 1 5 - - - H - I - -1- H - -
1 1 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 i 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
_------- 1------ H 4 0 - . ------ »-------- 1------ H 1 0 - , ------ -- ► - -1- H --- 1- -
1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 i 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 a 1 1 1
u------- ,-------- ------ U ------ 1 . . . ---- u -i— i- - i - a -3. —. - - U-U -1- -1 - 4 -
i i i i i i i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
i i i I i i i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 l
— * . n
Figure 7.2: C onductor coordinates for com putation of electric and magnetic fields used for uprated
and conventional lines.
ground, c o n d u c to r p h a se se q u en c e and th e bun d le arrangem ent, its d iam eter and num ber
g rad ie n ts in th e su rro u n d in g area. H o w ev er, this produces low m agnitude electric fields
at g ro u n d lev el. T h e situ a tio n rev erses w ith a large overall bundle d iam eter w hich
softw are sh o w e d e x a c tly th e sam e p ro file s. T h e calcu lated m axim um electric field for
-4 - .0
275kV in L3
'r ~ — Uprated" 4(J(Tk"V frf C? “
r.0- ■— 4 0 9 k V m -b 6 --..............
■o
-fre-
-5 0 -4 0 -3 0 -20 -10 10 30 40
F igure 7.3: E lectric field p rofiles at m idspan under uprated and conventional line at lm above the
grou n d.
7 -6
the e x istin g L3 2 7 5 k V line, th e u p rated L3 400 k V line and the existing L6 400kV line
A s e x p e cte d , th e e le c tric fie ld p ro files in Figure 7.3 show that the up rated 400kV line
in tensity at 6 .5 m a w a y fro m the c en tre o f the tow er. It is because the conductor
sep aratio n s re m a in th e sa m e w h ile u p ratin g the line. H ow ever, the electric field under
the up rated line is g re a te r th a n th e ex istin g 275 k V line, w hich can be explained by the
increase o f th e m a x im u m e le c tric fie ld b y 43% . T he field pro d u ced by the uprated line
electric field p ro file d u e to m eta l stru c tu re is ig n o re d and only the effect o f the height o f
- 1-6
275kV in L3
-1-.4 ^ ^ I f p r a f e c r 400R\77n 13
— —r4 0 0 k V -io l6 -----------
-0:6-
-0 :4 -
-5 0 -4 0 -3 0 -20 -10 40
F igure 7.4: E lectric field p rofiles at tow er position under uprated and conventional lines at lm
ab ove th e g rou n d .
7-7
the c o n d u c to rs at th e to w e r a tta ch m e n t p o int is assessed. A ll other conditions rem ain the
level in all th e lin es c o n sid e re d follow the sam e pattern as at the m idspan. C om pared
w ith the fie ld in te n s ity a t m id sp a n , the m ax im u m electric field at the tow er position is
low er in m a g n itu d e (0 .7 , 1.1 an d 1.5kV /m for L3 275kV line, uprated L3 400kV line
(because o f sag ) at tw o d iffe re n t p o sitio n s. F o r the sam e line, the hig h er conductor
produces lo w e r e le c tric fie ld m a g n itu d e s at g ro u n d level near to line but show s higher
Figure 7.6 c o m p a re s th e fie ld in te n sity 2 5 m aw ay from the centre o f the line. V alues
w ithin the ty p ical U K lim it (0 .2 - 0 .5 k V /m ) as show n before in T able 7.1 and are m uch
at midspan
at tow er
- 2.0
1-5
-0-.5-
Figure 7.5: C om parison o f electric field profiles at lm above ground at midspan and at tower
position for uprated L3 400kV line.
7-8
■ tow dr
I
2 7 5 k V in L3
midspan
T ypical e le c tric field
fo r 2 7 gkV and; 4 0 0 kV
l i n e § UK
U prated 4 0 0 k V in L3
4 0 0 k V in L6
—I-------- 1—
0.1 0.2 0 .3 0 .4 0 .5 0 .6 0 .7 0 .8 0 .9
Figure 7.6: Electric field m agnitude at 25m aw ay from the centre o f the line trail (lm above
ground level) for L3 275kV , uprated L3 400kV and L6 400kV line.
flow o f c u rre n t. T h is v a ria tio n in g ro u n d c le a ra n c e also affe c ts the electric field profiles
c learan ce. M a x im u m fie ld in te n sitie s o f 6.31, 4 .16 and 2 .9 1 k V /m are found for 8, 10
7-9
"■ C learance = 8 m
C learance = 10m
' v ” ~Crearance = 1 2 m
-5 0 -4 0 -3 0 -20I -10 0 10 20 30 40
Figure 7.7: Electric field profile at midspan for different conductor-to-ground clearance. Values
computed at lm above ground (SIG M A -Slp Sim ulation).
m inim um clea ra n c e level (8 m ) c o n sid e re d w o u ld breach the m axim um perm issible lim it
sp ecificatio n (9 k V /m ).
m id sp an sag o f 7 .0 5 m . T h e refo re, the co n d u cto rs are only allow ed for further sag up to
intensities are w ith in th e N G sp e cifie d lim it and w ill not exceed 7kV /m for m inim um
required g ro u n d c le a ra n c e (7 .3 m ) fo r a 4 0 0 k V system .
It is also im p o rta n t to d e te rm in e field levels along the transm ission line corridor to help
electric field lin es w ith in a span at lm above ground and vertical contours at tow er
7-10
p o sitio n are p lo tte d fo r u p rated and ex istin g lines. Figure 7.8 show s the electric field
co n to u rs w ith in a 3 0 0 m span at lm above the ground level for uprated and conventional
lines c o n sid e re d as d e sc rib e d e a rlie r in this chapter. It can be seen th at the m axim um
field a p p e ars in a re la tiv e ly n a rro w strip around the m idspan w here th ere is m axim um
50
E [k v /m ]
275kV in L3
30
10
-20
•rH
50
E [k V /m ]
Uprated 409kV in L3
30
20
-2.00-
■2.00-
-1 .00
-20
-30
-40
■50
50 100 150 200 250 300
Distance along the Span (m)
400kV in L6 E [k V /m ]
40
30
20 - 2 .0 0
00
-10 - 3 . 0 0 -------
2.00-
-30
•H
-50
50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Distance along the Span (m)
F igure 7.8: E lectric Field con tou r alon g a span for uprated and existing lines at lm above ground.
7-11
sag. A t th e to w e r p o sitio n , re la tiv e ly lo w m a g n itu d e fields appear b u t spread over a
w id e r area. W h ile u p ra tin g the e x istin g 2 7 5 k V line, it is seen that the w idth o f the line
from the lin e c e n tre w h e re a s at 2 7 5 k V v o lta g e level, the sam e field appears only at
7-12
55 275kV in L3
50
45
£ 40
W '
£
00
•H
<u 33
-5 0 -3 0 -20I -1 0 0 10 20 50
50
45
00
•H
-5 0 -4 0 -3 0 -20 -10 20 30 40 50
4O0kV in L6
50
45
40
35
X 20
10
-5 0 -3 0 -20 -1 0 0 10 20 30 50
Figure 7.9: Electric field contour at tower cross section vertical plane.
7 .5 C o m p u t a t io n of M a g n e t ic F ie l d
T he m ag n e tic fie ld p ro file s and th e ir contours for the uprated 400kV line are com pared
w ith th at o f th e e x istin g 2 7 5 k V line w ith L3 construction and the 400kV line w ith L6
m ag n etic field ), th e m ag n e tic field p rofiles at its horizontal contours are com puted at lm
above g ro u n d level. A cc o rd in g to N ational G rid [7.14], the highest rated transm ission
7-13
lines in th e U K can carry m ore than 4000A o f current per circuit and an approxim ate
cu rren t m a g n itu d e o f 10 0 0 A in each phase is assum ed for the com putation o f m agnetic
field.
T he m ag n etic field p ro file s are co m p u ted at m idspan and at a to w er position. For the
uprated 4 0 0 k V line, a m a g n e tic field in ten sity o f 7 .1 p T is com puted at ground level.
the ground. T h e se v a lu e s are far less than the m ax im u m lim it o f lOOpT specified by
Figure 7.1 0 sh o w s m ag n e tic field p ro file s at m idspan under the uprated and
that there is o n ly a sm all v a ria tio n in m agnetic field profile w hile uprating existing
± 2r.Q
275kVin L3
UpLaled.4 QQkyjD.L3
400kVin L6
U.
u
-2:0
F igu re 7.10: M agn etic field p rofiles at m idspan under uprated and conventional lines at lm above
the grou n d .
7-14
c o n d u c to r h e ig h t fo r the up rated line results in a slightly low er m agnetic field strength
for a g iv en h e ig h t co m p a red w ith the original 275kV line. The uprated line produced a
low er m a g n e tic field c o m p a red w ith the conventional L6, 400kV line assum ing the
sam e c u rre n t lo ad in g .
Figure 7.11 sh o w s the m ag n e tic field pro file at a tow er position. C om pared w ith the
Figure 7.12 c o m p a res the field in te n sity at 25m aw ay from the tow er in horizontal
this case, the m ag n e tic field o f the u p rated line is w ithin the typical U K field lim its (1 -
L6 4 0 0kV line.
275kV in L3
-Uprated. 4 0 0 kV m 13
400kV in L6
- 2:0
- 1-0
-5 0 -4 0 -3 0 -20 -10 20 30 40 50
Figure 7.11: M agnetic field profiles at tower node under uprated and conventional lines at lm
above the ground.
7-15
i
1 : i
■ to\}ver
1
27 5k V in L3
■ midspan
1
J ! iT ypical rh a g n etic 1
1
rariGje fo r UK 1
1
L3 1
1
1
1
11 11 1
11 1
I_________ !_ I i 1
1
■ 1
400k V in L6
[ i i i
H------------- 1--------------1------------- 1------------- 1
------------- 1------------- 1--------------1----------
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Figure 7.12: Magnetic field at 25m aw ay from the centre o f the line trail.
uprated 400kV line at m idspan is sh o w n in F igure 7.13. M agnetic field m ag n itu d es are
show n for 8m , 10 and 12m g ro u n d clearan ces. A s expected, the m ag n etic field
m agnitude is higher for low er g ro u n d clearan ce. M a x im u m fields o f 19.0, 12.5 and
8 .6 p T are found for 8, 10 and 12m g ro u n d c learan ces resp ectiv ely . E v en fo r the lo w est
Clearance=& m ___
6-- j ■■■■clearance = 4 0 m - -
14 - ■■■■C learance=T2tti ~ ~
10- -
Figure 7.13: M agnetic field profile at midspan for different conductor-to-ground clearance. Values
computed at lm above ground (SIG M A -Slp Simulation).
7 -1 6
c le a ra n c e lev el (8 m ) co n sid e red here, the m ag n etic field is considerably less than the
p ro b le m atic .
the m ag n etic filed c o n to u rs w ith in a sp an at lm above the ground for uprated and
co nventional lines c o n sid e re d in th is study. U n lik e electric field contours, the m axim um
m agnetic field m a g n itu d e a p p e ars o v e r a rela tiv e ly w id er strip around the m idspan
to be n o ted th a t th e m ag n e tic field in th e u p rate d line does not require any additional
W oC . A s can b e seen in th e fig u re, th e W o C o ccu p ied b y m agnetic field along a span in
the line. F u rth e r, W o C o f the u p rate d line is lo w er than that o f a conventional 400kV
w h ich its e lf is w ith in the safe lim it. A value o f lOOpT appears to be at approxim ately
2 .5 m a w a y fro m c o n d u cto rs. H ow ever, these fields can only be exposed to skilled
7-1 7
p erson (o cc u p a tio n a l e x p o su re ) fo r w h ich the safety lim it is 5 0 0 jllT as per IC N IR P.
T h erefo re, from th e m ag n e tic field p o in t o f view , there is no risk o f public and
oe 275kV in L3
£0
43
-60
■M
00 Uprated 490kV in L3
60
43
■M
-00
100
400kV in L6
60
-60
+j -80
100
Figure 7.14: M agnetic field contour along a span for uprated and conventional lines.
7-18
6(3
55 275kV i n L3 B[|lT]
30
25
20
55 U p ra te d 490kV in L3
40
•H
X
60
55 400kV in L6
50
45
+->
20
-5 0 -4 0 -3 0 -20 -1 0 0 10 20 40 50
7 .6 C o n c l u s io n s
for the c o n s tru c tio n o r m o d ific a tio n o f overh ead lines. T herefore, uprating the existing
lines sh o u ld a lso be e x a m in ed for the risk o f increasing the intensity o f such fields w hen
7-19
e ith e r in c re a sin g line v o ltag e a n d /o r current ratings. T he electric and m agnetic field
in te n sitie s a re w ith in the lim its ad o p ted by national and in ternational standards. The
sig nificant c h a n g e in m a g n e tic field p ro file w as seen. T he electric and m ag n etic field
lim it, the u p ra te d line w o u ld req u ire h ig h tem p e ra tu re low sag conductors. H ow ever, the
7 -2 0
C h a pt e r 8
G eneral D is c u s s io n s , C o n c l u sio n s and, F uture
W ork
tran sm issio n sy ste m is c o n s id e re d as a case stu d y for uprating to the next voltage level
physical lo ca tio n a n d s p a c in g s o f c o n d u c to rs, the type and the length o f insulators, and
C o n sid erin g a c a se o f a 2 7 5 k V line, se v era l o p tio n s for uprating overhead transm ission
lines w ere in v e stig a te d . T h e se in clu d e s th e su b stitu tio n o f existing insulator strings w ith
p ro tectiv e d e v ic e to c o n tro l o v e rv o ltag e s in the system such that the m inim um required
surge a rre ste rs on th e lin e can e ffe c tiv e ly red u ce the overvoltage level in the system
lig h tn in g im p u lse w ith s ta n d levels. A s a result, it is possible to use com pact conductor
c o n fig u ra tio n s b y re d u c in g a ir clearan ces for the uprated voltage level. It w as also
sh o w n th a t th e u se o f a p p ro p ria te c o n fig u ratio n o f line surge arresters can optim ise the
8 -1
n u m b e r o f su rg e a rre ste rs alo n g the line w ith o u t com prom ising the sy ste m ’s targeted
and m a g n e tic fie ld m a g n itu d e s w ere sh o w n to be com parable to those o f the line before
uprating.
T he e x te n siv e lite ra tu re rev ie w carrie d out prim arily in this research highlighted
d ifferent te c h n iq u e s u se d w o rld w id e for o v erh ead transm ission and distrib u tio n line
the m id fifties, fo llo w e d b y sev eral cases o f line u p rating to increase p o w er transfer
the w orld re v e a le d th at, in the m a jo rity o f th e cases, the line p o w er transfer capability
w as in creased b y in c re a sin g its c u rre n t ratin g . V ery few projects o f voltage uprating o f
lines w ere re a lise d as th is is u n d e rsto o d to be ex p en siv e due to the need for increasing
T here are tw o m a jo r tec h n ica l issu es id en tified w hich need to be addressed w hile
co n sid erin g v o lta g e u p ra tin g o f o v e rh e a d lines: O ne is the larger conductor air clearance
req u irem en ts to be sa tisfie d at th e h ig h e r v o lta g e level com pared w ith the existing line
o v e rv o ltag e s d u e to p o w e r fre q u e n c y and tran sien t surges. The recom m endations m ade
w ere e x te n siv e ly c o n sid e re d to id en tify k e y actions for uprating an existing 2 7 5kV line
g u id elin e s w e re a lso ta k e n into acco u n t to b u ild a strong technical foundation for the
p ro p o se d te c h n iq u e fo r v o lta g e uprating.
C u rren t p ra c tic e fo r a ir clearan ces in high voltage transm ission netw orks adopts the
8 -2
h ig h e st re c o m m e n d a tio n s o f IEC 60071, and in som e cases, w ith an extra m argin for
se c u rity o f su p p ly . T h e se clearan ces are u su ally m ore than sufficient for a 1050kV
sw itc h in g im p u lse w ith sta n d level and a 1425kV lightning im pulse w ith stan d level. In
sw itc h in g im p u lse w ith sta n d level to 850kV an d the lightning im pulse w ith stan d level
so u g h t in th is re se a rc h in v e stig a tio n aim to keep existing tow er structures and uprate the
surge arresters.
c learan ce re q u ire m e n t o f th e w ith sta n d v o ltag e com binations for 400kV system
o v e rv o ltag e lev els to b e c o n sid e re d for the line design process. In o rd er to m eet the
case study.
still air c o n d itio n o n ly is in su fficien t. H ow ever, all other clearances such as phase-to-
8-3
w ith in th e a c c e p ta b le lim its for all ty p es o f overvoltages considering th at the clearance
re q u ire m e n ts u n d e r w in d load red u ces b y a facto r o f 0.7 com pared w ith the clearance in
strength, lig h t w e ig h t, h y d ro p h o b ic ity , low cost and th eir excellent p erform ance under
clearance fo r 4 0 0 k V sy stem .
sw itching o v e rv o lta g e w ith sta n d lev els so th a t the m inim um required clearances for
sw itch in g w ith sta n d lev el o f 1425kV a n d 1050kV respectively, and these voltage level
d em o n stra ted th a t a sy ste m w ith a lig h tn in g im pulse w ithstand level o f 1300kV and
sw itch in g im p u lse w ith sta n d level o f 9 5 0kV can be adequately p ro tected w ith 2.4m air
the to w ers. F o r fu rth e r secu rity , the use o f line surge arresters w ould ensure adequate
8 -4
T h e a p p lic a tio n o f d iffe re n t line surge arrester configurations for sw itching overvoltage
c o n tro l sh o w e d th a t th e a rresters o nly at the line ends can reduce the overvoltage level
b elo w the ta rg e te d w ith sta n d level o f 950kV . H ow ever, the control o f lightning
failure, a rre ste rs at th e to p tw o p h a ses on ly o f the line are sufficient to control the
due to b a c k fla s h o v e r are in flu e n ce d b y the to w er footing resistance value, and the
arresters a lo n e c o u ld n o t co n tro l the o v erv o ltag es to w ithin the lim its for high tow er
The line a rre ste r a p p lic a tio n an a ly sis h as re v e a le d th at the top conductors are prone to
b a c k flash o v e r lig h tn in g su rg es. A lth o u g h the arresters at the top tw o phases only are
pro tect the lin e fro m b a c k fla s h o v e r o c c u rrin g at the bottom phase conductors. In this
D istrib u tio n o f e n e rg y stre ss in su rg e arresters along the line show ed th at the class-3
scen ario s is lik e ly to e x c ee d 10% o f the arrester energy capability and, therefore,
n e g lig ib le risk o f a rre ste r failu re w as ob serv ed due to the shielding failure.
T h e in te n sity o f e lectric an d m ag n etic fields around the lines w ere considered as the
8-5
p rim a ry e n v iro n m e n ta l concern. T he effect o f increasing the voltage rating o f the line
o b serv ed . It w a s d e m o n s tra te d th at the m agnetic field profiles for the u p rated line did
though the e le c tric fie ld in te n sity w as found to be h ig h er than that o f the line before
uprating, th e v a lu e s are w ith in the IC N IR P specified lim its and are lo w er than the
additional w a y le av e .
8.1 Future W o rk
m aking p ro cess. F u rth e r to th is in v e stig a tio n , the stu d y could be extended to address
w ith the p e rfo rm a n c e a n a ly sis o f th e line to be u p rated w hich is d irectly associated w ith
the cost. T h e re fo re , th e c o st o f u p ra tin g an e x istin g line could be com pared w ith the cost
essential.
study the v o lta g e u p ra tin g fo r low v o lta g e d istrib u tio n system s. D ifferen t approaches for
u p ratin g lo w v o lta g e lin e s are req u ired , e sp ec ially for a line w ith w o o d poles w here pin
in su lato rs are g e n e ra lly used. T he au th o r has done som e o f the basic analysis in this part
to fu tu re w o rk .
8 -6
REFERENCES
CHAPTER 1
1.8 N G , “N a tio n a l E le c tric ity T ra n sm iss io n S y stem S even Y e a r S tatem en t,” N atio n al
G rid, W a rw ic k , U K , M a y 2010.
CHAPTER 2
2.2 S. R. R o g e t, A Dictionary o f Electrical Terms, 4 ed. London: Sir Isaac P itm an &
S o n s, L td ., 1944.
iii
E le c tro te c h n ic a l C o m m issio n S tandard IEC 60071-2, 1997.
2.23 Guide fo r Upgrading RUS Transmission Lines , R ural U tilities Service, U S D ept,
o f A g ric u ltu re , R U S B u lle tin 1724E -203, D ec. 1994.
2.26 M . J. T u n sta ll, S. P. H o ffm a n n , N . S. D erb y sh ire, and M . J. Pyke, “M axim ising
the R a tin g s o f N a tio n a l G r id ’s E x istin g T ran sm issio n L ines using H igh
T e m p e ra tu re , L o w S ag C o n d u c to r,” CIGRE Session, P aper 22-202, Paris, 2000.
2.33 E. C. (R u sty ) B asco m III et al., “T ran sm issio n S ystem s,” in Standard Handbook
fo r Electrical Engineers, 15th E dition, D. G. Fink and H. W . B eaty, Eds. N ew
Y o rk , U S A : M c G raw -H ill, 2006, sec. 14.
2 .3 4 R. B h a tta ra i, A. H ad d ad , H. G riffiths, and N. H arid, “V oltage U p ratin g o f
O v e rh e a d T ra n sm issio n L in e s,” in 45th Int. Univ. Power Eng. Conf., C ardiff, U K ,
A u g .-S e p . 2010.
2.55 National Electrical Safety Code 2007 Edition, IE E E S tandard C 2-2007, 2006.
2.58 Relevant Electrical Standards, Issue 1, N atio n al G rid, W arw ick, U K , Jan. 2006.
vi
2.62 O . L. S. d e P a iv a an d M . S. F ilho, “R ev iew in g 10 Y ears o f O p eratin g E xperience
w ith C o m p o site In su lato rs at C H E S F ,” in World Congress & Exhibition on
Insulators, Arresters & Bushings, C rete, G reece, M ay 2009.
2.75 N a tio n a l G rid. EMF's.info: Electric and Magnetic Fields [O nline]. A vailable:
h ttp ://w w w .e m fs . in fo /R e la te d + Issu es/lim its/U K /
vii
2.7 6 Electric and Magnetic Fields - The Facts, E nergy N etw orks A ssociation, L ondon,
U K , Jan . 2007.
2.79 P. S. D ean et al., “ In su la tio n T est for the D esign and U p ratin g o f W ood-P ole
T ra n sm issio n L in e s,” IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PA S -85, no. 12, pp.
1258-1267, D ec. 1966.
CHAPTER 3
3.8 Live Working - Minimum Approach Distances fo r A.C. Systems in the Voltage
Range 72.5kV to 800kV - A Method o f Calculation, International E lectrotechnical
C o m m issio n S ta n d a rd IE C 6 1 4 7 2 , 2004.
CHAPTER 4
4.1 Electrical Parameters and Impedance Characteristics o f Plant, Lines and Cables,
N ational G rid , W a rw ic k , U K , T ech. G u id a n c e N o te T G N (E )166, Issue 2, Feb.
2002 .
4.3 Line Profile - 275kV Overhead Transmission Line, XL Route, N atio n al G rid,
W arw ick , U K , N o v . 20 0 7 .
4.6 Design Document fo r 275kV Suspension Insulator Set, L3 Towers, N ational G rid,
W a rw ic k , U K , O ct. 2007.
x
4.8 Insulators and Fittings fo r 275kV Lines, E n erg y N etw o rk A ssociation, L ondon,
U K , T e c h n ic a l S p e c ifica tio n 4 3-115, Issue 1, 1997.
4.21 Controlled Switching - Buyer's & Application Guide, 3rd ed., A B B , L udvika,
S w e d e n , 2 0 0 9 -0 4 .
xi
4.23 K. F ro e h lic h et al., “ C o n tro lled C lo sin g on Shunt R eactor C om pensated
T ra n sm issio n L ines - P art I: C lo sin g C o n tro lled D evice D e v e lo p m e n t,” IEEE
Trans. Power Del., vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 734-740, A pr. 1997.
CHAPTER 5
xii
P A S -1 0 1 , no. l , p p . 147-157, Jan. 1982.
5.10 High Voltage Surge Arresters - Buyer’s Guide, 5.1 ed., A B B , L udvika, Sw eden,
2 0 0 7 -0 4 .
5.16 SIGMA Sip - Version 2.1 : Software fo r the Determination o f Transmission and
Distribution Line Electrical Performance (User Manual), Sadovic C onsultant,
B o u lo g n e, F ra n ce , 2 0 0 5 .
5.20 A. F. Im e c e et al., “ M o d e lin g G u id e lin e s for F ast F ront T ra n sie n ts,” IEEE Trans.
Power Del., v o l. 11, no. 1, pp. 4 9 3 -5 0 6 , Jan. 1996.
xiii
5.25 U. S a v a d a m u th u , K. U d ay ak u m ar, and V . Jayashankar, “M o d ified D isruptive
E ffe c t M e th o d as a M e asu re o f Insu latio n Strength fo r N o n -sta n d a rd L ightning
W a v e fo rm s ,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 510-515, A pr. 2002.
CHAPTER 6
6.1 High Voltage Surge Arresters - Buyer's Guide, 5.1 ed., A B B , L u d v ik a, Sw eden,
2 0 0 7 -0 4 .
6.8 Transmission Line Surge Arrester Impulse Energy Testing, D ocu m en t no.
1 000 4 6 1 , E P R I, P a lo A lto , C A , U S A .
6.11 Surge Arresters - Part 4: Metal-Oxide Surge Arresters without Gap fo r A.C.
Systems, In te rn atio n a l E lectro tech n ical C o m m issio n Standard IEC 60099-4, 2004.
xiv
CHAPTER 7
7.3 N a tio n a l G rid . E M F ’s.info: Electric and Magnetic Fields [O nline]. A vailable:
h ttp :// w w w . e m f s . in fo /R e la te d + Issu e s/S A G E /first/co rridorw idth.htm
7.9 N a tio n a l G rid . E M F ’s.info: Electric and Magnetic Fields [O nline]. A vailable:
h ttp ://w w w . e m f s . in fo /R e la te d + Is s u e s /lim its/U K /
7.10 Electric and Magnetic Fields - The Facts, E n erg y N etw orks A ssociation, L ondon,
U K , Jan . 2 0 0 7 .
7.11 Electrical Parameters and Impedance Characteristics o f Plant, Lines and Cables,
N a tio n a l G rid , W a rw ic k , U K , T ech. G u id an ce N ote T G N (E )166, Issue 2, Feb.
2002 .
7.14 N a tio n a l G rid . E M F ’s.info: Electric and Magnetic Fields [O nline]. A vailable:
h ttp ://w w w .e m f s .in fo /S o u rce s+ o f+ E M F s/O v e rh ea d + p o w e r+ lin es/F actors/C urrent/
xv
A p p e n d ix A
F lo w C hart of M o n t e C a r l o S im u l a t io n M e t h o d F o r
L ig h t n in g P e r f o r m a n c e
Specify
T otal num b er o f sim ulation (Nlolal)
M axim um sim ulation tim e (tmnr)
E xtract co n d u c to r coordinates
F lashover? Yes
No
No
Y es
P rocedure No
C onverge?
es
Y es
xvi
A p p e n d ix B
EPRI S t r o k e A t t r a c t i o n M o d e l D e s c rib e d in T F la s h U s e r
G uide
S tro k e D istance = 1 .3 4 / 0 65 H 0 6
W here, H is g ro u n d in te rc e p t h e ig h t
T his takes into a c c o u n t th a t w ires fa rth e r ab o v e the gro u n d can accum ulate m ore charge
shifted in to w a rd the line to sim u late th e attrac tio n cau sed b y the charge induced on the
( N W ire s \ 0-25
nw ires fa c to r = I — — — 1
/ M a x H e i g h t \ 0-25
m a x h e i g h t f a c t o r = ( ------------ J
/ / \ 0'5
current f a c to r = 1 —
W here:
M a x H e ig h t = the h ig h e st p o in t on the to w er
I = th e stro k e c u rre n t
X V ll
S h ifte d C h a n n e l = C h a n n e lL o ca tio n x ( l- ( x facto r x nw iresfactor x m ax h eig h tfacto r x
T he in te rse c tio n o f th e sh ifted ch an n el w ith a curve that is the S trokeD istance above
Then the e q u a tio n s b e lo w are u se d to calc u la te the intercept height above that point.
If the to w er m a x im u m h e ig h t is b e lo w 4 0 m
Rg = 3.6 + 1.7 lo g ( 4 3 — h e ig h t )
else
Rg = 5.5
Rq
ground s tr k h t = — x S tro k e D istance
xviii
A p p e n d ix C
L ig h t n in g F l a s h D e n s it y t o G r o u n d (N g ) P e r S q u a r e
K i l o m e t r e P e r Y e a r f o r t h e B r it is h Is le s (B S E N 62305-2)
NOTE 1 Tm* jgn tm n g d en sity map w a s com p iled by E A Technology Lid. from data accum uateo over 10 years
n o t e 2 A linear interpolation s n o u d o e u se d to determine the value of the ugntmng flash density. N „ Tor a
location b etw een tw o con tou r >lne*.
A p p e n d ix D
C o n d u c t o r C o o r d in a t e s o f O v e r h e a d L i n e s :
( W it h r e f e r e n c e t o T a b l e D 1 ) [R e f : N a t io n a l G r id ]
* Earth wire.
I i
G ro u n d s u r f a c e
^77^7*7777777777777777777777777777777777.
XX
Table D1: Conductor Coordinates (Including Sag) of
Overhead Line Designs (Ref: National Grid)
Tower Operating lisulatkxi
design Voitaoe Voltaqe 0 E a b C d e f g
L132 132 kV 132 kV z L 3 74 46 5 3.74 18.26 14.22 10.55 22.78
L4 132 kV 132 kV L H 2 80 420 320 18.20 14.54 10.79 22 73
L4/1 132 kV 132 kV Z L 2 00 4.20 320 19.07 16.12 12.37 23 79
L4M
(L4 sag) 132 kV 132 kV u K 2 80 4.20 320 18.29 14.54 10.79 2273
L4M
(L4/1 132 kV 132 kV u K 2.00 420 3.20 19.07 16.12 12.37 23 79
sag)
L7 132 kV 132 kV 2L L 3 12 470 348 18.48 14.06 10.35 22.59
L7/1 132 KV 132 kV Z L 3 12 470 3 48 18.02 13.60 9.89 22.59
L7/2 132 kV 132 kV 2Z L 312 470 3.48 20.06 15.64 1 .93 24 27
L3 2/5 kV 2/5 kV 2L L 4 03 4.26 45/ 24.3/ 18.28 12.19 30.22
L3/1 275 kV 275 kV A K 403 426 457 24.34 18.25 12.16 30.88
L3/2 275 kV 275 kV 2U K 4.03 426 4.57 25.21 18.12 13.03 30.88
L3/2R 275 kV 275 kV 2U K 4 03 426 4.57 25.21 18.12 13.03 30 88
L2 132 kV 132 kV 2Z L 5 48 5.71 6.09 27.18 18.41 r.57 34.94
L2 275 kV 275 kV 2Z L 548 5.71 6 09 28.57 20.80 12.95 34 94
L2/1 275 kV 275 kV 2C L 5.48 5.71 6.09 29.02 21.25 13.41 35.60
L2/1R 275 kV *00 kV 2C L 5 48 5.71 609 29.02 21.25 13.41 35 60
L2/2 275 kV 275 kV 2RB K 5 48 571 6.09 29.86 22.09 14.25 35.60
L2/2R 275 kV 400 kV 2RB K 5 48 571 6.09 28.54 20.77 12.93 35.60
L2/3 275 kV 275 kV 2T K 548 571 60 9 30.00 22 23 14.39 35.60
I 2/4 275 kV 275 kV 2S K 5 48 5 71 6 09 29 82 22 05 14 21 35 60
I2 4m kV 400 kV 27 1 5 48 5 71 6 09 27 24 19 47 1' 63 34 94
I 2/1 4m kV 40ft kV ?C 1 5 48 5 71 6 09 27 70 18 93 12 09 35 60
L2/1R 400 kV 400 kV 2C L 5 48 571 6 09 27.70 19.93 12.09 35 60
L2/2 400 kV 400 kV 2RB K 548 5.71 6.09 28.54 20.77 12.93 35.60
L2/2R 400 kV 400 kV 2RB K 5 48 571 6.09 28.54 20.77 12.93 35.60
L2/3 400 kV '00 kV 2T K 548 5.71 60 9 28.68 20.91 13.07 35.60
L2/4 400 kV '00 kV 2S K 5.48 5.71 609 28.50 2G.73 12.89 35.60
L2/5 400 kV '00 kV 2CP K 548 571 6.09 29.36 21.59 13.75 35.60
L2/6 400 kV 400 kV 2M K 5 48 571 609 27.48 20.02 12.13 35.60
LG 132 kV 400 kV 4Z Z G.93 10.10 8 33 32.20 21.79 12.95 44.04
LG/1 132 kV 400 kV 2Z Z G.93 10.10 8.33 32.20 21.79 12.95 43 09
L6 275 KV 400 kV 4Z z 6 93 10.16 8.33 32.26 21.79 12.95 44.04
L6/1 275 kV 400 kV 2Z Z 6 93 10.16 83 3 3Z26 21.79 12.95 43.09
L6/2 275 kV 400 kV 2A K 6 93 10.16 83 3 33.50 23.03 14.19 44 04
L6 400 kV 400 kV 4Z z 6 93 10.16 8.33 32.26 21.79 12.95 43 09
L6H 400 kV 400 kV 4Z z 6 93 10.16 833 3Z26 21.79 12.95 43.09
L6M 400 kV 400 kV 4Z z 6 93 10.16 83 3 32.26 21.79 12.95 43.09
L6/1 400 kV 400 kV 2Z z 6 93 10 16 833 32.26 21.79 12.95 43.09
Ltj/2 4UU kV 4uo kV 2A K 693 10.16 833 33.50 23.03 14.19 44 04
L5/2K 4UU kV 4U0 kV 2A K 6.93 10.16 8.33 33.50 23.03 14.19 44.04
lm n 4UU kV 4uo kV 2KB z 6 93 10.16 833 3 4 /2 24.25 15.41 43.09
L6/4 400 kV 400 kV 2RW K 6 93 10.16 833 33.50 23.03 14.19 44.04
L6/5 400 kV 400 kV 3A K 6 93 10.16 833 33.49 23.02 14.13 44.04
L8 132 kV 400 kV 2Z L 5 94 8.53 6.70 30.01 20.57 12.57 39.77
K ev to C o n d u c to r s
xxi
A p p e n d ix E
C IRE D 20th International Conference on Electricity Distribution Prague, 8-11 June 2009
__________________________________________________________
A P P L IC A T IO N O F S U R G E A R R E S T E R S F O R L IG H T N IN G P R O T E C T IO N O F 33K V
W O O D P O L E D IS T R IB U T IO N L IN E S
R. BH A TTA RA I N . H A R ID H. GRIFFITHS A. H A D D A D
Cardiff University - U K C ardiff U niversity - U K C ardiff University - UK Cardiff University - UK
BhattaraiR@Cardiff.ac.uk H aridN@ C ardiff.ac.uk GriffithsH@ Cardiff.ac.uk Haddad@Cardiff.ac.uk
Table 1 : Surge arrester volt-current characteristic between phases. The weakest flashover path is between
1 (kA) 1 2.5 5 10 20 phase conductors through the crossarm. The total CFO o f
V (kV) 93.0 98.6 104.2 112.0 127.2 this path w as calculated using the extended CFO-added
A non-linear footing resistance m odel was used, keeping the method recom m ended by the IEEE Std. 1410-2004 [1] as
ratio between soil resistivity and the p o le low -frequency follow s.
resistance equal to 10 in all cases. A total lin e length o f 10 C FO rotai = CFOins + 0.45C FO ins (1)
spans was used. In the sim ulation, cou p lin g matrices w ere = [185 + (0.45 x 185)] kV = 2 6 8 .2 5 W
connected at the two line ends to avoid reflections. Each
simulated span section w as further d ivid ed into 2 0 small CFOins is the C FO o f a 33kV pin insulator.
sections to enable strokes at a number o f points along the In C ase 2, sin ce the crossarm is earthed, the flashover path
span. For all cases, 2 0 0 0 transient sim ulations were is sim ply b etw een the phase conductor and the earthed
performed statistically with random lightning strikes having crossarm. T herefore, the pin insulator alone provides the
magnitudes between 1.2 and 161.1 kA and rise tim es in the total CFO for the flashover path (185kV ).
range between 1.2 and 4 .3 8 p s. A Fixed tim e to half-value o f E lectrogeom etric m odelling (EG M )
75ps was assumed. In each statistical sim ulation,
EGM studies were performed to identify the stroke
electrogeometric m odelling w as carried out on 3 spans.
distribution along the line so that appropriate arrester
configuration and spacing could be selected. To represent
LIG H TN IN G P R O T E C T IO N S T U D Y
stroke distribution in flat ground, a m odified two-line
Overhead distribution lines are likely to have different kinds CIGRE stroke distribution [7] was chosen with downward
o f nearby objects along their right o f w ay. T h ese objects leaders approaching the line vertically. The striking
may provide natural shielding to the overhead line and to distance to lin e conductor ( Rc) and earth (Re), in this case,
som e extent help protect the line from lightning. In order to w as com puted as [8]
recommend appropriate arrester configuration in each case,
Rc = \ 0 I ° 65 (2)
an open ground and two cases o f naturally sh ield ed ground
were studied separately. Fig. 2 illustrates tw o typical ca ses Re = [3.6 + 1 .7 1 n ( 4 3 - /i) ] /0'65for/t < 4 0 m (3)
o f naturally shielded ground considered in this study.
It was observed that the surge arrester earth terminal where / is the lightning impulse current magnitude and h is
connection plays a major role in determ ining the protection the average conductor height.
level o f the line. T w o cases w ere c lo se ly exam ined. C ase 1: Fig. 3 sh o w s a summary o f EGM carried out with 20,000
Unearthed Crossarm (Isolated surge arrester earthing) and stroke sam p les on the simulated line for open ground and
Case 2: Earthed Crossarm (N on -isolated surge arrester tw o types o f shielded ground. It clearly show s that the two
earthing). outer phase conductors receive more than 85% o f strikes
In Case 1, the surge arrester earthing terminal was hitting line conductors in open ground. However, in the
considered to be earthed with an insulated earthing cable naturally shielded ground, where height o f the shielding
isolated from the w ood pole and metal crossarm structure. object is at least equal to the height o f the conductor, more
In Case 2, it was considered to be con n ected to the steel than 88% o f the strikes hitting the line conductors are
crossarm strut earthed with a bare conductor passing along collected by only one outer phase (phase A in this case).
the surface o f the w ood p ole structure. T o sim ulate these This study presents critical information for selection o f
two cases, two parameters w ere varied. surge arrester configuration on the line. It is important to
The surge impedance o f the w ood p ole in a distribution line note that the tw o outer phases in open ground and one outer
is very large, and when a bare earth conductor is placed
Shield
along its surface (Case 2), the value considerably reduces. 0.0*
Phase A
Using values calculated in the literature [6], p o le surge 44.0*
impedances o f 4 6 4 5 Q and 2 2 4 Q w ere adopted in C ase 1 Phase B
14.3*
and Case 2 respectively. T he other important parameter that
Phase C
varies in each case is the C FO o f the flashover path. In 41.7*
Case 1, the w ood pole has high surge im pedance with an a. Open Ground
unearthed crossarm, and flashover can take place only
Phu.se A Phase A
88.2* 88.9*
Phase I) Phase »
11.0* 10.5*
Phase C Phase C
0.8* 0 .6 *
b. Shield Ground I c. Shield Ground 2
Fig. 3. Results of EGM for an open ground and two different cases of
a. Shield Ground 1 b. Shield Ground 2
naturally shielded ground (% of strikes)
Fig. 2. Two cases o f naturally shielded ground
phase in naturally shielded ground must be considered in Table 2 : Lightning performance of the line in open ground for different
arrester configurations
order to gain substantial lightning protection o f the line.
Arrester Total Flashover Rate (flashes/1 OOkm/year)
Surge arrester p rotection Configurations
V V
In distribution lines, surge arresters can protect lines against
Unearthed
both direct lightning strikes and lightning induced voltages. 8.79 0.03 6.33 5.79 7.65
Crossarm
The induced voltage flashover rate depends upon the CFO Earthed
8.97 0.00 1.29 4.67 4.94
o f the flashover path. In unprotected lines, the induced Crossarm
• mark indicates surge arrester on the phase at every pole
voltage flashover rate is n eg lig ib le com pared with the direct
♦ mark indicates surge arrester on the phase at every alternate pole
strike flashover rate for C FO o f nearly 2 0 0 k V or m ore [2].
The effect o f the induced flashover can a lso be n eglected is installed, flashover occurs between that phase and the
when the surge arresters are separated by less than three phase without arrester. It is also important to observe that
spans along the line [ 1 ]. In this study, both co n d itio n s w ere arresters installed on each phase and at every pole could not
satisfied and, therefore, the effect o f induced overv o lta g e is provide full protection to the line against lightning. Few
ignored. flashovers were recorded when high-current lightning hits
Fig. 4 shows the flashover perform ance o f the lin e w ithout the phase conductor. Here, the overvoltage magnitude
surge arresters. It is obvious that the natural sh ield in g helps produced between phases due to high-current lightning
to protect the line. W e can see that the natural shield in g strikes was more than the CFO o f the defined flashover path
considered in this case can provide m ore than 50% resulting into flashover between the phases. Fig. 5 shows a
protection to the line. It can also be observed that for the typical overvoltage shape exceeding CFO when a high-
line without surge arresters, an earthed crossarm d o e s not current im pulse strikes phase conductor/! at different points
make any significant difference to its lightning performance. along a span.
However, this is not true w hen surge arresters are used to W ith the earthed crossarm, the surge arresters are in parallel
protect the line, as described in the follow in g sectio n s. with the flashover path and, hence, give better protection
Open ground than the case with unearthed crossarm. A 100% protection
Table 2 presents the lightning perform ance o f the line in could be achieved with arresters on all phases and poles.
open ground for four different arrester con figu ration s Installing arresters at alternate poles is not necessary for all
selected based on the EGM study. It can be seen that cases, since it does not provide better protection to the line.
arresters connected to an unearthed crossarm (isolated surge Naturally shielded ground
arrester earthing) cannot provide sign ifican t protection T able 3 show s lightning performance o f the line for two
unless if they are installed on each phase and at ev ery pole. different cases o f naturally shielded ground in the cases o f
The EGM study show s that, in open ground, m ore than 85% four different arrester configurations selected based on the
o f the direct strikes on phase conductors hit the tw o outer EGM study. This case also agrees with the previous
phases only. This m eans that installing arresters o n the two findings. In both cases, installing the arrester on one phase
outer phases should provide at least 85% protection to the only at all p oles with earthed crossarm can provide 85%
line but, in this case, only about 28% protection to the line protection to the line. Installing arresters on phases A and B
is achieved. On the other hand, with the earthed crossarm at all p oles can give more than 96% protection against
(non-isolated surge arrester earthing), the co n d itio n is lightning. Even though an earthed crossarm does not make
different, and installing arresters on the tw o outer phases any difference to the line lightning performance when not
only can provide more than 85% protection to the line. protected, it is shown that it is advantageous to earth the
When the crossarm is not earthed, the flash over path could crossarm and connect the arrester earth terminal to it to
not be protected by arresters placed on on ly o n e phase. obtain better lightning protection.
Even when lightning strikes the phase where a surge arrester 350 :
325
CFO r 268.25 kV
300 ■
275 u
W v
/
■ Uncanbetl Crosm nn 250
B I urthoU Cross arm * 225 i
g. 200
# 175
Strike position
—— 0m from pole
----- 9m torn pole
75 ----- 18m (Tom pole
50 — 27m (ram pole
25 f — 36m from pole
0■
0 t 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 It 12 13 14 IS
Time (micro sec.)
Open Ground Shield (.ro u n d I Shield Ground 2
Fig. 5. Overvoltage measured between phase conductors A and C at
pole with unearthed crossarm. (A 160kA, 2/75 impulse current applied
Fig. 4. Rashover performance o f the line without surge arrester in
to phase A. Arresters installed on each phase and at every pole)
different ground conditions
____________Paper 0947
Table 3 : Lightning performance of the line in two cases of naturally Table 5 : Arrester energy (kJ) in terms of cumulative frequency
shielded ground for different arrester configurations distribution for naturally shielded ground 1 (High energy values)
Arrester T otal F lash o v e r R ate (flashes/lO O km /year)
Configurations Prob. Earthed Crossarm Unearthed Crossarm
tTJ (%) t_ L _ l U Lf Y—i_i
Unearthed T T
Ground