| TYPICAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS | LECTURE TEXT: i uid okt 1. Typical Distribution Systems. ‘ teye nottudiaiay 1.1 Types of H:V. Distribution 1.1.1 Radial System.TYPICAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS; an TYPES OF FLV, DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM: Basically there are two types of FLV, Distribution system; s an be overhead system and underground systems, Both can , spending, upon either single phase or three phase system, Depending upor the reliability requirements and economic considerations, both the basic types have the following forms of distribution system: (Refer to Fig. No.1.) RADIAL SYSTEM: In such a system all the sections/branches of a feeder are fed from a single source in a fixed direction, As there is no ternative arrangement for energizing the affected sections through by-passing the faulty section, so such a system has less reliability, But at the same time it is cheaper in designing and construction, Let us discuss its merits and demerits in more detail:~ a) MERITS: i) It is the simplest system in designing construction, operation and maintenance because:- © Load for each section is clearly known and thus suitable size of conductor for main section of the feeder, branches and sub branches can easily be selected, © Source and load sides of each section are “iscriminately fixed and thus very simpleii) protection schemes can be adopted. For example over current and earth fault protection may suffice. ¢ Fault current calculations are quite simple as needed for the purpose of coordination of protective devices on the system. ¢ Isolation of a section (under maintenance) only from source side will be sufficient to ensure safety. Although under rules both sides are required to be provided with grounding sets before taking the maintenance work in hand. It is the cheapest system, because:- ¢ It has no alternative arrangements; so no extra length of line and switching arrangements are involved, hence the saving. ¢ Different sizes of conductors (i.e. thick one for main section, medium size for main branches and thin conductor fel small branches/sub-branches) can be used and those too for the loads to be normally supplied. While in other systems loads, during emergency operation are much higher than the loads fed during normal operation, which require higher sizes _ of conductors. Thus in radial system use of smaller sizess syste a of conductor reduces the capital cost of the system to Breater extent as rio other # Shortest. routes can be adopted, consideration such as alternative arrangements etc. are necessary. Only the Joad point it to be directly connected to source side. This shortens length of line and thus reduces the cost. Simple designing, construction, operation, maintenance ° including providing simple/cheap protection also contribute towards decrease in the overall cost of the system ¢ As this system is more suitable in rural areas; so for the line passing over the open fields, lengthy spans can be arranged resulting in saving due to less number of poles required, i) Very poor service reliability: * When a fault occurs on a feeder, its breaker in the gridstation opens and interrupts the service to all the consumers supplied by the feeder, Manually. operated sectionalizing switches are often installed at the junction of the main feeder and the branch line, The faultysection can be isolated by opening, the proper switch ind service can be restored to the other parts of the feeder, But the service to the supply area fed through the faulty section can only be testored after the rectification of the fault / defect. Although availability of supply can be ensured agains! momentary faults in case of bare conductor over head lines by equipping the feeder breakers with reclosing mechanism or installing auto reclosures on the branches of the radial feeder but in case of permanent faults, a number of consumers will be without electricity for a considerable time. .@ If the fault occurs in the main section close to the grid station, all the consumers fed through that feeder will have to wait for restoration of power supply for the total period involved in identification, tracing and rectification of the fault. ji) Excessive voltage drop and line losses. # Due to passage of total load current through the 4 common main section of the feeder, voltage drop , (IR) and line losses (I°R) will be more as compared to the system which facilitates distribution of load currents into two or more path/ circuits.°) - transformer has two sectionalizes, sence of any Due to economic reasons, and in ab: i -omparatively emergency load requirements, comp in contributes thinner conductors are used, this again a ine losses. towards increased voltage drop and line APPLICATION: A radial system, on one hand, has a very poor reliability, and, on the tak han it is the cheapest system. Accordingly it is considered more feasible/suitable for the area with low density of load involving long distances and requiring lower degree of availability. The rural areas have been internationally accepted at lower priority of availability, as compared to urban localities. Hence radial system is usually adopted for rural electrification. CLOSE LOOP SYSTEM: (Refer to Fig: No. 1.2) If a HT line emanating from a Gridstation and covering the load area in shape of a loop, finishes at the same Gridstation returning to the same breaker or another independent breaker, it is called a closed loop; and a distribution system of such a configuration feeding supply area is said to be a closed loop system, Alternatively it can be stated that: if tail ends of two. radial feeders are brought closer to each other and the conductors of both sides are jointed together, keeping in view the same phase Sequence, this forms a closed loop system. In this system, each » on either side of bei : "ansformers tap off point, é> iable than radial system. In closed loop system, if any fault occurs the breakers at the gridstation open. When the fault is traced out the Ity section is isolated from the system by opening the two number sectionalizes, one on either side the affected section; and then supply to all the remaining, sections of the loop is restored from the gridstation. It means, that although the consumers are still without electricity so long as the fault is traced out, but as soon as the faulty section is identified and isolated the supply is restored. So, the consumers don’t have to wait till the rectification of the fault as is the case with radial system. Evidently, the availability is greatly improved. Hence the closed loop system is more reliable than radial system. However, in case of two simultaneous faults on the loop, the supply to the areas between the faulty. sections cannot be restored. So, the consumers of the whole loop or a part thereof (depending on the location of faults) will have to wait till the rectification of the fault of at least one section. But ‘occurrence of two simultaneous faults is very rare and its effect on the reliability can be ignored. If both ends of the loop are terminated in one breaker instead of two independent breakers irom economy ‘ consideration, the availability will be slightly affected.ere is any fault on This is because of the reason that if there is any the bi , | reaker, or breaker is to be isola ed for routine , > will be maintenance, the supply to the whole loap ferre ave two interrupted. So, it is usually preferred to ha sure actor of independent breakers, to further ensure the facto availability ii) Less Voltage Drop, Less Line Losses: the calculations and practical demonstrations have proved that for the same area to be supplied with a closed laop system instead of radial system, the voltage drop and the line losses will be comparatively less. DEMERITS: i) An expensive system: Closed loop system for a particular area needs more capital investment as compared to an equivalent radial system. The reasons are as under: ¢ For converting a radial system into a closed loop system Wwe may require extra length of line to complete the loop,°) @ As in emergency total load of the loop may have to be fed from one side of the loop, so the higher size conductor, capable of carrying twice as much as the normal load, will have to be selected. Moreover, as in the low load section, too the load during emergency may be more than 50% of the total load of the loop. So, use of thinner sizes of conductor also not possible, and it is usually preferred to use a single uniform size of conductor for the complete loop. All these factors contribute towards abnormal increase in the capital cost. ¢ As the loop is protected on both ends, so ratings and 1 settings of protective devices are to be carefully calculated/determined keeping in view the normal and emergency loading conditions. APPLICATION: As two sectionalizers for each transformer and higher conductor size is the basic requirement of this system. So, to avoid abnormally high costs, it is usually recommend for the areas of high load density/small distances, preferably for well planned urban localities. This system can be equally useful for rural areas, if economy so permits; but to ensure effective operation, the loops should be of smaller size. In case of a larger loop, (say covering 100km distance), the fault location time may exceed 5 to 6 hours, and if the consumers are without electricity for suchear ed installation 0 ration then there is no } stification for installation if longer duratic such a costly system. OPEN LOOP SYSTEM: (Refer to Fig. No.1.3) 1.1.3 OPEN LOOP SYSTEM: s each end), if In a closed loop system with two breakers (one at eac’ ), section is kept normally one of the two sectionalizers of low loa o extra cos! open, the system is named as open loop system. So, no is involved. As already discussed, in closed loop system, if fault occurs, the supply of the whole loop goes off and all the consumers are without electricity till the fault is traced out and supply restored after isolating the faulty section. But by a minor change in the mode of operation as mentioned above this normally open sectionalizer will limit the effect of the fault to one part of the loop because only one breaker will open while the other Portion of the loop will not be affected. Similar things will happen if the fault occurs on the other -portion. Moreover, ‘fault location time may also be less because in open-loop system, the faulty part of the loop is clearly known and total loop is not to be patrolled. So, on the whole, the ‘availability’ of supply is further improved in case of open-loop system as compared to that of closed-loop system, With the exception of the above mentioned additional benefits, all other characteristics of closed loop system (merits, demerits, 4 application) are also true for open-loop system. Due to improved ‘availability’ without: any adverse effect on economy or safety, the open loop system is always preferred over closed loop system for distribution purpose,1.1.4 DOUBLE SUPPLY SYSTEM: (Refer to Fig:No.1.4) If in addition to a radial feeder for a load area, another radial feeder is provided, side by side, to feed the same consumers through manually operated sectionalizers or automatic-change- over switches, the system is said’to be a ‘Double supply system’, a ‘duplicate supply system’ or parallel feeders’. The additional feeder ¢an be a purely standby feeder and can be used during emergency only i.e. in case there is some fault on the original feeder. But for the purpose of economic operation it is always preferred to have both the feeders equally loaded. Although this condition is difficult to achieve as the consumers may not cooperate and constant vigilance by the operation staff not possible; but in case of automatic change-over switches installed at consumers premises, this objective can be easily achieved. a) MERITS: i) Higher service reliability. From availability point of view this system is even better than open loop system. In case of open loop system, about 50% consumers have to wait for restoration of supply for a considerable time ie. the time involved in location of fault and isolation of faulty section. But in double supply. system, the healthy source, being available at the premises of the . consumer, will be immediately utilized without waiting for location and rectification of the fault. So, in this system the a pyailabaity of supply is largely ensured. ‘ Less line losses:x s sses incase Of a single radial by 50% as compared to the losses } case of y 50% as compa and the other one kept as standby. feeder in service b) DEMERIIS y easons:~ i) Very expansive: due to the following reaso g ad, are o As two feeders, each capable of carrying total lo ij vi ‘ost. installed which straight away doubles the c i yer switch for © Two sectionalisers or one automatic change over switc each transformer increases the capital cost. ° Additional length of line is involved to connect the supply of both feeders to each transformer through sectionalizers or change over switch. This increases the cost still further. o If the load area is of square or rectangular shape, the double supply system will be too costly as compared to the equivalent open loop system. But for the load developed unidirectional ie. along a road, it will cost almost equal to the equivalent open loop. ii) Reduced Safety: s In case of manually changing over the supply, possibility of wrong operations can not be eliminated. So if both the feeders are connected to the same transformers it can create a hazardous situation. If the other feeder is off due to some fault, it will trip the healthy feeder also. If the other feeder is off, and fault removed then this back feeding may cause accident to maintenance staff if they do not adopt Proper measures. In case the other feeder is al: held OK during such a wrong operation, ra occur to transformer or other Outages on both the feeders, then some damage may components resulting ultimately So, manual Operation should beC) ii) APPLICATION: \s the system is very costly, but it is also very reliable; so, it can be used tor high density load areas of higher priority, This is not feasible for supply to general consumers due to the following two reasons: For manually changing over the supply neither whole time staff can be deputed for each transtormer, being highly uneconomical, nor feeder-maintenance-gang, can be deputed to carry out the operations one by one for each transformer, because the consumers will have to wait for a considerable time for restoration of supply. While consumers avoid to take responsibility of changing-over themselves. This situation can’t justify heavy expenditure on double supply system, because open loop system will prove better. If automatic change over switches are installed for each transformer then it will render the system too costly. So installation of such switching arrangements is generally avoided except for the connections with higher priority of availability. In view of above double supply system is usually considered more feasible for heavily industrialized areas due to the following reasons:- ‘ Each transformer will be for an individual consumer, who may either install changeover-switch or will take responsibility of manual operation during emergency for the transformer feeding, his own load. ‘ ;oC view of heavy Juplicate feeder Ww ill be justified in Expenditure on duplicate industrial load establishments and vftices, defence However, important Govt, offices, de also provided w ith dual supply arrange ome times through interconnections ment in the hospitals ete. are shape of a standby feeder or from two adjacent radial feeders. 1.1.5 GRID FORM OF H.V, SYSTEM: (Refer to Fig. No. 1.5) In this system all the distribution transformers of a load area, are interconnected providing normally two or more alternatives. While the whole system is fed from two or more bulk supply sources. But availability can not be improved through manual operation of sectionalizers to isolate faulty section during emergency as it will take quite a considerable time to identify the faulty section and to determine the better alternative, Moreover, manual operation may result in wrong operation due to complexity of the system. So, to have real benefit of this system, » This system is usually underground, All the Operations can be comp: system efficiency by improving the availabili a) MERITS: The system is the most reliable one, Of failure of supply; ty to the highest degree,be affected at all, or effect will be limited. b) DEMERITS Due to the reasons already mentioned, it is'the most costly system. C) APPLICATION: The system being the most reliable, and at the same time the mo-! costly, is recommended for the areas of highest priority of supp! with very high load density. If economy for a country is not problem, this system is considered the most suitable one for urbon areas, specially, the big cities, 1.1.6 THE IMPROVED RADIAL SYSTEM: (Refer to Fig: No. 1.6) Without converting a distribution system into any of the type already mentioned, different steps, are usually taken to improv« the factor of ‘availability’. These measures may wholly 0) partially improve the overall ‘availability’ of supply and thu: convert the distribution system into a more reliable network. Depending upon the location/situation of the feeders and the extent of required improvement, these measures may prove to be costly and some time very cheap. As an example of such improvement some sections/ branches of adjacent’ radial feeders are brought closer to each other and sectionalizers are installed. So, in case of any problem on one feeder, a part of that can be fed from the other. It should be made sure that both the feeders have some spare capacity and can feed: each other without any problem.1.2 TYPES OF LV. DISTRIBUTIO! ii) syste n also be As in case of H.V. distribution system, the I V. system ca) cui o sie independent single phase or three phase circuit or compos circuit (running on the HT poles below HT lines). LV system can also be either overhead (bared conductor/ insulated) or underground system. So for as the configuration is concerned, the radial system is preferred over the others due to the following reasons:- As LT lines feed only one or a few consumers, so in case of fault very few consumers are affected. the radial system is quite simple and the cheapest However, for some important areas open loop or closed loop systems are also used for IV. distribution purpose. The remaining types are very rarely usedSIMPLE FORM OF RADIAL TYPE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. TRANSHISSION LINES 5352 KV GRID STATION 11 kV ies ea 2 2 DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORVER ; SELECTIVE GRADING: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5Figure:1.2 DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM LOOP SYSTEM) TYPICAL W: (CL SUBSTATION BUS ies e STATION CIRCUIT BREAKER SECTIONALISING SWITCH (CLOSED) HRC FUSE TRANSFORMER SECTIONALISING SWITCH (CLOSED) :(OPEN LOOP SYSTEM) SUBSTATICN BUS () STATION CIRCUIT BREAKER SECTIONALISING SWITCH (CLOSED) a z oe ae a g 2 Caan = ‘ SECTIONALISING SWITCH (OPEN)SUBSTATIGH 2US ea STATION CIRCUIT BREAKER SEGTIONALISING SWITCH (OFEN) tes =) LOAD < CLOSED HRC FUSE TRANSFORMER CLOSEDGRID FORM OF HV-DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM 12 GRID STATION GRID STATION uk KWFEEDER -1 se LOAD AREA & FEEDER-2 LOAD AREA FEEDER -3 LOAD AREA