‫قال تعالى‪:‬‬

Al‐Balqa’ Applied University
Faculty of Engineering Technology
Faculty of Engineering Technology
January  2011

I
In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of 
i l F lfill f h R i f h D fB h l f
Science in Engineering Technology

DESIGNING 400 kV TRANSMISSION LINE

Supervisor: 
Dr.Ibrahim Abu‐Harb 
P
Prepared By
dB
Ammar Amer Abu_Khaled Mohammed K. Hawa

Na’el Ali Nofal

 CONTENT
 INTODUCTION TO TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

 TRANSMISSION LINES.

 ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL DESGIN OF OHTL.

 CALCULATIONS AND MATLAB FILES.
INTRODUCTION  TO TRANSMISSION 
SYSTEM
Jordanian Transmission system

•The figure represents the 
Jordanian map with the 
132kV national grid and 
4
400 kV interconnection 
network.

Jordanian Transmission system

 Elements of design
•Designing 400 kV systems is a difficult job because there are many
factors should be taken in mind when the designing engineers start the
designing procedure.
procedure
•These factors depend on the system standards, economical funds for
the line and availability of technical and professional persons.

• Most important factors are:

•Type of conductors.
conductors
•Type of towers.
yp of insulators.
•Type
•Clearance factor.
•Sag and tension.
•Spacing between conductors
IIn Jordan
J d there
th is
i a rapid
id growthth iin lloads
d att allll th
the country
t which
hi h fforced
d th
the
electrical transmission company (NEPCO) to construct new lines to feed
that loads with the electrical power.

shows the peak load development in Jordan

The figure
Th fi b
below
l shows
h th
the percentage
t off power generation
ti ffor allll power plants
l t
In the Jordanian Electrical system
TRANSMISSION LINES 
Single and Double circuits for 400 kV

Single Circuit Double Circuit
Structures may have one of the three basic configurations: horizontal, vertical, or
delta, depending on the arrangement of the phase conductors.

Fig (2‐1) Lattice towers
The main types of towers are used in designing transmission lines:

•SUSPENSION TOWER:
Most of transmission lines towers are of this type (about 80%)

•TENSION TOWERS:

This type of towers is used to carry power lines, Two main types are used:
•Tension
Tension towers with small angles (less than 20
20º)).
•Tension towers with large angles (less than 65º).

•TERMINAL TOWERS:
Starting and end lines towers are the two types of terminal transmission lines towers,
it is
i a tension
t i tower
t

•CROSSING TOWERS:
Usually this type is used for crossing rivers, valleys and wide high ways.
OVERHEAD 
LINES 
LINES
CONDUCTORS
 Types of conductors

1) ACSR (Aluminum Conductor Steel-Reinforced):

ACSR is the most common type

off conductor
d used
d today
d

2) AAC {All Aluminum Conductors}:

AAC conductors are most useful where

electrical loads are heavy and where
spans are short and mechanical loads
are low
l so AAC are used d ffor
power distribution.
BUNDLE CONDUCTORS

Two conductor/phase Four conductor/phase
Earth Wire
 A ground conductor is a conductor that is usually grounded (earthed) at the
top of the supporting structure to minimize the likelihood of direct lightning
strikes to the phase conductors.
conductors

 The ground wire is also a parallel path with the earth for fault currents in
earthed neutral circuits, Very high-voltage transmission lines may have two
ground conductors.

 The ground conductors not only used to protect the lines from the lightning
strikes but also contain a fiber optic, used for communications and remote control
of p
power system
y

 The ground wire that used in 400kV transmission system is

Optical Ground Wire (OPGW).
(OPGW)
 OPGW has three main types

1) Stainless steel loose tube type OPGW.

2) Non
Non--metallic loose tube type OPGW.

3) Aluminum spacer
p type
yp OPGW.
Types of insulators
1) Tension insulators:
usually they are used when 
the span is more than 360m
h    i    h   6

2) Suspension insulators:
usually they are used if the span between tower is 360 m or
less, and with heavy conductors.
3) Ground Wire Insulators
The ground wire insulators are used to suspend the
overhead ground wires on the high-voltage transmission lines.
 Materials of Insulator
Materials of Insulator
A)   Porcelain.
has a mechanical strength and a high electrical insulation
its demerit that it is hard to detect the damage on it.

B)   Toughened Glass Insulators.
) h d l l
•It Has a high electrical insulation as porcelain insulators
g that it does not affected by
•Its advantage y the thermal
stresses,
• it is susceptible to breakage and more expensive than
porcelain
C)  Polymer  Insulators
•It has a light weight and it still very long time
without polluting with dust.
•But it may be damaged by corona effect,
or physical deterioration
which may not be apparent.
ELECTRICAL   AND  MECHANICAL  
DESIGN  OF OHTL
 Electrical  Mechanical 
parameters parameters
 Electrical 
parameters

Line  Line  Line

resistance Inductance Capacitance
p
 Resistance:
 Conductor resistance is affected by these factors:‐
Frequency ( skin effect )
Frequency (‘skin effect’)

 Temperature
 The material of conductor
The direct current resistance of a conductor is given by:
ρ: Conductor resistivity, Ω.m
ρL
R DC  Ω L : Conductor length, m.
A A : Cross sectional of conductor area, m2.

Th   l
The alternating current resistance of a conductor is given by:
i     i   f    d  i   i  b
Ys : skin effect factor
R AC  R DC (1  y p  y s ) Yp : proximity factor
The conductor resistance increases as temperature increases. As in this equation:
R2 TO  t2

R1 T O  t1
 I d t
Inductance of double circuit of three phase line
f d bl i it f th h li
We use the followingg equations
q to find the
GMD between each phase group

D AB  4 D a 1b 1 D a 1b 2 D a 2 b 1 D a 2 b 2
D BC  4 D b1c1 D b1c 2 D b 2 c1 D b 2 c 2
D AC  4 D a 1c1 D a 1c 2 D a 2 c1 D a 2 c 2

The equivalent GMD per phase is

GMD  Deg  3 ( DAB * DBC * DAC )

Double circuit configuration
 The equivalent GMR per phase is

D SA  4 (D b
S D a1a 2 ) 2
 D b
S
D a1a 2

D SB  4 (D b
S
D b1b 2 ) 2
 D b
S D b1b 2

D SC  4 (D b
S D c1c 2 ) 2
 D b
S
D c1c 2

b
S D
Where        is the GMR of bundled conductors (D b=0 7788*r)
s =0.7788 r)
, and Ds is the GMR of the individual conductors. 
The equivalent GMR :

The inductance per-phase is

 7 GMD
L x  2  10 ln H / m
GMR L
 Capacitance of double circuit of three phase line
The GMRc of each phase is similar to the GMRL, with the 
exception that (rb)is used instead of (Ds b ).
This will result the following equations:

r A  r b
D a 1 a 2

rB  r b
D GMRC  3 rArB rC
b 1 b 2

rC  r b
D c1 c 2

The per‐phase equivalent capacitance to neutral is obtained by:

2  0
C  F /m
GMD
l
ln
GMR c
 The equivalent circuit of short transmission line 

 The sending‐end voltage of line is :
The sending end voltage of line is : VS  VR  Z line I R
 The sending
The sending‐end current and receiving –end
end current and receiving  end is: IS  IR
 We can represent the line constants
p as matrix:
Vs   A B  Vr  A=D= 1

 I  C D   I  B= Zline
 s   r  C= 0
 CORONA DETERMINATION
Factors Affect on Corona:
F  Aff    C
 Atmosphere
 Conductor size
C d  i
 Spacing between conductors
 Line voltage

Dielectric strength
g
depends on:
 the atmospheric temperature .
h   h i    
 The atmospheric pressure.

3 . 92 b Where:
h
  b: Atmospheric pressure (mm Hg).
273  t t : Atmospheric temperature (0C).
C)
 Critical Corona Voltages
A Disruptive Critical Voltage
A.
It is the minimum phase voltage at which corona occurs:
Dequ
VC  mo . .r.ln( )
r
B. Visual Critical Voltage
g
The visual critical voltage Vv for single &three phase lines be obtained:
3  10 4  0.3  d eq
VV  r *  * mv  1   lln
2   *r  r
Where r is the conductor radius in meter
mv is the (irregularity factor).
dequ: The
Th lowest
l t distance
di t between
b t conductors.
d t
 Mechanical
Parameters
TOWERS 
LINE 
HEIGHT
SPAN 

CONDUCTOR 
CLEARANCE  SAG AND 
AND SPACING TENSION

CONDUCTOR 
VIBRATION
 Span definitions
 Basic or normal span :
 The normal span
p is the most economical
span for which the line is designed over level ground.

 Average span :
• The average span is the mean span length between dead ends.

 Dead End Span :
• A dead end span is the one in which the conductor is dead‐ended
at both ends.

 Wind Span : 
Th wind
•The i d span isi that
th t on which
hi h the
th wind
i d is
i assumed d tto actt
transversely on the conductors and is taken as half the sum of two
spans.
 Weight span
•The weight span is the horizontal
distance between the lowest points of
the conductors.
conductors
 Ruling or equivalent span
• It is the weighted average of 
the varying span lengths.

l  l  l  l ...... l
3 3 3 3 3
Lr  1 2 3 4 n
l1  l2  l3  l4 .... ln
 Sag calculation
Sag is defined as: the increment in length of overhead lines that 
suspended between two points, and there are two cases.
1)) Symmetrical  suspension level:
S i l   i  l l
when the two supports are at the same level.
2
w* l
S
8*T
Wh
Where:
S: sag at the middle of span (m)
w: conductor’s weight (N/m)
l: horizontal distance of span 
(m)
( )
T: conductor tension (N)
2)  Unsymmetrical  suspension level
When the two supports are at different level
Conductor Vibration
Conductor Vibration

 Aeolian Vibration:
It is a high‐frequency (5-100 Hz) low amplitude (2.5-5 cm) 
oscillation generated by low velocity (0.5-10
ill i   d b  l   l i  ( m/sec).
/ )

 Galloping Vibration:
It is a low frequency (0.1-1Hz) high amplitude (several 
meters) self excited vibration which can affect single and 
)  lf  i d  ib i   hi h    ff   i l   d 
bundle conductors.
Conductor spacing and clearances
Conductor spacing and clearances
 Conductor spacing and clearances must be maintained
according to standards.

An empirical formula commonly used for determining the spacing

of aluminum conductor lines is :
V Where:
Spacing = d  meters d: is sag in meters
150 V: is line voltage in kV

And here some typical values of spacing are:
yp p g
 TOWERS HEIGHT 
The overall height of the tower is:
H = C + So + 3*SA + SB + SC+ SE

Where :
C = statutory clearance
•C l to groundd
•SA = length of suspension insulator set
•SB, SC and SE = vertical distances between
cross-arms and conductor above or to earth-
wire
•So = sag
g of conductor (proportional
(p p to the
square of the span).
400 kV SAMRA
400 
 kV SAMRA‐
kV SAMRA‐AMMAN NORTH  CALCULATIONS
 LINE CALCULATIONS 

LINE 
CALCULATIONS

ELECTRICAL  MECHANICAL 
LINE’S  LINE’S 
PARAMETERS PARAMETERS
 ELCTRICAL 
PARAMETERS

LINE 
LINE  CAPACITANCE  CORONA  LINE 
RESISTANCE  AND  VOLTAGE EFFICIENCY
INDUCTANCE
 Choice of voltage level &Circuits 
Choice of voltage level &Circuits
configuration 
Voltage level selection depends on the equation below the
value of power taken from NEPCO 600 MW so the suitable
value:

Selecting the number of circuits depends on the SIL(surge 
impedance loading)
p g)
The characteristic impedance = 320 
 R it
Resistance calculation 
l l ti
ACSR 560/50 conductor is used in the line with a RDC  =0.0514 ohm at 20 °C

The resistance of  ACSR at a temperature rise  65
p oC is :
 line inductance and capacitance 
Line inductance and capacitance are measured by using the GMD method for the
bundled conductor

GMD method calculation Tower spacing (in mm)

 The GMD and GMR  values can be found to calculate 
the line inductance and capacitance
 Short transmission line equivalent circuit
Short  transmission line equivalent circuit 

The Receiving end voltage line to line is: Vr  230.940 kV
The impedance of line per‐phase is: 
e peda ce o e pe p ase s: Z line  5.804272.3069Ω
The receiving ‐end and sending end current: I r  I s  1345.06  25.84 A
e se d g e d vo tage e to e s:
The sending end voltage line to line is: Vs  236.391.3718 kV
The sending end active power is: Ps  848.2934MW
 Voltage regulation and line efficiency 
g g y
Voltage regulation :

Line eff.
Line eff

Double circuits eff.

 Corona effect calculation 
Corona starting voltage : according to the equation shown 
previously the corona starting voltage equal 
g g

Visual critical voltage :for polished conductor will equal

Total corona losses :found by using an empirical formula
 MECHANICAL 
CALCULATIONS

SPAN  SAG  TOWER 

CALCULATION CALCULATION HEIGHT 
 Span calculation
Span calculation
Conductor used in the line (SAMRA-AMMAN NORTH) is ACSR 560/50 mm,
with cross section diameter = 26.7 mm.

As the spans
p between the line towers not equal
q the ruling(equivalent)
g( q ) span
p is found
Sag Calculations
Sag Calculations 
By taking an example of two towers sag at symmetrical spacing the value 
of sag equal

The maximum sag of conductor at bad weather

(15m/s wind velocity and ice thickness about 10mm) :
 Tower height 
H = C + So + 3*SA + SB + SC + SE
I l
Insulator string
i length
l h = 6515 mm

Sag = 3380 mm

Insulator-arm distance ={2470,2635,1985}

mm from upper to lower

Maximum clearance= 15000mm

H= 15+3*(6.515)+3.38+2.470+2.635+1.985
15+3*(6 515)+3 38+2 470+2 635+1 985
=45.015 m

close
l to
t the
th tower
t height
h i ht from
f NEPCO (48m)
(48 )
CHAPTER FIVE
 MATLAB M‐FILE
By using MATLAB all values calculated in the project were 
found in a program that Designed for any line –not only this line‐.
1) At first step the line power, voltage and power factor at the 
g
receiving side will: 
 2) The outputs of the program will shown like below

3)Circuit
3)Ci i configuration
fi i will
ill be
b selected
l d to find
fi d the
h line
li inductance
i d andd capacitance
i
4) The tower spacing in meter and the conductor radius in millimeter will input

5) Then Matlab calculate the value of GMD and GMR

 6) The output of the program at the final step is

By comparing the results that we calculated and that ones from MATLAB, the 
error in results is too small..
182kV

230.5 kV
 2.13
kW/phase/km