2/10/2020 What is a Electrical Substation - Definition, Layout, and Uses of Substations?

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Substations?

What is a Electrical Substation – De nition,

Layout, and Uses of Substations?
December 13, 2018 By Dave — Leave a Comment

In the modern era, the need for electrical power has increased at an enormous pace. To ful ll the required
demand, huge power is needed to be delivered; hence bigger generating stations are to be designed. The
electrical power generating stations may be generating electrical energy from water, atomic, thermal, or
renewable sources solely contingent on the accessibility of resources and areas where these power
stations are built. The areas where power stations are built might not be nearby load centers where the load
is consuming power. Therefore transmitting generated power to the load center is of great importance.

There is a need for larger high voltage transmission networks for the purpose of transmission. Usually,
power is generated in lower voltage levels and is economical for its transmission in high voltages. However,
the distribution of electrical power is achieved in lower voltages pertinent to consumer requirements.
Therefore, for maintenance of such voltage levels and deliverance of stability numerous switching stations
and transformation stations are created amid consumer ends and electrical power generating stations. The
transformation and switching station is generally known as a substation which is further elaborated below.

Substation De nition:
The electrical substation can be de ned as a network of electrical components comprising of power
transformers, busbars, auxiliaries, and switchgear etc. The components are interconnected such that
creating a sequence of a circuit capable to be switched OFF while running on normal operation through
manual commands while in emergency situations it can be switched OFF automatically. The emergency
situations may be an earthquake, oods, or short circuit etc.

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2/10/2020 What is a Electrical Substation - Definition, Layout, and Uses of Substations?

The electrical substation does not have a single circuit but is composed of numerous outgoing and
HOME circuits
incoming BASICS
which areELECTRICAL CIRCUITS
connected to PROJECTSentity among
a busbar i.e. common POWER circuits.
SYSTEMSThe substation

receives electrical energy directly from generating stations through incoming power supply lines while it
delivers
POWER electricity to the consumers through outgoing transmission lines. A substation which is near to the
ELECTRONICS
electrical power generation is also known as grid substation.

Substation Structure

Major Tasks of Substations

There are numerous tasks associated with power substations in the distribution and transmission system.
Some of the major tasks that substations perform are as follows.

It serves as protection hub of the transmission system.

It maintains the frequency of system con ned in targeted limits and has to deal with load shedding.
It controls the exchange of electrical energy amid consumers and generating stations.
It is ensuring transient stability along with steady-state stability of the system.
It delivers su cient line capacity hence securing supply.
It helps in reducing the ow of reactive power, hence gaining voltage control.
Through line carrier, it performs data transmission to ensure monitoring of network, protection, and
control.
It helps in fault analysis and pinning cause for a failure, hence improving the performance of the
electrical network.
It ensures reliable supply through feeding network at numerous points.
It assists in determining energy transfer with help of transmission lines.

Single Line Diagram of an Electrical Substation

The single line diagram of the 33kv substation is depicted in the gure below. The connection of the
substation is divided as

Incoming or power feeder connection (33kv Incoming Line)

Power transformer connection via Lighting Arrestor & Busbar

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2/10/2020 What is a Electrical Substation - Definition, Layout, and Uses of Substations?

Voltage transformer connection for control and metering.

HOME
OutgoingBASICS ELECTRICAL
feeder for feeding CIRCUITS
the other subsequentPROJECTS
substations or POWER SYSTEMS
switchgear.
Circuit Breaker & Isolator between the incoming and the outgoing lines.
POWER ELECTRONICS

Single Line Diagram of Substation

On the incoming 33kv incoming feeder line side, the transformer is connected to the bus bar and the
lightning or surge arresters are connected as a phase to the ground as the initial connection equipment. A
circuit breaker is connected between the 11kv bus-bar and each incoming and outgoing circuit with the
support of the isolator being provided on each side of the circuit breaker.

Di erent Substation Layouts

The following are the general substation layout diagram. These are also referred to as substation design.

1) Single Busbar Substation

This design is simplest and has an ease of operation and maintenance. This design has a minimum
reliance over signaling for the necessary protection of its operation. Furthermore, there is a facility for
supporting economical operations of feeder bays. Following is a general schematic diagram of single
busbar substation.

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The characteristics of single busbar substation are as follows.

There is a circuit breaker for protection of each circuit, hence there is no loss of supply in outages.
In case of fault on the transformer of a feeder, circuit breaker results in loss of feeder or transformer
circuit which is restored after isolation of faulty circuit breaker.
Loss of circuit is involved in the maintenance of the circuit breaker of the transformer of the feeder.
There are bypass isolators amid circuit isolator and busbar hence allowing maintenance of circuit
breaker without any loss to the circuit.
Any fault in busbar is causing loss of a transformer or feeder. Hence, maintenance of a busbar will
result in an outage of 2 circuits.

2) Mesh Busbar Substation

The mesh busbar substation is a complex design and has few technicalities involved in its operation and
maintenance. The generic schematic diagram of mesh busbar substation is as follows.

The following are characteristics of mesh busbar substations.

There is a requirement of two circuit breakers for disconnecting or connecting of a circuit and
disconnection is also requiring opening up of mesh.
There is an option of maintenance of circuit breakers without loss of supply.

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2/10/2020 What is a Electrical Substation - Definition, Layout, and Uses of Substations?

One circuit breaker loss occurs when busbar is faulty while fault in breaker involves loss of two
HOME
circuits. BASICS ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS PROJECTS POWER SYSTEMS

3)POWER
One ELECTRONICS
and Half Circuit Breaker Substation
The one and a half circuit breaker layout of a substation are not common because of its high cost and
complex technicalities involved in its operation and maintenance. The generic schematic diagram of the
mentioned substation is given below.

The following are characteristics of one and half circuit breaker layout.

High security is involved alongside the loss of supply.

There is a possibility of operating only one pair of circuits, a pair of circuits, or groups of circuits.
The circuit breakers are having a complex arrangement and higher costs are involved.

So to conclude, Electrical Substations are of great importance in today’s Power Transmission and
distribution industry. For more information regarding the various types of substations and components of
substations, you can refer to our other articles.

Image Credits :
Single Line Diagram of Substation (Electrical Pw Dist Sys By Kamaraju)
Substation Layout – Mohit Kumar Singh et.al, International Research Journal of Engineering and
Technology (IRJET)

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