Why Generation Voltage in Power Plant is Low (11kV to 33kV) ?

Answer: In Electrical Generation plants, the generation voltage will be in the range between 11kV and 33kV. Generator designers wishes to generate the electricity at high voltages as possible to limit the stator current required to achieve the desired output. But certain technical and economical problems will arise which results in designing the generator for particular voltage and current ratings. Low voltage generation for particular power level (say 500MW) requires large size of the stator conductors as huge currents flow through the stator because of low voltage. ( Any current carrying conductor size is decided by the amount of current flowing through the conductors). Thereby increase in the cost and size of the machine takes place. On the other hand, increase of the machine voltage significantly beyond the minimum necessary value results in more insulation required on the generator stator windings, thus increasing its size and cost. Therefore an optimum value of Voltage and Current values are attained for designing the generator considering the cost and size factors of the generator. Example: 660 MW generation plant usually operate at 23.5 kV with line currents of about 19 000 A at 0.85 power factor. Classification of Transmission Lines Over heat transmission lines are classified based on the manner in which the capacitance is considered: Short Transmission Lines: Transmission lines whose length less than 80kms and operating voltage less than 20kV comes under short transmission line. Due to the smaller distance and lower voltage levels capacitance (shunt) effect is extremely low and hence capacitance effect is neglected. The performance of the short transmission lines depend on the resistance and inductance value of the line. Thought the resistance and inductance are distributed over the length of the line it is assumed that resistance and inductance values are taken as lumped at one place. The effect of transformers and generators are taken in to account by considering equivalent impedance to the impedance of the line Medium Transmission Line:Transmission lines having length between 80kms and 200kms and line voltages between 20kV and 100kV falls in the second category. As the length of the line and voltage levels are moderate or not as low as small transmission lines, charging currents (transmission lines draw charging currents when the transmission line conductor and ground forms a capacitor with air in between as dielectric medium due to increase in the potential between the conductor and ground) comes in to picture in the case of medium transmission lines. Hence capacitance value is considered in the case of medium transmission line. Though the capacitance is distributed through out the length of the line, capacitance value is assumed to be concentrated at one or more points Long Transmission Line:Transmission Lines having length above 200kms and line voltage above 100kV comes under Long Transmission Lines. In Long lines impedance (Resistance and inductance in series) and admittance (shunt capacitance and shunt conductance in parallel) values are distributed uniformly throughout the length of the line.

Advantages of Bundled Conductors in Transmission Lines For transmission of more power for long distances to load centers Extra High Voltage (EHV) transmission is employed. Implementing Extra High Voltage has advantage of reduction in the copper losses and improves efficiency. However transmission of voltage beyond 300kV will poses some problems such as Corona effect which causes significant power loss and interference with communication circuits if round single conductor per phase is used. In order to reduce corona effect hollow round conductors are used. Keeping economical constraints other option is instead of using hallow round conductor it is preferable to use more than one conductor per phase which is called Bundled Conductors. For transmission of power beyond 400kV bundled conductors are employed. Advantages of Bundled Conductors: Bundled conductors are primarily employed to reduce the corona loss and radio interference. However they have several advantages: Bundled conductors per phase reduces the voltage gradient in the vicinity of the line. Thus reduces the possibility of the corona discharge. (Corona effect will be observed when the air medium present between the phases charged up and start to ionize and acts as a conducting medium. This is avoided by employing bundled conductors). Improvement in the transmission efficiency as loss due to corona effect is countered. Bundled conductor lines will have higher capacitance to neutral in comparison with single lines. Thus they will have higher charging currents which helps in improving the power factor. Bundled conductor lines will have higher capacitance and lower inductance than ordinary lines they will have higher Surge Impedance Loading (Z=(L/C)1/2). Higher Surge Impedance Loading (SIL) will have higher maximum power transfer ability. With increase in self GMD or GMR inductance per phase will be reduced compared to single conductor line. This results in lesser reactance per phase compared to ordinary single line. Hence lesser loss due to reactance drop.

Circuit Breaker: Circuit Breaker is used for Switching during normal and abnormal operating conditions. It is used to interrupt the short circuit currents. It is used to interrupt short circuit currents. Circuit Breaker operations include. Closing Opening Auto reclosing Circuit Breaker is located near every switching point and also located at the both ends of every protection zone. Shunt Capacitance: Shunt capacitors are used for compensating reactive power of lagging power factor. Shunt Capacitors are used for improving the power factor. It is also used for voltage control during heavy lagging power factor loads. Shunt Capacitors are located at the receiving stations and distribution substations. Shunt Capacitors are switched in during heavy loads and switched off during low loads.

Series Capacitor: Series Capacitors are used for some long EHV a.c lines to improve power transferability. Capacitors are located at the sending end / receiving end of the lines. Series Capacitors are provided with by pass circuit breaker and protective spark gaps. Earth Switch: Earth Switch is used to discharge the voltage on the circuit to the earth for safety. Earth switch is mounted on the frame of the isolators. Earth Switch is located for each incomer transmission line and each side of the busbar section. Current Transformer: Current transformers are used for Stepping down current for measurement, protection and control. Current transformers are of two types Protective CT Measuring CT Voltage Transformer: Voltage transformers are used to step down the voltage for measurement, protection and control. Voltage transformers are of two types. * Electro-magnetic type * Capacitive VT located on the feeder side of the Circuit Breaker. Autotransformer: An autotransformer is an electrical transformer in which there is one winding, a portion of which is common to both the primary and the secondary circuits. In other words, the primary and secondary coils have some or all windings in common. An autotransformer is commonly used for the voltage conversion of local power line voltage to some other Voltage value needed for a particular piece of electrical equipment. Most often, this conversion is from 125 Volts to 250 Volts, or 250 Volts to 125 Volts. Unlike an isolation transformer, an autotransformer uses common windings and offer no interference or disturbance isolation. A given size autotransformer will support a load equal to its rated value whether it is connected in the 125 Volts to 250 Volts configuration, or in the 250 Volts to 125 Volts configuration. These units are employed in custom designs or when converting industrial/military equipment between various operating voltage systems. Most often, this conversion is from 125 Volts to 250 Volts, or 250 Volts to 125 Volts. Unlike an isolation transformer, it uses common windings and offer no interference or disturbance isolation. You add any suppression or filtering networks your system requires. With a single tapped winding, an autotransformer is generally preferred to an isolation transformer, with two separate windings, for numerous reasons. It is much smaller and lighter than an isolation transformer. It also has better voltage stability and greater overload tolerance. It performs in much the same way as the electrical transformer that the electric utility uses to bring power to a building. An autotransformer is a tapped winding transformer that changes the voltage available locally to the voltage required by a particular load. Thus, a load may operate anywhere around the world, as long as a transformer is available to convert the local voltage to the voltage it requires.

"Variac" is a trademark of General Radio (mid-20th century) for a variable autotransformer intended to conveniently vary the output voltage for a steady AC input voltage. The term is often used to describe similar variable autotransformers made by other makers. An autotransformer is an efficient and quiet method for adjusting the voltage to incandescent lamps. While lightweight and compact semiconductor light dimmers have replaced variacs in many applications such as theatrical lighting, these transformers are still used when an undistorted variable voltage sine wave is required. Shunt Reactor : The need for large shunt reactors appeared when long power transmission lines for system voltage 220 kV & higher were built. The characteristic parameters of a line are the series inductance (due to the magnetic field around the conductors) & the shunt capacitance (due to the electrostatic field to earth). An equivalent diagram for a line is show in the figure below Both the inductance & the capacitance are distributed along the length of the line. So are the series resistance and the admittance to earth. When the line is loaded, there is a voltage drop along the line due to the series inductance and the series resistance. When the line is energized but not loaded or only loaded with a small current, there is a voltage rise along the line (the Ferranti-effect) In this situation, the capacitance to earth draws a current through the line, which may be capacitive. When a capacitive current flows through the line inductance there will be a voltage rise along the line. To stabilize the line voltage the line inductance can be compensated by means of series capacitors and the line capacitance to earth by shunt reactors. Series capacitors are placed at different places along the line while shunt reactors are often installed in the stations at the ends of line. In this way, the voltage difference between the ends of the line is reduced both in amplitude and in phase angle. Shunt reactors may also be connected to the power system at junctures where several lines meet or to tertiary windings of transformers. Transmission cables have much higher capacitance to earth than overhead lines. Long submarine cables for system voltages of 100 KV and more need shunt reactors. The same goes for large urban networks to prevent excessive voltage rise when a high load suddenly falls out due to a failure. Shunt reactors contain the same components as power transformers, like windings, core, tank, bushings and insulating oil and are suitable for manufacturing in transformer factories. The main difference is the reactor core limbs, which have non-magnetic gaps inserted between packets of core steel. 3-phase reactors can also be made. These may have 3- or -5-limbed cores. In a 3-limbed core there is strong magnetic coupling between the three phases, while in a 5-limbed core the phases are magnetically independent due to the enclosing magnetic frame formed by the two yokes and the two unwound sidelimbs. The neutral of shunt reactor may be directly earthed, earthed through an Earthing-reactor or unearthed.

Busbars: Burbars are the important elements in the electrical substation. Bus bars acts as nodal point in the substation which connects different incoming and outgoing circuits. Substations present in the power system performs various operations depends on the application such as stepping up the voltage, stepping down the voltage, high voltage transmission and switching stations to route the power to desired load center. Busbars in Substation:Busbars used in the substations are generally rectangular or circular cross section bars. These busbars can be either solid or hollow structures. Hollow circular cross section busbars are employes in EHV substations to reduce the corona effect. Switching Schemes:Switching schemes implies different methods employed to connect electrical circuits in the power system to transfer the electrical power in reliable manner. Switching schemes helps in deliver the electrical power to power system if any part of the system is faulty or under maintenance. Substations use different types of busbar arrangements or switching schemes depends upon the application, reliability of the supply and cost of installation. In every substations busbars plays a common role to connect different circuits. However switching is possible in the power system with the help of circuit breakers and isolators. Considerations for selection of busbar arrangement:Different types of busbar arrangements are employed based on the voltage, reliability of the supply, flexibility in transmitting power and cost. The other aspects considering in designing the busbars arrangements are: Simplicity in the design Maintenance of different elements without interruption in the power supply Future expansion feasibility Economical in cost of installation and operation

Different busbar arrangements:Some of the switching schemes are busbar arrangements employed in the substations are listed below: Single Bus-bar arrangement Double Main Bus-bar scheme Main and Transfer bus-bar scheme One and half breaker scheme Ring Main arrangement schemeand deliver power to outgoing circuits.

Single Bus-bar scheme: This is the simplest busbar scheme available which consists of single set of busbars connected to the generators, transformers and load feeders. All the feeders are connected by circuit breaker and set of isolators. This arrangement helps to remove the connecting elements (Generators, transformers, etc ) for maintenance by opening the circuit breaker contacts and further opening the isolators. Advantages: This busbar arrangement enjoys less cost of installation Less maintenance simple operation Disadvantages: Fault on the busbar all the feeders connected to the busbars should be disconnected when Busbar is under maintenance total supply and all feeders should be disconnected Least flexibility and reliability Double Main Busbar Scheme: Normally in double main busbar scheme each circuit is connected to both the buses. In some cases half of the circuits can be connected and operated on each bus, in these cases bus or circuit breaker failure would cause loss to half of the circuits. In double main busbar arrangement one or two breakers can be provided for each circuit. Double main busbar and double breaker scheme provides high reliability in the case of fault or outage of one of the breaker. Advantages: Any circuit can be taken out of circuit for maintenance Flexibility in connecting the feeder circuit to either of the busbars Disadvantages: Most expensive Loose circuits connected to busbar when fault occurs on the busbar. One and Half breaker Busbar scheme: In One and half breaker scheme, two circuits are connected between the three circuit breakers. Hence One and Half breaker name was coined for this type of arrangement. Under normal operating conditions all the breakers are closed and both the busbars are energized. Any Circuit fault will trip two circuit breakers and no other circuit will be affected in this arrangement. When a busbar fault occur only breakers adjacent to busbars trips and no circuit will loose power. Two busbars can also be taken out of service with out affecting the power flow if the power source circuit ( alternator circuit) and receiving circuit (transmission line) available in the same bay. Advantages: Most flexible operation possible High reliability Bus failure will not remove any circuit from service Disadvantages: High cost Relaying is somewhat complicated since the middle breaker must responsible for both the circuits on either direction and should operate.

Ring busbar scheme In this ring main busbar scheme arrangement, breakers are connected in ring and circuits are connected between the breakers. There will be same number of circuits as the number of breakers in the arrangement. During normal operation all the breakers are closed. During circuit fault two breakers connecting the circuit trips. During breaker maintenance the ring is broken but all the lines remain in service. Advantages: Low cost Flexible operation for breaker maintenance Any breaker can be taken out of service without interrupting load Power can be fed from both the direction Disadvantages: Fault occur during maintenance will break the ring Relaying is complex Breaker failure during fault will trip one additional circuit Isolators or Disconnecting Switches: Isolators are provided for isolation from live parts for the purpose of maintenance. Isolators are located at either side of the circuit breaker. Isolators are operated under no load. Isolator does not have any rating for current breaking or current making. Isolators are interlocked with circuit breakers Types of Isolators are: Central rotating, horizontal swing Centre-Break Vertical swing Pantograph type

Power Substation: An Electrical Power Substation receives electric power from generating station via transmission lines and delivers power via the outgoing transmission lines. Substations are integral parts of a power system and form important links between the generating stations, transmission systems, distribution systems and the load points. Various power substations located in generating stations, transmission and distribution systems have similar layout and similar electrical components. Electrical power substation basically consists of number of incoming circuit connections and number of outgoing circuit connections connected to the busbars. Busbars are conducting bars to which number of circuit connections is connected. Each circuit has certain number of electrical components such as circuit breakers, Isolators, earth switches, current transformers, voltage transformers, etc. In a Power Substation there are various indoor and outdoor switchgear and equipment. Transformers are necessary in a substation for stepping up and stepping down of a.c voltage. Besides the transformers, the several other equipment include busbars, circuit breakers, isolators, surge arresters, Substation Earthing System, Shunt reactors, Shunt Capacitors etc . Each equipment has certain functional requirement. The equipment are either indoor or outdoor depending upon the voltage rating and local conditions. In a large power System large number of Generating stations, Electrical Power Substations and load centers are interconnected. This large internetwork is controlled from load dispatch center. Digital and voice signals are transmitted over the transmission lines via the Power substations. The substations are interlinked with the load control centers via Power Line Carrier Systems (PLCC). Modern Power System is controlled with the help of several automatic, semi - automatic equipment. Digital Computers and microprocessors are installed in the control rooms of large substations, generating stations and load control centers for data collection, data monitoring, automatic protection and control.

Functions of Electrical Power Substations are: *Supply electric power to the consumers continuously *Supply of electric power within specified voltage limits and frequency limits *Shortest possible fault duration. *Optimum efficiency of plants and the network *Supply of electrical energy to the consumers at lowest cost Types Of Electrical Power Substations: Based ON Nature Of Duties Step up or primary Electrical Power substation: Primary substations are associated with the power generating plants where the voltage is stepped up from low voltage (3.3, 6.6, 11, 33kV ) to 220kV or 400kV for transmitting the power so that huge amount of power can be transmitted over a large distance to load centers. Primary Grid Electrical Power Substation: Such substations are located at suitable load centers along with the primary transmission lines. At primary Grid Power Substations the primary transmission voltage (220kV or 400kV) is stepped down to secondary transmission voltages (110kV) . This Secondary transmission lines are carried over to Secondary Power Substations situated at the load centers where the voltage is further stepped down to Sub transmission Voltage or Primary Distribution Voltages (11kV or 33kV).

Step Down or Distribution Electrical Power Substations: Such Power Substations are located at the load centers. Here the Sub transmission Voltages of Distribution Voltages (11kV or 33kV) are stepped down to Secondary Distribution Voltages (400V or 230V). From these Substations power will be fed to the consumers to their terminals. Types Of Electrical Power Substations: Basis Of Service Rendered Transformer Substation: Transformers are installed on such Substations to transform the power from one voltage level to other voltage level. Switching Substation: Switching substations are meant for switching operation of power lines without transforming the voltages. At these Substations different connections are made between various transmission lines. Different Switching Schemes are employed depends on the application to transmit the power in more reliable manner in a network. Converting Substation: Such Substations are located where AC to DC conversion is required. In HVDC transmission Converting Substations are employed on both sides of HVDC link for converting AC to DC and again converting back from DC to AC. Converting Power Substations are also employed where frequency is to be converted from higher to lower and lower to higher. This type of frequency conversion is required in connecting to Grid Systems. Based on Operation Voltage: High Voltage Electrical Power Substation: This type of Substation associated with operating voltages between 11kV and 66kV. Extra High Voltage Electrical Power Substation: This type of Substation is associated where the operating voltage is between 132kV and 400kV. Ultra High Voltage Electrical Power Substation: Substations where Operating Voltages are above 400kV is called Ultra High Voltage Substation. Types Of Electrical Power Substations: Based On Substation Design Outdoor Electrical Power Substations: In Outdoor Power Substations , the various electrical equipments are installed in the switchyard below the sky. Electrical equipment are mounted on support structures to obtain sufficient ground clearance. Indoor Electrical Power Substation: In Indoor Power Substations the apparatus is installed within the substation building. Indoor Substations are preferred in heavily polluted areas and Power Substations situated near the seas (saline atmosphere causes Insulator Failures results in Flashovers).

Types Of Electrical Power Substations: Based on Design Configuration Air Insulated Electrical Power Substation: In Air Insulated Power Substations busbars and connectors are visibe. In this Power Substations Circuit Breakers and Isolators, Transformers, Current Transformers, Potential Transformers etc are installed in the outdoor. Busbars are supported on the post Insulators or Strain Insulators. Substations have galvanized Steel Structures for Supporting the equipment, insulators and incoming and outgoing lines. Clearances are the primary criteria for these substations and occupy a large area for installation. Gas Insulated Electrical Power Substation: In Gas Insulated Substation Various Power Substation equipments like Circuit Breakers, Current Transformers, Voltage Transformers, Busbars, Earth Switches, Surge Arresters, Isolators etc are in the form of metal enclosed SF6 gas modules. The modules are assembled in accordance with the required Configuration. The various Live parts are enclosed in the metal enclosures (modules) containing SF6 gas at high pressure. Thus the size of Power Substation reduces to 8% to 10% of the Air Insulated Power Substation. Hybrid Electrical Power Substation: Hybrid Substations are the combination of both Conventional Substation and Gas Insulated Substation. Some bays in a Power Substation are Gas Insulated Type and some are Air Insulated Type. The design is based on convenience, Local Conditions available, area available and Cost.

Gas Insulated Substation Introduction Gas Insulated Substation uses sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas which has a superior dielectric properties used at moderate pressure for phase to phase and phase to ground insulation. In Gas Insulated Substation the high-voltage conductors, circuit breaker interrupters, switches, current transformers, voltage transformers and lightning arresters are encapsulated in SF6 gas inside grounded metal enclosures. Where and Why Gas Insualted Substations are Used Gas Insulated Substations are used where there is space for providing the substation is expensive in large cities and towns. In normal substation the clearances between the phase to phase and phase to ground is very large. Due to this, large space is required for the normal or Air Insulated Substation (AIS). But the dielectric strength of SF6 gas is higher compared to the air, the clearances required for phase to phase and phase to ground for all equipments are quite lower. Hence, the overall size of each equipment and the complete substation is reduced to about 10% of the conventional air insulated substation. Locations where Gas Insulated Substation is preferred Large cities and towns Under ground stations Highly polluted and saline environment Indoor GIS occupies very little space Substations and power stations located Off shore Mountains and valley regions

Explaination: The SF6 Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) contains the same compartments as in the conventional outdoor substations. All the live parts are enclosed in metal housings filled with SF6 gas. The live parts are supported on cast resin insulators. Some of the insulators are designed as barriers between neighboring modules such that the gas does not pass through them. The entire installation is sub divided into compartments which are gas tight with respect to each other. Thereby the gas monitoring system of each compartment can be independent and simpler. The enclosures are of non magnetic materials such as aluminum or stainless steel and are earthed. The gas tightness is provided with static O seals placed between the machined flanges. The O- rings are placed in the grooves such that after assembly, the O-rings are get squeezed by about 20%. Quality of the materials, dimension of grooves and O-seals are important to ensure gas tight performance of Gas Insulated Substation. Gas Insulated Substation has gas monitoring system. Gas inside each compartment should have a pressure of about 3kg/cm2.The gas density in each compartment is monitored. If the pressure drops slightly, the gas is automatically trapped up. With further gas leakage, the low pressure alarm is sounded or automatic tripping or lock-out occurs.

Merits of SF6 Gas Insulated Substation: Safe: Gas insulated Substations are very safe and operating personnel are protected by the earthed metal enclosures. While the Substation in operating condition the Operating personnel can touch the compartment. Reliable: The complete enclosure of all live parts guards against any impairment of the insulation system. Space Saving: SF6 switchgear installations take up only 10% of the space required for the conventional installations. Economical: Initial high investment is required for installation but the cost can be comparable for the less maintenance, reliable, safe operation against conventional substation. Maintenance Free: An extremely careful selection of materials, an expedient design and a high standard of manufacturing quality assure long service life with practically no maintenance requirement. Low Weight: Low weight due to aluminum enclosure, corresponds to low cost foundations and buildings. Shop assembled: Quick site assembly ensured by extensive pre assembly and testing of complete feeders or large units in the factory. Demerits Of Gas Insulated Substation: Cost is higher compared to Air Insulated Substation or conventional substation. Procurement of SF6 gas and supply of gas to the site is problematic Normally this type of substations are indoor type and requires separate building Maintaining Cleanliness is very important. Dust or moisture inside the compartment causes the flash overs When fault occurs internally, the outage period will be very long. The damage effect will also be severe.

Economics of GIS The equipment cost of GIS is naturally higher than that of AIS due to the grounded metal enclosure, the provision of an LCC, and the high degree of factory assembly. A GIS is less expensive to install than an AIS. The site development costs for a GIS will be much lower than for an AIS because of the much smaller area required for the GIS. The site development advantage of GIS increases as the system voltage increases because high voltage AIS take very large areas because of the long insulating distances in atmospheric air. Cost comparisons in the early days of GIS projected that, on a total installed cost basis, GIS costs would equal AIS costs at 345 kV. For higher voltages, GIS was expected to cost less than AIS.

>>The cost<< However, the cost of AIS has been reduced significantly by technical and manufacturing advances (especially for circuit breakers) over the last 30 years, but GIS equipment has not shown any cost reduction until very recently. Therefore, although GIS has been a well-established technology for a long time, with a proven high reliability and almost no need for maintenance, it is presently perceived as costing too much and is only applicable in special cases where space is the most important factor. Currently, GIS costs are being reduced by integrating functions (double bus, single breaker arrangement). As digital control systems become common in substations, the costly electromagnetic CTs and VTs of a GIS will be replaced by less-expensive sensors such as optical VTs and Rogowski coil CTs. These less-expensive sensors are also much smaller, reducing the size of the GIS and allowing more bays of GIS to be shipped fully assembled. Installation and site development costs are correspondingly lower. The GIS space advantage over AIS increases. GIS can now be considered for any new substation or the expansion of an existing substation without enlarging the area for the substation.