PLCC OVERVIEW :PRESENTED BY BIMAL

NANDA

Prepared
By :

Power Line Carrier Communication System

LT
Power Line
(50Hz)

C
RF carrier
C
(40-500kHz)
PAX

RTU
PLCC
TERMINAL

(AB-ETL41)

Transmission
line

PLCC
Technology
PLCC system uses the same High Voltage

transmission line connecting two

sub-stations for telecommunication purpose too.

PLCC is used in all power utilities as a primary communication service to transmit

speech, telemetry and protection tripping commands. This is economic and
reliable for inter grid message transfer as well as low bit rate RTU signals.

The voice/data are mixed with radio frequency carrier (40-500kHz), amplified to a
level of 10-80W RF power and injected in to high voltage power line using a
suitable coupling capacitor. The power line as a rigid long conductor parallel to
ground, guides the carrier waves to travel along the transmission line. Point to
point communication takes place between two SSB transceivers at both ends.

Line diagram
Sub- display
Station
bay1

To other S/S

Line Isolator

Circuit Breaker

Bus Isolator 1

Bus Isolator 2

Single Line
digm

Bus Bar
#1
Bus Bar
#2

H.V Line

Line Trap

Coupling

capacitor

Components
PLCC
terminal

LMU
Coaxial
cable

PLCC Terminal = Translates voice and data into High Frequency Carrier. Output Power =10 to 80W
LMU = Line Matching Unit = For impedance matching between line and coaxial cable, includes high
voltage protection devices like drainage coil(20mH), lightening arrestor(500V) and an earth switch.
Coupling Capacitor = Couples high frequency carrier with Power Line ( 4000 to10000pF)
Line Trap = Do not allow the transmitted HF carrier to enter inside the sub-station. (L = 0.5 to 2mH)
With out Line trap HF carrier get by-passed to some other line on the same bus bar and may leak
to ground ( a earth switch inside the yard provided for each bay is kept closed during maintenance)

Coupling Scheme
Behind

Front
To

Line Trap

remote
Coupling
Capacitor

Line
Matching
Unit

Transformer
(s)
BusBar

Coaxial

Local
substation

substatio

The PLC
n
signal is
routed to
H.V Line
The PLC
signal is
not
absorbed
by the
substation

PLC terminal

Line trap
function

= PLC signal Blocking

HV Line
Power
energy
PLC
Signal

Substatio
n

Line Trap = High Impedance for PLC signal

Low Impedance for Power energy

Line Trap
Components

Corona ring
Liftinglug
Terminal
Maincoil
Tuning device
Pedestal
Protective device
Tie rod

Line Trap is a parallel LC

circuit
Inductance
of
main Coil

Lightning
Arrester

Series
resistance
Tuning
Capacitor

Damped single

Line Trap
9

Line Traps Mounting

Options
Vertical Pedestal

Horizontal Pedestal

Suspension

10

CVT : CAPACITIVE VOLTAGE

TRANSFORMER

11

LMU
LMU = impedance matching Transformer
function

Line Trap

+ high voltage Protection

Coupling

To prevent dangerous potential on the

Capacitor
s/s

PLCC connection
To match PLCC set & transmission Line

LMU

PLC

Coaxial

Matching

Protection

LMU
12

Modular Coupling
Device
ABB make MCD-80

13

Elements of Coupling Device

Drain coil for draining of HV leakage currents to earth.
Lightning arrester at the line terminals of coupling device for
transients protection

Transformer for impedance matching and galvanic isolation between

line and PLCC terminal.

Earth switch for grounding of line terminals during maintenance.

High-pass or band-pass filter elements for efficient matching.
connectivity to equipment room through coaxial cable.

14

LMU functional blocks

HV -line

Substation
Line
trap

Coupling
capacitor
Tx

ABB
MCD 80

or

Coax cable

Rx

PLC
Cabinet
15

HF Coupling modes

LT

LT

Cc

PLC

LT

Cc

LMU

PLC

LT

LMDU

Cc

LMU

LT

Cc

Phase-to-Ground
PLC

LMDU

Cc

LMU

Inter circuit

Phase-to-Phase
16

Function of PLCC
terminal
IF
AF

User Signal

IF

IF

(0 to 4 kHz)

(40 to 500 kHz)

H

User Side

R.F Signal

PA
RF

AF

RF
A

Line Side

IF

AF
IF

gain

RF

H= hybrid

IF

Translation : User audio signals into radio Spectrum

Amplification : To compensate the line attenuation
17

PLCC Panel ( type: ABB ETL

41/42)

Cabine
t

Module
s
18

Multiplexing speech & data in 4 kHz

Programmable
raster
Speech 3.4 kHz

speech bandwidth

Speech 3.4 kHz

Speech 2.0 kHz

plus

0.3

3.6

4.0 kHz

3.6

4.0 kHz

tele protection
(4 trip commands)
0.3

2.0

Speed

plus

Tele metering
(FSK modem)

300 Bd
Center frequency
120 Hz steps
1200 Bd
0.3

3.6

4.0 kHz

19

ABB PLCC terminal

ETL- 41
System data -- complies to IEC 495
Operating mode : Single side band Suppressed carrier
Frequency range: 40 to 500kHz (programmable in 4 kHz Steps)
AF Bandwidth: 4 kHz (Speech band=300 3400 Hz)
Transmitter RF output power : 40W ( +46 dBm)
Spurious suppression > 60 dB
Pilot channel : 3780 + 30 Hz
Receiver RF sensitivity : - 24 dBm
Receiver Selectivity : 70dB ( 300Hz from band
limit)
Receiver Image rejection > 80 dB
Receiver IF rejection > 80 dB

20

Typical PLCC
Installation
LT

LT

cc

cc
C
FAX

ETL

ETL

FAX

PR

PC

MS
PAX
PR
PC
M=

MS

PAX

FAX

= Master station
= Private automatic exchange
= Protection relay
= Computer
Modem

PR

PC

RTU

FAX

PR= Protection relay

FAX = Facsimile equipment
M = Modem
RTU = Remote terminal unit

21

Effect of bad weather on PLCC

communication
Losses increase for all inclement weather conditions

The worst offender is when heavy frost is formed on the line

Because of the skin effect, the carrier signal tries to propagate

on the ice instead of the conductor.

The attenuation can change as much as 4:1 depending on the

frequency.

The contaminats (on the insulators) have a larger effect when it is

raining than when the line is dry.

The worst condition is a light rain with the presence of

contaminants on the insulators

22

RF
Noise
RF
noise in HV line two mains effects
Impulsive Noise = Caused by atmospheric discharges, breakers and isolator
close/open operation
Corona effect = Due to sequences of pulse streams caused by arcs over
conductors. It appears during positive-going half-cycle of the Line voltage
(occurrance frequency for a 50Hz 3-phase system is 150 Hz)

The corona noise could be subject to considerable variations due to

differences in the design parameters of the overhead line.

Other variations are possible due to the construction, altitude and age of the
line

Weather effect can also be significant

23

Corona Noise

Bad weather Noise

Voltage Correction
(kV)
(dB)
33

- 14

132

-4

220

400

+4

500

+5

Typical average Noise on a 220 kV line

and for a 3 kHz Bandwidth

24

PLCC test instrument: Selective Level

Meter

25

PLCC test instrument : Selective Level

Oscillator

26

THANK YOU ALL

27