PLCC OVERVIEW :PRESENTED BY BIMAL NANDA

Prepared By :

Power Line Carrier Communication System LT

Power Line (50Hz)

CC
RF carrier (40-500kHz)

PAX

RTU PLCC

TERMINAL

(AB-ETL41)

Transmission line
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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 display

Sub-Station
bay-1
To other S/S

Line Isolator

Circuit Breaker

Bus Isolator 1

Bus Isolator 2

Bus Bar #1 Bus Bar #2

Single Line digm

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H.V Line

Line Trap

Coupling

Components
PLCC terminal LMU
Coaxial cable

capacitor

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)
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Coupling Scheme Behind

Line Trap

Front
To remote substation
Coupling Capacitor

Transformer(s) BusBar

Line Matching Unit

The PLC signal is routed to H.V Line

The PLC signal is not absorbed by the substation
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Coaxial

Local substation
PLC terminal

Line trap function

= PLC signal Blocking

HV Line
Power energy

PLC Signal

Substation

Line Trap = High Impedance for PLC signal Low Impedance for Power energy

Line Trap Components

Corona ring Lifting lug Terminal Main coil 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
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Line Traps Mounting Options

Vertical Pedestal

Horizontal Pedestal

Suspension

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CVT : CAPACITIVE VOLTAGE TRANSFORMER

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LMU function
LMU = impedance matching Transformer
Line Trap

+ high voltage Protection

To prevent dangerous potential on the PLCC connection To match PLCC set & transmission Line
Coupling

Capacitor s/s LMU PLC

Coaxial

Matching

Protection

LMU
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Modular Coupling Device

ABB make MCD-80

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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.

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LMU functional blocks

Substation HV -line

Line trap

Coupling capacitor Tx

ABB MCD 80

or

Coax cable

Rx

PLC Cabinet
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HF Coupling modes
LT

LT

Cc

LT

Cc PLC
LMU

Cc

LT
LT

PLC

LMDU

LMU

Phase-to-Ground
PLC

Cc

Cc

LMDU

LMU

Inter circuit

Phase-to-Phase
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Function of PLCC terminal

IF

User Signal
(0 to 4 kHz)
H

AF IF

IF RF

PA

R.F Signal (40 to 500 kHz)

H

User Side

AF
A

RF
AF
IF IF
gain

Line Side
H= hybrid

RF

IF

Translation : User audio signals into radio Spectrum Amplification : To compensate the line attenuation
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PLCC Panel ( type: ABB ETL 41/42)

Cabinet

Modules
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Multiplexing speech & data in 4 kHz raster

Programmable speech bandwidth
Speech 3.4 kHz Speech 3.4 kHz

Speech 2.0 kHz

plus

0.3

3.6

4.0 kHz

tele protection (4 trip commands)

0.3 2.0 3.6 4.0 kHz

plus
Speed

Tele metering (FSK modem)

300 Bd Center frequency 120 Hz steps 1200 Bd 0.3 4.0 kHz

3.6

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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

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Typical PLCC Installation

LT cc C

LT cc
FA X

ETL
FAX

ETL

PR

PC

MS

PAX

FAX

PR

PC

RTU

FAX

MS = Master station PAX = Private automatic exchange PR = Protection relay PC = Computer M = Modem

PR= Protection relay FAX = Facsimile equipment M = Modem RTU = Remote terminal unit

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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

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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

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Corona Noise
Voltage (kV) 33 132 220 400 Correction (dB) - 14 -4 0 +4

Bad weather Noise

500

+5

Typical average Noise on a 220 kV line and for a 3 kHz Bandwidth

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PLCC test instrument: Selective Level Meter

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PLCC test instrument : Selective Level Oscillator

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THANK YOU ALL

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