CALCULATION OF ELECTRICAL INDUCTION NEAR POWER LINES

Direction Expertise et Support Technique de Transport Lignes, Cbles et environnement Prepared by : Richard Lehoux, ing. richard_lehoux@hydro.qc.ca

May 2008

Scope of the presentation

1. 2.

Calculation of Electric Field Electric field induction in a human body

1. 2. 3.

IEEE Std80-2000 (Guide for Safety in AC Substation Grounding) EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) CSA (Canadian Standard Association) CSA HQT (Hydro-Qubec Transnergie) Empirical Boundary Element Method (BEM)

3.

Design criteria
1. 2.

4.

Methods of determining induced current

1. 2.

5.

Comparison results: Empirical versus BEM

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Electric field induction in a human body

Range of tolerable current in a human body IEEE Std 80-2000, Article 5.2 "Effect of magnitude and duration"
1mA: threshold of perception 1-6 mA: unpleasant to sustain 10.5 mA: threshold for women let-go currents 16 mA: threshold for men let-go currents Note: the duration of the fault is infinite

Range of tolerable current in a human body EPRI "TRANSMISSION LINE REFERENCE BOOK", Chapter 8, "Field effect of overhead transmission lines and stations", Article 8.10 "Electric-field induction in people", paragraph "Response to steady-State Currents"
5 mA: let-go values for children for a probability of 0.5% have been conservatively estimated as equal to 5 mA threshold of perception

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Electric field induction in a human body

CSAC22.3 No.1-06, Article A.5.3.1 "Vertical desing clearances of wires and conductors above ground or rails and Tables 2 and 4"
5 mA: let-go currents

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Design criteria Height of conductors

CSA calculation criteria Article : A5.3.1
Based on the worst-case condition :
Vehicle is insulated from the ground by rubber tires Person contacting the vehicle is touching or standing on a well-grounded surface Induced current in all cases is below 5 mA (Let-go currents) Maximum line to ground voltage
23 m

5 mA

4,15 m

HQT
Use CSA design criteria

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Methods of determining induced current

Two methods are available at HQT to determine the induced current (5 mA let-go) in a human body Empirical method (EPRI)
Easy, fast, cheap, approximate

Boundary Element Method (Maxwell's Equations)

Expensive, accurate

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Empirical method
Method of approximating induced current in objects close to ground EPRI "TRANSMISSION LINE REFERENCE BOOK"
Chapter 8, "Field effects of overhead transmission lines and stations" Method of approximating calculation of current induced on objects close to the ground Empirical method for rectangular shape
Figure 8.8.2 "Shape for a rectangular solids" (The shape is collecting electrical charge)

Many others shape available

Horizontal / Vertical cylinder Flat plate House Horse Etc.

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Empirical method
Sizes of vehicles (m) Length Article C22.3-01-06 Truck A5.3.1 2003 2006 HQ 2003 Width 2006 HQ 2003 Height 2006 HQ

15.2

23.0

23.0

2.4

2.6

2,6

4.15

4.15

4,15

Large farm Train

A5.3.1 A5.3.1 (example 4)

7.6

7.6

7.6

2.4

2.4

2.4

4.15

4.15

4.5 *

4000.0

6.706

* : Height used by HQT

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Empirical method - Exemple : Truck

Calculation with EPRI method to get 5 mA induced in a human body Size of the truck : Length (A): 23 m Width (B) : 2.6m Height (H) : 4.15m Center : 4.15/2 = 2.08 Ratio : A/B : 23/2.6=9.62 H/B : 4.15/2.6=1.6 With abacus : S/(A*B)=S/(23*2.6)=5.1 S=304.9 5mA=S*E/300 (E: Electric field) E=(5mA*300)/304.9=4.9kV/m at 2.08m (center of vehicle) See slide 14 to determine height of conductors
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H/B

S/(AB)

5.1

1.6

A/B 9
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9.62

Empirical method - Exemple : Large Farm vehicle - HQT

Calculation with EPRI to get 5 mA induced in a human body Size of the Large Farm Vehicle : Length (A) : 7.6 m Width (B) : 2.4m Height (H) : 4.5m (HQT - Study) Center : 4.5/2=2.25m H/B Ratio : A/B : 7.6/2.4=3.2 H/B : 4.5/2.4=1.9 With abacus : S/(A*B)= 8 S=8(7.6*2.4)=146 5mA = S*E/300 (E: Electric field) E=(5mA*300)/146=10.3kV/m at 2.25m (center of vehicle) See slide 14 to determine height of conductors
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S/(AB)

8.0
1.9

3.2
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A/B

Empirical method - Exemple : Large Farm vehicle - CSA

Calculation with EPRI to get 5 mA induced in a human body Size of the Large Farm Vehicle : Length (A) : 7.6 m Width (B) : 2.4m Height (H) : 4.15m (CSA) Center : 4.15/2=2.08m H/B Ratio : A/B : 7.6/2.4=3.2 H/B : 4.15/2.4=1.73 With abacus : S/(A*B)= 7 S=8(7.6*2.4)=129 5mA = S*E/300 (E: Electric field) E=(5mA*300)/129=11.6kV/m at 2.25m (center of vehicle) See slide 14 to determine height of conductors
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S/(AB)

7.0

1.9

3.2
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A/B

Calculation of Electric Field

The electric field is determined by these parameters :
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Voltage Distance between phases Diameter of conductors Number of conductors per bundle Presence of overhead ground wire Distance of conductors from the ground

Software available to calculate the electric field :

CDEGS of SES (Package : MultiField - 38 k$ - Available on market) Coulomb (3D Electric Field Solver Used by IREQ - Available on market) Expomag (In house software HQ)

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Calculation of Electric Field

FAA TOWER - 735 kV /

Electro-mechanicals specifications 1 circuit Conductors

4 per bundles : 3.556 cm Distances between 765 kV

Voltage max

Overhead ground wire

Quantity : 2 : 1.27cm

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Calculation of Electric Field

Electric field 735 kV (FAA Tower) Conductors at rest
735 kV Electric Field
kV/m

12 10 8 6
Max. Elec. field: 4.9 kV/m - Truck Max. Elec. field: 10.3 kV/m Large Farm Vehicle
Height of conductors

21.0 m 13.4 m

4 2 0 0
Center of the ROW

12

16

20 m

24

28

32

36

HQT ROW (80 m) < 2 kV/m

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Boundary Element Method (BEM)

Equivalent circuit of a truck near a power lines

Isc = 5 mA Human body Represented by a 1 k

Modelization done by IREQ (Alain Turgeon)

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BEM Example Truck parallel to the line

Capacitive induction simulation for a truck located at 17 meters of the center line and parallel to conductors 735 kV with FAA towers
Height of conductors simulation : 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 Height of conductors
5

kV/m
17 m

4.5

3.5

2.5

Example of an electric profile field

1.5

2,6 m

0.5

5 mA
0 10

4,15 m
20 30 40 50

0 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10

ROW
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15,7

18,3

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BEM Example Truck parallel

Height of conductors Ca-t (pF) 3,03 3,19 3,33 3,45

Capacitances Cb-t (pF) 15,8 15,4 15,0 14,6 Cc-t (pF) 43,4 40,6 38,0 35,6 Ct-g (pF) 1,46 1,46 1,46 1,46

Current in a human body ISC (ma) 5,96 5,51 5,09 4,71

(m)

To limit the current in a human body at 5 mA the height of conductors must be higher than 23.2 m

21 22 23 24

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BEM Exemple Truck perpendicular to line

Capacitive induction simulation for a truck located perpendicular to conductors 735 kV with FAA towers
Height of conductors simulation : 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 Height of conductors kV/m

Example of an electric profile field

1

23 m

5 mA
0 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20

4,15 m
30 40 50

ROW
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5,5

28,5

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BEM Example Truck perpendicular

Height of conductors Current in a human body Ct-g (pF) 1,44 1,45 1,45 1,45 ISC (mA) 6,54 6,05 5,58 5,18

Capacitances

(m)

Ca-t (pF) 4,19 4,36 4,52 4,65

Cb-t (pF) 21,2 20,3 19,5 18,7

Cc-t (pF) 49,1 45,9 42,9 40,3

To limit the current in a human body at 5 mA the height of conductors must be higher than 20.5 m

17 18 19 20

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Comparison results: Empirical versus BEM

Height of conductors 735 kV FAA tower Empirical Method (m) 21 BEM Method (m) 20.5 perpendicular 23.2 parallel HQT chose empirical method for it's in house standard BEM method permitted HQT to check the accuracy of empirical method

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Empirical method HQT results

Nominal Voltage (kV)

TOWER

MINIMUM HEIGHT OF CONDUCTORS (m) TRUCK (Electric Field : 4.9 kV/m) LARGE FARM VEHICULE (Electric Field : 10.3 kV/m)

735 315 315 230 230 161

FAA EOA EFK DPD DAD BBA

Single circuit Double circuit Single circuit Double circuit Single circuit Double circuit

21 9.7 10.6 6.7 3.8 5.1

13.8 <7.25 * 7 <6.2 * <6.2 * <5.8 *

* : Height of conductors are determined by "Flashover-to-ground" not by induced current

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Daniel Goulet, Ph. D. Alain Turgeon, P. Eng. M. Sc. A.

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