SF6:

A certain number of gases, called electronegative, have better insulating qualities than air. Among them is sulfur hexafluoride, SF6, has seen a great deal of success in electrical apparatus design because of its excellent insulating properties and remarkable arc quenching abilities. It is five times heavier than air, odorless, colorless, nonflammable and non-toxic when new. Its dielectric strength is 3 times the air's dielectric. When subjected to an electric arc, it partially decomposes. In the presence of moisture and impurities it produces acid by-products that attack metal and the insulating envelopes. An efficient way to reduce by-products is to use activated alumina inside the chambers containing the gas.SF6 being a gas at normal temperatures, and at atmospheric pressure it liquefies at -60 C, and at 20 bars it liquefies at 20 C, which is detrimental to its insulating qualities. For applications at very cold temperatures, it must be heated or mixed with other gases like Nitrogen or CF4.

Circuit Breakers: Why Circuit Breakers necessary:

For maintenance or repair of electrical equipment and transmission lines, the circuit breakers, together with the disconnectors, earthing switches or disconnecting circuit breakers with built-in disconnecting function, will ensure personnel safety. In addition to the protective function, the circuit breakers are also applied for intentional switching such as energizing and de-energizing of shunt reactors and capacitor banks. 1) Live TankCircuitBreakers.(Fig-2) : Live tank means interruption takes place in an enclosure that is at line potential. Live tank circuit breakers consist of an interrupter chamber that is mounted on insulators and is at line potential.This approach allows a modular design as interrupters can be connected in series to operate at higher voltage levels. Operation of the contacts is usually through an insulated operating rod or rotation of a porcelain insulator assembly via an operating mechanism at ground level. This design minimizes the quantity of oil or gas required as no additional quantity is required for insulation of a grounded tank enclosure. The live tank design also readily adapts to the addition of pre-insertion resistors or grading capacitors when they are required. Seismic capability requires special consideration due to the high center of gravity of the live tank breaker design, and live tank circuit breakers require separate, structure mounted, free standing current transformers. 2) Dead Tank Circuit Breakers.(Fig-1) Dead tank means interruption takes place in a grounded enclosure and current transformers are located on both sides of the break (interrupter contacts). Interrupter maintenance is at ground level and seismic withstand is improved versus live tank designs. Bushings (more accurately described as gas-filled weather sheds, because, unlike the condenser bushings found on bulk oil circuit breakers,

gas breakers do not have true bushings) are used for line and load connections that permit installation of bushing current transformers for relaying and metering at a nominal cost. The dead tank breaker does require additional insulating oil or gas (i.e., more insulating oil or gas than just the amount required to perform successful interruption and to maintain adequate dielectric strength) to provide the insulation between the interrupter and the grounded tank enclosure.

Fig-1 Dead Tank Circuit Breaker Main Components of Circuit Breakers:

Fig-2 Live Tank Circuit Breaker

Breaking unit The insulating housing is made of porcelain or composite material and is filled with pressurized SF6 gas. The breaking unit is subjected to potential, i.e. it is live, hence the term live tank circuit breaker, unlike that if the breaking unit is at ground potential it can be called as dead tankCircuit breaker One circuit breaker pole can even consist of two or more breaking units in series. The number of breaking units is dependent on the system voltage and the requirements on interrupting capability. Support insulator The main function of the support insulator is to ensure sufficient insulation from the HV-terminals and the breaking unit(s) to ground. The support insulator is a hollow housing made of porcelain or composite material and contains SF6 gas at the same pressure as the gas in the breaking units; the support insulator and the breaking unit(s) have a common gas atmosphere. The insulated pull rod, (also called operating insulator) which is part of the linkage system between the operating mechanism and the main contacts, is mounted inside the support insulator. Operating mechanism The operating mechanism, together with the trip spring, stores the necessary energyfor the closing and opening operation of the circuit breaker. Located at groundpotential, the operating mechanism also includes secondary wiring, which acts asan interface to a networks control and protection system.

Grading capacitors For circuit breakers with two or more breaking units in series, the voltage (rated voltage as well as transient switching and lightning over voltages) will usually not be evenly distributed across the interrupters. In order to avoid high voltage stresses across one of the breaking units, capacitors are often mounted in parallel with the interrupters. Nowadays grading capacitors are generally not needed at rated voltages up to 420 kV. Pre-insertion resistors Pre-insertion resistors on line circuit breakers are used occasionally at rated voltages362 420 kV and more often at 550 800 kV. Their purpose is to reduce the voltage transients generated when a no-load transmission line is energized, or reenergized after a line fault. The resistors are operated by the same operating mechanism as the main contacts. Pre-insertion resistors were previously sometimes used on circuit breakers for capacitor banks, reactor banks and transformers. For these applications, however, controlled switching is now widely used as a powerful means to reduce the switching transients. Modern SF6 circuit breakers also have better switching properties than old circuit breaker types. This has generally made pre-insertion resistors superfluous for these applications. New technologies may also eliminate the need for pre-insertion resistors for line circuit breakers. In many cases controlled switching can replace the resistors and reduce the voltage transients to the same extent as, or even better than, resistors.

Principles of arc extinction The current interruption process in a high-voltage circuit breaker is a complex matter due to simultaneous interaction of several phenomena. When the circuit breaker contacts separate, an electric arc will be established, and current will continue to flow through the arc. Interruption will take place at an instant when the alternating current reaches zero. When a circuit breaker is tripped in order to interrupt a short-circuit current, the contact parting can start anywhere in the current loop. After the contacts have parted mechanically, the current will flow between the contacts through an electric arc, which consists of a core of extremely hot gas with a temperature of 5,000 to20, 000 K. This column of gas is fully ionized (plasma) and has an electrical conductivity comparable to that of carbon. When the current approaches zero, the arc diameter will decrease, with the cross section approximately proportional to the current. In the vicinity of zero passage of current, the gas has been cooled down to around 2,000 K and will no longer be ionized plasma, nor will it be electrically conducting. Two physical requirements (regimes) are involved: Thermal regime: The hot arc channel has to be cooled down to a temperature low enough that it ceases to be electrically conducting. Dielectric regime: After the arc extinction, the insulating medium between the contacts must withstand the rapidly-increasing recovery voltage. This recovery voltage has a transient component (transient recovery voltage, TRV) caused by the system when current is interrupted.

If either of these two requirements is not met, the current will continue to flow for another half cycle, until the next current zero is reached. It is quite normal for a circuit breaker to interrupt the shortcircuit current at the second or even third current zero after contact separation.

Development of Circuit breakers: The first generation of SF6 Gas circuit breakers was of the double pressure type developed in the mid 60s in Europe and USA. These breakers did not become very popular as outdoor circuit breakers, from the point of view of cost and the no of interrupters are used, as they were developed simply replacing air in ABCBs with SF6 gas. But with the development of metal clad gas insulated sub-stations, SF6 gas medium became popular, where utilities decided to go in for metal clad stations, mainly due to the limitation of space and environmental constraints. During the 1970s, single pressure designs were developed, results in remarkable simplicity in construction and a drastic reduction of number of interrupters per pole and weight of the circuit breakers. Modern live tank Sf6 puffer circuit breakers have been developed up to 245 KV in a single interrupter design, Up to 420 KV with two interrupters per pole and 800 KV with four interrupters per pole, Whereas the dead-tank versions are available with two interrupters up to 800 KV. Any further reduction in number of interrupters does not see feasible as the nature of the circuit breakers now generally dictated by the requirement of open air clearance needed for external insulation. With the development of fast operating mechanisms, the puffer design breakers can now operate with a total break time of two cycles. First Generation SF6 Circuit Breakers: The first generation of SF6 gas circuit breakers used the dual pressure principle of air blast breakers. The SF6 gas is compressed and stored in a stationary high-pressure receiver, much as in the earlier air blast circuit breakers. To interrupt the current, gas is blown in to the breaking chamber; from there it is collected in a low pressure receiver and subsequently pumped back to the high pressure receiver. The major disadvantage of this approach is liquefaction of SF6 gas at the storage pressure at low temperature. Hence, the high pressure storage tanks are provided with additional heaters to keep SF6 in gaseous state. Second Generation SF6 Circuit Breakers (Puffer Circuit Breakers) (Fig: 2.7.1)

Second-generation SF6 circuit breakers work on the single-pressure principle, i.e., the breaker is filled with SF6 gas at rated pressure and the differential quenching pressure required for extinguishing the arc is generated during the opening movement of contact system. Fig-1 explains the process of current interruption. The compression cylinder moves along with the contact system against a fixed piston, during the breaking operation, thus generating the required quenching pressure inside the compression cylinder. As the contacts separate, an arc established between them, is extinguished at current zero. At the same instant, the quenching gas flow out of the nozzle at high speed, de ionizes the contact gap, and thus prevents the re-ignition of the arc. In open condition the breaker contact gap with SF6 gas, forms the insulation to withstand the recovery voltage of the system. In this approach, the operating mechanism must provide the energy not only for moving the contacts, but also for building up the quenching pressure. For this reason, circuit breakers of this type require powerful, complex operating mechanisms.

SF6 self-blast circuit breakers Service experience has shown that circuit breaker failures due to insufficient interrupting capacity are rare. The majority of the failures reported are of a mechanical nature, which is why efforts are made to improve the overall reliability of the operating mechanisms. Because of the fact that puffer circuit breakers require high operating energy, the manufacturers were forced to use pneumatic mechanisms, Hydraulic mechanisms or high-energy spring mechanisms. In a normal puffer circuit breaker, the major part of the blast pressure is created with energy from the operating mechanism. The ideal situation would be to let the arc produce the blast pressure. In this way, the operating mechanism only needs to deliver energy necessary for the movement of the contact. However, this ideal situation cannot currently not be reached at higher voltages. Problems will arise when interrupting small currents, since there is only a limited amount of energy available for the pressure rise. For this reason a compromise has been reached: a self-blast circuit breaker with pre-compression. The self-blast principles represented a large step forward on the way to reducing the operating energy. The self-blast technology has several designations: auto-puffer, arc-assisted circuit breaker, thermal-assisted circuit breaker or simply self-blast circuit breaker. Because the blast pressure required for interruption of low currents and low current Derivatives are moderate, a small pressure rise independent of the current is sufficient. For higher currents, the energy producing the blast pressure is taken from the arc through heating of the gas.

A. Closed position. The current is conducted through the main contacts. B. Separation of main contacts. The moving contact has started to change position, the main contacts have parted. Pressure is starting to build up in the puffer and self-blast volumes. The current is commutated to the arcing contacts. C. After separation of the arcing contacts an arc is established between them. Heat from the arc Generates pressure in the self-blast volume, the valve closes when the pressure is higher than in the puffer volume.* D. Arc extinction. The current approaches zero and the gas from the self-blast volume blasts up Through the nozzle, cooling the arc and extinguishing it. Excessive pressure in the puffer volume is released through the pressure relief valve. E. The contacts are now fully open; the motion has been damped and stopped by the operating Mechanism. F. During closing the contacts close and the puffer volume is refilled with cold gas, making it ready for the next opening operation. * At low breaking current the pressure generated by the arc will not be sufficient to close the valve. The self-blast interrupter will then operate as a puffer interrupter.

As can be seen in Figure 2.9.1, the extinction chamber is divided into two sections: The self-blast volume and the puffer volume. The two sections are separated by the self-blast valve. When high-fault currents are interrupted, the pressure in the self-blast volume generated by the arc will be so high that the valve will close, preventing the gas from escaping into the puffer volume. Instead, the pressurized gas will flow through the nozzle and extinguish the arc. At lower currents, typically a few kA, the arc will not have sufficient energy to generate a pressure high enough to close the valve and the interrupter will function as puffer interrupter. The pressure in the puffer volume is relatively independent of the current whether the circuit breaker operates as a self-blast interrupter or as a puffer interrupter. It is limited to a moderate level by means of a spring-loaded valve (overpressure valve), which means that the compression energy required from the operating mechanism is limited. Figure 2.10 shows how the energy from the operating mechanism is used. Compared with a conventional puffer circuit breaker of the same rating, the energy requirements of the operating mechanism can be reduced to 50% or less. Configuration of the moving contacts For the self-blast circuit breakers, several different principles of moving contact configurations exist. Their purpose is to further decrease the amount of energy needed for the operation of the circuit breaker. The single-motion design dominates the market today. This is the simplest type of design, utilizing one moving set of arcing and main contacts. The double-motion design uses a linkage system to move both the puffer with the lower contact system, and the upper arcing contact, in different directions. This means that the speed requirement from the operating mechanism is drastically reduced, since the contact speed will be the relative speed between the upper and lower contacts. The main benefit of the double-motion arrangement is the minimized energy need for the contact movement due to lower speed demands. This is visualized by the equation for kinetic energy:

The triple-motion design is based on the double-motion design, but moves the upper shield at a different speed than that of the upper arcing contact to optimize the distribution of the electrical fields and get a better di-electrical performance.

Resistivity (m) Superconductors 0 Metals 108 Semiconductors variable Electrolytes variable Insulators 1016 Material This table shows the resistivity, conductivity and temperature coefficient of various materials at 20 C (68 F)

Material Silver Copper Annealedcopper[note 2] Gold[note 3] Aluminium[note 4] Calcium Tungsten Zinc Nickel Lithium Iron Platinum Tin Carbon steel (1010) Lead Titanium Grain oriented electrical steel Manganin Constantan Stainless steel[note 5] Mercury Nichrome[note 6] GaAs Carbon (amorphous) Carbon (graphite)
[note 7]

(m) at 20 C 1.59108 1.68108 1.72108 2.44108 2.82108 3.36108 5.60108 5.90108 6.99108 9.28108 1.0107 1.06107 1.09107 1.43107 2.2107 4.20107 4.60107 4.82107 4.9107 6.9107 9.8107 1.10106 5107 to 10103 5104 to 8104 2.5e106 to 5.0106 //basal plane 3.0103basal plane 11012 4.6101 2101 2101 to 2103

(S/m) at 20 C 6.30107 5.96107 5.80107 4.10107 3.5107 2.98107 1.79107 1.69107 1.43107 1.08107 1.00107 9.43106 9.17106 6.99106 4.55106 2.38106 2.17106 2.07106 2.04106 1.45106 1.02106 9.09105 5108 to 103 1.25 to 2103 2 to 3105 //basal plane 3.3102basal plane ~1013 2.17 4.8 5104 to 5102

Temperature coefficient[note
1]

Reference
[7][8] [8] [citation needed]

(K1) 0.0038 0.0039

0.0034 0.0039 0.0041 0.0045 0.0037 0.006 0.006 0.005 0.00392 0.0045 0.0039 X

[7] [7]

[7] [9]

[7] [7]

[10] [7]

[11] [12] [13] [14]

0.000002 0.000008 0.0009 0.0004 0.0005

[12] [7] [15] [7][16]

[17]

Carbon (diamond) Germanium[note 8] Sea water[note 9] Drinking water[note 10]

[18]

0.048

[7][8] [19] [citation

Material

(m) at 20 C

(S/m) at 20 C

Temperature coefficient[note
1]

Reference
needed]

(K1) Silicon[note 8] Wood(damp) Deionized water[note 11] Glass Hard rubber Wood(oven dry) Sulfur Air Paraffin wax Fused quartz PET Teflon 6.40102 1103 to 4 1.8105 101010 to 101014 11013 11014 to 16 11015 1.31016 to 3.31016 11017 7.51017 101020 101022 to 101024 1.56103 104 to -3 5.5106 1011 to 1015 1014 1016 to -14 1016 31015 to 81015 1018 1.31018 1021 1025 to 1023 0.075
[7] [20] [21]

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

[7][8] [7] [20] [7] [22]

[7]

The effective temperature coefficient varies with temperature and purity level of the material. The 20 C value is only an approximation

Types of Conductors: 1) Solid Conductors: Solid wire is rigid and more efficient at higher frequencies; Untinned solid copper is a
more efficient power & data conductor than tinned solid or stranded wire. 2)

Stranded Conductors: Stranded wire has a much higher flexibility & can be easily bent & formed into wire
& cable assemblies.

3) Hollow conductors are, though, used as 'wave guides' in radio-frequency circuits. However, their purpose is not to reduce skin effect (in which most of the current flows close to the surface of the conductor), but to save copper -if most of the current flows close to the surface, then there's little point in using solid copper! Stranded Conductor Configurations:

Bunched Bunch strand has any number of strands twisted together with any given lay length and direction of lay (usually left-hand) without a symmetrical geometric arrangement of individual strands. Bunch-stranded wire is the most flexible and lowest-cost stranding configuration.

Concentric

Composed of a central strand surrounded by one or more layers of helically-laid wires. Greater mechanical strength & better crush resistance than other standard configurations. Types of concentric stranded copper:

o
o o

Equilay: All layers have the same lay length with direction of lay reversed in successive layers. Unilay : All layers have the same length & direction of lay. Rope Lay: 1) Individual members are bunch or concentric stranded. 2) Around a central member, one or more helical layers of members are laid.

Number of Strands for ACSR conductors: A general formula for total no of strands (N) for n layers (including the center strand) of strands in the conductor, if each strand uniform is

The overall Diameter of the Conductor if strand dia (d) is ( )

EQVT ACSR CODE WORD MOLE SQUIRREL WEASEL RABBIT RACOON DOG DOG (UP) COYOTE WOLF WOLF (UP) PANTHER PANTHER (UP) PANTHER (UP) KUNDAH ZEBRA ZEBRA (UP) MOOSE MORCULLA MOOSE (UP) MORCULLA (UP) BERSIMIS

ACTUAL AREA (Sq mm) 15 22 34 55 80 100 125 148 173 200 232 288 346 400 465 525 570 604 642 695 767

STRANDING & WIRE DIAMETER CONDUCTOR NO. 3 7 7 7 7 7 19 19 19 19 19 37 37 37 37 61 (7+54)61 61 61 61 61 DIA (mm) 2.50 2.00 2.50 3.15 3.81 4.26 2.89 3.15 3.40 3.66 3.94 3.15 3.45 3.71 4.00 3.31 3.45 3.55 3.66 3.81 4.00

OVERALL DIA (mm) (APPROX)

MASS (APPROX) (Kg. /Km)

RESISTANCE AT 20 degC (Ohms/Km) (MAX)

ULTIMATE BREAKING LOAD (Kn) 4.33 6.45 10.11 16.03 23.41 29.26 36.64 43.50 50.54 58.66 68.05 84.71 101.58 117.40 136.38 146.03 158.66 167.99 178.43 193.25 213.01

5.39 6.00 7.50 9.45 11.43 12.78 14.45 15.75 17.00 18.30 19.70 22.05 24.15 25.97 28.00 29.79 31.05 31.95 32.94 34.29 36.00

40.15 60.16 94.00 149.20 218.26 272.86 342.51 406.91 474.02 549.40 636.67 794.05 952.56 1101.63 1280.50 1448.39 1573.71 1666.00 1771.36 1919.13 2115.54

2.3040 1.5410 0.9900 0.6210 0.4250 0.3390 0.2735 0.2290 0.1969 0.1710 0.1471 0.1182 0.0984 0.0829 0.0734 0.0651 0.0598 0.0568 0.0534 0.0492 0.0446

In live tank CT, the core with the secondary winding is housed in the top tank which is LIVE (AT HIGH VOLTAGE) In live tank, the core and secondary winding is insulated against the high voltage and housed in the top live tank. In live tank we insulate the core and secondary winding. Only after application of pre-defined insulation on secondary, primary is wound. Application of Earthing: insulation over wound cores is easy. Condenser Grading of insulation is easily done. Insulation is robust and reliable Primary winding is of shortest possible length and its natural shape offers high strength against the short

Live TankCT

In dead tank CT, the core and secondary winding is housed in the bottom tank which is earthed or DEAD. In dead tank CT, the primary winding is brought down to the bottom tank and it is insulated from the earthed tank and cores. In dead tank CT, we insulate the primary winding. It is practically difficult to apply the pre-defined insulation over the primary because the primary needs to pass through the wound cores. Condenser grading of insulation is practically difficult to do. Insulation is not robust. The primary has to pass through the porcelain insulator and the larger length of the primary conductor produces maximum

Dead TankCT

Step Potential: Step potential is the potential difference between a persons feet and is caused by a voltage gradient in the soil at the point where a fault enters the ground. The potential gradient is steepest near the fault location and there after reduces gradually. Just 75 cms away from the entry point, voltage usually will have been reduced by 50%. Thus at a point of 75 cm away from the entry point, voltage will have usually of 50%. Thus at a point of 75 cm from the fault (which is less than the distance of the normal step), a fatal potential of a few Kilovolts can exist. Touch Potentials: Touch potential represents the same basic hazard, except the potential exists between the persons hand and his or her feet. This happens when a person standing on the ground touches a structure of the substation, which is conducting the fault current in to ground (for example, when an insulator fixed on a gantry flashes over , the gantry dissipates the current to earth). Since the likely current path within the human body runs through the arm and heart region instead of through the lower extremities, the danger of injury or death is far greater in this case. For this reason, the safe limit of touch potential is usually much lower than that of step potential. Mesh Potential:
"Mesh potential" is a factor calculated when a grid of grounding conductors is installed. Mesh potential is the difference between the metallic object connected to the grid, and the potential of the soil within the grid. It is significant because a person may be standing inside the grid at a point with a large potential relative to the grid itself.

Measures against step & Ground potential: An equipotential wire mesh safety mat of AWG copper or Copper-clad wire to form of 0.5mx0.5m or 0.5x1 m mesh, should be used. Inter connection between sections of mesh and between the mesh and the main grounding grid should be made so as to provide a permanent low resistance high-integrity connection. In cases such as an electrical substation, it is common practice to cover the surface with a high-resistivity layer of crushed stone or asphalt. The surface layer provides a high resistance between feet and ground grid and is an effective method to reduce the step and touch potential hazard. Grounding using Building Foundations: Concrete foundations below ground level provide an excellent means of obtaining a low resistance ground electrode system. Since concrete has a resistivity of about 30 -m at 20c, a rod embedded within a concrete encasement gives a very low electrode resistance compared to most rods buried in the ground directly. Since buildings are usually constructed using steel-reinforced concrete, it is possible to use the reinforcement rod as the conductor of the electrode by ensuring that an electrical connection can be established with the main rebar of each foundation. The size of rebar as well as the bonding between the bars of different concrete members must be done so as to ensure that ground fault currents can be handled without excessive heating. Such heating may cause weakening and eventual failure of the concrete number itself. Alternatively, copper rods embedded with in concrete can also be used.

The use of Ufer grounds (named after the person who was instrumental in the development of this type of grounding practice) has significantly increased in recent years. Ufer grounds utilize the concrete foundation of a structure plus building steel as a grounding electrode. Even if the anchor bolts are not directly connected to the reinforcing bars (rebar), their close proximity and the conductive nature of concrete will provide an electrical path. There are a couple of issues to be considered while planning for grounding using the foundations as electrodes. A high fault current (lightning surge or heavy ground fault) can cause moisture in the concrete to evaporate suddenly to steam. This steam, whose volume is about 1800 times of its original volume when existing as liquid, produces forces that may crack or otherwise damage the concrete. The other factor has to do with ground leakage currents. The presence of even a small amount of DC current will cause corrosion of the rebar. Because corroded steel swells to about twice its original volume, it can cause extremely large forces with in the concrete. Although AC leakage will not cause corrosion, the earth will rectify a small percentage of the AC to Dc. In situations where the anchor bolts are not bonded to the rebar, concrete can disintegrate in the current path. Damage to concrete can be minimized either by limiting the duration of fault current flow (by suitable sensitive and fast acting protective devices) or providing a metallic path from the rebar through the concrete to an external electrode. That external electrode Must be sized and connected to protect the concretes integrity. Proper design of Ufer grounds provides for connections between all steel members in the foundation and one or more metallic paths to an external ground rod or main ground grid. Excellent joining products are available in the market, which are especially designed for joining rebar throughout the construction. By proper joining of the rebars throughout the construction. By proper joining of the rebar, exceptionally good performance can be achieved. An externally low resistance path to earth for lightning and earth fault current is ensured as the mass of the building keeps the foundation in good contact with the soil. Grounding the substation fence: Metallic fences of substations should be considered just as other substation structures. The reason for this is that the overhead HV lines entering or leaving a substation may snap and fall on the fence. Unless the fence is integrated with the rest of the substation grounding system, a dangerous situation may develop. Persons or live stock in contact with the fence may receive dangerous electric shocks. Utilities vary in their fence-grounding specifications, with most specifying that each gate post and corner post, plus every second or third line post, be grounded. All gates should be bonded to the gate posts using flexible jumpers. All gate posts should be interconnected. In the gate swing area, an equipment wire mesh safety mat can further reduce hazards from step and touch potentials when opening or closing the gate. It is recommended that the fence ground should be tied in to the main ground grid, as it will reduce both grid resistance and grid voltage rise. Internal and perimeter gradients must be kept

Number of Ground Electrodes depends on Resistivity of soil and type of electrode

Earthing of LV motor: Generally low voltage motors have a delta connected winding. An earthing terminal is provided inside the terminal box to earth the body. Either a four core cable or single core cables and a separate earth cable is used to supply the motor. In the former case the fourth core is connected to the earth terminal and at the switchboard end the same core is connected to the earth bar with in the switch board. In the latter case the earth cable is used in the same manner as the fourth core. Armors of armored cable should not be used as an earthing conductor because it may not offer impedance required as per Earth fault loop impedance criteria.

Earthing of LV Generator:

An earthing terminal is provided on the generator to earth the body. The generator neutral and body earth terminal is connected to the room earth bar by separate earth conductors because the neutral may not be exactly at the earth potential. The different methods to earth the neutral of the low-voltage generator re shown in fig below G.1.1 to G.1.3.

The method shown in fig G.1.2 is used when generators of different ratings are to be paralleled in which case, at a time, the neutral of only one of the running generators (generally the largest) is connected to the earth. The neutral must be connected to earth before the generator breaker is closed and opened after the generator breaker is opened.

The methods shown in fig G.1.3 is used when the local regulations require a four pole device for generator connection, this means that the neutral to be switched. The neutrals of all the operating

generators are connected to the earth which means that the breakers are closed. A four pole generator breaker is required.

Variable speed Drive: A high voltage VSD is earthed in a manner similar to a high-voltage motor and a low-voltage VSD is earthed similarly to a low-voltage motor. The conductor size is higher than that of a motor because of high frequency currents. The VSD manufacturer can be consulted regarding the size of the earthing conductor. PLC Cabinets, Battery Chargers, Single-Phase UPS, control panels, Instruments and Luminaires: This equipment is supplied by a single-phase supply, by means of three core cables (phase, neutral and earth). The earth conductor in the cable is used to earth this equipment. Sometimes a two core cable and a separate earth conductor is used. The earth conductor size is 2.5 mm2 copper or 4 mm2 Aluminium. Cable Ladders, Trays, Metallic Ducts, Skirting Ducts, Bus Ducts, Steel Conduits and catenary wires: These are earthed at each end. The end that is terminated in to equipment is connected to the equipment earthing terminal. At the switch board or distribution board end it is connected to the earth bar with in the switch board/Distribution board. If an insulation joint is provided in between, the two sections should be interconnected by an earthing conductor. A skirting duct, dropper pole, etc. must be earthed by connecting it to earth bar in the distribution board. Skirting ducts or channels in partition

walls (full or part height partitions as in office buildings) must be earthed in the same manner. In general, any metallic enclosure containing electrical conductor must be earthed. Cable armor and screen: For power cable this should be earthed at each end while control cables can be earthed at one end only (preferably at the switch board or control panel end rather than the field device end). At switchboard or control panel end it is connected to the earth bar within the panel. For high voltage cables the armor and screen are connected together and a copper braid is brought out of the termination for earthing. For lowvoltage armored cables a clamp is used for this connection. At the equipment end it should be connected either to the equipment earthing terminal or where this is not possible (e.g. in a dry type transformer because the terminal is away) the braid or clamp can be connected by an earthing conductor to the nearest earth bar. Local Control Station: The earth conductor size is 2.5 mm2 copper or 4 mm2 aluminum and is connected to the nearest earth bar. Junction Box: An earthing terminal is provided inside the box and is connected to the earthing conductor running along the phase and neutral conductor through the box.

Fuel Loading/ Unloading Bays: Tankers required to be earthed and this is done by providing crocodile type clamp and a lead connected to earth bar which in turn is connected to the earth electrode or earthing system. The clamp is connected to the tanker body during fuelling.

Earth Fault Leakage Circuit Breakers (RCDs)

RCDs (Residual Current Devices) are designed to disconnect the circuit if there is a leakage current. By detecting small leakage currents (typically 530 mill amperes; Research has shown that leakage current of 300 mA flowing for a period of time can result in fire.) and disconnecting quickly enough (<30 ms), they may prevent electrocution. There are also RCDs with intentionally slower responses and lower sensitivities, designed to protect equipment or avoid starting electrical fires, but not disconnect unnecessarily for equipment which has greater leakage currents in normal operation.

RCDs operate by measuring the current balance between two conductors using a differential current transformer. This measures the difference between the current flowing through the live conductor and that returning through the neutral conductor. If these do not sum to zero, there is a leakage of current to somewhere else (to earth/ground, or to another circuit), and the device will open its contacts. Residual current detection is complementary to over-current detection. Residual current detection cannot provide protection for overload or short-circuit currents, except for the special case of a short circuit from live to ground (not live to neutral). RCDs operate by measuring the current balance between two conductors using a differential current transformer. This measures the difference between the current flowing through the live conductor and that returning through the neutral conductor. If these do not sum to zero, there is a leakage of current to somewhere else (to earth/ground, or to another circuit), and the device will open its contacts. Residual current detection is complementary to over-current detection. Residual current detection cannot provide protection for overload or short-circuit currents, except for the special case of a short circuit from live to ground (not live to neutral) RCDS are classified as Type-AC: This operates on AC only. Type-A: Type-B: This type operates on AC & Pulsating Dc currents. This type operates on Pulsating AC and continuous DC.

For a RCD used with three-phase power, all live conductors and the neutral must pass through the current transformer

Signal Reference Grid: This is used for IT and similar electronic equipment installation. A grounding grid is similar to the grid used for outdoor switch yard, is installed on the floor below the raised floor. This grounding grid is connected to the main earthing system.

Cathodic Protection Cathodic protection is used to protect buried steel pipes, tanks and structures from corrosion. When two metals are in contact with each other and an electrolyte is present the metal with greater negative potential will corrode more than the other. Zinc, Aluminium, Mild steel, Copper/Bronze/Brass are in the decreasing order of galvanic series negative potential. Thus zinc has the most negative potential while Copper/Bronze/Brass has same potential. The item (such as pipe, tank or structure) to be protected is made cathode to prevent corrosion and the method is therefore called cathodic protection. Any of the following methods can be used.
(CATHODE IS NOT ALWAYS NEGATIVE, A DEVICE WHICH CONSUMES POWER CATHODE IS NEGATIVE & DEVICE WHICH PROVIDES POWER CATHODE IS POSITIVE)

Galvanic cathodic protection An anode called sacrificial anode is buried close(around 1 to 1.5m) to the item and connected to it by a cable or conductor. The anode is made of more negative material such as zinc, aluminium or magnesium alloy. The space around the anode is back filled with treated soil similar to earth electrodes. Impressed Current Protection:
For larger structures, galvanic anodes cannot economically deliver enough current to provide complete protection, for this an impression current method used. In this method anode is buried close to the item

and a DC voltage is applied between the anode and item(cathode). The item is thus maintained at negative potential. This is similar to a battery cell, that is, electrolytic process. Monitoring is required for cathodic protection system and test points are provided for monitoring and measuring voltage and currents. Where pipes are running parallel, the steel pipe can be insulated, i.e., run in plastic or pre-duct. If possible run the pipes at right angle. Other option is to use non metallic pipe. Earthing for Static Electricity: Static electricity (charge) is due to excess or deficiency of electrons and is generated when unlike materials come in contact with each other and are then separated. When the materials are in contact each other the electrons flow from one to other but protons do not travel. When separated this excess/deficiency of electrons produce a static charge on the separated objects. If both are good conductors then most excess electrons in one return to the other before separation. But if one or both of them are insulators then the electrons are retained after separation and a static charge is produced. This can produce high voltage such as 30 KV and the problem is found in industries like aviation, Petroleum, paint, flour/grain, paper, rubber, refining and in commercial buildings including hospitals. The typical examples are:

Gas or steam flowing. Agitatio n of liquid in a vessel. Belt drives such as conveyors. Pulverized material movement Walking on carpet and then touching metal object

Remedies: Proper Bonding. Electrical Bonding:

In a building with electricity it is normal for safety reasons to connect all metal objects such as pipes together to the mains earth to form an equipotential zone. A person touching the un-earthed metal casing of an electrical device, while also in contact with a metal object connected to remote earth, is exposed to an electric shock hazard if the device has a fault. If all metal objects are connected, all the metal objects in the building will be at the same potential. It then will not be possible to get a shock by touching two 'earthed' objects at once. Bonding is particularly important for bathrooms, swimming pools and fountains. In pools and fountains, any metallic object (other than conductors of the power circuit)over a certain size must be bonded to assure that all conductors are at the same potential. Since it is buried in the ground, a pool can be a better ground than the electric panel ground.

Earthing of outdoor Switchyard equipment Steel towers and metallic support structure for equipment: These are not separately earthed if they are in contact with earth. Circuit Breakers: If the breaker is having metallic enclosure then it is connected to the nearest earthing grid conductor. The local control panel is either bonded to the structure if the structure is metallic, or connected to the nearest grid conductor. The size is calculated based on earth fault level at the substation. Current & Potential Transformers: An earthing terminal is provided on the equipment which is connected to the nearest earthing grid conductor. The size is calculated based on earth fault level at the substation. Lightning Arrester: A separate earth electrode is provided at the lightning arresters, to connect the arresters to earth. This is in order to provide the shortest path to the surge. Transformer Solidly earthed Neutral: A separate earth electrode is provided at each transformer to connect the neutral and the body to earth. If both the windings have neutral then a separate earth electrode is provided for each neutral. Separate conductors must be used between each neutral and the earth electrode and between the body earth terminal and the earth electrode. This arrangement will avoid any neutral current passing through the body. Transformer resistance earthed neutral: A separate earth electrode is provided at each transformer. The transformer body is earthed as done for a solidly earthed neutral transformer. The neutral is connected to the neutral earthing resistor and the earthing terminal of the NER is connected to the earth electrode.

Switchyard Isolators/GOD- A spark can jump from a phase to the operating Rod (which is metallic) and travel to the handle. Therefore, the handle is grounded by a flexible conductor, usually a copper braid, to provide a bypass otherwise the current will flow through the operators body. A grounding grid is provided at the location where an operator is likely to stand and work. This grid is connected to the main earthing grid if provided, or to the main earthing system in case of pole mounted sub-station and the handle is connected to this grid. Pole Mounted Sub-Station: Depending up on the nature and space available for a pole mounted type sub-station a grid may or may not be provided except for the isolator/GOD as mentioned previously. For such a sub-station, earth electrodes and the grid for the isolator can be adequate because the fault levels are low. The mesh is closer in this case because of limited space. Earth electrodes (vertical or horizontal) are provided and interconnected to achieve the required earthing system resistance and the grid for Isolator/ GOD is connected to it. Sometimes it may not be possible to achieve required earthing resistance due to space limitation and high soil resistivity.

Permissible Step Potential: The fault current flowing through the ground will create a voltage gradient between the feet. The current will enter through one foot, go through the body and leave the other foot. This circuit can be defined by the following equation: ( )

Where V step is the voltage difference between the feet (due to voltage gradient) in volts and is same as E step Rf is the resistance of one foot (proportionality to the soil resistivity) in ohms Rb is the resistance of the body (1000 ohms) in ohms. I is the resultant current in amps through the body Rf is assumed equivalent to the resistance of a metallic disc of 8 cm radius and is given by :

Where d is the radius in meter and is the resistivity of the soil surface in ohms-m. Substuting the values:

The permissible step voltage is the voltage which will generate permissible body current. Substituting the values of Rb(1000 ohms) and permissible body current Permissible Permissible
( )

( (

) )

for fault clearance time up to 3 sec for sustained fault.

Permissible Touch Potential In this the current will flow from the hand to the foot and enter the ground through the fet. This situation can be defined by the following equation: ( Substuting the values, permissible touch voltage is : Permissible Vtouch=( Permissible Vtouch= ( )( ) ) . . ) ( )

The touch potential is also called mesh potential. Therefore it can be seen that the permissible step and touch potential can be increased by increasing the resistivity of the soil where a person is likely to stand and by reducing fault clearance time. More accurate value of the foot contact resistance is given by the following formula: ( ) ( ( ))

Where is the resistivity of the soil and s that of the material on the surface( such as gravel in ohm-m) and d is the thickness of the surface of the material in meters. Permissible Permissible
( )

( (

) ) For fault clearance time up to 3 sec.

( )

It can be observed that if the resistivity of the soil is very high and almost equal to that of the surface material then k equals 1. This means that the surface material is not required. The surface material thickness is generally 25 to 150 mm. where soil resistivity is 10 % that of the surface material, 50mm thickness of material will achieve a constant K equal to 0.58 and material thickness of 150 mm will achieve a value of K equal to 0.79. In locations where soil resistivity is low and there is no surface material the permissible touch and step potentials will be lower. Gravel/crushed rock is spread up to thickness of 75mm in outdoor switchyards or substations, to increase the surface resistivity and thereby the permissible step and touch potential. Some power utilities prefer to provide a lawn in the substation and water it regularly to keep the resistance of the earthing system low. Transferred Potential: The distance between the high-potential area and that of true earth may be sufficient to form a physical separation rendering a person in the high-potential area immune from the possibility of simultaneous contact with zero potential. Fig (a) illustrates the case of a high-potential being transferred in to a zero potential area via the armor of the cable. If the armour is bonded to earth at the substation, that is the fault location, the voltage V3 will be the full rise of earth potential of the substation. In the case illustrated the person at C is making simultaneous contact hand to hand with the cable sheath and true earth. However, if the person is sta nding on true earth then the voltage V3 seen by the body could be hand-to-both-feet contact.

Note: It is not possible to design a grounding system for transferred potential and the solution is isolation at the point of entry, e.g., insulating the flange in the pipe line entering the switchyard.

Figure a b c d

Current Flow Path Leg-leg Arm-body-legs Arm-body-arm Arm-body-leg

Potential Difference V1 V2 V3 V4

Type Step Potential Touch Potential Transferred Potential Transferred Potential

Design of grounding Grid: The step and touch (mesh) potentials of grounding grid can be calculated as follows:

(
Touch (mesh) voltage = Where =soil resistivity in ohms-m. If = Fault current in amps.

L= Total length of buried conductor in mts. (including ground rods). Km Mesh Factor Ki is the corrective factor for current irregularity. * Where D=Spacing between conductors in meters. D=Diameter of conductors in meters n=no of conductors in parallel in one direction. h=depth of grid buried in mts. Kii=1 for grids with ground rods along the perimeter and corner. ( ) + [ ]

))

( ) for grids with no ground rods or grids with only a few ground rods where ground rods are not located in the corners or along the perimeter.

Where Ks is the mesh factor

[
The Length L=length of buried conductor+length of the ground rods. D is spacing between conductors in meters. N is the number of conductors in parallel in one direction. H is the depth of grid buried in meters.

)]

In all the equations, the length required can be calculated by substting the values of the permissible step and touch potential. This is the minimum required. 3.10 Resistance Of Outddor SwitchYard Earthing System The earthing Resistance is given by: ( ) ( )

Rt =Earthing system Resistance in Ohm P=Soil resistivity ohm-m.

A=Area of the Earth mat in Sq.m L=total length buried length of conductors including ground rods in mts.

Ground potential rise: In electrical engineering, earth potential rise (EPR) also called ground potential rise (GPR) occurs when a large current flows to earth through an earth grid impedance. The potential relative to a distant point on the Earth is highest at the point where current enters the ground, and declines with distance from the source. Ground potential rise is a concern in the design of electrical substations because the high potential may be a hazard to people or equipment. The change of voltage over distance (potential gradient) may be so high that a person could be injured due to the voltage developed between two feet, or between the ground on which the person is standing and a metal object. Any conducting object connected to the substation earth ground, such as telephone wires, rails, fences, or metallic piping, may also be energized at the ground potential in the substation. This transferred potential is a hazard to people and equipment outside the substation. Causes: Earth potential rise (EPR) is caused by electrical faults that occur at electrical substations, power plants, or highvoltage transmission lines. Short-circuit current flows through the plant structure and equipment and into the grounding electrode. The resistance of the Earth is finite, so current injected into the earth at the grounding electrode produces a potential rise with respect to a distant reference point. The resulting potential rise can cause hazardous voltage, many hundreds of yards (metres) away from the

actual fault location. Many factors determine the level of hazard, including: available fault current, soil type, soil moisture, temperature, underlying rock layers, and clearing time to interrupt a fault. Earth potential rise is a safety issue in the coordination of power and telecommunications services. An EPR event at a site such as an electrical distribution substation may expose personnel, users or structures to hazardous voltages.

3.11` Ground Potential Rise (GPR or EPR) The ground potential rise is given by the following equation: GPR:

If *Re Volts

Where If is the earth fault current Example Earth fault current =10,000 A. Duration=1 second. Resistivity of soil=40 ohm-m. Area of substation=60 m * 90 m Grid conductor and earthing conductor material: Galvanized steel. Depth at which the grid is buried=0.5m. In industrial sub-stations the area is less than in a power company sub-station, and it is therefore difficult to achieve desired potentials is calculated by trail and the length is increased till the potentials are within acceptable limits 3.12 Grid Conductor Size and Earthing Conductor Size: The area of the conductor is given by the equation:

I=10,000 Amps. t=1 sec K=74 for bolted joint and 125 for welded joint (for steel conductor). For earthing grid the joint is welded type and for earthing conductor the joint is bolted type at equipment and welded type at grid For grounding grid the conductor size=10,000/125=80mm 2. For equipment earthing the conductor size=10,000/74=135 mm 2. After allowing 50% margin for corrosion: For grounding grid the conductor size=80*1.5=120mm2. For equipment earthing the conductor size =135*1.5=205mm 2. The earthing conductor for equipment will be partly buried. A 50*5 mm (250mm2 area) strip will be suitable for grounding grid and earthing conductor. The equivalent diameter of the conductor is 25 mm (half width of the strip). Assuming that the conductor spacing d as shown in Fig3.3, is 2.5m the following length of conductor will be required.

37 strips each of 60m length perpendicular to the 90m side and 25 strips each of 90m length perpendicular to the 60 m side. Total conductor length will be 4470m (37*60+25*90). The number of electrodes can be obtained by dividing the earth fault current by 500. Therefore, the number of electrodes=10,000/500=20 Assuming that each electrode is a 18 mm*2.4 m long, galvanized steel rod the total length of electrodes=20*2.4=48m Therefore, the total conductor length=L=4470+48=4518m Ki=0.65+0.15*n=0.65+ (0.15*37) =6.2 Kii=1(assuming electrodes along the perimeter and corners) =1.22 * Km=0.9 ( ) + [ ]

Touch(mesh) voltage= Permissible Vtouch= (

.
) .

The touch voltage is more than that permissible. Step Voltage= Permissible Vstep= ( )

The touch voltage is higher than permissible but on 1 second fault duration. In practice a fault of this magnitude will be cleared much faster and therefore the touch voltage will be less than the permissible touch voltage. Therefore the design is correct . the step voltage is less than the permissible voltage. The earthing resistance is given by :

( )

( )

Rt=0.97 The ground potential rise=GPR=If *Re =10,000*0.97=9700V. The switch yard of 60m*90m is small compared to a power station or a major switchyard belonging to a power company. As a result, it is difficult to put in more earthing conductors and it is therefore, difficult to limit the step and touch potential and the ground potential rise will also be higher. Gas insulated substation (GIS) occupies less area as compared to an outdoor switchyard and therefore obtaining required resistance could be a problem. The columns footings of the building could be used as earth electrodes. The other option is deep driven rods.

The common system categories are defined below using a 3-letter classification (based on IEE Standards). Note that in these descriptions, system includes both the supply and the consumer installation, and live parts include the neutral conductor.

First letter

T The live parts in the system have one or more direct connections to ground. I The live parts in the system have no connection to ground or are connected only through a high
impedance.

Second letter

T All exposed metal parts / enclosures of electrical equipment are connected to the ground
conductorwhich is then connected to a local ground electrode.

N All exposed metal parts / enclosures of electrical equipment are connected to the ground conductor
which is then connected to the ground provided by the supply system .

Remaining letter(s)

C Combined neutral and protective ground functions (same conductor). S Separate neutral and protective ground functions (separate conductors).
Common types of systems
TN system
A system having one or more points of the source directly grounded with the exposed metal parts being connected to that point by protective conductors. It is further subdivided into the following types depending on the neutral-ground connection configuration.

TN-C system
A system in which the same conductor functions as the neutral and protective conductor throughout the supply and consumer installation (Figure 1).

Figure 1 - Schematic of a TN-C system

TN-S system
A system in which separate conductors are provided for neutral and protective ground functionsthroughout the system. In this type of system, the utility provides a separate ground conductor back to the substation. This is most commonly done by having a grounding clamp connected to the sheath of the supply cable which provides a connection to the ground conductor of the supply side and the grounding terminal of the consumer installation (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - Schematic of a TN-S system

TN-C-S system
A system in which the neutral and protective functions are done by a single conductor in a part of the system. In this system, in supply side neutral and ground are combined, but they are separated in the installation. This is also called as protective multiple earthing (PME for short). The grounding terminal of the consumer installation is connected to the suppliers neutral. Any breakage of the common neutral cum ground wire, called sometimes as PEN (protective earth and neutral) conductor, can result in the enclosures of electrical equipment inside the premises assuming line voltage when there is insulation failure. It is therefore essential to maintain the connection integrity of this common neutral-cum-ground conductor (Figure 3).

Figure 3 - Schematic of a TN-C-S system

TT System
No ground provided by supplier; installation requires own ground rod (common with overhead supply lines) (Figure 4).

Figure 4 - Schematic of a TT system

IT System
Supply is, for example, portable generator with no ground connection, installation supplies own ground rod (Figure 5).

Figure 5 - Schematic of an IT system

Switchgear:
Switchgear is the combinations of electrical disconnect switches, fuses or circuit breakers used to control, protect and isolate electrical equipment.

Instrument Transformers:
A device that serves as an input source of currents and voltages from an electric power system to instruments, relays, meters, and control devices. The basic design is that of a transformer with the primary winding connected to the power system, and the secondary winding to the sensing and measuring equipment. Data from these devices are necessary for the operation, control, and protection of the power system. The primary reason for setting up the instrument-transformer interface is to provide analog information at low voltage levels, insulated from the higher system voltages. The range of use is from 480 V through the maxima of the 7651000-kV power systems. Current Transformers: Definitions:

RATED PRIMARY CURRENT OF CURRENT TRANSFORMER This is the value of rated primary current of Current Transformer on which the CT is designed to perform best. Hence rated primary current of Current Transformer is an optimum value of primary current at which, error of the CT are minimum and losses in the CT are also less, that means in few words, performance of the CT is best; with optimum heating of the transformer. RATED SECONDARY CURRENT OF CURRENT TRANSFORMER Like rated primary current, this is the value of secondary current due to which errors in the CT are minimum. In other words, Rated Secondary Current of Current Transformer is the value of secondary current on which the best performance of the CT is based. RATED BURDEN OF CURRENT TRANSFORMER Whatever is connected externally with the secondary of a Current Transformer is called burden of Current Transformer. In Electrical Power Transformer the secondary is connected with load, but in case of Current Transformer, electrical consumer load is not connected to the secondary. In Electrical Power Transformer we loaded the secondary of the transformer by connecting consumers one by one to the secondary side. But in case of Current Transformer or other Instrument Transformer, we connect, metering instrument and protection relays to the secondary, which obviously behave like load of the Instrument Transformer but do not have any direct relation with the load of the electrical power system. That is why, all the instruments, wires etc. connected with the secondary of the Instrument Transformer or IT is called burden rather load. In this way, we distinguish the secondary circuit of a current transformer or voltage transformer from other purpose electrical transformer. Although literally, load and burden carry nearly same meaning in English Language. Rated burden of Current Transformer is the value of the burden to be connected with the secondary of CT including connecting load resistance expressed in VA or ohms on which accuracy requirement is based. Similarly Rated burden of Voltage

Transformer is the value of the burden to be connected with the secondary of Voltage Transformer including connecting load resistance expressed in VA or ohms on which accuracy requirement is based. RATED FREQUENCY OF CURRENT TRANSFORMER The value of the system frequency on which the instrument transformer operates. ACCURACY POWER Rated (nominal) accuracy power Pn Expressed in VA, it is the apparent power supplied to the secondary circuit for the nominal (rated) secondary current and the accuracy load. The standard values are: 1 - 2.5 - 5 - 10 - 15 - 30 VA. KNEE POINT VOLTAGE The knee-point voltage of a current transformer is the magnitude of the secondary voltage after which the output current ceases to linearly follow the input current within declared accuracy. In testing, if a voltage is applied across the secondary terminals the magnetizing current will increase in proportion to the applied voltage, up until the knee point. The knee point is defined as the voltage at which a 10% increase in applied voltage increases the magnetizing current by 50%. From the knee point upwards, the magnetizing current increases abruptly even with small increments in voltage across the secondary terminals. The knee-point voltage is less applicable for metering current transformers as their accuracy is generally much tighter but constrained within a very small bandwidth of the current transformer rating, typically 1.2 to 1.5 times rated current. However, the concept of knee point voltage is very pertinent to protection current transformers, since they are necessarily exposed to currents of 20 or 30 times rated current during faults. Instrument Security Factor ISF or Instrument Security Factor of current transformer is defined as the ratio of instrument limit primary current to the rated primary current. The instrument limit primary current of metering CT is the value primary current beyond which CT core becomes saturated. Accuracy Limit Factor The rated accuracy limit factor (Fn) is the ratio of the rated accuracy limit primary current to the rated primary current. A protective current transformer type 5P10 has, for example, the accuracy class 5P and the rated accuracy limit factor 10. For protective current transformers, the accuracy class is determined by the highest permissible percentage composite error at the rated accuracy limit primary current specified for the accuracy class concerned, followed by the letter P (referring to protection). The CT accuracy primary limit current defines the highest fault current magnitude at which the CT will meet the specified accuracy. Beyond this level, the secondary current of the CT will be distorted, and this may have severe effects on the performance of the protection relay. In practice, the actual accuracy limit factor (Fa) differs from the rated accuracy limit factor (Fn) and is proportional to the ratio of the rated CT burden and the actual CT burden.

ACCURACY CLASS OF CURRENT TRANSFORMER There is always some difference in expected value and actual value of output of an instrument transformer Current Error and Phase Angle Error count in CT, as because primary current of current transformer has to contribute the excitation component of CT core. Accuracy class of current transformer is the highest permissible percentage composite error at rated current. The standard accuracy classes of current transformer as per IS 2705 are 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 3 & 5 for metering CT The accuracy class or simply class of measuring current transformer is 0.1, means the maximum permissible limit of error is 0.1%, more clearly, if we try to measure 100A with a 0.1 class CT, the measured value may be either 100.1 or 99.9 A or anything in between these range. The standard accuracy class for the protection current transformer , as per IS 2705 are 5P, 10P, 15P.Here in the protection Current Transformer, 5P means 5% 10P means 10% and 15P means 15% error and P stands for Protection.

Limits of error in Current Transformers Class0.1to1.0: The Current Error and phase displacement Error at the rated frequency shall not exceed the values given below when the secondary burden is any value from 25% to 100% of the rated burden.

HIGHEST SYSTEM VOLTAGE

The highest Rms line to line voltage which can be sustained under normal operating conditions at any time and at any point on the system. It excludes temporary voltage variations due to fault condition and the sudden disconnection of large loads.

RATED SHORT-TIME THERMAL CURRENT (ITH) This is the maximum current, which the transformer can withstand for a period of one second, without reaching a temperature that would be disastrous to the insulation,e.g. 250 C for oil immersed transformers. If the short-time thermal current is not specified, it can be calculated by using the formula ( ) Sk= The fault level in MVA at the point where the current transformer is to be installed. Un= Rated service voltage (line-to-line) in kV RATED DYNAMIC CURRENT (IDYN) The peak value of the primary current which a current transformer can withstand, without being damaged electrically for mechanically by the resulting electromagnetic forces, the secondary winding being short-circuited. Rated continuous thermal current: - The value of current which can be permitted to flow continuously in the primary winding, the secondary windings being connected to the rated burdens, without the temperature rise exceeding the specified values. Instrument security factor (ISF):- The ratio of rated instrument limit primary current to the rated primary current. The times that the primary current must be higher then the rated value, for the composite error of a measuring current transformer to be equal to or greater than 10%, the secondary

burden being equal to the rated burden. The lower this number is, the more protected the connected instrument are against.

Ratio k
As already mentionned, the most important property of the current transformer is the ratio k that is both the ratio of secundary turns to primary turns and the ratio of primary current to secondary current. Note the often the primary is only one turn and practically it's just the conductor passing trough the core. Since a small amount of energy is necessary to magnetising the core and to produce heat as iron loss in the core, the secondary output Ampere-turns is a bit less than the primary Ampere-turns. The difference in current is the error current or magnetising current. In case of very critical CT's, ratio-turn-correction is applied; remove some secondary turns so that the ratio is a bit higher and the output is thus a bit higher at rated current. Of course this can only be applied when the CT meets all accuracy requirements after ratio-turn correction.

RCT The internal copper resistance

RCT is often called the secondary DC resistance at 75C. It's value depends on the length en cross section of the secondary winding wire Pouillet's law. So RCT also depends on the core dimensions; bigger core cross section implies a longer wire length per turn. The smaller R CT; the more the current transformer approaches the ideal current source. Accuracy:

The accuracy of a CT is given by its "class". The division into accuracy classes depends on the type of CT; we mainly distinguish measuring class CT's and Protection class CT's who are defined quite differently. We will discuss accuracy for both types further. Of course they both have a primary current I_p, a secondary current I_s and a ratio k. From these 3 parameters we can define some important property's related to accuracy.

The primary current vector Ip. The secondary current vector Is that is here represented k times larger to be able to compare them and to have an idea of the error current. In case the error would be 0, both vectors I_p and k.I_s would be identical. The total error vector (composite error) can be seen as the composition of:

an amplitude error (ratio error), expressed in % and an angle error, expressed in radians or seconds.

Note that for protection CT's, the angle error is disregarded and only the total composite error is given in %. When examining the equivalent diagram, one would easily conclude that the error current can only be the magnetising current of the CT. Indeed, normally the magnetising current is very low but at the saturation point of the core, 50% increase in magnetising current produces only 10% extra secondary voltage so at saturation the error current rises quickly. Therefore, the property's accuracy and saturation of the core are closely linked. Hense the error vector is allways a reducion in secondary output current; negative error. Positive error is only possible by ratio-turn correction.

Applicable CT Standards:

The Indian and international standard references for CT s are as given in the table below:
Standard Indian British International Electro technical Commission (IEC) Australian Australian American Standard Number 2705 BS EN 60044-1 IEC 60044-1 Year 1992 1999 2000

AS 1675 AS 60044-1 ANSI C.57.13

1986 2007 1993

Types:

Split Core

Donut or Window Type: 1) Bar-Type:

2) Hall effect CT: 3) Rogowski Coil:

Applications Of Current Transformers:

Current Transformers used for measurement and protection Metering Only Protection only Metering and protection

The current transformer secondary winding used for measuring are called measuring or metering current transformers, unlike measuring used for protection called protection CTs. http://www.kappaelectricals.com/technical.html http://www.openelectrical.org/wiki/index.php?title=Current_transformer#Measurement_CT.27s http://books.google.co.in/books?id=6QwDZiwnSaUC&pg=PA27&dq=protection+current+transformer+rat ings&hl=en&sa=X&ei=twRIUYuN8KOrgf1hYG4Dw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=protection%20current%20transformer%20ratin gs&f=false

Metering/ Measuring CTS: A measurement current transformer requires more accuracy over a limited range of current. For example, a current transformer for a 2000 KVA 11 KV/415V transformer (full load current of the transformer is 105 A) is required to measure current between 0-110A. Accuracy is an important criterion

up to, say 120 % of the full load current (allowance for over load), i.e., 125 A. The accuracy classes of measurement current transformers are listed in table below.

Table:1.1

For classes 3 and 5, the limits of phase displacement are not specified. The selection of accuracy class depends on the application and is generally as follows; For calibration (laboratory benchmark):0.1 For revenue metering and check metering of high voltage supply: 0.2 For revenue metering and check metering of low voltage supply: 0.2 or 0.5 For wattmeters and check meters:0.5 or 1` For ammeters: 1,3 or 5

Table:1.2

Application

Accuracy Class

As per IS

As per BS

Precession Metering

0.1 or 0.2

BL

Commertial Metering

0.5 or 1.0

AM, BM, CM

Ammeters

1 or 3

CD

Protection Relays

5P10 or 5P20

STU

Special Protection

PS

As shown in the table 1.1, the accuracy is lower at the low load. Therefore, for revenue metering the ratio should be selected to closely match the load current. To protect the meter and the operator (who may be using the ammeter selector switch at the time of a fault) from the heavy short circuit current, the current transformer is designed to saturate at a certain primary current. This is called an instrument security current. This is defined as the lowest primary RMS current at which the secondary current, multiplied by the transformation ratio, does not exceed 90% of the primary current. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=wNmoeqkMHvAC&pg=PA47&dq=current+transformer+ratings&hl=e n&sa=X&ei=YAJIUdTDITBrAfW3oHYBA&ved=0CDgQ6wEwAA#v=onepage&q=current%20transformer%20ratings&f=false The following are the specifications for measuring CT: Rated Primary current. Rated Secondary Current. Accuracy class (designated by CL). Instrument Security factor.

Example: 300/5 A, CL-0.5, 10 VA, ISF 1.5 A protection current transformer should not be used for measurement because it does not have security feature.

Protection CT's

The ratio of a protection CT as a function of the current

Protection CT's:

are meant to protect an electrical installation in case of overcurrent or short circuit and their operating current range is above nominal current In or more specific from In to ALF times In. It is important for the good functioning of the protection relays that the CT's are NOT saturated at ALF times rated current. Where ALF is the ratio of the expected maximum fault current over the rated current. It is thus important that the core material has a high saturation induction. Their accuracy is not very high but most important is that the accuracy in fault conditions is high enough. This can only be the case when the core is not saturated in case of a fault current. Therefore their accuracy is best described with an Accuracy Limit and an Accuracy Limit Factor (ALF).E.g. a 5P20 CT has an Accuracy limit of 5% at 20 times rated current (Accuracy Limit Factor). The accuracy of this CT at rated current is 1%. They will be connected to one or more protection relays

according the application, they can be defined in a few ways:

The standard IEC protection class CT's are of class "P" that only takes the AC behaviour into account in IEC 60044-1

Class PX CT's are defined by the position of the knee-point (saturation point or knee-point voltage and magnetizing current) and the secondary wire resistance RCT.

Class PR CT's are defined like the PX CT's but they have a low remanence; less than 10%. Note that remanence in CT's can be 60-80% that may cause quick saturation in case of a fault-current DC offset in the remanent direction. A class PX CT can't have that problem.

CT's for transient response class "TP" are defined by their connected load RB, time constant TS and their overcurrent figure KSSC. These linearised CT's have air-gaps in the core to obtain extreme high saturation voltage and current.

Ex. A 5P10 CT at 10 times rated current has a maximum error of 5% and only 1% at nominal current. A 10P15 CT at 15 times rated current has a maximum error of 10% and 3% at nominal current.

Dual or Multi-Ratio CT's

Dual ratio CT's exist in all standards but only according the ANSI standard, the ratio's are standardised. Note the for multi ratio CT's, many primary currents are mentionned and only one secondary current but in reality there is only one primary connection and 5 secondary terminals that allow 10 different ratings.

Summation CT: When the currents in a number of feeders need not be individually metered but summated to a single meter or instrument, a summation current transformer can be used. The summation CT consists of two or more primary windings which are connected to the feeders to be summated, and a single secondary winding, which feeds a current proportional to the summated primary current. A typical ratio would be 5+5+5/ 5A, which means that three primary feeders of 5 are to be summated to a single 5A meter.

Core balance CT (CBCT): The CBCT, also known as a zero sequence CT, is used for earth leakage and earth fault protection. The concept is similar to the RVT. In the CBCT, the three core cable or three single cores of a three phase system pass through the inner diameter of the CT. When the system is fault free, no current flows in the secondary of the CBCT. When there is an earth fault, the residual current (zero phase sequence current) of the system flows through the secondary of the CBCT and this operates the relay. In order to design the CBCT, the inner diameter of the CT, the relay type, the relay setting and the primary operating current need to be furnished. Interposing CT's (ICT's) : Interposing CT's are used when the ratio of transformation is very high. It is also used to correct for phase displacement for differential protection of transformers.
Routine test: - Tests carried out on each current transformer to check requirements likely to vary during production. The following tests apply to each individual transformer: A. Verification of terminal markings B. Power-frequency withstands test on primary winding. C. Power-frequency withstand test on secondary windings. D. Power-frequency withstand test, between sections. E. Inter-turn over voltage test F. Determination of errors. The order of the tests is not standardized, but determination of error shall be performed after the other test. Type test: - Tests carried out to prove the general qualities and design of a given type of current transformer in accordance with the requirements of the applicable standers Tests may be carried out on a prototype which may incorporate special arrangements for the measurements required by applicable standard. The following tests are type test: A. short time current test B. temperature rise test C. determination of errors The entire dielectric type test should be carried out on the same transformer, unless otherwise specified. Special tests / optional tests: - Test which may be in the nature of type tests or routine tests, and are carried out only by agreement between manufacturer and purchaser. Short time current test: - For the thermal short time current Ith test the transformer shall be at a temperature 10C to 40C. The test shall be made with the secondary winding short circuited and at the current I for a time t, so that (It) is not less than (lth) and provided t has a value between 0,5 s and 5 s. The dynamic test shall be made with the secondary winding (s) short-circuited, and with a primary current the peak value of which is not less than the rated dynamic current (Idyn) for at least one peak. The dynamic test may be combined with the thermal test above, provided the first major peak current of that test is not less than the rated dynamic current (Idyn).

Excitation System
INTRODUCTION:
All synchronous machines excepting certain machines like permanent magnet generators require a DC supply to excite their field winding. As synchronous machine is a constant speedy machine for a constant frequency supply, the output voltage of the machine depends on the excitation current. The control of excitation current for maintaining constant voltage at generator output terminals started with control through a field rheostat, the supply being obtained from DC Exciter. The modern trend in interconnected operation of power systems for the purpose of reliability and in increasing unit size of generators for the purposes of economy has been mainly, responsible for the evolution of new excitation schemes. Former practice, to have an excitation bus fed by a number of exciters operating in parallel and supplying power to the fields of all the alternators in the station, is now obsolete. The present practice is unit exciter scheme, i.e. Each alternator to have its own exciter. However in some plants reserve bus exciter/stand by exciter also provided in case of failure of unit exciter (Fig. 1) Exciter should be capable of supplying necessary excitation for alternator in a reasonable period during normal and abnormal conditions, so that alternator will be in Synchronism with the grid.

THE RATING OF THE EXCITER

Under normal conditions, exciter rating will be in the order of 0.3 to 0.6% of generator rating (approx.). Its rating also expressed in 10 to 15 amps. (approx.) per MW at normal load. Under field forcing conditions exciter rating will be 1 to 1.5% (approx) of the generator rating.

TYPES OF THE EXCITATION SYSTEM

There are two types of Excitation System. These are mainly classified as (i) Dynamic exciter (rotating type) (ii) Static Exciter (static type).The different types of excitation which are being used are indicated as given below: (1) (a) Separately Excited (thro' pilot exciter) (DC) Excitation System (b) Self Excited (shunt) (DC) Excitation System (2) High frequency AC Excitation System (3) Brushless Excitation System (4) Static Excitation System Among the above types of exciters, Static excitation system plays a very important role in modern interconnected power system operation due to its fast acting, good response in voltage & reactive power control and satisfactory steady state stability condition. For the Machines 500 MW & above and fire hazards areas, Brushless Excitation System is preferred Due to larger requirement of current& plant safety respectively.

THE RELATIVE MERITS OF DIFFERENT EXCITERS ARE LISTED AS GIVEN BELOW: VARIOUS EXCITATION SYSTEMS AND THEIR RELATIVE MERITS