What is ferranti effect ?

In general when the receiving end voltage is greater than the sending end voltage then that is called Ferranti effect. It is mainly a part of transmission line. When a transmission line is lightly loaded or not loaded, then the receiving end voltage exceeds the sending end voltage. The loads are normally inductive in nature, which draws a huge amount of reactive power. Typically capacitors are connected in parallel to the transmission lines to supply this reactive power but when the transmission lines are not loaded or lightly loaded, the reactive power supplied by the capacitors adds on to the transmission line and as a result the receiving end voltage is found to be greater than the sending end voltage which is termed as Ferranti effect.

Ferranti effect on transmission lines

Power triangle describes the relationship between real power and reactive power. Real power is the power, which flows through the circuit without being stored or interrupted. Reactive power is that power which is stored in the circuit for some time and the power returns to the source in each cycle. Now returning to the transmission lines, the loads connected with the transmission lines are inductive in nature and they require reactive power. To introduce reactive power in to the circuit, the angle between real power and apparent power is increased or power factor is reduced. To do this, capacitors are connected in parallel with the transmission lines which store energy in one cycle and release in the other cycle, hence fulfilling the requirement of the reactive power. But when the transmission line is at no load or lightly loaded condition there is excess reactive power in the network which is added with the real power and at the receiving end we get more voltage than the supply end voltage, this phenomenon is termed as Ferranti effect. So in a single sentence Ferranti effect can be understood as the incidence when the receiving end voltage is greater than the sending end voltage.

causes the Ferranti effect

Loads can be divided in three types: resistive load, capacitive load and capacitive load. Normally we are familiar with resistive loads but most of the loads connected with the transmission lines are inductive in nature. So the power requirement changes in to two types * resistive or real power.

* reactive (capacitive/inductive) power. Power generated by the power plants supplies the actual power through the transmission lines. So, to get the required reactive power some steps are taken and some changes are made in the transmission lines. The most common of them is the power factor correction. The power factor can be corrected by introducing capacitors in parallel with the transmission lines. These capacitors will supply the required reactive power to the network. Now suppose the transmission lines are at no load or in very lightly loaded condition. Then reactive power requirement is zero or very low but the capacitors keep on supplying reactive power which will be added on to the transmission lines and ultimately increasing the receiving end voltage. The term Ferranti effect describes the phenomenon when the receiving end voltage is greater than the sending end voltage. Hence the main cause of this phenomenon is when the transmission line is at no load or lightly loaded condition and then the receiving end voltage is higher.

What is the purpose of step up transformer in electrical power system?

The main use of transformer in electrical power system is to produce the needed voltage level. Some time voltage is needed to be increased or decreased than the available voltage level. Depending on the operation, transformers can be divided into two types, (i) Step up transformer,

(ii) Step down transformer. As the name suggests, the step up transformers are used to step up the voltage level. These are also termed as power transformer when used in power plants. Similarly step down transformers are used to step down or bring down the voltage.

Now, coming to the step up transformer, they are used in electrical power system at generation level. When power is generated at power plants the voltage level is pretty low. So when they are transmitted from generation station to distribution substation, power is reduced due to the different types of losses and the voltage of the receiving end decreases radically and thus the economic purpose is also not served. Thats why step up transformers are introduced at the power plants to step up the voltage level before transmission. So, the receiving end voltage is not decreased too much. Again as this high voltage cannot be used directly, so voltage is again stepped down by step down transformer before distribution.

What is Buchholz Relay?

Actually, any types of relay is used to protection purpose but the main objective of a relay is to sense the excess current flow in the circuit and depends upon the intensity of the current flow the relay trips and the circuit breaker is closed. Terefore the faulted part of the circuit is isolated from the healthy network. Now Buchhloz relay is a special type of relay which is used only in the transformer tanks and unlike being activated by the excess current voltage, it trips by the gases formed. Whenever any fault take place in the transformer, the oil decomposes and various chemical reactions take place and several gases are formed. Using the intensity of gas production, Buchholz relay operated. There are two hinged flow situated in the middle chamber. The lower one is connected with the circuit breaker and the upper one initiates a signal or alarm.

When the fault is minor, the rate of production of gas is low and therefore the force induced by them is also low which dont tilt the lower hing but stored in the upper part of the chamber. As soon as the amount of the gases increased, it tilts the upper hing which initiates a signal and

the alarm goes off, which indicates that there is something wrong in the transformer. But when the fault is severe the rate of production of gas is pretty high which is able to tilt the lower hing and as a result the contacts of the circuit breaker is closed and the transformer circuit is tripped.

What is Corona Loss?

When current is flowing through a conductor, the air surrounding the conductor gets ionized due to which some power loss occurs in the system. This phenomenon is known as corona loss and it can be explained more accurately. Besides air molecules, some free electrons are also present in the atmosphere. Now, when the potential across the conductors are increased, the voltage gradient surrounding the conductors are also increases. Now for the electric field generated around the conductors, these free electrons get acceleration and move with a certain velocity. These moving electrons collide with the molecules present in the air and free some electrons from the outer radius of those molecules. And after some time, the air surrounding the conductor gets ionized and finally an electron avalanche takes place and a flash over may occur. Though this case is very rare because of the design of the transmission lines. This phenomenon of ionization of air surrounding the conductors is known as Corona loss.

A bluish glow is seen surrounding the conductor during corona. As the potential across the conductor increases, the glow gets brighter. Corona loss can be detected by a hissing noise also.

What are the advantages of AC transmission? Now-a -days all the modern equipments are energized by alternating current and this is one of the main reasons of generation, transmission and distribution of AC power. Besides these, there are many other reasons for why AC transmission is preferred over DC transmission:
High voltage power can be generated for AC, which is not possible for DC.

The main and probably the most important reason for using AC for transmission is that, transformer can be used in AC, Which enables the control of voltage while transmission. That is voltage is stepped up before transmission by step up transformer and is stepped down for distribution purpose by step down transformer. But transformers cannot be used for DC and thats why the voltage which is generated is to be transmitted to consumers. Another advantage of AC transmission is that the maintenance cost of AC substation is much lower than that of DC substation, which fulfills the economical criteria and saves money also. Circuits breakers used in DC have their own limitation, but in AC they can be easily used.

What is the purpose of circuit breakers ?

Power System mainly consists of 3 steps generation, transmission and distribution. Power is generated and then sent to the distributors from power station through transmission network. Protection is very much essential in electrical power system, because electrical faults are unavoidable. Various steps are taken to ensure the protection of the system. Relays, circuit breakers are used for protection purposes of the system. During fault, huge current flows through the network which may cause irrepairable damage to the machines. To avoid this, relays and circuit breakers are used. Relay coil sense with help of current transformer, the current through the power circuits, when it crosses a marked limit. The circuit breakers are so designed that when the relay coils operates, the circuit breaker isolates a certain portion of power system so that the excess current does not continue to flow through the system hence the damage can be avoided.

Various types of circuit breakers are designed to reduce the operating time, so that as soon as the fault occurs, the circuit breaker disconnects a certain portion of power system from rest of the network.

What is a composite conductor? For transmission of high voltages, stranded conductors are used. These are known as composite conductors. These are composed of two or more strands of cable. Mainly for high voltage transmission, stranded copper conductors are used. Solid conductors are used before for transmission purpose, but stranded conductors have many more advantages. Thats why
they * * conductor). mechanical are rapidly used. They are widely used because of their: stability. flexibility.

* reduction in skin effect (the tendency of the current to flow through the surface of the

Define grid & discuss grid in electrical power system

In very simple words, a grid can be defined as the network which is toatally interconnected. So, grid in electrical power system can be said as a interconnected network which is used to deliver electricity from generating station to the consumers. A typical grid consists of several generating stations which produces electricity and then step up transformer to step up the generated voltage to a high voltage. Then this high voltage is transformed across a long distance, across a nation or sometimes across international boundaries. The transmission lines end at power stations located near the population. At electrical substations the high voltage is stepped down to low voltage by step-down transformers. The voltage is now usable for domestic equipments. From distribution substations the low voltage transmissions lines is delivered to houses. The interconnecting system is termed as grid. The main aim of generating grid is to supply power across a huge area. And the interconnection ensures uninterrupted power supply even if faults (like shut down of a generating station). For example Indian grid system consists of five grids- eastern, western, northern, southern, and north-eastern.

Compare Overhead Line vs Underground Cable

There are two methods of providing the electric power from the generating station to the consumers and they are: i) By bare overhead lines.

ii) By underground cables. Now both of this lines have some advantage over the another and some disadvantages also. When it comes to the comparison of these two type of cables, some point can be easily highlighted: For overhead transmission lines inductance effect is prominent but for underground cables capacitance effect is more prominent. Overhead transmission lines are less costly than the underground transmission line, because the conductors of overhead lines do not have any insulation around them, so that the dissipation of heat is better as well as this line is economical too. This is the main reason for same transmission of power, the size of the conductors for overhead lines are smaller than those of the underground cables, which eventually effects the costing. The main difference of costing is due to the use of the insulation types. The overhead line insulators are typically made of porcelain. The air surrounding the overhead lines provides insulation also. But for underground cables, the insulation is provided by wrapping each conductor by high grade paper tapes. And metal sheet is also applied to prevent moisture. For oil filled cables, oil reserves are situates at certain distances to keep the oil pressure intact. These developments makes the insulation process much complex and expensive. Again the cost for installing the overhead transmission tower is lower than installing underground clean and less congested cables. But underground cables provide more safety to the public and help the city or area looking

Classification of Relays
Actually, relay is type of protecting device which has the sensing ability. Relay can be stated as a device which sense any kind of abnormality in a power system and then close its contacts, which inturn close the circuit breaker. In this way, the faulty part of the circuit is automatically disconnected. Now, relays can be divided in many ways depending upon operation, construction, signal adapting etc. All of these are enlisted below: The most basic classification comes from functioning, so from this point of view relays can be classified as i) ii) iii) iv) Control Relay Now depending on the construction, there are various types of relays, those are i) ii) iii) iv) pressure, etc.) Relays can be divided depending upon the type of signals which activates the relay these are i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) Velocity relay etc. Current Frequency Voltage Temperature Pressure relay relay relay relay relay Solid Microprocessor Computerized Electromagnetic State Relay Relay Relay Relay Auxiliary Protection Monitoring Relay Relay Relay

v) Non Electric Relay (which is activated not by electricity but by temperature,

Now depending upon the type of protection that a relay provides, relays can be divided as i) ii) iii) iv) v) Over Reverse Over Directional Over Distance voltage Power current current relay relay relay relay relay

vi) Differential relay etc. Finally depending upon the operating principles relay can be classified as i) a) b) c) ii) iii) Cup type relay. Relay Induction Shaded Electromagnetic Attraction with pole type movable type relay relay coil relay relay

What is the purpose of circuit breakers ?

Power System mainly consists of 3 steps generation, transmission and distribution. Power is generated and then sent to the distributors from power station through transmission network. Protection is very much essential in electrical power system, because electrical faults are unavoidable. Various steps are taken to ensure the protection of the system. Relays, circuit breakers are used for protection purposes of the system. During fault, huge current flows through the network which may cause irrepairable damage to the machines. To avoid this, relays and circuit breakers are used. Relay coil sense with help of current transformer, the current through the power circuits, when it crosses a marked limit. The circuit breakers are so designed that when the relay coils operates, the circuit breaker isolates a certain portion of power system so that the excess current does not continue to flow through the system hence the damage can be avoided.

Various types of circuit breakers are designed to reduce the operating time, so that as soon as the fault occurs, the circuit breaker disconnects a certain portion of power system from rest of the network.

What is SF6 Circuit Breaker ?

A circuit breaker is a device used in electrical power system for breaking or making of a network. This is required when there is a maintenance work needed or when there occurs a fault in the network. For the second case the circuit breaker operates automatically when the relay coil trips. During the operation of a circuit breaker an arc is formed when the contacts move away from each other. To quench this arc different dielectric mediums of high dielectric strengths are used. The most common insulating medium used in the circuit breakers is SF6 gas. The contacts are kept in a chamber filled with SF6 gas at high pressure (may be up to 14kg/m2). SF6 gas is very useful for quenching the arc for its high dielectric strength and electronegativity . This types of circuit breakers are called SF6 circuit breaker.

What is Over Current Relay?

The name over current relay implies that this is a special type of protection which is used to protect the costly apparatus from the effect of huge current flow. Over current relays are those relays which operates during the excess current flow through the network and trips the circuit of circuit breaker, which isolates the faulty part of the network from the healthy part.

Now depending upon the time of operation i.e. operating time ( Actually operating time is time elapsed between the value of the current exceeding the actuating quantity and the time when the contacts of the relay is closed), over current relays are divided in i) Instantaneous over current relay As the name suggests this relay takes no intentional time to act or close the contacts of circuits breaker. The operating time of such relay is approximately 0.1 sec. ii) Inverse time current relay This type of relays operating time reduces as the actuating quantity i.e. the amount of current flow increases. It means that, for severe fault the operating time of the relay will be less and for minor fault the operating time will be more. iii) Inverse Definite Minimum Time Over Current Relay (IDMT) In this type of relay the operation and operating time is similar to inverse time over current relay near the pickup value but it becomes almost constantly increase. iv) Very Inverse Relays- As the name suggests, in this type of relay the saturation of the core occurs at a later stage and it has very inverse characteristics. v) Extremely Inverse Relay- The slope of time current graph is more than very inverse over current relay and for this the saturation of the core occurs at later stage.

How is electricity generated?

Electricity is generated mainly at power plants. We know there are different types of power plants depending upon the method of operation and equipments used. Now let us see the various types of power plants, there are hydel power plants, thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, windmill power plants etc. In thermal power plants coal or diesel is used as the fuel to heat up water and

produce

steam.

This

steam

helps

to

rotate

the

turbines.

In hydel power plant water is stored at specific height in dams which is released and water comes down at a very high speed and rotates the turbine. In nuclear power plants nuclear energy is used for electricity generation. In windmills the force of air rotates the wind turbines and in this way produces electricity by attaching the turbines with generators. Now, mainly thermal power plants are used widely because of the easy availability of fuel and coal, after that hydel power plants are popular. Nuclear power plants are also used but their use is limited because of natural causes and pollution concerns. Windmill power plant is getting popularity but the use is limited because of non availability of steady flow of natural air at all corners of this planet. We can see that in most of the cases electricity is generated by rotating the turbines. The main principle is same everywhere. This principle is Faradays Law of electromagnetic induction. We know that if any coil is rotated in the presence of an electric field then a current flows in the coil. This is the main principle of electricity generation.

Insulation of Cables
Insulation of cables is done mainly for safety reason i.e. to prevent direct contact with the current carrying conductor and any living or conducting material. The over head transmission and distribution lines are not provided with insulation because they hang pretty much above the ground and out of reach of common people. Insulation is done to underground cables and those cables which are used for domestic wiring. In underground cables there is 3 to 4 no. of cables kept together, so to prevent short circuit in between them, proper insulation is needed. And the domestic wires are insulated because there can be easy contact with these cables which can cause accident. The insulating materials which are used for insulating need to have certain characteristics which arei) ii) iii) They They need should High to have have high high mechanical insulation dielectric resistance. strength. strength.

iv) Should be chemically neutral.

Materials which are used for insulation are mainly vulcanized rubber, butyl rubber, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polythene, impregnated paper etc.

Line diagram of thermal power plant.

The electricity we use in our daily lives come to us after overcoming some certain steps. The main steps are generation, transmission, and distribution. The most important of them is generation. Power is generated at power plants. There are various types of power plants like thermal power plants( coal is used as fuel), hydel power plant(water force is used to rotate the turbine), nuclear power plants(nuclear energy is used), wind turbine plant, solar power plant. The most economical power plant is thermal power plant. The fuel (coal) is also not very costly. In thermal power plant coal is used as the fuel to heat up the water and produce the steam, which at high pressure rotates the turbine, the steam is then turned back into water by condenser and again used for producing steam. This whole process can be represented by a line diagram.

1. 3. heated

At This

first

coal

is

burnt steam is

and

the used to

boiler rotate into

is

heated the

up. turbine. steam.

2. Then steam at high pressure is produced and again this steam is superheated. superheated and 4. After rotating the turbine the steam condenses and come to low pressure which again is turned 5. The rotating turbine acts as the prime mover of the alternator. The line diagram of thermal power plant explains this in a lot easier way.

Location of power plants

.
types of power plants and their locations.

There are various types of power stations depending on the types of fuel used in them. And the locations of the power plants are very vital. Because depending on the location of power plants, the construction cost and running cost of a power plant is determined. Now we will discuss about various Thermal power plants:- Thermal power plants are the most economical power plants, coal is used as fuel heat up the boiler and produce steam. So in most of the cases thermal power plants are set up near mining areas, so that the carrying cost is minimum for them. As coal is burnt during the operation of the power plant many toxic gases are released into the nature, for this reason these are not build near towns or cities. Hydel power plants:- this type of power plants have very high construction cost because dams build to hold the river water. The location of the hydel power plants are so chosen that there is water in the river for maximum time of the year, so that there is minimum loss. Nuclear power plant:- the fuel used in nuclear power plants are radioactive materials. So, the main problems with them are the radioactive waste. So, while choosing the location of nuclear power plants, sufficient steps are taken to ensure the deposition of radioactive wastes and generally they are not located near populated areas. Solar power plants: These plants are constructed where sunlight can be obtained for maximum time in a year. Huge area is needed for them, so generally deserts ar other waste lands are ideal to build them. Wind power plants: The turbines are rotated by the winds, for that the power plants should be built where the speed of wind is maximum throughout the year (mainly costal area). These are how we choose locations of the power plants.

Skin effect and proximity effect of conductor

When direct current flows through a conductor, the current is uniformly distributed across the section of the conductor. In the case of alternating current, the outer portion of the conductor carries more current than inner portion of the conductor. This is because the inner portions of the conductor links more flux than the outer portion of the conductor. Hence inductance of inner portion of the conductor is more than that of the outer portion of the conductor. Actually center of the conductor links with maximum flux. But outer portion of the conductor does not link with the inner flux of the conductor. It links with only the fluxes outside the conductors. As the flux linkage is less in the outer portion, the inductance is less in the outer portion, hence

current tends to flow through this portion. As the current is not equally distributed across the cross section of the conductor, and the effective resistance of the conductors for alternating current increases. This phenomenon is known as skin effect of conductor.

The skin effect is due to unequal linkage of self flux. But there may be a situation, where a conductor links with flux due to current in any neighboring conductor. The portions of the conductor closer to neighboring conductor links with more flux of neighboring conductor. Due to this unequal flux linkage, the induction of the portion of the conductor closer to the neighboring conductor is more than that of farther portion; hence distribution of the current in the conductor is affected by flux due to current in the neighboring conductor. This phenomenon is commonly known as proximity effect.

What are different types of underground cable?

Generally, cables are mainly of two types, over head cable and underground cable. Overhead cables are not insulated and are connected with the transmission towers via different types of porcelain insulators to prevent grounding and short circuit of lines. This is the only reason why overhead transmission lines are less expensive and used more than underground cables. Whereas underground cables are fully covered by insulation. They are classified in different types of underground cabledepending upon the insulating materials used for insulation. Generally paper is most commonly used for the insulation. In general, underground cable is surrounded by paper and then impregnated with insulating compound and thereafter a metal sheath is applied. Three phase solid paper insulation are of two types: i) ii) shielded type. belted type and

Belted type consist of three conductors which are separately insulated. Then all the cables are insulated again with paper. Whereas in shielded type insulation, three cables are insulated and then they are kept together by a non-magnetic Armour. Typically, shielded type insulation is more preferred. After the solid paper insulation there is another type of insulation namely oil filled insulation. Oil is filled around the cables, which act as an insulating medium. Various steps are taken to measure the oil pressure. The disadvantage of this type of insulation is during contraction and expansion, there is a chance of leakage of oil which ultimately leads to fault. Another type of insulation is gas cushioned insulation. In this technique, cables are paper insulated and covered with rubber to prevent water from entering the cable. The pressure is maintained at about 14kg/cm2 and a clearance of about 0.175 cm is kept for single cables. For having high insulating property and high dielectric strength, SF6 gas is used in this type of cable insulation. This insulation can provide insulation for thousands of MVA.

What are the advantages of DC transmission?

Though high voltage DC generation is not possible, but still DC transmission leave various advantages over AC transmission, which are listed as follows: As there is no flux changing related with DC, so there is no inductance effect, no capacitance effect, and no phase displacement occurs and these causes less disturbances inductance effect in and DC capacitance transmission. effect. Voltage regulation is better in dc transmission because of the absence of DC transmission requires only two conductors where as ac transmission requires three wires, which indicates that the costing is less for dc transmission as compared to ac transmission. There is no corona or skin effect in dc system so, the full cross section of the wire is utilized and therefore they show less interference with communication circuits. Another advantage of DC transmission over ac transmission is that for the same voltage, the required insulation is less for dc transmission than ac transmission because the potential stress is less in case of dc than that of ac transmission.

What are the different steps of thermal power generation The total thermal generation process can be divided into two phases
1) Formation of steam in the boiler house.

2) Generation of electrical power in the generator room. Different steps of thermal power generation are listed below, a) First the preheated feed water is fed into boiler. b) Then this feed water is heated up in the boiler vessel, by the heat, produced by boiler furnace. The boiler furnace is fired by pulverized coal. c) As the water is heated up, steam is formed at high pressure and temperature. d) This steam is then passed through super heater where it further heated up. e) This super heated and highly pressurized steam then enters into turbine through steam NOZZLE. f) Here in the turbine, this steam forcefully rotates the turbine blades. g) Turbine blades assembly is mechanically coupled with alternator (generator) rotor shaft, hence the rotor rotates along with turbine blades assembly. h) As the rotor, rotates in alternator, electric power is generated, which can be fed to the power system network. i) The steam comes out from the turbine after doing its mechanical work for rotating turbine blades; it is fed to the condenser, where it becomes condensed in form of water. j) This water then again fed to the boiler via one feed water heater, as preheated feed water.

These are the primary functional steps of thermal power generation.

What are the types of distribution system

After generation and transmission of the power the next step is distribution, i.e. distributing the power to the consumers. Perhaps it is the most important step of all. The main aim of designing distribution system is to send power economically and uninterruptedly to all the consumer. There are generally two types of distribution network, namely, radial and interconnected. A radial network is basically a single line network. A distribution network can be termed as radial when there is only one supply to that area, that means there is no supply from any other source to that area. The main disadvantage of this type of distribution system is that, in case of any fault the whole area under that distribution network has to be shut down for the maintenance purpose. On the other hand interconnected network is that network which has more than one source. The main aim of this network is that, even during fault of one source, uninterrupted power distribution is possible from the another source.

What are the Various Sources of Electric Power Generating System

Power is generated at power plants. After generating, power is transmitted to substations via transmission lines, and from distribution substations power is distributed to consumers (commercial and domestic both). Till today electricity is generated at power plants by Faradays law of electromagnetic induction, which says that when a loop wire is turning in a magnetic field, it induces a current in that loop. Now, in general electromechanical generators are used to generate electricity in the power stations, those are driven by turbines, which are made to rotate by external influence which are discussed below.

There are various types of power plants such as hydraulic power plants, thermal power plants, wind mill, nuclear power plants etc. In hydraulic power plant water stored by dams are made to rotate the turbine and the turbine is directly coupled with the generator. In this way, the generators generates the electricity. In thermal power plants, steam is produced in boilers after combustion of coal or fuel. Then that steam is used to rotate the turbine. In wind mill, natural air circulation helps the turbines to rotate and thus the electricity is produced. In nuclear power plants, nuclear fusion or fission is done to produce huge energy which then is then used to rotate the generator to generate electricity.

What are types of insulators?

Insulators are used in the transmission lines to insulate the transmission lines from ground. Insulators are generally connected with the power line at one end and with the tower at other end. Normally the insulators are made of glazed porcelain or toughened glass because their high insulating property and high dielectric strength. High dielectric strength is required to prevent thermal and electrical breakdown due to huge electrical stress. Depending upon the design, there are various types of insulators, these are (i) Pin type, (ii) Suspension type and (iii) Strain type. (i) Pin type: Pin type insulators are mounted on top of the electrical towers and the power line is rested on the top of the insulator. The pin type insulators can withstand upto 33kv. (ii) Suspension type : Conductors hang from the end of these type of insulators. These insulators are free to swing. They can operate beyond 33kv. These type of insulators are made of several units which individually can withstand 11kv and lining them one after another, the required insulation can be obtained.

(iii) Strain type: The design of strain type insulator are identical to that of suspension type insulators. The only difference between these two is that, suspension type insulator hangs vertically where as strain type insulators are kept horizontally. These are mainly used at the terminals or at line junctions, at angled towers etc. Many times parallel set of insulator are used to withstand the high voltage.

What is lightning arrestor ?

Lightning arrestor is a device which is mainly installed across each phase and earth at the entry of the transmission line to the sub station yard. It can also be seen at HV and LV sides of all power transformer installed at the sub station. The modern LA is generally made of gap less ZnO. In this type of Lightning Arrestor required number of ZnO or zinc oxide discs are kept inside a hollow cylinder of insulated material such as porcelain. The column of ZnO discs is kept under spring pressure at its top or bottom under the hollow cylinder to ensure no gap between the discs in the column. ZnO has such a property that it behaves as short circuit during transient surge over voltage and over frequency of the power system and becomes like normal insulator when transient surge voltage is over. So when lightning strikes on the overhead transmission line, the over voltage impulse travel toward both ends of the line and bypasses through the lightning arrestor to ground at the entry of the sub station. As the transformer is the costliest equipment installed in the system, for better protection of each transformer is equipped with lightning arrestor at its both HV and LV sides.

What is pin type insulator and where it is used?

Insulators are used in power system to isolate the transmission line from ground or electric tower. There are various types of insulators available in the market. Depending upon the stress applied and mechanical strength, insulators are chosen among pin type, suspension type and strain type insulators. Among these pin type insulators are easy to produce and also from economic point of view, it is cheaper than any other types of insulators. In pin type insulator, the wire is rested on top of the insulator. To rest the wire on top of the insulator, a groove is made. The insulator does not hang or does not have any tangential force around it, the only

stress that fall on the insulator is the weight of the wire, that is rested on the top of it. As the pin type insulators are kept in open air, to overcome the problem due to wet atmosphere, complex slots and grooves are used in the insulator. Pin type insulators are used as a single unit, i.e. if any fault occurs, the entire set has to be changed. Pin type insulators are not used beyond 33kv lines, because of the above mentioned reason. Below 33kv line pin type insulators are ideal to use.

What is proximity effect in transmission lines? Proximity means nearness in space or time, so as the name suggests, proximity effect in transmission lines indicates the effect in one conductor for other neighboring conductors. When the alternating current is flowing through a conductor, alternating magnetic flux is generated surrounding the conductor. This magnetic flux associates with the neighboring wires and generates a circulating current (it can be termed as eddy current also). This circulating current increases the resistance of the conductor and push away the flowing current through the conductor, which causes the crowding effect.
When the gaps between two wires are greater the proximity effect is less and it rises when the gap reduces.

Proximity Effect

It is shown from the above picture that flux due to central conductor links with right side conductor. In a two wire system more lines of flux link elements farther apart than the elements nearest to each other as shown above. Therefore, the inductance of the elements farther apart is more as compared to the elements near to each other and hence the current

density is less in the elements farther apart than the the current density in the element near to each other. As a result the effective resistance of the conductor is increased due to non uniform distribution of current. This phenomenon is actually referred as proximity effect. This effect is pronounced in the case of cables where the distance between the conductor is small whereas proximity effect in transmission lines in the case of overhead system, with usual spacing is negligibly small.

What is pulverized coal ?

Pulverized coal generally describes powdered coal. Pulverized coal is generally used in cyclone fired boilers. Low quality coals, which are not suitable for general combustion used for pulverized coal combustion. Using pulverized coal as fuel is termed as Pulverized coal injection (PCI). This type of coal is produced by crushing the coal grates gradually, and then the crushed coal is dried with the help of hot air and then mixed with preheated air and then blown into the furnace.

After that the combustion process is done. The main advantage of using pulverized coal is, the of furnace area is fully utilized as well as the utilization of fuel is done also i.e. almost 95% of the fuel injected is utilized in this process. In general the overall efficiency of the boiler increases also.

What is suspension type insulator and where it is used?

Suspension type insulators are also termed as disk type insulators. Disks can be said as the units of suspension type insulators. As the name suggests, suspension type insulators are free to swing and keep hanging from the cross arm of the transmission tower. One end of the insulator is connected with the transmission tower and at the other end is holds the conductor. The main advantage of this suspension type insulator is that as soon as the conductor or the insulator swings by any external force (such as wind, rain etc.),

the stress at the point of attachment of the conductor and the insulator reduces radically compared to pin type insulators and as a result the longevity of the insulator and the network increases. Suspension type insulators are used when the operating voltage is more than 33kv. Each of the disks are designed to withstand 11kv. The no. of disks can be increased depending upon the voltage. For example, if the voltage of the transmission line is 132kv then maximum no. of suspension type disks required, 132/11=12 and these discs will provide sufficient insulation for the system.

What is the molecular geometry of sf6 ?

Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) is a non flammable, odorless, electronegative, non-polar gas. Electron Geometry of SF6 gas: Octahedral Hybridization:

It has a symmetric charge distribution around the central atom. The following figures describes the structure better.

Why sf6 gas is used in circuit breaker?

Mainly in a circuit breaker the medium is used to extinguish the arc and provide adequate insulation between the contacts and from each contact to earth. Normally used insulation mediums are air, oil and SF6. Preferably, SF6 gas is used in circuit breaker because of the following reasons, Very high dielectric strength

Dielectric strength of an insulating material is determined by the maximum electric field it can withstand intrinsically without losing its insulating capability. The dielectric strength of SF6 at normal pressure and temperature is 2 -3 times compared to that of air. Very good arc quenching ability As SF6 is an electromagnetic gas, it has an affinity for the free electrons. During the operation of circuit breaker there is a huge amount of free electrons present in the arcing region, the main aim of the circuit breaker is to extinguish the arc. SF6 at high pressure absorbs the electrons and forms SF6 The SF6 SF6 + e ? SF5- + F Excellent thermal stability SF6 gas decomposed thermally at a temperature of about 500 degree centigrade, which is pretty high. The gas also works as a cooling agent during the operation as it absorbs energy during the absorption of electrons. The thermal time constant of SF6 is low and for this the pressure at which it can be stored are lower compared to that of air. This also ensures the small size of the circuit breaker. Great thermal conductivity Excellent heat transfer properties are seen in SF6 gases because of its high molecular weight and its low gaseous viscosity, which enables it to transfer heat by convection more effectively than other gases. reaction + may occur e in the ? following ways SF6-

What is the purpose of Insulator?

Insulators are generally made of non conduction materials like porcelain, glass, wood and plastic. Insulators have vast usage in the power system. Actually, in the generating stations, in the transmission lines, in the distribution substations and finally to consumer household, everywhere insulators are used.

The main purpose of insulators is to limit the current. In generating stations insulators are used to isolate the high voltage operated machines from grounding to increase the safety factor of the workers working at the power station i.e. providing them safety from huge amount of current as well as to secure the economical aspects. In transmission lines insulators are used to isolate power lines from the towers and ground. Various types of insulators are made from porcelain and glasses. Different types of insulator that are used in transmission lines are pin type, suspension type, shackle type. In consumer households the insulators are used in wires and switches to prevent the user from getting shock. These insulators are made of non conducting material. So, the main purpose of an insulator is to isolate the current from being ground anywhere before the circuit completion. Besides these insulators are essential for safety and they prevent direct contact from live wires.

What is the purpose of step up transformer in electrical power system?

The main use of transformer in electrical power system is to produce the needed voltage level. Some time voltage is needed to be increased or decreased than the available voltage level. Depending on the operation, transformers can be divided into two types, (i) Step up transformer,

(ii) Step down transformer. As the name suggests, the step up transformers are used to step up the voltage level. These are also termed as power transformer when used in power plants. Similarly step down transformers are used to step down or bring down the voltage. Now, coming to the step up transformer, they are used in electrical power system at generation level. When power is generated at power plants the voltage level is pretty low. So when they are transmitted from generation station to distribution substation, power is reduced due to the different types of losses and the voltage of the receiving end decreases radically and thus the economic purpose is also not served.

Thats why step up transformers are introduced at the power plants to step up the voltage level before transmission. So, the receiving end voltage is not decreased too much. Again as this high voltage cannot be used directly, so voltage is again stepped down by step down transformer before distribution.

What should be the proper definition of electric field?

Actually, field means the certain area which is influenced by some energy. Electric field is the force produced by electric, more specifically by electric charge. Michael Faraday introduced the concept of this electric field. The force which acts between two charges is due to electric field. Direction of the field is determined by the direction of the force. It is exerting on a positive test charge. The direction of the electric field force is represented by electric field lines. The electric field lines originate from the positive charge and terminates at The E q electric F the is the is field is Where, the force (F) the electric electric is negative expressed electric field in charge by the formula in or in force N/C charge. F= Eq newtons Volts/m coulombs.

Basically, electric field force is determined by the amount of work done is needed to introduce a positive charge from infinity into the electric field. The more the work done is needed, more is the intensity of the electric field and more is the power of that electric field , similarly if very less amount of work is needed, then it can be said that the electric field is pretty weak. A positive unit electric charge and a unit negative charge has equal but opposite amount of electric field force.

Why insulator can not conduct electricity?

In insulator, the atoms are electrically much stable. The other most shell of the atoms are completed. So there is no chance of gaining or loosing electron by these atoms. In other words, the forbidden band gap between valance band and conduction band is sufficient large in insulator. The energy required by the electrons to cross over to the conduction band is

impractically large. That is why insulators can not conduct electric current easily. Wood, Glass, Plastic, Mica are well known example of insulator.

Write something about stringing of conductors

Actually, from the power station to the distribution substation or from the distribution substation to the house of the consumers, power is transferred via transmission lines. Various precautions and steps are taken to install the conductors successfully. The transmission line towers are installed at the ground and at a suitable location is calculated as the high voltage overhead conductors are attached with them. The next step is that, the rolled conductors are taken out from drums and they are hung from the cross arms on level with the clamps with extreme precautions, so that the conductors are not damaged. Then the hanging conductors are adjusted i.e. the height and sag and the tension on the conductors are corrected and at last the conductors are transferred from the snatch blocks to the conductors. After that the sag is measured and corrected again. Then dampers are installed in the line to ensure the safety of the transmission lines. And in this way stringing of conductors is done.