BY

Mweu Irene Nduku

F17/10484/2003

Supervisor: Mr. N.S. Walkade

Examiner:Dr. Abungu
Transmission lines are mainly used to convey electrical power between two points. They
are usually a set of wires made of good electrical conductors such as copper or
aluminium with insulation. The electrical power can be transmitted through overhead
lines or underground cables. Transmission is done by three-phase three-wire
overhead lines. This project deals with overhead lines.
The objectives of the project were:

} To understand the working and design of electrical power transmission lines.

} To study the parameters of transmission lines.

} To develop a software package to be used for the line parameter determination for
standard operating voltage levels and line configuration in use by KPLC to be used
as an input.
The performance of a transmission line greatly depends on four parameters which
affect the bus voltage and the flow of power;

Ø Resistance

Ø Capacitance

Ø Inductance

Ø Conductance

The conductance of an overhead line is assumed to be zero since it accounts for the
leakage current which is negligible. The parameters are uniformly distributed along
the line but are considered to be lumped for the purpose of analysis.
This is the opposition of line conductors to the flow of current. It is the main cause of
power loss in a transmission line. The d.c. Resistance is given by ;
R = ρl/A
where r is the resistivity

l is the length of the conductor

A is the cross sectional area of the conductor

For direct current, there is uniform distribution of current throughout the cross section
of the conductor .For alternating current, there is non uniformity of distribution of
current due to increase in frequency and this leads to skin effect.
This is the flux linkages per unit current. When alternating current flows through a
conductor, a changing flux is set up which links the conductor hence inductance.
Inductance, L=
Where Ψ = flux linkages in Weber-turns
I = current in amperes
The magnetic lines of force existing both inside and outside a conductor due to a
current passing through it contribute to the total inductance.
Lint = 10-7 H/m
Lext = 2 x10-7 ln H/m
There are different methods for calculating inductance for different transmission lines;
ØInductance of a single-phase two-wire line

ØInductance of three-phase lines with equilateral spacing

ØInductance of three-phase lines with unsymmetrical spacing

ØInductance of bundled conductors where we have two-strand,

Three-strand and four-strand bundle

ØInductance of parallel-circuit three-phase lines

 The capacitance between conductors is the charge per unit of potential difference.
This is as a result of the potential difference between the conductors; it causes them
to be charged in the same manner as the plates of a capacitor when there is a
potential difference between them. For different transmission lines the capacitance
is calculated differently.
Ø Capacitance of a two-wire line
Ø Capacitance of a three-phase line with equilateral spacing
Ø Capacitance of a three-phase line with unsymmetrical spacing
Ø Capacitance of three-phase transmission line with effect of the earth
Ø Capacitance of bundled conductors
Ø Capacitance of parallel-circuit three-phase lines
 Short Transmission lines
For all types of problems it is usually safe to apply the short transmission line
analysis to lines up to 50 km in length or all lines of voltages less than about 20 kV.
The equivalent circuit is ;

From the circuit the sending end voltage and current are;
IS = IR
VS =VR +IRZ
This is an overhead transmission line whose length is about 50 to 150 km and the

line voltage is moderately high, between 20kV and 100kV.

Nominal T method

Here, the whole line capacitance is assumed to be concentrated at the middle point
of the line and half the line resistance and reactance are lumped on as shown in the
equivalent circuit. The sending end voltage and current are;
VS = V1 + IS

IS = IR + IC
 Nominal π method
In this method, capacitance of each conductor, that is, line to neutral is divided into
two halves; one half being lumped at the sending end and the other half at the
receiving end as shown in the equivalent circuit. The sending end current and
voltage are;

IS = IL + IC2

VS = VR + ILZ
 When the length of an overhead transmission line is about 150 km and line voltage
is very high, greater than 100kV, it is considered as a long transmission line.
Expressions for sending end voltage and current are;

VS = VR cosh + IR sinh
IS = VR sinh + IR cosh
A transmission line is a four-terminal network ; two input terminals where power
enters the network and two output terminals where power leaves the network.

Therefore, the input voltage (VS) and input current (IS) of a three phase transmission
line can be expressed as:

VS = AVR + BIR

IS = CVR +DIR
A, B, C and D (generally complex numbers) are the constants known as
generalised circuit constants of the transmission line. A and D are dimensionless
while B and C are in ohms and Siemens respectively. For a given transmission line,
A=D
AD – BC = 1
For a short line, the constants are given as;
A=1;
B=Z;
C = 0 ; and
D=1
For medium lines using T network ;
A=D= ;
B=Z ;
C = Y;
Using the π network;
A=D=
B = Z;
C=Y ;
For Long lines using the hyperbolic form of the equation the constants are;

A = D = cosh ;

B= sinh ;

C= sinh ;
 Definition
A software package to be used for the line parameter determination for standard
operating voltage levels and line configuration in use by KPLC to be used as an
input can be visualised as one that can calculate the parameters themselves and the
generalised constants. For the different configurations as seen from the equations,
the software will require the user to enter the resistivity, length, area, distance
between conductors, GMR, GMD, radius of the conductors and distance above the
ground in the case of evaluating the parameters. For the determination of the
generalised constants, the resistance, reactance and shunt admittance are entered by
the user
The framework chosen for the development of this software was Visual studio
2005.net using the C # programming language.
The software was tested for the resistance, capacitance, inductance and the

generalized constants using some examples. For all the calculations, the errors
ranged from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 0.736. Therefore the average error is
given as 0.0715 % which is an accuracy of 99.93%.This means that the software
has a very good level of accuracy and thus can be used.
The relationship between the transmission line parameters and the operating
voltage together with the line configuration has been established from the
background theory given. From the results, the software gives almost 100%
accuracy for the calculation of the parameters and the generalized constants of
the short, long and medium transmission lines.

The objective of this project has been achieved since the user can determine the
line parameters which can be used as inputs in determining the voltage profile
for the lines. This is provided the user enters the values required by the
software. This means that the user must possess some prior knowledge of the
transmission line representation so as to enter the correct values.
The software can be made to be more multipurpose by improving on the
following:
Ø It could be improved to also give the voltage and current profile so as to
make it more useful and complete.
Ø In the case of the determination of capacitance and inductance of the
lines the software could be improved so that it can give these values for
different arrangements of conductors. For instance for the case of parallel-
circuit three-phase lines.
Ø It could also be improved to give the reactive capacitance, inductive
reactance, capacitive susceptance and the charging current.