The Electric Transporting process in the

national power grid

lvaro Puertas de la Morena
N de matrcula: 49875





INDEX:
1. Brief description of the electric energy and the power grid from power plants to
customers.
2. How the energy is transported in the different areas of the power grid. Pros and cons
of the different ways to do it.
3. Different types of aerial power lines, simple and double circuit, simplex and duplex.
4. References.
1. Brief Description
The electricity is the most important type of energy in our world. Everyone needs
this energy to light their house, to cook, to charge their electrical devices, etc.
The electricity is generated in power plants so far away from where is going to be
used. It is produced by synchronous generators using diesel, natural gas or
renewables.
Therefore it is needed to be transported from the generation to the customer, and
this problem is solved by the power lines.
The electric power is represented by the voltage and the current. You can get the
same energy with high levels of volts and less current; and with high levels of
current and less voltage. Also, with high levels of current the energy dissipation
because of the Ohm law is big; and in the opposite way, if the current is less the
energy dissipation would be less too. As we need to transport a huge amount of
energy from the power plants, in order to not lose so much energy in this process,
we increase the voltage and decrease the current.
This is why the voltage of the power grid outside the cities is really high in order to
decrease the energy dissipation in the process of transporting.
There is a scheme of the power grid below:


As it shows, there are several voltages steps. In the generation process, the voltage
is 10kV to 50 kV. Then, in the same power plant there is a transformer which
increases the voltage level to 220 kV, 400 kV. This voltage levels are typical to
transporting process.
Then, near the cities, there are power substations which transform 220 kV, 400 kV
to 66kV, 45 kV, 20 kV. We are now in the distribution process.
There is still another voltage transformation, which is done by the transformations
centers, near the houses. They transform 20 kV to 400V, which is the voltage level
we need.

2. The process of transporting the energy
As mentioned, there are several voltages levels depending on where you are in the
power grid scheme.
The electricity is transported by the power lines. There are two ways of power
lines: aerial and subterranean power lines.
As it can be imaged, the aerial power lines are several meters above the floor. The
electricity is transported by the conductors which are supported by mechanic
towers as it shows in the picture:


This kind of power lines can go for hundreds of kilometers. Also, there are too
many types of aerial power lines to cover all the voltage levels. Usually the aerial
power lines connect power substations.
The subterranean power lines transport the electricity below the floor. While the
conductors in the aerial power lines are free, the subterranean conductors are
insulated. There is a scheme below:




1. Aluminum conductor
2. Plastic insulation
3. Common conductor cover
4. Concentric conductor of aluminum flat wires (armouring)
5. Protection against corrosion
6. Plastic sheath

The subterranean power lines usually covers hundreds of meters. Also, the
subterranean power lines can conduct the electricity in all of the voltage levels in
the power grid.
The subterranean power lines are used majority in the cities where it is forbidden
to install aerial lines, or outside the cities, when the aerial power lines have to
cross something below the floor like a highway.
Commonly, it is used the aerial power lines because of the prize. There is much
cheaper to install aerial rather than subterranean and have less maintenance
service.
Also, the subterranean power lines are usually in a fire hazard and this is why they
are as much as possible fire insulated.
Usually, the subterranean power lines at the cities are installed in subterranean
galleries and distribute the electricity to every street.




In this places, it is extremely important the fire insulation of the cables.
For the people to access to these galleries, it is extremely important to control the
air quality. Sometimes there is a lack of oxygen or high levels of nitrogen. This
problem is solved by using an air detector which informs of the air quality.

3. Different types of aerial power lines
As mentioned, the aerial power lines are used commonly outside the cities and
with high voltage levels. There are different conductors considering the voltage
and the conductance capacity.
The mechanical towers which support the conductors are mathematically the most
difficult problem to solve when designing an aerial power line. It is needed to be
calculated all the mechanical efforts, the mechanical torque, etc. Also, the Spanish
standardization demands to consider high wing speeds, ice, and other factors that
affect the mechanical towers.
There are two types of mechanical towers depending on the different function
they do: Suspension towers or Anchorage towers.
The first one is used when the mechanical efforts are not high. Usually they are
installed on a straight section of the line. The anchorage towers are installed when
the mechanical efforts are stronger. This kind of efforts is usually to appear when
the line does an angle, or when the spans are long.


Suspension tower


Anchorage tower

Note that the chains used to insulate the conductors to both towers are, in the
case of the suspension chains vertical, and in the anchorage chains horizontal. Of
course, the suspension towers are cheaper than the anchorage towers.

The Spanish standardization for aerial power lines (RLAT) also requires a minimum
distance between the conductors and the floor, between other power lines,
between highways, rivers, etc. To solve this, it is needed to calculate all the
catenaries between each mechanical tower.
Also, there are several configurations considering the number of circuits the aerial
power line can take, or the number of conductors per phase. This is illustrated in
the pictures:

Considering the number of circuits:


Simple circuit Double circuit


Considering the number of conductors per phase:


Duplex Triplex

Of course, depending on which configuration you install, the transporting capacity
will increase or decrease. Sometimes, it is installed a double circuit although there
is no need of more power. This is because the aerial power lines have a strong
visual impact, and it is preferred to install more power transporting capacity at the
beginning rather than install another power line because of an increase of energy
demand in a zone.
The designing of this kind of power lines is both an electric engineering and civil
engineering project. The power line has to connect two geographic points. This
demand to consider where is going to be the best way to connect them,
considering different problems: rivers, mountains, other power lines, highways and
the worse: the private properties. The last one usually represents a lot of legal
problems and the engineers usually pay money for the concessions.


















4. References

Reglamento Electrotcnico para Alta Tensin (RLAT).
Images from www.iberdrola.es.
Real Decreto 1955/2000 por el que se regular las actividades de transporte,
distribucin, comercializacin, suministro y procedimientos de autorizacin
de instalaciones de energa elctrica.
Documentation of the subjet Clculo y diseo de Lneas Elctricas de Alta
Tensin.
http://www.textoscientificos.com/fisica/transmision-energia/lineas-alta-
tension