CALCULATING CONDUCTOR CORONA NOISE IN POWER LINE

CARRIER SYSTEMS ON AC TRANSMISSION LINES

RG Urban HC Reader JP Holtzhausen AC Britten R Hubbard

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering ESKOM ENTERPRISES (PTY) LTD
University of Stellenbosch TSI Division
Private Bag X1, Matieland Private Bag 40175
7602 Cleveland 2022

Abstract. High electrical stresses applied to the surfaces of high voltage AC transmission lines cause corona
discharges near the surfaces. These partial discharges induce fast transient current pulses in the conductors. The
induced pulses propagate in both directions along the multi- conductor transmission line. The corona pulse sources
are uncorrelated and uniformly distributed along the line. This paper investigates a possible method of calculating
the level of noise generated in a typical power line carrier system. The Gary excitation function and the theory of
natural modes are used. Finally a noise calculation for the Acacia-Koeberg transmission line is presented.

Key Words. Corona noise; excitation function; natural modes.

1. INTRODUCTION 2. TWO-WIRE TRANSMISSION LINE MODELS

High electrical gradients occur on the surfaces of
high voltage transmission line conductors. These
gradients cause ionization of the adjacent air. If the Z.dx
gradients are sufficient to facilitate self-sustaining
discharge mechanisms, partial or corona discharges J g .dx Y.dx
occur. Transmission line conductor corona is
responsible for many macroscopic phenomena on AC
transmission systems. One of the phenomena that
will be studied in this paper is the radio influence
voltage (RIV) in the single sideband (SSB) Figure 1: Distributed element model of a two-wire transmission
modulated power line carrier (PLC) transceivers. The line with RIC injection element.
RIV appears as wideband random noise across the An electrically large two-wire transmission line is
terminals of the PLC transceivers. The latter are used modelled with distributed elements in figure 1. RIC
for teleprotection and high frequency communication injection ( J g ) is included as a shunt current source.
on the transmission network in the frequency range
50kHz to 500kHz. This model is described by two coupled first order
differential equations, the telegraphers equations [4]:
The RIV level will be calculated using a numerical
dV
simulation code based on the EPRI approach [1]. The = Z ( ) I (1)
approach adopts a simplified phasor domain model dx
for the electrically large transmission line and utilizes dI
the theory of natural modes [2] to find the modal = Y ( )V + J g (2)
radio interference current (RIC) distribution along the dx
transmission line. where V , I and J g are phasors. The RIC term in
The physical corona discharge and coupling equation 2 complicates the solution of the two
processes, which cause RIC in the conductors, are coupled equations. If this term is removed,
complex and cannot be efficiently modelled propagation along the transmission line is fully
computationally. The Gary excitation function model described by an attenuation and phase constant [2]:
[3] is used instead. This model utilizes RIV
measurements made in a corona cage to find the RIC ( + j ) = YZ (3)
injection per unit length along the transmission line.
The analysis is therefore greatly simplified.
The inclusion of a RIC element into a two-wire
transmission line model is discussed in section 2. The io io
model is expanded to a multi-conductor transmission
line using the theory of natural modes in section 3. P
Extraction of the model parameters is presented in is
section 4. The RIC element extraction requires a s s
detailed discussion of the Gary excitation function
and will therefore be presented separately in section
5. The PLC system model is derived in section 6. Figure 2: Discrete corona current sources on a two-wire
Finally the conductor noise in the PLC system of the transmission line (after [1]).
Acacia-Koeberg transmission line is calculated and Since the random RIC sources are uncorrelated, the
compared to actual measurements in section 7. total current flow at any point along the transmission
line equals the square root of the sum of the square of
each current source [1]. An infinitely long two-wire the modal RIC distribution of the p conductor
transmission line with attenuation constant and transmission line. The modal current transformation
uniformly distributed RIC sources, is , is illustrated in matrix is used to diagonalize the propagation matrix
figure 2. The total RIC at point P in the limit as the and produce the eigenvalue matrix [2]:
source separation tends to zero (i.e. s 0 ) is [1]:
[ ] = [E I ]1 [P ][E I ] (8)
0 is 1 ig
I s
= (4) The attenuation and propagation constants of the i th
s 2 2 propagation mode are then equal to the square root of
The RIC at any point along the transmission line is the i th eigenvalue [2]:
known if the attenuation constant and the RIC
generation (i.e. i g ) are known. It is therefore not i + i i = i (9)
necessary to solve coupled equations 1 and 2.
The corona current generation and attenuation
Instead, the RIC source element in figure 1 is omitted
and the attenuation constant of the two-wire constants of the RIC modes are therefore found by
calculating the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the
transmission line, without RIC injection, is obtained
propagation matrix respectively. The RIC on the
from equation 3. The total RIC on the transmission
line is then calculated with equation 4. transmission line is then obtained from modal RIC
distribution [2]:
3. MULTI-CONDUCTOR TRANSMISSION [ I ] = [ E I ][ I m ] (10)
LINES: THEORY OF NATURAL MODES
Equation 4 can only be used to find the RIC of a 4. EXTRACTING MODEL ELEMENTS
transmission line for which a single attenuation
constant can be obtained. Realistic transmission lines, The extraction of the series impedance and shunt
however, comprise multiple phase conductors (m ), admittance matrices of the multi-conductor
shield conductors (n ) and an earth return. It would transmission line will be described in this section.
thus appear that to find the RIC on a multi-conductor The RIC generation matrix will be extracted from
transmission line, m + n coupled differential corona cage RIV measurements using the Gary
equations, of which equations 1 and 2 are the general excitation function method. This is an important
form, must be solved simultaneously. aspect of this research and will be dealt with
separately in the next section.
The theory of natural modes states that for a system
of p = m + n conductors, p orthogonal electro-
magnetic propagation modes exist. In light of the 4 5
d12
theory presented in the previous section, a multi- ( x2 , y 2 )
conductor transmission line can be analyzed as a set ( x1 , y1 )
1 2 3
of uncoupled current distributions, each with its own
attenuation constant. The RIC in each mode is conductor
calculated in equation 4 using the RIC generation and space
attenuation constant for each propagating mode. D12
Substituting equation 1 into the modified equation 2 ground plane
(i.e. with the RIC term omitted), the RIC on a multi-
conductor transmission line is described by [2]:
image
2 space
d
[I ] = [Y ][Z ][ I ] (5) 1i 2i
dz 2 3i

[Y ] and [ Z ] are the shunt admittance and series 4i 5i

impedance matrices, respectively, that describe the
multi-conductor transmission line.
The propagation matrix is defined as [2]:
[ P] = [Y ][ Z ]
and the modal RIC matrix as [2]:
[ I m ] = [ E I ] 1[ I ]
where [ E I ] is the modal current transformation
matrix. The columns of the modal current
transformation matrix are the p orthogonal
eigenvectors of the propagation matrix and describe
Figure 3: Schematic diagram of a typical transmission line
showing the line charges, image charges and dimensions.
It is assumed that the transmission line conductors
(6) and earth return path have no significant dielectric
properties. The admittance matrix elements are
therefore dependent only on the transmission line
(7) geometry. Using the dimensions defined in figure 3
and the method of images, these elements are [2]:
2 0
[Y ] = j i, j {1, 2,...}
( )
(11)
ln D ij / dij
Elements of the series impedance matrix comprise a
geometrical term ( Z g ) and terms due to ohmic losses
in the transmission line conductors (Z c ) and earth
return path ( Z e ) [2]:

[Z ] = [Z i ] + [Ze ] + [Z g ] (12)

Using the method of images, the dimensions defined

in figure 3 and with a conductor permeability c [2]:

j c Dij
( Z g ) ij = ln
d
i j (13)
2 ij
Figure 4: Plot of the excitation function vs. surface gradient
j c 2D ii extracted from the ESKOM corona cage for a twin-dinosaur
( Z g ) ii = ln (14) conductor bundle (f = 0.5 MHz) and L50 wet conditions.
2 r
The generation function () of a bundled conductor
The impedance due to the ohmic losses in the
is extracted from the corona cage RIV [3]:
conductors needs to account for the losses due to
bulk current flow at low frequencies, current flow in 2 0
the skin depth at high frequencies, and the transition = Ig (17)
C
between these states at intermediate frequencies. This
is achieved with a hyperbolic cotangent function [2]: where C is the capacitance of the coaxial corona
cage. An excitation function from the ESKOM
c 0.777 r corona cage is plotted in figure 4. It is assumed that
Zi = coth +K
(15)
2req d c dc the spacing between conductors, in both the corona
cage and transmission line, does not change. Sag and
where c and d c are the resistivity and skin depth wind effects are therefore ignored in this study.
of the conductors respectively. Finally, the Since the discharges are uncorrelated, the total RIC
impedance due to ohmic losses in the earth return is on a conductor due to corona activity on all
accounted for in the Gary-Dubanton formulation by conductors equals the square root of the sum of the
replacing Dij in equation 13 with [2]: square of the RIC on that conductor:

Dij/ = ( y i + y j + 2d e ) 2 + ( xi x j ) 2 I C 1Total = I C11 + I C12 + ... + I C1m+ n (18)

2 2 2
(16)

where d e is the skin depth of the earth return where I Cxy is the RIC on conductor x due to corona
conductor. A single homogenous earth layer will be activity on conductor y . The RIC on all p
used for all simulations presented in this paper. conductors due to corona activity on conductor 1 is:

I C11 1 C11 1
5. GARY EXCITATION FUNCTION
RIC is caused by the movement of electrons and
I
C 21 = 1 [ C ] 0 = 1 C 211 (19)
: 2 0 2 :
space charge generated by corona discharges in the
inter-electrode gaps. The RIC characteristics (i.e. I Cp1 0 C p1 1
pulse shape and amplitude) are primarily dependent
on basic discharge properties and the self and mutual Equations 18 and 19 are used to calculate the corona
capacitive coupling of the conductors. If the most current generation on each conductor.
important conditions facilitating the corona process
on a transmission line are recreated in another 6. PLC SYSTEM MODELLING
structure (e.g. a corona cage), then the basic corona
I
process will be replicated in that structure. These
corona cage discharge conditions include ambient Z1 +
weather conditions, pressure and statistical corona
Y2 Y1 Y
source distribution along the conductor length. The V
fundamental generation process (i.e. the excitation
-
function) can therefore be de-embedded from corona
cage RIV measurements and by calculating the
capacitive coupling matrix for both parallel Line Coupling
trap equipment
conductor systems. This concept is the basis of the
excitation function method proposed by Gary in [3]. Figure 5: Equivalent lumped parameter circuit for the PLC
decoupling equipment (after [6]).
Corona cage design is discussed in [5].
Having calculated the RIC on each conductor at the
transmission line termination, the only outstanding
task is to model the PLC decoupling equipment. This
consists of the line trap and coupling equipment.
Since these components are electrically small across
the PLC frequency band, the lumped parameter
model in figure 5 is used. The extraction of each
component is described in [6]. The transfer
impedance of the PLC system model is:
Zt =
V
=
1
(20)
I (Y 1.Z1.( 2.Y 1 + Y ) + Y 2 + Y )
The corona noise therefore appears as a wideband
voltage across the terminals of the PLC receiver
which has an input impedance of 75 .
7. NOISE CALCULATION ON THE ACACIA-
KOEBERG TRANSMISSION LINE
Corona noise measurements were made by Mr. W de
Villiers on the Acacia-Koeberg transmission line. A
comparison between these measurements and a noise
simulation for this transmission line will be made in
this section to determine the accuracy of the
simulation program described in this paper.
Figure 6: Comparison of the measured predicted RIV in the PLC
system on the Acacia-Koeberg transmission line.
The RIV measurement plotted in figure 6 was
measured under fair weather conditions in a 3.1 kHz
bandwidth at 2.5 kHz intervals in the PLC frequency
band from 50 kHz to 500 kHz. The narrowband PLC
communication signals of the transmission line and
neighbouring lines are visible as large peaks. The
corona noise level is found between these peaks. The
predicted RIV level in the PLC bandwidth and an
equivalent measurement bandwidth is plotted with a
dotted line in figure 6. The two curves compare well
with a maximum discrepancy of 10dBV between
the measured and predicted values.
8. CONCLUSIONS
RIC generation is introduced into a transmission
line model as a distributed shunt current source
element.
The solution of the coupled differential
equations is simplified by omitting the shunt RIC
element from the model and recognizing that the
total RIC for a uniform distribution of
uncorrelated RIC generation sources equals the
square root of the sum of the square of each
individual RIC generation element.
The multi-conductor transmission line analysis is
facilitated by decomposing the RIC distribution
into modal RIC distributions as described in the
theory of natural modes.
The RIC generation element can be derived from
corona cage RIV measurements.
The simulated RIV at the PLC receiver compares
favourably to an equivalent RIV measurement
on the Acacia-Koeberg transmission line.
9. RECOMENDATIONS
To improve the comparison between the measured
and predicted RIV levels in future research, the
validity of the PLC system model must be verified.
The expansion of the simplified homogenous earth
return model to a more complex stratified earth
model should also be investigated. Lastly the effects
of sag, wind, ambient weather conditions and applied
voltage level fluctuations should be considered in
future research.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ESKOM ENTERPRISES are acknowledged for
funding the research. Prof LM Wedepohl, Prof JH
Cloete and Mr W de Villiers are also acknowledged
for their contributions in this field.
REFERENCES
[1] Comber, M.G. and Nigbor, R.J.: Transmission
Line Reference Book - 345kV and above,
Chapter 5: Radio Noise, EPRI, 2nd Edition,
Revised 1987, pp. 205 - 266.
[2] Wedepohl, L.M.: The Theory of Natural Modes
in Multi-Conductor Transmission Systems,
unpublished lecture notes, Westband, British
Columbia, Canada, 10 January, 1999.
[3] Gary, C.H.: The Theory of the Excitation
Function: A Demonstration of its Physical
Meaning IEEE Transactions on Power
Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-91, January
1972, pp. 305 - 310.
[4] Sarma Maruvada, P.: Corona Performance of
High-Voltage Transmission Lines, Research
Studies Press Ltd., England, 2000.
[5] Urban, R.G., Reader, H.C. and Holtzhausen,
J.P.: AC Transmission Line Corona Noise
Issues in a Small Corona Cage Proceedings of
the 6th IEEE Africon Conference, October 2002,
pp. 639 - 644.
[6] Wedepohl, L.M.: Propagation of Carrier
Signals in Homogeneous, Non-homogeneous
and Mixed Multi-conductor systems IEE
Proceedings, Volume 115, No. 1, January 1968,
pp. 179 - 186.