DEVELOPMENT IN ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENTS

FOR SAFE AND SURE POWER

P.K. Pattanaik
Dy. Manager (Elect.)
E & MR Divn. GRIDCO
BURLA, ORISSA
SYNOPSIS
With the rapid development of power systems and the large amount of interconnected lines, to
ensure continuity of supply and good voltage regulation [ Stability and Reliability ] the necessity of
developed electrical equipments have been felt by everybody in power sector. In this paper the most
updated equipments that are presently in use in power system have been discussed with their basic
principle of operation. The equipments such covered in the study are based on a grid substation
concept, such as Surge arrestor, Wave trap, CVT, Isolators, and Switch Gears, Transformer etc.
The Protective relay concept have also been focussed in details, basically with main feature of advance
relaying design to obtain the speed of response and to cope up with the increasing requirements for
high speed protection.

INTRODUCTION
In EHV network the load currents are experienced to flow with limitation of certain rating of
the associated equipments. But during fault condition this current rises suddenly to a large value and
dies away quickly due to the actuation of the protective relays in the system. The equipments that get
involved during the fault condition should be designed to withstand for the minimum allowable
standard time till to the clearance of the fault in the system. In earlier stage the complexity of electrical
parameters, network systems were not there. So the quality, standard, and technology involved to the
electrical equipments were not thought of seriously. But now- a -days the same have been considered
seriously, failing of which catastrophic failure of equipments may occur, resulting in a complete
blackout of the system. So it is felt very important to use quality and upgraded electrical equipments in
the system.
 Cut- Section View of MOV arrestor
1) SURGE ARRESTOR
The over voltage
protection is provided by a surge
arrestor which ensures both
personnel and equipment safety,
which in turn optimizes the
operating cost. Modern surge
arrestors are of gapless metal
oxide type, and manufactured
confirming to the standards of IEC
60099-4 / IS 3070. Metal Oxide
Varistor (MOV) is highly
nonlinear in nature, which has
sharply kinked voltage-current
characteristics. For the normal
rated value of voltage a small
amount of current flows through arrestor, because of the nonlinear characteristics of MOV. But with
the lightening or switching over voltages the MOV become conductive (Ohm Range) so that a surge
current can flow to earth and the over voltage is dropped across the arrestor (residual voltage).
2) ISOLATORS
Isolators are the air break switch and operate in offload condition or at equi-potential point
principle. The basic construction of isolators is of two types.
1) Breaking at center point.
2) Breaking at edge terminals.
Breaking at center point has the advantage of proper gripping in contacts due to special
technique of dragging against nature in contacts. On principle when closing command is issued for the
isolator, the rods on either side move towards each other for operation and just before final close the
contacts are housed in grips and dragged against each other to develop proper grip with reduced gap in
the contacts. Similarly for open operation the reverse sequence is developed and the contact break
results smoothly.
 An isolator is one of the moving mechanical equipment .So it requires to operate the same
with proper care to avoid the power interruption or reconnection in load condition. To monitor and
control correct operation of isolators, interlock scheme is used in the control circuit.

3) WAVE TRAP
The basic function of the wave trap is to filter or eliminate the higher frequency waveforms
that enter to the system equipments. Basically these signal waveforms are used for communication
purpose. Inductive reactance wave trap is commonly used for EHV lines above 132KV system. The
detail technical particulars of a typical 220 KV Line Wave Trap has been given in the following table.
TECHNICAL PARTICULARS OF 0.5 mH/1250 Amp WAVE TRAP
FOR 220 KV LINE
Particulars Value
Type Out door, Air Cored,
Air Cooled
Continuous Current Rating at 50 0 C ambient 1250 Amp
Continuous Current Rating at 65 0 C ambient 1125Amp
Max. Symmetrical Short Circuit Current For 1 Sec 31.5 KA
Asymmetrical peak value of first half of rated short time Current 80.5 KA
Rated Inductance 0.5 H
Blocking Range 150-500 KHz
Min. Resistive Component in Blocking frequency range 570 Ohm
Radio Interference voltage < 500 µ V
Mounting Suspension
Basic Insulation Level 32.37 KVp
Standard Nominal Discharge Current for 8/20 micro Sec. Wave impulse 10 KA
Rated Voltage of Arrestor 6 KV
Max. 1.2/50 micro sec. Impulse Spark over voltage 21.6 KVP
Min. value of power frequency Spark over voltage 9 KV rms
Virtual steepness and max. Front of wave Impulse Spark over voltage 49.8 KV / micro S
24.9 KVp
Tuning Broad Band
Visual Corona Extinction Voltage 156 KV
Max. Residual Discharge Voltage for 8/20 micro Sec. Impulse Discharge current 21.6 KVp
1. 5000 A 21.6 KVp
2. 10000 A
No of Turns in Main coil 28 (2 in Parallel
4) INSULATOR STACK
Advancement of R&D has developed new and latest technique for the construction of
insulator stack in the field of electrical power system. This technique is related with the use of
composite Insulators for insulation purpose.]
This type of Insulator has following type of advantages
 Long Life
Suitable for polluted environment
Unique self cleaning property
Resistance to breakage and
vandalism Practically
unbreakable
High mechanical strength
Light weight
Ease for installation
Choice of end fitting
Long term surface hydrophibity.
Insulator stacks confirm to
IS 2486,IEC 61109 standards.

5) INSTRUMENT TRANSFORMERS
Current and Potential transformers are the important interfaces between the high level of
power system and low-level of protection measurement and control circuit in terms of current and
voltage. The response of the electrical parameters of these transformers, upon the secondary circuit
should be well within the satisfactory limit for both under steady state and transient condition. Latest
developments in the field of instrument transformers have been taken care for the possible technical
problems related on the equipments.

A) CVT (CAPACITIVE VOLTAGE TRANSFORMER)

Capacitive voltage transformer is extensively used in the line protection due to its accuracy in
measurement and common purpose use as potential transformer and coupling capacitor. CVT is
composed of one or more capacitive units depending on the voltage level and impregnated with high
grade dried and degassed dielectric oil. The electromagnetic unit which includes the MV transformer
and series inductance is located in a hermetically sealed oil filled tank with a protective device thus
avoiding over voltage and Ferro resonance.
 CVT Cut-Section View with Electrical circuit

B) CURRENT TRANSFORMER
The design factor of HV CT depends upon the use of HV insulation compared to primary and
secondary winding or on the active parts(used as secondary windings).Following two different type of
designs are generally taken for the construction of CT.
1) Hairpin or pendulum design
2) Top Tank primary design
In Hairpin type design the primary windings are taken up to the bottom box module where
secondary windings are wound over the primary winding to obtain required ratio of the CT. The top
tank primary design is also called “Inverted CT Design”. This design has primary winding on the top
head of the CT and the secondary windings are wound over the primary winding to obtain desired
ratio of the CT. The series parallel primary arrangements are also provided to derive different CT
ratio. For this design the primary winding is spreaded in a uniform and symmetrical way around the
cores, avoiding local saturation and reducing the leakage flux.

Advantages of Top Tank primary design CT

Because of single HV insulated tube instead of two primary HV conductors as in the “Hair
pin “ design the volume of the insulator and the volume of oil is reduced
 Internal ground conductor has sufficient cross section for handling the fault current
Tank head design prevents projection or splitting of parts in case of faults.
CUT-Section View of Top Tank CT
So many utilities prefer to use this type of
CT for HV transmission lines.
6) COMBINED INSTRUMENT
TRANSFORMER
Advancement in R&D has developed the
latest and updated technique for instrument
transformer, with the design of both CT &
PT in a single unit. This design was made
possible with lower rating values at the early
stage, but now-a-days the design with higher
rating voltage, even up to800KV has been
achieved by few manufacturers like
TRENCH.UK.

Advantages of Combined Instrument Transformer

Because of combined unit the equipment achieves the following advantages.
Low weight and minimum oil volume.
Use of oil paper insulation reduces the space for insulation
Use of bar type primary conductor permits higher short ckt current & avoid the large
voltage drop across the winding.
Only one foundation is required in switchyard, which in turn reduces the installation cost.
Perfect transient performance & use of suitable corrosion resistant material increases the
life span.
Because of uniformly distributed secondary windings it enhances guarantee, accuracy
for both nominal rating & higher rating values.

Disadvantages
The one and only disadvantage by this system is that for the case of failure of equipment both CT
& PT ckt associated to the system are hampered.
 So maximum Indian utilities do not prefer the use of combined CT for higher rating value.
Moreover the Indian manufacturers have not yet started the manufacturing of this type of CT.
However combined CT up to 36KV range is in use in Indian scenario.
Combined CT & PT design with electrical circuit
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN CT
1) Use of polycrete (Dry type) instrument transformer.
This type of CT-PT instrument set is manufactured by the moulding of solid insulation
without the use of oil. At present in Indian context this type of CT has been manufactured for lower
rating range of value up to 72 KV. Such equipment provides the following features
Compact and solid insulation
Higher mechanical strength
Excellent outdoor performance under extreme ambient condition.
Maintenance free and longer life.

2) Use of SF6 Filled CTs.

For better performance and maintenance free of the equipment some manufacturers have done
the instrument transformers filled with SF6 gas inside. This type of CT enhances the life and provides
reliability to the working operation. The range of these equipments is even manufactured up to 245KV
range by CGL limited in India.
The performance of this type of CT has not yet been popularly experienced by Indian utilities,
for which the same has not yet been accepted openly.

8) SWITCH GEAR / CIRCUIT BREAKERS

Right from the beginning of the use of electricity by human beings (from the day of invention
of electricity), need has always been felt for safety switching of the electricity. Switchgears and Circuit
Breakers are the final development for such safety operation. Choice of this equipment depends upon
the following points.
Use of Number of interrupting chambers.
Sl No Voltage Range No of chambers
1 Up to 245 KV ONE
2 245KV to 550 KV TWO
3 550 KV up to 800 KV FOUR

Compliance of electrical requirements, like Breaking Capacity, TRV (Transient

Recovery Voltage),Capacitive and out of phase switching condition
 Interruption time of the equipments (.It is required of two cycles [ 40 ms] for higher
rated breakers ) Refer technical data given below.
Control of switching over voltage:-For condition like unloaded long line, switching of
shunt reactors, the transformers loaded with reactors etc result over voltage in the
system. Adding of CLOSING RESISTORS reduces the damping of over voltages.
Mechanical, Electrical Endurance:- The mechanical and electrical endurance limits of
Circuit Breakers must confirm to all the relevant electrical standards.
Other parameters like Environmental condition, Operating mechanism desired, Space
for installation etc are to be considered for the design of Circuit Breakers.

LATEST DEVELOPMENT IN SWITCH GEARS

Considering the different points/factors as described above, different manufacturers regarding
Breaker construction have achieved many developments. . The commonly used Circuit Breakers for
different rating voltages have been explained below.

Up to voltage Range of 36 KV
Vacuum Circuit Breaker is one of the best suitable choices of Circuit Breaker up to the voltage range
of 36 KV because of its following advantages.
Rapidly restoring nature of dielectric strength of the gap.
Short travel stroke at low pressure requires lesser control energy, which in turn
results in reduced size and weight of Circuit Breaker.
Moreover the operating mechanism for such Circuit Breaker is of (spring- spring) in
nature. This mechanism becomes more reliable due to lesser moving part involved for the
operation.
But the only disadvantage in the use of VCBs is the precaution in maintenance of Vacuum
during its operation. However this Circuit Breaker has gained maximum popularity for 36 KV range.

Voltage Range of 72 KV Up to 800 KV

For higher voltage range, SF6 gas is used as the arc-quenching medium in a hermetically
sealed chamber. SF6 gas is being extensively used now-a-days, due to its inherent property of
immunity to the climatic and environmental condition. It has other advantages such as it is
electronegative in nature with high quenching property and high dielectric strength.
 For Breaker technology every technocrats and end users are now-a-days thinking about the
less maintenance or maintenance free, compact, robust design of the equipment. *Spring operating
mechanism is again gaining popularity for the breaker operation, even for the higher voltage range.
*CIGRE 1994:-Tech Report 83:-
CIGRE analyzing worldwide Circuit Breaker advises the use of spring operating mechanism
in order to ensure the highest reliability.
So finally it can be remarked that SF6 breaker with spring-spring mechanism would be the best
reliable one for higher range voltage. This concept is again gaining popularity by the Indian utilities.

9) TRANSFORMER: -
The other important and vital equipment in the field of distribution of electrical power is the
transformer. Technology is developing continuously in the field of transformer design.
a) ADVANCE DESIGN TOOLS

Followings are few lists of the Design

Tools
Field Analysis iii. Continuously transposed
cable
Thermal Analysis
Voltage Analysis Continuously transposed enhances
induction voltage and eliminates
Combined Effect
any tendency of for equalizing
b) MODERN TRENDS current.

i. Enamel Coating iv. Step lap Core joints

Enamel coated conductor is used Step lap is an improved core

for conductor insulation for stacking method reduces the flux
winding leakage and no load losses.

ii. Epoxy Bonded Cable

Thinner in conductor size reduces

eddy current loss but becomes v. Control of leakage flux
sensitive to short circuit forces. So
the conductors ( 2 or more strands Use of Flux shunts, flux rejecter
) are glued( Epoxy bonded ) and use of non- magnetic material,
together to reach the required the leakage of flux can be
mechanical strength. controlled.
 vi. Reduction of No load loss
Followings modern trends are
ongoing for the development of
core materials and its design
Use of HIB materials for
core
LASER IRRADIATION
AND PLASMA FLAME
IRRADIATION method
for reduction of eddy loss
AM ( Amorphous Metal )
core for reduction of iron
loss.
This logic is also used for control
of OLTC in transformer.
c) ADVANCED MANAGEMENT
RELAY FOR PROTECTION,
CONTROL AND MONITORING
PRACTICE
In one single relay all the features of
protections, control, metering scheme and
monitoring for the transformer are
programmed. This relay is called
“TRANSFORMER MANAGEMENT
RELAY”. Followings are some of the
features listed.

vii. SF6 insulated transformer Protection and Control Scheme

Technology is advancing to 1. Differential element

insulate the transformer by SF6 2. O/C element
gas inside. 3. –ve sequence element
4. Over flux element
viii. HTS ( High Temperature 5. REF element
Super Conductor ) material 6. Logic control scheme

Use of HTS increases the Metering Scheme

efficiency, reduces the volume and
weight and loss of the transformer. 1. Phase current, ground current
This has been already tried in the 2. +ve, -Ve and zero sequence
Railway application. The trial for current
Power transformer is yet to come 3. Phase Angle, Power factor,
Active and Reactive power

ix. Transformer Oil with

Multiple barrier Monitoring Scheme

By the technique called 1. Harmonic level Detector

“BARRIER EFFECT” the 2. Records Events
breakdown strength of the oil can 3. Monitors tap position
be increased and reduced size of 4. ambient Temperature
can be designed. 5. Function ability of relay
6. DGA study of transformer
x. Fuzzy Logic Control on 7. Cooling parameters.
OLTC

Now-a-days this concept is

becoming very popular for
advance control of any system.
 The idea of perfect design of transformer always depends upon the cost and size of equipment.
Sometimes the modern trends for new resign bring tremendous change on different factors like
optimization of dimension, control of transformer parameters and economical size in comparison to
life span. But the stability of the power system completely depends upon the type of protections,
monitoring practices used in the transformer. The use of TRANSFORMER MANAGEMENT
RELAY can solve the problem to large extent.

TRANSFORMER MANAGEMENT RELAY

Summery of the Development Table

Sl. Equipment/Items Developments

No
1 Surge Arrestor
2 Isolator
3 Insulator Stack
4 Wave Trap
5 CVT
6 CT
7 Switchgear Up to 36
KV
8 Switch gear above
72 KV
9 Transformer
MOV Zinc Oxide Arrestor with Multistack type
Breaking at center point with electrical Interlock
Composite Material Insulator
Inductive Reactance Trap with Anti-corrosion material
Instrument with facility of both Potential Divider and coupling
Capacitor
Top Tank Primary winding type CT, Combined CT& PT unit
and Polycrete wound CT are the latest development
VCB type with spring mechanism
SF6 medium with spring spring mechanism
Maximum care on core , winding and insulation with protection
control by TRANSFORMER MANAGEMENT RELAY