Gas Insulated Switchgear

Rajendran R
Dy. Manager (EM)
 What is GIS?
• Switchgear and Buses Enclosed in Grounded Metallic
Sheath filled with pressurized SF6 gas
 Why GIS?
Minimizes Space Requirement- 20% of Conventional
Switchyard
Enhanced Safety- No live exposed parts, Grounded
Enclosure
Enhanced reliability- Less maintenance, Not prone to
Environmental effects of Humidity, Salt deposit,
Pollution, Corrosion
Low Noise Level- Grounded enclosure, No arcing
outside
Modular Design- Easy to install
Free from fire hazards- SF6 is non-inflammable
Economical in the long run
 Properties of SF6 Gas
SF6 gas weighs approximately 5.5 times as much as air.
Colourless, odourless, Chemically inert and Stable
Dielectric strength of SF6 gas is 3 times that of air.
Non poisonous effect
Thermal stability, Excellent Heat Transfer, Non inflammability,
Ability to regenerate, Non-corrosive.
Green House Causing Gas
 Designs of GIS

• Single or Separate enclosures for phases based on

Voltage level
• Single enclosure up to 145 kV GIS
• Separate enclosures from 245 kV
• Diameter of enclosure depends on Operating pressure of
SF6 gas
• Higher the pressure, Smaller the diameter
• Vertical and Horizontal Breaker designs
 145 kV GIS

• Spring type Operating mechanism for breakers

 245 kV GIS

Horizontal breaker design- Spring type

operating mechanism

Vertical breaker design- Spring/hydraulic

type operating mechanism
 400 kV GIS

Horizontal breaker design- Spring type

operating mechanism

Vertical breaker design- Hydraulic type

operating mechanism
 800 kV GIS
• Horizontal breaker design- Spring/Hydraulic type operating
mechanism
Modular Design of GIS
 GIS Components- Vertical Breaker Design

Disconnecting switch

Earth Switch

Circuit breaker

Current transformer

High bus

Earth plate Current transformer

Inspection Glass
Pressure relief device

Main Bus -II

Main Bus -I

Gas sectionalizer
GIS Components- Horizontal Breaker Design
 Gas Sectionalization
• Several Gas Compartments
• Ease of Installation and maintenance
• Gas leakage in a compartment will not
affect other compartments

Gas Sectionalizer/
Insulation Spacer
 Pressure Gauge and Density Switches

• Rated operating pressure for a typical 400

kV GIS
• 0.5 MpaG for Sections Other than Breaker
• 0.6 MpaG for Breaker Sections
• Temperature compensated density
switches
• Two Alarms contacts
• Alarms at 0.47 and 0.45 MPaG for Non-
breaker sections
• Alarms at 0.57 and 0.55 MPaG for Breaker
sections
 Inspection Holes and Adsorbent Chamber

• Inspection holes in all chambers

• Cover plates house adsorbent
chamber filled with Zeolite
Internal View- a Bus Section

Enclosure

Male type contact

Epoxy resin Post insulator

Internal View- Disconnecting/Earthing Switch

Aluminium conductor

Copper Shield

Fixed contact of switch

 Bus Voltage Transformer and Surge Arrestor

• Gas insulation reduces size of

VT- No need of CVT, induction
type VT may be used

• GIS is more prone to Switching

surges- Bus Surge Arrestors may
be used for additional surge
protection
 Current transformers

• Ring type CT cores inserted

into the bus
 Expansion Bellows

• Compensates differential
Expansion of Enclosure and
Bus
• Protects Support insulator
and Insulation Spacer from
Cracks
 Gas tightness- O-ring gaskets

• All Flanges connections, Openings, Insulation spacers are

fitted with O-ring gaskets to ensure gas tightness
 Pressure relief diaphragms

• All gas sections fitted with

Pressure Relief Diaphragms
• Protects Enclosure from
Dangerously high pressures
during faults
 Gas insulated bushing

• Electrical connection
Device between two
insulation media

GIS to air bushing

GIS to cable bushing

 Disconnecting/Earthing Switch Operating mechanism

• Motor Operated
Disconnecting and Earth
Switches
• Line Side- Fast acting
Earth Switch with Motor
Spring Operating
mechanism
Hydraulic Breaker Operating Mechanism
 Breaker Operating mechanism- Control Panel

Manual/Auto
selection switch

Hydraulic Pump
Trip Coils
Closing coil

Hyd. Pressure gauge

Breaker manual
operation hook
Oil level indicator
Oil Tank
 Routine Monitoring of GIS

• Daily walk down checks- Pressure readings, Counters,

Alarms, Oil levels etc.
• Annual Maintenance checks- Tightness of Operating
mechanism links, Analysis of SF6 Gas, Breaker Contact
resistance, DCRM, timings, Coil currents, LA leakage
currents, Partial Discharges in GIS etc.
• Three year Maintenance checks- Internal inspection of
Breaker Contacts
 Online Diagnostic System for GIS
CB Operation Monitoring
(DC CTs and Aux Station controller
switches) PC with
D display
software
Gas Pressure Optical
Monitoring
(GDTs)
A fiber cable
Intranet

LA Leakage current
U
monitoring Intranet
(Leakage CTs) Remote
Main PC with
Unit display
PD Detectors Local software
(Internal UHF sensors) Unit
 Online CB operation Monitoring

Sensing : DC CTs and CB Aux. contacts

Monitoring : Closing and tripping circuit currents
: Current application time
: Breaker Operating time (Open & Close)
Observations :
High/low control currents- Abnormalities in closing
and tripping circuits
Higher Current application time- Abnormality in breaker
auxiliary contacts
Longer operating time- Abnormalities in Breaker
hydraulic mechanism
 Online Gas Pressure Monitoring -GDTs

• Gas density transducers mounted along with pressure gauges

• Continuous online monitoring
• Gives current proportional to gas pressure
• Alarm levels may be configured
• Immediate detection of leaks
• Lesser outages, Better reliability
• Lesser release of green house SF6
gas to the atmosphere.
 Online Partial discharge Monitoring

• Internal UHF sensors inside

inspection windows Internal UHF Sensor

• Analysis of sensed frequencies

• Frequency Spectrum
• PD signals mostly in the range
0.5 to 1.5 MHz
Frequency Spectrum
• Masking of external noise
- TV, Mobile, Airplane, Radar
 Detection of type of Partial Discharge

• Phase spectrum plot for maximum

PD frequency
• Distinguishes PDs from various
sources –Voids, cracks in spacers,
particles
Phase Spectrum

Void in spacer Crack in spacer Particle

 Online Leakage current monitoring of LA
• Leakage current CT mounted in LA to earth connection
• CT output connected to leakage current analyzer
• Total leakage current = IC + IR
• Resistive current IR is an exact measure of LA
deterioration.
• Difficult to measure resistive current directly
• Instead, 3rd harmonic component of leakage
current is monitored online by frequency analysis
• Detects LA deterioration in the initial stage itself.
• Reduces power losses and breakdowns.
 Gas quality monitoring
• Gas quality deterioration is normally
gradual
• Online monitoring of gas quality of all
sections - a costly affair
• Periodic monitoring of SF6 purity, dew
point and SO2 % sufficient
• Normal monitoring equipments
release the gas sample to atmosphere
• SF6 – Global warming potential 22,800
times that of CO2
• Use only store and recycle type
monitoring equipments.
Thank You