3309ENG Engineering Electromagnetics

Assignment 2
Design of Power Transmission Line
Andrew Seagar
February 10, 2014
1 Introduction
Figure 1 shows a three phase two circuit power transmission line in the centre of a right of way (ROW). For reasons
of public safety the intensity of the magnetic eld (shown by the dotted line) at the edges of the ROW must be lower
than dictated by the relevant Australian standards.
A1
B1
C1
C2
B2
A2
ROW
-
Figure 1: Three phase two circuit power transmission line.
The size of the current carrying conductors is quite small in comparison to the distance to the ground. For calculations
close to the ground it is therefore possible to assume that all current ows along the centre of each conductor. That
makes the calculations more straightforward.
In a balanced three phase system, which is how most power lines operate unless there is a major fault, the currents in
each phase of a single circuit:

I
a
(t) = I
A
cos t
I
b
(t) = I
B
cos(t
2
3
)
I
c
(t) = I
C
cos(t
4
3
)
(1)
can be represented by a phasor, separated by 120

from the other two, as shown in gure 2.

Using the currents, the magnetic elds from each phase can be calculated independently for any value of time t. This
gives three vectors H
a
(t), H
b
(t) and H
c
(t) which must be added together to give the total eld H(t) = H
a
(t)+H
b
(t)+
H
c
(t).
1
A
C
B
(a)
-
A B C
t
(b)
Figure 2: Line currents as (a) phasors, (b) signals.
The total eld varies in intensity and direction according to where the eld is measured. In general the direction and
intensity of the eld is determined largely by the geometry of the conductors and the relative strengths of the currents.
In order to design a power transmission line which reduces the intensity of the eld at the edges of the ROW it is
necessary to adjust the location of the conductors (i.e. their height and relative positions). The actual detail of how
the eld varies throughout the mains cycle is not normally taken into account. Normally a characteristic value of the
eld which doesnt change with time is used, such as the peak eld or the RMS eld.
Appendix A shows how to calculate the peak eld and the RMS eld for a three phase transmission line.
The RMS eld is a bit easier to calculate, although the peak value is better if you really need an estimate of the lowest
possible upper limit.
2 Task
Find the best positions for the six conductors of a two circuit three phase power transmission line to minimise the
intensity of the magnetic eld at the edge of the ROW, one metre above the ground. Assume the conductors are
innitely long, straight and parallel to the surface of the earth.
The conductors are constrained to stay within a rectangle of width w = 12m and height h from 10m to 24m above
the ground, as shown in gure 3. For reasons of isolation, no conductors are permitted to come closer than 5m to one
another. The width of the ROW is 35m and the magnitude of the currents in all conductors is the same.
1m
ROW = 35m
h
1
= 10m
h
2
= 24m
w = 12m
6
6
?
6
-
-
1
4
6
5
2
3
Figure 3: Design constraints.
To save eort use the RMS eld calculation while determining the best positions of the conductors. After you have
found the best positions that you can, calculate the peak eld and from that determine the maximum current permitted
in order to remain at or just below the safety limit at the edge of the ROW.
2
Document your nal design solution.
Describe the method that you have used to reach your nal solution.
Document the calculations of the eld for your nal solution in a way that permits somebody else to check your
working.
If you nd that your answer is the same as anybody else, you need to explain very carefully how that has happened.
References
[1] Energy Networks Association. Electricity Industry EMF Measurement Protocol for High Field Areas
website http://www.ena.asn.au/
[2] S. M. Wentworth. Fundamentals of Electromagnetics with Engineering Applications. John Wiley & Sons, 2005,
3.2 pp 102104.
A Peak and RMS Field Calculations
Figure 4 shows a three phase transmission line and the maximum elds produced at a point P for each phase, in the
case that the two other phases are inactive. For magnetic elds, F = H, inactive means carrying zero current and for
electric elds, F = E, inactive means carrying zero voltage.
A B C
P
F
A
F
B
F
C
Figure 4: Fields produced by each of three phases.
The elds from each phase varies in time sinusoidally as a vector, changing in amplitude but maintaining the same
direction:

F
a
(t) = F
A
cos t = (F
A
cos t)

F
A
= |F
a
(t)|

F
A
F
b
(t) = F
B
cos(t
2
3
) = (F
B
cos(t
2
3
))

F
B
= |F
b
(t)|

F
B
F
c
(t) = F
C
cos(t
4
3
) = (F
C
cos(t
4
3
))

F
C
= |F
c
(t)|

F
C
(2)
where

F
A
is a unit vector in the same direction as F
A
.
The magnitudes for each phase |F
a,b,c
(t)| are represented in gure 5(a) as phasors rotating in an anticlockwise direction,
and in gure 5(b) as the corresponding signals (i.e. functions of time).
The total eld at point P is the vectorial sum of the individual time-varying components:
F(t) = F
a
(t) +F
b
(t) +F
c
(t)
= F
A
cos +F
B
cos(
2
3
) +F
C
cos(
4
3
)
= F
A
cos +F
B
(cos cos
2
3
+ sin sin
2
3
) +F
C
(cos cos
4
3
+ sin sin
4
3
)
= (F
A
+F
B
cos
2
3
+F
C
cos
4
3
) cos + (F
B
sin
2
3
+F
C
sin
4
3
) sin
= F
1
cos +F
2
sin (3)
where = t and:

F
1
= F
A

1
2
(F
B
+F
C
)
F
2
=

3
2
(F
B
F
C
)
(4)
3
A
C
B
(a)
-
A B C
t
(b)
Figure 5: Magnitudes of elds as (a) phasors, (b) signals.
The (constant) elds F
1
and F
2
are shown in gure 6 as dening a parallelogram containing the (time-varying) eld
F(t). As time varies, the eld F(t) traces out an ellipse moving (as drawn) in an anti-clockwise direction from F
1
when = 0

to F
2
when = 90

, and so on.
F(t)
F
1
F
2
Figure 6: Elliptical path traced by eld vector F(t).
A.1 Peak Field
The square of the magnitude of the eld is given by the dot product:
|F(t)|
2
= F(t) F(t) = F
1
F
1
cos
2
+ 2F
1
F
2
cos sin +F
2
F
2
sin
2

= |F
1
|
2 1
2
(1 + cos 2) +F
1
F
2
sin 2 + |F
2
|
2 1
2
(1 cos 2)
=
1
2
(|F
1
|
2
+ |F
2
|
2
) +F
1
F
2
sin 2 +
1
2
(|F
1
|
2
|F
2
|
2
) cos 2 (5)
The angle (phase) for which the eld F(t) has maximum or minimum value can be found by dierentiating the square
of the magnitude and determining the value for which the derivative is zero.
d
d
|F(t)|
2
= 2|F(t)|
d
d
|F(t)| = |F
1
|
2
2 cos (sin ) +F
1
F
2
2 cos 2 + |F
2
|
2
2 sin cos
= (|F
2
|
2
|F
1
|
2
)2 cos sin +F
1
F
2
2 cos 2
= 2F
1
F
2
cos 2 (|F
1
|
2
|F
2
|
2
) sin 2 (6)
Taking
m
as the angle at which maximum and minimum values are found gives:
0 = 2F
1
F
2
cos 2
m
(|F
1
|
2
|F
2
|
2
) sin 2
m
2F
1
F
2
/(|F
1
|
2
|F
2
|
2
) = sin 2
m
/ cos 2
m
= tan2
m
(7)
so that:

m
=
1
2
tan
1
2F
1
F
2
|F
1
|
2
|F
2
|
2
(8)
=
1
2
tan
1
2F
1
F
2
|F
2
|
2
|F
1
|
2
(9)
4
Inspection of equation 5 shows that the maximum (three positive terms) is obtained if sin 2
m
= F
1
F
2
and cos 2
m
=
1
2
(|F
1
|
2
|F
2
|
2
), and that the minimum (one positive term, two negative terms) is obtained if sin2
m
= F
1
F
2
and
cos 2
m
=
1
2
(|F
2
|
2
|F
1
|
2
). The maximum eld can therefore be obtained by taking the four quadrant inverse tangent
in equation 8 and then substituting into equation 3. (Equation 9 can be used for the minimum).
A.2 RMS Field
The total eld from equation 3 is:
F(t) = F
1
cos +F
2
sin (10)
where F
1
and F
2
are given in equation 4.
The mean square (MS) value of the eld is given by the integral:
F
MS
=
1
2

2
=0
|F(t)|
2
d =
1
2

2
=0
F(t) F(t) d
=
1
2

2
=0
{
1
2
(|F
1
|
2
+ |F
2
|
2
) +F
1
F
2
sin 2 +
1
2
(|F
1
|
2
|F
2
|
2
) cos 2} d (11)
The terms involving sin 2 and cos 2 integrate to zero, leaving:
F
MS
=
1
2
(|F
1
|
2
+ |F
2
|
2
) =
1
2
(F
1
F
1
+F
2
F
2
) (12)
Substituting from equation 4 and expanding the dot products leads to:
F
MS
=
1
2
(F
A
F
A
+F
B
F
B
+F
C
F
C
F
A
F
B
F
A
F
C
F
B
F
C
) (13)
The root mean square (RMS) value of the eld is therefore:
F
RMS
=

1
2
(F
A
F
A
+F
B
F
B
+F
C
F
C
F
A
F
B
F
A
F
C
F
B
F
C
) (14)
5