Insulation co-ordination – A case study

Anjana Havanur

Introduction

It is well known that transmission of large power over long distances can be accomplished
only at higher voltages. At these voltages, the cost of insulation is a major consideration and
it is important to lower the insulation level of equipment; economical design is achieved only
with lower insulation levels. However, with increased system operating voltages, the over-
voltages that occur during various disturbances including lightning strokes and switching
operations have to be critically examined. The protection of insulation of expensive
substation equipment under disturbances is to be ensured.

Insulation co-ordination is the correlation of the insulation strength of substation equipment

like switchgear, transformer, machine etc. and the characteristic of over-voltage protective
devices like surge arrester such that the equipment is protected from damage for most of the
overvoltage conditions.

With the use of Electromagnetic Transient Program (EMTP), it is possible to model

substation equipment and study the over-voltages that occur in the system due to
disturbances. Based on the results of the study, it is possible to estimate the degree of
protection provided by the surge arresters for these disturbances.

Services of TCE were retained by Emirates Trading Agency (ETA), to check the parameters,
location and energy capabilities of surge arresters to be provided by ETA at a 132 kV Gas
Insulated Substation (GIS) at Fujairah.

Description of the system

The system under study comprised of a proposed 132 kV double circuit transmission line
between substations Dhaid and Fujairah. The line is approximately 53 km long. The double
circuit line conductors are located on single towers forming the transmission line system. At
Fujairah, further connection of the individual three phase transmission line to the two sections
of 132 kV GIS bus of Fujairah substation is by means of 630 sq. mm. cable of 220 m length.
It was proposed to provide surge arresters at the linecable interface at Fujairah end.

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The BIL of the equipment was 650 kVp. Hence the allowable peak voltage in the system was
required to be well within this value.

Simulation of the system

Since over-voltages due to switching phenomenon are normally considered at system

voltages of 400 kV and above, it was proposed to conduct simulation study of the system for
lightning over-voltages.

The following postulated disturbances were studied:

• Back-flashover, which is the flashover of insulator string when the lightning stroke hits
the ground wire or tower top.

• Shielding failure when the stroke hits one of the phase conductors.

For both the disturbances, the worst case of network configuration is with one line in service
and bus coupler at 132 kV Fujairah substation in open condition. Hence, this configuration
was selected for the study.

Modelling of the various network elements for the study was done based on guidelines
furnished by IEEE working group 15.08.09 - "modelling and analysis of system transients
using digital programs"

All the data used for the study including the transmission line and tower data, and substation
equipment data was compiled based on the inputs furnished by ETA.

Representation of the system considered for the study is shown in Fig.1. The system between
one phase and ground (farthest from ground wire) is simulated in the study.

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Considering the travel time of lightning surges which is very small compared to the line
length, the effect of the disturbances occurring very close to Fujairah end were studied. The
electrical system from 132 kV GIS substation of Fujairah substation upto 5 transmission
towers was modelled for the study.

For simulation of back-flashover, the lightning surge was represented as a current source with
specified peak value, rise time and tail time. This surge was impressed on the tower top at the
line -cable interface of Fujairah substation. The tower top potential rises due to the tower
footing resistance and the impedance of the tower. Thus, there is a high potential difference
across the insulator string. Whenever the potential difference across the insulator string
exceeds the breakdown strength, insulator flashover takes place, causing the surge to
propagate to the phase conductor.

When shielding failure occurs in the system, the direct stroke will impinge on the phase
conductor. As per standards, the value of peak currents that are likely to result in shielding
failure is very low. Hence, in the simulation, surge current with low peak value (about
20 kAp) was impressed on the phase conductor very close to the line-cable interface at
Fujairah substation to simulate shielding failure.

The voltages at the various points monitored during the study were line - cable interface,
cable - GIS interface and open end of GIS bus section.

Results

• It was found necessary to provide surge arrester at the line - cable interface to protect the
various substation equipment for open condition of GIS bus coupler.

One of the salient observations of the study was the effect of lead length of the surge
arresters on the over-voltage occurring in the system. The lead length originally
envisaged to be provided in the system for the surge arrester was approximately 35 m.
The lead of the surge arrester is represented as an inductance (about 1 micro HenrijM).
Since lightning is a high frequency surge, when it is transmitted to the phase conductor,
higher lead length offers higher inductance to the surge. Thus, surge arrester is not
effective in diverting the surge. Reducing the lead length from 35 m to 10 m reduced the
peak voltages at all monitored locations. For the same surge current considered, it was
found that the over-voltages were reduced to nearly 70 % at the line - cable interface and
78 % at the open GIS bus coupler end when the lead length of the surge arrester was
reduced to 10 m.

• In order to protect the cable as well as the GIS from the worst possible overvoltage
conditions, with the proposed surge arrester, it was recommended to limit the lead length
to 3 m.

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Conclusion

• It is possible to simulate backflashover and shielding failure events due to the incidence
of lightning surges and study the effect on the various substation equipment by using
EMTP software.

• The connecting leads of surge arrester should be as short as possible to provide maximum
protection against overvoltages. Typical arrangement of such a scheme in shown in Fig.2.

Published : TCE World January 2004