Transmission Line Parameters Inductance For medium and long distance lines the line inductance (reactance) is more

domin ant than resistance. The value of current that flows in a conductor is associate d with another parameter, inductance. We know that a magnetic field is associate d with a current carrying conductor. In AC transmission line this current varies sinusoidally, so the associated magnetic field which is proportional to the cur rent also varies sinusoidally. This varying magnetic field induces an emf (or in duced voltage) in the conductor. This emf (or voltage) opposes the current flow in the line. This emf is equivalently shown by a parameter known as inductance. The inductance value depends upon the relative configuration between the conduct or and magnetic field. Inductance in simple language is the flux linking with th e conductor divided by the current flowing in the conductor. In the calculation of inductance the flux inside and outside of the conductor are both taken care o f. The inductance so obtained is total inductance. Now onwards if not exclusivel y mentioned then inductance means total inductance due to conductor internal and external flux linkages. The symbol L is used universally to represent inductanc e. L is measured in Henry (H). It is usually expressed in smaller unit, milli H enry(mH). Manufactures usually specify inductance value per kilometer or mile. It should be noted that, in all the formulas below inductance L is in Henr y per unit length and not simply Henry. Here few cases are depicted. For a single phase line see the fig-A. The conductor inductance is L = 2 * 10-7 ln (D/r1' ) Here D is the distance between the centers of conductors. r1' = r1 * e-(1/4) = 0.7788 r1 r1 is the actual radius of the conductor. For a single phase line the return path also has inductance say L'. If the retur n conductor is of radius r2, then L' = 2 * 10-7 ln (D/r2' ) Therefore the total inductance of single phase circuit is Lt = L+L' rearranging we get Lt = 4 * 10 -7 ln [D / (r1'. r2')]

For three phase circuit whose three circular conductors are at the corners of eq uilateral triangle(Fig-B(i)) then the above formula for single phase case is app lied here. In this case inductance per phase L is as below: If the Denominator is renamed as Ds, then L = 2 * 10-7 ln ( D / Ds ) Here Ds = r' As already said r' is 0.7788 times the actual radius(r

) of conductor. For three phase circuit whose three circular conductors are arbitrarily placed ( Fig-B(ii)) and the conductors are transposed then, L = 2 * 10-7 ln [ (D1 . D2 . D3) / Ds ] Beginning from the single phase line, it is observed that all the three equation s for inductance of a phase conductor are similar. Remember t hat this formula for three phase line is not valid for non-transposed lines. Observing the formula for single phase and three phase lines we can generalize the formula for inductance of a phase line as in the form L = 2 * 10-7 ln ( D / Ds ) Where D = Geometric Mean Distance (GMD) Ds= Geometric Mean Radius (GMR) In single phase case GMD is simply the distance between the centers of two condu ctors. In three phase case for conductors equidistant from each other GMD is the distan ce between any two phase conductors. In the three phase case, for line conductors arbitrarily placed GMD = (D1D2D3 ) In all the three cases Ds = r'. From above we can conclude that GMD is like equivalent distance between conducto rs. When two or more conductors per phase are used as in bundled conductors then GMD is required to be computed. Here distances from each conductor in one phase to each conductor in other phase is calculated. If for example in a single phas e line there are 4 conductors in one phase and 3 conductors in other phase (FigC) then we will have 12 numbers of distances between the conductors. I have show n four distances only. GMD = [D1 . D2 ........ D12] 1/12 So here GMD is the 12th root of product of 12 numbers of distances. GMR is calculated for each phase separately. Each of the phases may have differe nt GMR values depending upon the conductor size and arrangement. GMR is to be c alculated when each phase is comprised of more than one conductor per phase as i n the example above. For GMR calculation when two or more conductors per phase a re used, first product of all the groups (one group for each conductor)are foun d where each group is product of possible distances from one conductor to other conductors including r' of that conductor. In the above example case GMR for li ne with 3 conductors per phase is GMR = [(r1'.D12.D13)(r2'.D23.D21)(r3'.D31.D3 2)]1/9 It should be noted that D12 = D21, D13 = D31 and D2 3 = D32 Below is the formula to calculate GMR for the bundled conductors (see Fig-D) For three conductors per phase (triple conductor) GMR = (Ds *d 2) For four conductors per phase (quad conductor)

GMR = 1.09 (Ds *d 3)

How to calculate GMD of three phase line with bundled conductors? For an example see Fig-E where three phase bundles (triple conductors) are placed horizontally on transmission towers. In this case the distance between the conductors (D) i s taken as distance between the centers of bundled conductors. So, GMD = (D.D.2D)

You can also calculate considering the distance from each bundled conductors of one phase to other conductors of two other phases. But the GMD calculated does n ot vary significantly from our simple form above. This is due to the fact that D is quite larger than d. For ACSR conductors GMR is specified by the manufacturer. If this GMR is called Ds. For example if two such ACSR conductors(twin conductor) are used in a bundle for each phase. The GMR of the phase conductor arrangement is calculated imagin ing that the supplied GMR (or Ds) as the equivalent radius of ACSR conductor. Hence if d is the distance between the centers of the two ACSR conduct ors, similar to the formulas in Fig-D, GMR= [(Ds.d).(Ds.d)]1/4 =(Ds . d) We will discuss Inductance and capacitance for double circuit after discussing l ine capacitance in next article. Usually it is not always possible to arrange the phase lines equilaterally on th e towers. To make the inductance and capacitance of all the three phases nearly equal, the conductors are transposed. Which means the conductors exchange the po sition after 1/3 rd of line length. By transposing the inductance and capacitanc e of all the three phase lines are made nearly equal. This helps balancing the t hree phase voltages at the receiving end of the line. Although the above formula s are derived considering transposition, the same formulas are also used for non -transposed cases to get approximate values.