CALCULATION OF VOLTAGE PROFILES ALONG TRANSMISSION LINES

L. Marti (M)
Ontario Hydro Canada

H.W. Dommel (F)

The University of British Columbia Canada

ABSTRACT
A method for calculating transient voltages and currents at a large number of intermediate points along a transmission line is presented. In the family of EMTP-type programs, these "profile" calculations are normally made by explicitly connecting a number of short line sections to create intermediate nodes where voltages and currents can be monitored. This approach is time-consuming, computationally intensive and can be inaccurate if the number of intermediate nodes is large. The model presented here allows the accurate evaluation of voltages and currents at an arbitrary number of equally-spaced points along the line. The frequency dependence of the line parameters is taken into account. It is computationally fast and easy to use. 1. INTRODUCTION Switching surge voltage transients are an important factor in insulation coordination studies of overhead transmission lines. In such studies, the overvoltages are normally obtained at the sending and receiving ends of a line. In most instances, overvoltages are most severe at the ends of the line, due to the combined effects of incident and reflected waves. There are situations, however, where overvoltages at intermediate points along the line are higher than those at the ends of the line. In such cases, it becomes necessary to calculate a "profile" of voltages as a function of distance, to determine the maximum overvoltages, as well as their location along the line. Such a case arises if metal oxide surge arresters are at the ends of the line, instead of pre-insertion resistors in order to limit switching surges in extra high voltage lines [I], [2], [7], [ l 11. During line energization or re-energization, a metal oxide arrester effectively limits the overvoltage at the protected end of the line below a fixed value. This moves the location of the maximum overvoltage away from the end of the line, which makes it necessary to calculate the voltage profile along the line. Profile calculations are also needed to find the sheath overvoltages in high voltage cables between solidly grounded points, or between points grounded through metal oxide

arresters. Another application is the calculation of voltages induced from adjacent energized lines along intermediate points along grounded lines which have been taken out of service for maintenance. Profile calculations have also been used to produce travelling wave movies for educational purposes [3,4,5].These movies show transient phenomena as a function of time and space. The traditional way for obtaining voltage profiles in programs such as the EMTP is to calculate the voltages at intermediate nodes, which are created by connecting a number of shorter line segments together [ I l l . This is time consuming, especially when frequency dependent line models are used. If the line is broken down into a large number of sections, the accumulation of errors degrades the accuracy of the simulation. Another disadvantage of the traditional method for calculating profiles is the fact that the step size of a transient simulation must be smaller than the travel time of the shortest distributed parameter line. If the time step has to be reduced to accommodate the shorter line segments, CPU time, as well as storage requirements for past history terms for all the lines would increase. The method for profile calculation presented here addresses the major disadvantages of the traditional method. It is computationally faster, more accurate, and it does not tie the step size of the entire simulation to a value that depends on the spatial resolution of the profile. Since it is based on the JMARTI [6] line model, it takes the frequency dependence of the line parameters into account. This method was first implemented in 1982 as the Frequency Dependent Profile Model "FDPROFILE" in the University of British Columbia version of the EMTP. In this implementation, FDPROFILE calculations were imbedded in the time step loop of the EMTP. Because of the recent interest in profile calculations, the original implementationfor balanced lines has been extended to handle untransposed lines. A "stand-alone" version of the FDPROFILE program, which is independent of the particular version of the EMTP used, is under development.
2. CALCULATION OF VOLTAGES AND CURRENTS

AT INTERMEDIATE POINTS
The FDPROFILE model needs the voltages and currents at the endpoints of the line at each time step of the simulation as input parameters. These voltages and currents at the

0-7803-3522-8196$5.00 0 1996 IEEE

263

terminals of the line must be calculated with a program such as the EMTP with a host line model. Because the FDPROFILE calculations take the frequency dependence of the line parameters into account, the host line model should also take frequency dependence into account, in order to produce consistent results. The preferred host model is the JMARTI line model of the EMTP, since it is based on similar mathematical representations as the FDPROFILE model. In the calculation of the voltages and currents at N equallyspaced points along the line, it is assumed that the modal transformation matrix [Q], which diagonalizes the matrix product [Yphue] [Zphase], is real and constant. Phase voltages and currents are converted into modal voltages and currents with the linear transformation defined by

In the frequency domain, the voltages and currents at a point x are given by

V,
V,

ZcZ, ZcZ,

F, B,

= =

AF,_,, AB,+,,

(5)
(6)

where Z, is the characteristic impedance and A is the propagation function for a line segment of length Ax. F, and B, are defined as the forward and backward travelling functions. Addition and subtraction of (5) and (6) produces 2 V, = F, + B, (9)

With this transformation, an n-phase line is then analyzed as a set of n single-phase lines in the modal domain. After the solution in the modal domain has been obtained, phase voltages and currents are found from the inverse relationships of equations (1) and ( 2 ) . The assumption that [Q] is constant is only strictly correct when the line is balanced or perfectly transposed; otherwise, it is an approximation. The accuracy of this approximation depends on the geometry of the tower, the number of circuitsltowers on the same right-of-way, and the type of surges [9]. All overhead transmission line models presently implemented in the EMTP assume that [Q] is constant and real. There is an EMTP model which takes into account the frequency dependence of [Q] in directly buried cables [IO], but this model has not yet been extended to overhead transmission lines, though work on this extension is in progress. Consider then, the single-phase line or a single mode of a multiphase line of length d shown in Figure 1. Let xi (j=1,2,...,N) be the distance from the sending end, where N Voltages and currents are to be calculated at equally spaced points. Therefore, xj = j-Ax (3)

2ZcIx

F,

B,

(10)

Let F,, and B, be the forward and backward travelling functions evaluated at the sending and receiving ends of the line; that is, F,, = F,,, and B, = Bxd. If the solution of the line at the endpoints is known, F, and B, are either a byproduct of the solution process of the host model, or can be calculated from the voltages and currents using equations ( 5 ) and (6); that is, V, + ZcId = Fd (1 1)

Vo

ZcIo

Bo

(12)

F, and B, can then be calculated from F,) and B, with

FA,

A F,

BjAx

A B(f+l)Ax

(j = N-1, N - 2 ,

..., 1)

AX

d N+l

(4)

from which the intermediate voltages and currents can be readily obtained using equations (9) and (10).
3. TIME DOMAIN CALCULATIONS

i r t
I

T
...
I

f
...
I

........................... I
I
Xi

c
X

x2

xj

Fig. I . Single-phase transmission line.

264

The propagation function for a line segment Ax is approximated with rational functions, of the form

where the poles and zeroes of (15) are real and lie in the right hand side of the complex plane, and 7 is the travel time of the fastest frequency component which propagates along the line. Therefore, the convolutions in (14) can be expressed numerically as
m
&A.&t)

EMTP, the step size of the entire transient simulation must be smaller than the travel time of the shortest distributed parameter line in the system. When short line segments with travel times 7 smaller than At' are used to calculate intermediate voltages, the step size must be decreased by a factor of TIAt', and execution time increases accordingly. Storage requirements for the past history terms of all distributed parameter lines in the system will also increase by the same amount. With the FDPROFILE model, the global time step of the entire simulation is unaffected by the number of intermediate voltages, and the storage requirements of other lines in the system are unchanged. To evaluate equations (16) and (17) at time t, past history values of f, and b, must be known at t-7-At. If dAt is not an integer number, f,(t-z-At) and b,(t-z-At) have to be calculated by interpolation of recorded values at t-nAt and t(n+l)At, where (n+l)At > T > nAt. If the magnitude of At is comparable to the magnitude of 2, interpolation errors become significant. In the case of multiphase line models in the EMTP, it is not possible to choose At' such that dAt' is an integer for all modes and for all lines. In the FDPROFILE model, however, 7IAt is always an integer for all modes. This reduces interpolation errors in the evaluation of modal voltages considerably . On the other hand, a different At for the solution of each mode results in voltages evaluated at slightly different points in time, and linear interpolation is needed to calculate phase voltages with equations (1) and (2). Since phase voltages and currents are output quantities not used in any additional FDPROFILE calculations, the amount of error due to these interpolations is small and does not accumulate from time step to time step. The FDPROFILE model is relatively insensitive to the quality of the rational functions approximation of the propagation function A. Since the solution of the line at the end points is provided at each time step by the host line model, profile calculations are always local to that time step. In other words, errors in FDPROFILE calculations do not propagate from time step to time step. When the propagation function of a line segment of length Ax is used in FDPROFILE calculations or when N+l line segments are modelled explicitly, the following assumptions are implicit

=
k=l

Ck$Ax,k(t-At)

dkfu-l)Ax,k(t-t)

(16)

where ck, d,, and ek are constants which depend on the type of integration rule used. Intermediate voltages at time t are then obtained directly from

To calculate intermediate currents, it is also necessary to approximate the characteristic impedance as rational functions

where the poles and zeroes of (19) are real and lie in the right hand side of the complex plane. From equation (lo), the intermediate currents in the time domain can be calculated from

e,@) = zeqi , ( t )

h,(t-At)

where zq is constant and h,(t-At) depends on past history values of e,(t) and i,(t) [6]. In the solution of equations (16), (17), and (22), an "internal" step size At is used. This step size is chosen so that the travel time T of a line section of length Ax becomes an integer multiple of At, regardless of the time step At' used by the host model. The use of an internal step size for profile calculations reduces storage and CPU requirements. In the 265

While errors in the approximation of A(o) are normally very small, for large N, the effective length and the attenuation of the line can change significantly. For example, for the double-circuit line used in the examples shown in this paper, the zero sequence value of z for a 50 km section is 0.287 ms, while T for the 500 km line is 3.17 ms. This means that ten 50 km sections do not represent exactly a 500 km line, but rather a line that is 10% shorter for zero sequence calculations. Figure 2 shows the errors in the approximation

15.00

r =

N-point profile 3N -~ N + l line sections 4N

+ +

4 4

-5.00

currents are requested (assuming that the simulation time step is smaller than the travel time of the shortest line segment). Actual execution speed is much higher than what these ratios indicate. Depending on the amount of output requested, and system configuration, a simulation with the FDPROFILE model can be 2 to 8 times faster than a simulation with explicitly segmented lines.

'1" 1 '2

'A''i T 2 Id"

i T 2

'd"

i 6 2

T r l T r l . ' dT ri ~ o 2 4 io

4. IMPLEMENTATION AS A POST-PROCESSOR
The main advantages of implementing the FDPROFILE model inside the EMTP time step loop are computational speed and simplicity of the interface. Since the characteristic impedance is the same for the FDPROFILE model and the host model, it does not have to be approximated again. The only additional information required, other than the number of intermediate points, is the approximation of A(o) for a line segment of length Ax. On the other hand, profile calculations require extra memory for storage of past history terms, and management of the large amount of output quantities produced. In versions of the EMTP where memory is limited, it makes sense to move the profile calculations to a postprocessing program. A post-processing program also has the advantage that it can be used in more than one version of the EMTP. A post-processing version of the FDPROFILE model is under development. In order to be compatible with most versions of the EMTP and, possibly with host models other than JMARTI, sending and receiving end voltages and currents at each time step are required. To initialize past history terms in (16), (17) and (22), steady-state conditions at the endpoints prior to time zero must also be known. From the voltages and currents at the endpoints, f,(t) and bd(t) are calculated from equations (9), (10) and (21)

Frequency (Hz)

Fig. 2:

Relative error for the approximation of A(o);solid: ten 5 km sections: dashed: one 50 km section.

of the magnitude of A(o) for a 50 km segment (dashed trace) and the effective errors of ten 50 km segments (solid line). Even though the approximation of A(w) is remarkably good, magnitude errors accumulate exponentially and errors in the evaluation of T accumulate linearly with N. While the FDPROFILE model is also affected by the accuracy of the approximation of A(w), errors do not accumulate from time step to time step. Also, since the calculation of F, and B, start at opposite ends of the line, there is an additional averaging effect; that is, errors are distributed more or less uniformly through all intermediate points.

3. IMPLEMENTATION IN THE EMTP

In the implementation of the FDPROFILE model in the UBC version of the EMTP, the intermediate voltages and currents are calculated inside the time step loop of the EMTP. Since at any given time step f,(t) and bd(t) are intermediate variables readily available from the JMARTI line model, equation (18) can be used directly. A quantitative estimate of the relative computational speed of the FDPROFILE routines can be obtained from the number of numerical convolutions evaluated per time step. Assuming that the order of the approximations of A(o) and Z,(o) is roughly the same and that only intermediate voltages are requested, then the performance ratio is N-point projile - -2 N + 4 r = N+1 line sections 4N + 4 In the explicit connection of N+l sections there is one convolution with a(t) and one convolution with y,(t) for both sending and receiving ends, for a total of 4 convolutions per section. In FDPROFILE calculations for voltages, 4 convolutions account for the solution at the endpoints, and there are 2 convolutions with a(t) for each intermediate voltage. If the intermediate currents are also requested, then there is the additional overhead of one convolution with z,(t) per section For N=10, the performance ratio for a 10-point profile is 0.54 if only voltages are requested, and 0.77 if voltages and 266

fJt) b,(t)

vd(t) + zeqid@) v,(t) - z,i,(t)

hd(t-At)

(27)

- h,(t-At)

Both types of implementation are equally accurate as long as voltages and currents are known with full precision. The implementation as a post-processor will be somewhat slower than its EMTP-based counterpart because of the additional convolutions for calculating f,,(t) and bd(t). However, the advantages in terms of compatibility justify the small loss in performance.

5. SIMULATION RESULTS
To illustrate the differences between the FDPROFILE model and conventional profile calculations, the energization of a double-circuit line has been simulated using the EMTP-based implementation. Figure 3 shows the one-line diagram of the

2.

ooT--

m
1.00 0.50:

-3

& -

& -

& -

0 -0.50-

-1.00-

Fig. 3: Test circuit for line energization with arresters

test system. One three-phase circuit is energized, while the other circuit is grounded at both ends. The energized circuit is terminated with surge arresters to limit voltages to 1.50 p.u. The line is 500 km long, and voltages are calculated at 50 km intervals. Figure 4 shows the voltages measured 250 km from the source when ten 50 km line segments are connected to obtain the intermediate voltages (solid trace). The reference solution has been obtained by connecting only two 250 km sections (dashed trace). Figure 5 shows the results obtained with a nine-point FDPROFILE model. It can be seen from this simulation that the FDPROFILE is virtually identical to the reference simulation solution. Figure 6 shows the profile of maximum overvoltages for both the energized and the grounded circuit. It can be seen from these results that even
-Z.OOl, 0
1 .

,
8.0

,\,

/ I

2.0

4.0

6.0 Time (ms)

lo.(

2.00,

-1.5c-j
- 2 . 0 0 , 1 1

. .

\ / v
, , , 48.0

40.0

42.0

44.0

46.0

.(

Time (ms)

Fig 5:

Midpoint voltages, energization with arrester. Solid: FDPROFILE model; dashed: two 250 km sections.
2.50h

Time (ms)
2.00,
1.

1.
0

100.0

200.0

300.0

400.0

500.0

rl

m m

O.

Distance (Ian)

Fig 6: Profile o f maximum overvoltages

-0.

2
-1.
-1.
-2.00:.
40.0
,

. . ,

42.0

44.0

46.0

48.0

, 1 50.

in a 10-segment case, the FDPROFILE model produces more accurate results that the traditional approach. Errors in the traditional approach become more significant at higher frequencies (see Figure 2) and when the number of
intermediate points increases. For this particular example, the

Time (ms)

Fig 4:

Midpoint voltages, energization with arrester. Solid: IO-section model; dashed: two 250 km sections.
267

FDPROFILE simulation was only 20% faster than the traditional approach. However, gains in computational speed also increase with the number of intermediate points and the complexity of the rest of the system.

6. CONCLUSIONS

[ 101 L. Marti, "Simulation of Transients in Underground

This paper describes the calculation of voltage and current profiles on transmission lines when the solution at the endpoints is known. The calculation of the intermediate voltages and currents is done in the modal domain, under the assumption that the modal transformation matrix [Q] is real and constant. The frequency dependence of the line parameters is taken into account. The FDPROFILE model is computationally fast and easy to use. It offers an accurate alternative to the time consuming and computationally slow process of subdividing a line into smaller segments. A stand-alone post-processing version which is compatible with most versions of the EMTP is under development.

Cables with Frequency-Dependent Modal Transformation Matrices". IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 3, no. 3, July 1988, pp. 10991110. [ I l l J.R. Ribeiro, M.E. McCallam, "An Application of Metal Oxide Surge Arresters in the Elimination of Need for Closing Resistors in EHV Breakers", IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1989.

BIOGRAPHIES
Luis Marti (M'79) received an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the Central University of Venezuela in 1979, MASc and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering in 1983 and 1987, respectively, from The University of British Columbia. He did post-doctoral work in cable modelling in 1987-1988, and joined Ontario Hydro in 1989, where he is currently working in the Technical Support Department - Grid System Strategies & Plans Division. Hermann W. Dommel (F '79) was born in Germany in 1933. He received the Dipl. Ing and Dr. Ing. degrees in electrical engineering from the Technical University Munich, Germany in 1959 and 1962, respectively. From 1959 to 1966 he was with the Technical University Munich , and from 1966 to 1973 with Bonneville Power Administration , Portland, Oregon. Since July 1973 he has been with the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Dommel is a Fellow of IEEE and a registered professional engineer in British Columbia, Canada

REFERENCES
[I] A.C. Legate, J.H Brunke, J.J. Ray, E.J. Yasuda, "Elimination of Closing Resistors of EHV Circuit Breakers". IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 3, no. 1, January 1989, pp. 223-231. [2] J.H. Brunke, "Application of Metal Oxide Arresters for the Control of Line Switching Transients". Insulation Coordination Seminar, Canadian Electric Association Meeting. Toronto, Ontario, May 1990.
131 L.F. Woodruff, "Transmission Line Transients in Motion Movies". Transactions AIEE, vol. 57, July 1938, pp. 391-400.

APPENDIX
[4] L. Marti., "Voltage and Current Profiles and Low-order Approximation of Frequency-dependent Transmission Line f Electrical Engineering, The Parameters". Department o University of British Columbia. MASc. Thesis, April 1982, pp. 22-27. [5] S.J. Salon, "An Interactive Package for Electric Power Engineering Education". IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, January 1982, pp. 147-157. [6] J.R. Marti, "Accurate Modelling of Frequency-Dependent Transmission Lines in Electromagnetic Transient Simulations". IEEE Transactions PAS-101, January 1982, pp. 147-155. [7] R.S. Tallam, T.G. Lundquist, S.R. Atmuri, D.A. Selim, "Design Studies for the Mead-Phoenix 500 kV ac Transmission Project", IEEE Transactions Power System Delivery,,Vol. 10, No. 4, pp.1862-1874, October 1995.
[8] A. Semlyen and A. Dabuleanu "Fast and Accurate Switching

The tower data for the transmission line and simulation data used in the simulation described in Figure 3 is as
follows: Voltage class 230 kV, double circuit. Number of conductoribundle = 3 Separation of conductors in bundle = 18" dc resistance of main ACSR conductors = 0.05215 a m i Diameter = 1.602" (thicknesddiameter = 0.3636) dc resistance of (solid) ground wires = 2.65 Wmi Diameter of ground wires 1.602". Earth resistivity 100 S Z m cond 1

I
I

x(ft) -18.25

I
I

y(ft) 120.

Transient Calculations on Transmission Lines with Ground Retum Using Recursive Convolutions". IEEE Transactions, PAS-94, MarchlApril 1975, pp. 561-571. [9] H.W. Dommel, J.R. Marti, L. Marti, V. Brandwajn, "Approximate transformation matrices for unbalanced transmission lines". Ninth Power Systems Computation Conference, Cascais, Portugal August-September 1987, pp. 416-424. 268

The source impedance used in Figure 3 is 10 SZ. The arrester in Figure 3 is modelled as a nonlinear resistance with a simple two-slope characteristic (-,.005 Q), and Vsat = 1.5.