Nuclear Plant Design

Design Description for Switchyard

Terry Price Brian Liang Thayer Bai Alex Robitaille Nadeem Murji Karndeep Gill 100350844 100442577 100425385 100423915 100394550 100367967

Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Contents
Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Executive Summary......................................................................................................................... 3 Design Overview ............................................................................................................................. 4 System Overview ............................................................................................................................ 6 Site Layout....................................................................................................................................... 8 System Components ..................................................................................................................... 10 Distribution Bus......................................................................................................................... 10 Wave Trap ................................................................................................................................. 11 Insulator .................................................................................................................................... 11 Lightning Arrestor ..................................................................................................................... 12 Resistor Bank............................................................................................................................. 12 Step-Up Transformer ................................................................................................................ 13 Step-Down Transformer ........................................................................................................... 15 Emergency Circuit Breakers ...................................................................................................... 16 Emergency Circuit Connectors .................................................................................................. 16 Connectivity Switching Mechanism .......................................................................................... 17 Galvanometers .......................................................................................................................... 18 Voltage Stabilizing Autotransformer ........................................................................................ 19 Grounding ................................................................................................................................. 20 Soil Preparation..................................................................................................................... 21 Ground Rod Design ............................................................................................................... 21 Filter Capacitor Banks ............................................................................................................... 21 Phase Angle Adjusters............................................................................................................... 22 Emergency Backup Power Redirection Bus .............................................................................. 24 Output Monitoring .................................................................................................................... 24 Digital Control Computer .......................................................................................................... 24 Site Features ............................................................................................................................. 25 Fencing .................................................................................................................................. 26 Fire Protection .......................................................................................................................... 26 Site Grading ............................................................................................................................... 26 Environmental Impact............................................................................................................... 27

Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant Review of Design Requirements ................................................................................................... 27 Functional Requirements .......................................................................................................... 28 Performance Requirements ...................................................................................................... 28 Safety Requirements................................................................................................................. 29 Client Requirements: ................................................................................................................ 32 Reliability and Maintainability Requirements .......................................................................... 32 Cost Requirements.................................................................................................................... 33 Environmental Requirements ................................................................................................... 33 Human Factor Requirements .................................................................................................... 34 Layout Requirements ................................................................................................................ 34 Assumptions.................................................................................................................................. 35 Turbine Generator Assumptions............................................................................................... 35 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 35

Acronyms
CSM ECBD ECCD Connectivity Switching Mechanism Emergency Circuit Breaker Device Emergency Circuit Connector Device

Executive Summary
The report that follows details the conceptual design of the electrical switchyard for the ART25 nuclear power-plant. This switchyard transfers power from the electrical power generators, conditions it, and supplies it to both the electrical power grid and the nuclear power-plant itself. Furthermore, the switchyard provides backup power routing capabilities and some electrical power dissipation capability. Components designed include: the distribution bus, the wave trap, the insulators, the lighting arrestors, the resistor banks, the step-up and step-down transformers, the emergency circuit connectors, the emergency circuit breakers, the galvanometers, the voltage stabilizing autotransformers, grounding, site layout, filter capacitor banks, phase angle adjusters, the emergency backup power distribution bus, the

Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant digital control computer, external power interfaces, site fencing, and site fire protection. Furthermore, guides on detailed design philosophy are given throughout the document. Finally the conceptual design is analyzed to compare its congruence to the design requirements set for in the design requirements documents.

Design Overview
The switchyard is a facility for the ART25 facility that performs the following functions:

1. 2. 3.

The switchyard distributes power from the generator to the electrical grid. The switchyard distributes power from the generator to the plant itself. The switchyard distributes power from the electrical grid to the plant itself in the event

of a station blackout. 4. The switchyard controls the connectivity of the plant to the electrical grid

The switchyard distributes power to the electrical grid by taking power from the electrical generator, increasing its voltage to transmission voltages through a step-up transformer, and outputting it to the grid. The connectivity of switchyard to both the electrical grid and the electrical generator is controlled via a connectivity switching mechanism (CSM). The switchyard itself is able to transmit 30 MWe to the grid; this is the full-power output of the reactor plus a 20% margin of safety.

The switchyard distributes power to the plant itself by stepping down voltage from the generator and rectifying it to 120V single phase power at 60hz with a neutral line and ground and 240V three phase power at 60hz with a neutral. Once again, the connectivity of the system is controlled by a CSM.

A step-down transformer converts the electrical power from the grid to the standard 120 VAC and 240 VAC power forms used by plant services in the event that power can no longer be

Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant supplied from the generator to the plant. This connectivity and re-routing is controlled by a CSM.

Additionally, the entire switchyard can be isolated from the grid and the plant via a CSM. Connectivity to the plant and grid is maintained with independent parallel connections so that any maintenance operations can occur without discontinuing power distribution.

Grounding shall be provided via a pair of conductive rods driven into the ground. Using two conductive rods provides redundancy in case of any sort of system failure. All systems will be provided with a ground. Furthermore, to mitigate against the risk of spatial transients, the grounding rods shall be embedded at spatially distinct locations.

Power monitoring is a key capability of the switchyard. All power paths into the switchyard, out of the switchyard, and between elements within the switchyard must have their parameters continuously monitored so that any transients can be monitored and interrupted to prevent system damage. The particular parameters to be monitored shall be noted in the system components section of the report.

The parameters of the supplied power shall be controlled to match grid and plant-system requirements through a system of autotransformers, to adjust voltage output, and capacitor banks, to adjust phase angle.

The entire switchyard shall be controlled via a control room. This control room is to provide a suitable working environment for switchyard personnel and includes amenities that include a break-room, wash-rooms, heating, air conditioning. From within this control room, system performance can be monitored and the parameters of various elements of the switchyard can be altered. Furthermore, a data connection is installed between the switchyard control room and the reactor control room so that information about the grid demand and switchyard status can be communicated to the reactor control room.

Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

System Overview
A functional diagram of the system is as follows:
Single Phase Tap-Off Phase Angle Adjustment To Plant Single Phase Power

Step-Down Transformer

Autotransformer

Filter Capacitors Banks

Three-Phase Power

Phase Angle Adjustment

To Plant Three Phase Power

Electric Generator

Distribution Bus

Resistor Banks

Emergency Power Distribution System

From Backup

Step-Up Transformer

Autotransformer

Filter Capacitors Banks

Phase Angle Adjustment

To Power Grid

Wavetrap

Figure 1 System Layout

The switchyard is divided into three sub-systems: distribution bus and power dissipation area; the grid-side power distribution system; and, the plant-side power distribution system. The electric generator provides power to the distribution bus. The distribution bus distributes power in three directions: upwards to the plant, right to the resistor banks, and down to the power grid. The resistor banks dissipate any excess-power transients, in particular the BackEMF from the transformers or electric generator.

Considering the power-grid side of the switchyard, the step-up transformer is steps up the voltage from that which is provided by the generator to that which is accepted by the grid. The autotransformer (variac) is a transformer is capable of differentially changing its winding ratio so that the voltage output of the step-up transformer matches the voltage demanded by the power-grid. The filter capacitor banks filter out any short time-scale power transients that

Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant might occur in system. The phase angle adjustment is achieved by a bank of variable capacitors that align the output phase angle to the phase angle of the grid.

The plant-side power side of the switch yard works in a manner similar to that of the power-grid side of the switch yard, except for several differences. First, there are two outputs: three-phase power and single-phase power. The three-phase power system directly feeds the three-phase power coming off the electric generator through the step-down transformer and into phase angle adjustment whereupon it is directly fed into the plants three -phase power system. The single-phase power system takes a single phase out of the three-phase power, feeding it to phase-angle adjustment and then to the plants single phase power output.

Between each element in the system, a current sensing galvanometer is installed. This galvanometer trips an over-current protection system if it detects a high-current transient. This overcurrent protection system signals the emergency circuit breakers that connect the switchyard to the electric generator to trip, thereby disconnecting the switchyard from the power source. The element that is experiencing the over-current transient is also disconnected from the rest of the system using emergency circuit breakers that are installed between each element of the system. The element that is experiencing the over-current transient is then sunk to the resistor banks through an emergency circuit connector so that any stored charge in the element can be dissipated safely.

Continuous inspection of the switchyard shall be performed. This inspection looks for changes in operating parameter, physical attributes and human performance of the switchyard and adjusts them if the drift too far off their nominal values.

Conductors transmitting power to each component in the switchyard shall be insulated with a thickness of insulation that prevents electrical arcing to an unprotected ground in any transient scenario with a factor of safety. Furthermore, a membrane with a low magnetic susceptibility shall shield each conductor to prevent electromagnetic interference with proximate equipment.

Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant Finally, each conductor shall be spatially separated from each other to prevent cross-talk. If this spatial separation is not possible, then additional shielding shall be used to mitigate the risk of arcing and cross-talk. Regular inspections of this insulation shall occur. This insulation shall be weather resistant and able to last the lifetime of the switchyard under elevated-severity weather conditions.

The switchyard itself receives demand data from the power distributor through the power-lines themselves using a power-line communication protocol. This protocol operates in superposition with the power signal, but at a much higher frequency. A wave trap separates the power-line communications protocol signal from the power signal and sends the power-line communications signal to the control room for processing.

All components within the switchyard shall be seismically qualified for the region in which they are installed Furthermore, all components shall have a nominal operation lifetime that is either greater that the in-service life of the ART25 reactor or designed to be replaced or refurbished during the operational life of the switchyard. Furthermore, each component in the switchyard shall be designed so that it is able to withstand any sort of extreme weather condition that has a reasonable probability of occurring during the lifetime of the switchyard. Furthermore, corrosion resistant materials should be used wherever possible. All bare metal surfaces shall be painted to further mitigate against corrosion.

Workers entering the switchyard shall be inspected upon entry to ensure that they are wearing insulated rubber boots and other appropriate personal protective equipment. Furthermore, personnel at the switch yard shall all be given high voltage safety training. Furthermore, safety officers shall routinely patrol the switchyard to ensure that no safety violations are occurring.

Site Layout
The layout of the switchyard is depicted in the figure below.

Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Figure 1 Site layout

The layout of the switchyard is designed so that it can send 25MW of electrical power to the grid and the station. The generator sends the power to the bus where it can be divided. The electric bus is connected to the capacitor bank so that the lag is corrected early, minimizing losses within the switchyard itself. The control devices also connect at the bus, which is monitored by the control room. The resistor bank is connected to the bus to open and absorb energy if a transient is experienced, and is connected to a cooling system to extend the life of the resistors. The station service transformer is labeled as a step down transformer and is controlled to take as much power as the station needs. The transformer is cooled to extend its life. It is sent to an autotransformer where it is regulated within tolerances, and from there it is filtered and divided to a single phase tap and 3 phase power lines. From there it is sent to the plant services transmission which also connects to the control room. From the electrical bus the step up transformer distributes most of the power to the grid. This is accomplished by regulating it with an autotransformer, being filtered and phase corrected similarly to the station services power. However the size and amount of components is increased due to the increase in power flowing through them. The power grid also has a

Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant wave trap to prevent high frequency feedback into the switchyard from the grid. The emergency power distribution is used to send power to the plant from the grid in case the station loses its ability to produce electricity. The power is stepped down from the grid and sent to plant.

System Components
A more detailed description of individual system components follows.

Distribution Bus
The distribution bus, also called the electric bus, is responsible for distributing power from the electrical generator to the plant-side, grid-side and resistor banks. It does this by connecting the conductor leading from the electrical generator to conductors connecting to the plant-side, grid-side, and resistor banks through CSMs. Furthermore, there are emergency circuit connectors that connect the distribution bus to the resistor banks and emergency circuit breakers are installed on each branch of the distribution bus.

The distribution bus has the current and voltage flowing through each branch of it measured via galvanometers. These galvanometers are fed a stepped-down voltage that is congruent with their operational parameters via a step-down transformer. The galvanometers digitize their signal by actuating a rotary encoder. This signal is then sent to the control room for continuous monitoring. Furthermore, distribution bus temperature is recorded on the surface of the insulator of the conductors by an infrared pyrometer. The signal from the pyrometer is also sent to the control room for continuous monitoring.

The conductors in the distribution bus are shielded from cross-talk via magnetic field shields (such as mu-metal) that are present whenever the conductors are in close proximity to each other. The entire distribution bus is built inside a weather-proof metal box that has access hatches built in for easy maintenance. This metal box features elastomer expansion joints to prevent structural fatigue from the pulsating magnetic fields that are induced by the alternating

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant current flowing through the conductors. The distribution bus shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any sort of seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring.

Wave Trap
A wave trap is a device used to trap the high frequency communication signals sent through the HV transmission power lines. Its purpose is to filter out only the pertinent communication signals and divert them to the teleprotection panel in the control room (this is done with a combination of a capacitor and inductor). This is required because substations communicate through Power Line Carrier Communication (PLCC) systems. These systems do not depend on telecommunication company networks. The communication carrier waves are at a much higher frequency than the power signal. Each of the wave traps is designed to prevent such carrier waves from entering the lines and affecting station equipment. They are also protected with a lightning arrester in case of surges. The design will need to include several of these in order to ensure that unwanted frequencies are left out of the station machinery. The wave trap shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring.

Insulator
Insulators are important when designing structures to support electrical equipment and transmission lines. They are designed to insulate and resist the flow of electrical current while being able to physically support the wires which carry such currents.

The main type of insulator used to support the transmission lines will be suspension type insulators. These insulators have a number of ceramic discs connected in series with metal links to form a chain. Each disc is designed for a certain voltage, the greater the line voltage, the greater the number of discs required. In addition, the chain like linking of the discs allows for a minimization of stresses via free swinging. This allows for movement of these insulators

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant from wind or seismic events, thus being seismically qualified. Such an insulator is also easy to repair and modulate by simply replacing broken discs or adding on more discs. The insulation also provides protection to the lines from currents that would come from the tower, meaning that there is partial protection from lightning.

Lightning Arrestor

Lightning arrestors are electrical protection tools designed to protect electrical equipment and insulation from switching and lightning surges. These transients of overvoltage are captured by the lightning arrestors and sent to the earth. It is the first piece of equipment in electrical substations.

These will be installed on all towers and poles, transformers, circuit breakers, bus structures and steel towers in a substation. The lightning arrestors shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring

Resistor Bank

The resistor bank is the device that is responsible for dissipating any excess energy or residual energy in the switchyard. It consists of a set of parallel branches of resistors in series (see the figure below).

Figure 2 Sample resistor bank layout

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant This arrangement of resistors is to ensure that no single resistor has its maximum voltage rating or maximum current rating exceeded. The resistor bank must have a total resistance that ensures the power time-constant of the entire switchyard system, upon a loss-of-power incident, dissipates power at a rate at which the heat flux from the resistors in manageable.

Each resistor shall be cooled using a recirculating cooling oil system. Each resistor is installed in a coolant oil reservoir. The size of this oil reservoir is such that the oil in the reservoir can store the entirety of the heat generated by a complete system discharge from nominal conditions without failure. Under normal conditions, this cooling oil is circulated by a pump through a radiator. The temperature of the coolant oil and surface temperature of the resistors are monitored by thermocouples. These temperature readings are fed back into the control room to provide process monitoring. The temperature is additional fed back to as a microcontroller that controls the duty cycle of the recirculating cooling oil pump in a manner such that the resistor in the oil reservoir is kept at its nominal operating temperature.

There are several input conductors to the resistor bank so that if one input conductor fails, the resistor bank will still be accessible via another pathway. Furthermore, the current and voltage parameters of each input conductor is monitored by galvanometers and this data is fed back to the control room. The resistor bank shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring

Step-Up Transformer

The step-up transformers steps-up the voltage on the primary side to a higher voltage on the secondary side. For the power-grid step-up transformers, the voltage is stepped up to a level that is congruent with the distribution voltage. Fine adjustment of the voltage is achieved by using the succeeding autotransformer.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant The step-up transformer is installed in parallel with the resistor bank so that upon a lossof-power or isolation event, the back-EMF is discharged through the resistor bank. The rate of discharge of the back-EMF is such that the maximum value of the voltage spike produced by the back-EMF does not exceed the maximum voltage rating of the transformer.

The step-up transformer is encased in a magnetic field insulator so that the magnetic field outside of the transformer does not exceed a level that would interfere with proximate equipment and devices. Furthermore, the entire transformer is installed in a weather-proof box. Both the magnetic field shield and weather-proof box have elastomer expansion joints so that the magnetic field induced vibrations in the shield and weather-proof box do not fatigue the material that they are constructed from.

The step-up transformer is cooled via a recirculating cooling-oil system. This recirculating cooling oil system has a large enough volume so that upon a loss-of-power incident, the temperature rise generated by the back-EMF does not exceed the maximum operating temperature of the transformer. Under normal operating conditions, the cooling-oil is kept at a nominal operating temperature by pumping it through a radiator.

The step-up transformer is connected to the rest of the system through a CSMs and ECBDs. Furthermore, monitoring of the temperature of the cooling oil, radiator, primary coil and secondary coils is provided by thermocouples that have their signals fed back to the control room. Monitoring of the current is achieved by using galvanometers. The voltage drop across the transformer is calculated by measuring the impedance as a function of coil temperature (i.e. Z(T_p,T_s)) and multiplying that by the current flowing through the transformer. This is to avoid the use of a step-down transformer to find the voltage. The step up transformers shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Step-Down Transformer

The step-down transformer is the conceptual complement to the step-up transformer. The step-down transformer converts a higher voltage on its primary side to a lower voltage on its secondary side. fine adjustment of output voltage is achieved by using a succeeding autotransformer.

The step-down transformer is encased in a magnetic field insulator that provides shielding which prevents the magnetic field of the step-down transformer from interacting with proximate equipment. The whole apparatus is encased in a weather-proof box. Both the shield and the box are constructed with elastomeric expansion joints that prevent material damage by repetitive bending caused by the alternating magnetic field of the transformer.

The step-down transformers shall be installed in parallel with the resistor bank. In this way, the back-emf caused by an isolation or loss-of-power event will be dissipated as heat in the resistor banks.

A nominal operating temperature in the step-down transformer shall be maintained by a placing the transformer itself in a cooling-oil reservoir. The cooling-oil reservoir shall be sized so that it can absorb the heat generated by a loss-of-power induced back-EMF event and keep the step-down transformer below its maximum temperature rating.

Current flowing through the step-down transformer shall be monitored by a galvanometer. The voltage drop across the step-down transformer shall be calculated by multiplying the current passing through the transformer by the impedance of the transformer itself as a function of primary and secondary coil temperature. The step-down transformer itself will be connected to other elements in the system through CSMs and ECBDs. The step down transformers shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Emergency Circuit Breakers

The emergency circuit breakers are devices that break the connectivity of a component to the switchyard or the switchyard from the grid. Circuit breakers are designed to fail open to protect any component that may be connected to them from transients that may occur while the breaker is unavailable. The ECBDs shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring

The emergency circuit breakers use a high-pressure pneumatically operated switch to connect the two sides of the breaker. When the trip signal is given, a solenoid valve retracts the pneumatic actuator operates and disconnects the two sides of the switch. There is only enough air in the reservoir tank for a single operation. An onboard compressor keeps the reservoir tank pressurized. This use of a reservoir tank allows the ECBDs to operate without any power other than the trip signal. The trip signal itself originates from the control room and is sent to the ECCBs by a standard insulated control cable.

Emergency Circuit Connectors

The emergency circuit connectors are fast acting switches that connect an element in the switchyard to the resistor bank so that residual charge in the element can be safely dissipated. This emergency circuit connector consists of a normally closed switch that is held open via an electromagnetic clutch. When de-energized, the switch will close and connect the switchyard element to the resistor banks. The ECCDs shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Connectivity Switching Mechanism

The connectivity switching mechanism (CSM) is a device that controls the connectivity of an element in the switchyard to another. It works by using a pneumatically actuated highvoltage, high-current switch to connect and disconnect a conductor between two elements of the switchyard. Altogether, there are four switches in each CSM: two parallel sets of two series switches (see the diagram below)

Figure 3 CSM switch layout

In this way, control is only lost if two out of the four switches are unresponsive. Air is supplied to the pneumatic actuators of these switches via an onboard reservoir that is connected to an onboard compressor. The onboard reservoir contains enough air so that several typical power-maneuvers can be performed; this ensures switchyard operability in case of a loss of backup power incident. Furthermore, the onboard compressors have an external shaft that can be connected to a gas-powered portable motor that can power the compressor.

The CSM is controlled through a standard electrical control signal. This control signal is transmitted from the control room to an onboard controller board via an insulated signal cable. Furthermore, manual control is enabled by using normally-closed solenoid valves on the pneumatics lines that have a manual-override lever installed. In this way, if there is a loss-ofpower incident, the CSMs can still be operated via these levers.

The entire CSM, except the switches themselves is to be covered in a weather-proof metal box. This metal box features elastomer expansion joints to prevent structural fatigue due to movement induced by the alternating magnetic field created by the power moving through

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant the conductors. Due to the tendency for the contacts of the switches to arc, these are left open to the environment. This metal box is grounded so that any arcing to it will be safely arrested.

Arcing at the CSM switches is unavoidable. The switches contacts themselves are constructed from a thick conductor that is resistant to damage due to electrical arcing and weathering. The lifespan of the switch contact should be designed so that sum of the replacement cost over the lifetime of the plant is minimized. Furthermore, the CSM is housed within an exclusion cage that prevents people and equipment at a safe distance away from any arcs induced by the CSM. Furthermore, this cage is grounded so that any arcs that do make it to the cage perimeter can be safely sunk to ground. A mean looking scarecrow should be placed on the cage to prevent birds from sitting on the cage or nesting in the equipment. The CSMs shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring

Galvanometers

The galvanometers serve two purposes: monitoring of the voltage on a conductor, and monitoring of the current on a conductor. The galvanometer is connected to a low-friction rotary encoder that allows it to respond to events on the same time-scale as a typical power transient. The signal from this rotary encoder is sent via a standard signal cable to the control room so that the galvanometer can be continuously monitored.

Voltage measurements require the use a high resistance resistor in parallel with the galvanometer. Since a high resistance resistor would need to dissipate many MW of power if a sizable fraction of the plants output were to be passed through it, galvanometers that measure voltage first have the voltage passed to them stepped-down by many orders of magnitude such that the power dissipated by the resistor is a quantity that is manageable by a forced-air heatsinking system.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant A regular benchmarking program shall be implemented with the galvanometers so that the accuracy degradation due to spring-force loss in the restoring spring of the galvanometers can be compensated for.

The galvanometers are connected to the other elements in the system via CSMs in the input and output sides as well as emergency breakers. Since there are no capacitive or inductive elements in the galvanometers, a connection does not need to be made to the resistor bank. The galvanometers shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring

Voltage Stabilizing Autotransformer

The voltage stabilizing (or regulating) autotransformer is a transformer that allows for differential adjustment of its winding ratios. In this way, the magnitude of the output voltage can be changed.

A transformer that is rated to the power requirements of its installation (grid, 3-phase, or single phase power) is installed with a secondary winding with multiple taps. These taps are connected to the output conductor of the transformer via a mechanical interlock that only allows for a single tap to be connected to the conductor at a time.

The autotransformer receives a control over a standard signal line from the control room. This signal is computed by calculating the difference between the demanded voltage and the output voltage of the autotransformer. The tap that is the closest match to the demanded voltage is then selected.

The autotransformers are installed such that there is a parallel connection to the resistor bank. In this way, any back-emf generated by a power transient will have a timeconstant large enough that it does not generate a damaging spike in transformer voltage.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant Furthermore, the autotransformer shall be connected to the rest of the system via CSMs and emergency breakers. If the autotransformer is isolated from all other elements in the system except the resistor bank, the power stored in its magnetic field shall be drained through the resistor bank that is now in series with it after the isolation.

The autotransformers shall be housed in weatherproof metal housing. This metal housing shall include elastomer expansion joints to prevent fatigue due to the contraction and expansion induced by the alternating magnetic field of the transformer. The autotransformer shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring

Grounding
The grounding of high voltages at the switchyard is very important and is used to effectively return electricity to the service panel without causing the circuit breaker to trip. A thoroughly designed grounding system for the switchyard ensures: safety to all personnel against high touch voltages, no damage to installations and property, minimal corrosion or mechanical stress collapses throughout the substations lifetime and it has to be economical in terms of man hours and installation. Safety of the grounding system revolves around the principle that if a fault occurs at the switchyard, a fatal shock hazard does not occur. The main concern at the switchyard is ground potential rise; this is the level or voltage gradient background with respect to remote earth. Ground potential rise affects the magnitude of step and touch potential throughout the substation. Step potential represents the voltage between a persons feet as he or she walks through a substation, whereas touch potential is voltage that can exist between the hand and foot of a person when he or she touches equipment with potential. Controlling these parameters is fundamental in safety grounding design. In order to control step and touch potentials, the ground potential rise needs to be lowered. To address the lowering of ground potential rise there are many things that can be done: 1. Increase the surface layer of high resistivity material throughout the switchyard. 2. extend the grounder region and

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant 3. Place ground rods and wells around the substation to better dissipate fault current.

Soil Preparation
The preparation of the soil before the ground rods are inserted aides in lowering the resistivity resulting in adequate ground resistance. The design will have an initial layer of clay for a half-metre, followed by five metres of loam and above the loam will be half a metre of gravel. Lastly a well for any maintenance is to be installed. The well will be slightly covered with gravel but can be accessed easily by electrical technicians. Using this layering will provide the most resistivity to ground potential rise and other hazards.

Ground Rod Design

The ground rod design will consist of two conductive copper rods. The average ground rod used in substations is three metres long. The rods used for this design will be six metres in length and will be distanced six metres away from each other as well. Doubling the length of the two ground rods wherever grounding is needed will reduce the resistance by a value of 45% under uniform soil conditions. A groundwire will be used to connect the the ground rod and the service ground connection which will be found in the control room. Capacitor Banks

Filter Capacitor Banks

The filter capacitor banks serve the purpose of removing any fast time-scale power transients from the system. The capacitors in this circuit should be installed in parallel so that the current passing through any one capacitor does not exceed the nominal operational parameters of the capacitor. Furthermore, on the power grid side the capacitors shall be highvoltage ceramic type capacitors. The parallel branches of the filter capacitor banks shall feature

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant a multitude of individual capacitors so that the voltage drop across each capacitor is within the maximum voltage parameters of the individual capacitors.

The filter capacitor bank shall be connected to other elements in the system through CSMs in series with ECBDs. The shall be an ECCD that connects the filter capacitor bank to the resistor bank. In the event of an isolation event or excess power transient (that has a timescale that is within the resolving time of the ECCD), the ECCD will drain the filter capacitor bank to the resistor bank.

Figure 4 Capacitor bank layout

Voltage and current shall be monitored entering and leaving the filter capacitor bank and fed back to the control room. Furthermore, a regular maintenance program shall be implemented in which the operational parameters (time constant, frequency response, etc) of the individual capacitors in monitored for drift. The filter capacitor banks shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring

Phase Angle Adjusters

The phase angle adjusters adjust the phase angle of the incoming power to match the demanded power phase angle. A phase angle adjuster shall be provided for each phase of power being supplied to it. The phase angle adjusters accomplish this by a series of variable capacitors that are in series with a series of variable inductors. The number of variable capacitors and variable inductors is determined by the maximum voltage rating of each component; enough elements should be put in the series so that the maximum voltage rating

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant of each component is not exceeded. furthermore, this series of series of variable capacitors and series of variable inductors shall be in parallel with further series of series of variable capacitors and series of variable inductors such that the maximum current rating of each component is not exceeded. See the diagram below for clarification.

Figure 5 Prototypical phase angle adjuster

These variable capacitors and variable inductors shall be controlled by actuators based on a control signal from the control room. The control signal shall determine the positioning of the variable capacitors or inductors such that it alters phase angle of the output power so that it is congruent with the demanded power output angle. The input and output voltages and currents of the phase angle adjusters shall be monitored by galvanometers and the signals from these galvanometers shall be fed back into the control room to compute the error value of the phase angle adjuster system.

Each of the variable inductors shall be wired up in parallel with the resistor bank so that the back-EMF time constant is large enough that the maximum voltage rating is not exceeded during a loss-of-power transient. Furthermore, the variable capacitors are connected to the resistor bank via an ECCD. In the case of an isolation event or an excess power transient that can be intercepted within the operational-time scope of the ECCD, the ECCD will trip and safely drain the charge of the capacitors to the resistor bank where it will be dissipated as heat. The phase angle adjusters shall be connected to the rest of the system through CSMs and ECBDs. The phase angle adjusters shall be seismically qualified and able to withstand any seismic event with a reasonable probability of occurring

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Emergency Backup Power Redirection Bus

The emergency backup power redirection bus redirects power from the grid to the plant power supply systems in the event of a loss-of-power incident. It does this by stepping down grid voltage to the plant distribution voltage with three phase power. A single phase of this three phase power is the taken off to distribute power to the single phase power systems. The emergency backup power redirection bus can also accept power from the emergency backup power systems.

Upon a loss-of-power incident, ECBDs fire and disconnect the plant power supply from the electrical generator. The emergency backup power redirection bus then switches on to supply power from the electrical grid to the plant itself. If there is no power available in the electrical grid the redirection bus will switch again to take power from the backup power supply systems.

Output Monitoring
Output current and voltage are continuously monitored on both the plant-power side and grid-power side. This data is recorded in the control room and fed to the digital control computer so that it can adjust the autotransformers and phase angle adjusters so that the plant output is congruent with the grid and plant demands. Furthermore, CSMs are placed between the switchyard and each output so that the outputs can be disconnected if the need arises.

Digital Control Computer

All component parameters such as temperature, current and voltage will be input into a centralized digital control computer. This digital control computer will be housed in a seismically qualified air conditioned room; installed with an uninterruptable power supply to prevent disruptions due to loss-of-power incidents; and, mounted on a spring table to prevent damage due to seismic events

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant This digital control computer can either be set in manual or automatic mode. In manual mode, the switchyard is controllable by a human operator at a control panel. In automatic mode, the switchyard responds programmatically to system demands.

The digital control computer shall take inputs from the grid operator via the power-line communications protocol. The digital control computer shall output all of the switchyards parameters to the reactor control room via a data link so that the reactor control room operators can see what is happening in the switch yard.

Site Features
The foundation of the switchyard shall be made of steel-reinforced concrete. The concrete pad will be 110x 70 m and shall be built on a slight grade so that water is able to drain off it.. Concrete foundations below ground level provide an excellent means of obtaining a lowresistance ground electrode system. Since concrete has a low resistivity a rod embedded within a concrete encasement gives a very low electrode resistance compared to most rods buried in the ground directly . It is possible to use the reinforcement rod as the conductor of the electrode by ensuring that an electrical connection can be established with the main rebar of each foundation. The size of the rebar and the bonding between bars of each concrete member must be done so that ground fault current will not cause excessive heating, otherwise such heating may weaken the concrete member and cause it to fail.

The use of Ufer grounds to turn the concrete foundation into a grounding electrode means there are some factors to keep in mind. One of these factors is steam. Moisture in the concrete may turn into steam if a high fault current such a lightning surge or heavy ground fault occurs. This expansion of the water content in the concrete can produce cracks and damage the concrete. Another factor to be concerned about is possible corrosion of the rebar when an AC current flows through it. Corrosion would cause the rebar to expand and produce cracks in the concrete. Damage to the concrete can be minimized by limiting the duration of the fault current flow or providing a path from the rebar through the concrete to an external electrode.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Fencing

There will be a metallic security fence around the perimeter of the switchyard. Like every other structure the fencing will be grounded in the event of arcing, lightning strike or a power line snapping and falling on the fencing. The fencing will enclose any part of the switchyard which is open to the air, contains live equipment which is not encased and the control building, with a fence that is at least 1.8m in height. The fence will be topped with barbed wire to keep intruders out. There will be gates to allow entry to the switchyard located along the fencing. The gates shall not come into contact with the frame or enclosure of any electrical equipment when fully opened. The gates and fencing shall have high-voltage warning signs to inform people of the danger of the site. The gates like the fencing will be grounded.

Fire Protection
There are a variety of potential causes of fires in a substation so the fire protection measures must be robust. An automatic fire suppression system will serve as active fire protection by detecting fires and spraying an extinguishing agent such as carbon dioxide into the hazard area. A secondary water sprinkler system will douse the fire in the event that the primary suppression system fails. Fire protection walls and barriers will serve as passive fire protection by separating the components of the switchyard to prevent fire from spreading. There will be self-closing fire doors in the fire walls to eliminate the possibility of fire spreading due to human negligence. A separation distance of 10-15m from trees or any vegetation will be maintained to reduce the risk of damage from external fires. Gravel will be used to cover this separation area to prevent weeds from growing. The main source of flammable material in a switchyard will be the oil used for cooling the transformer and the resistors, to minimize the risk from these catching fire all the fuel sources shall be separated from each other.

Site Grading
For site grading we will perform a soil report of the proposed sites to test for stability, shearing strength and sloping of the site. The site will be on higher ground and at a very slight

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant grade to minimize the risk of water pooling around the site and allow for easy drainage of water away from the site. In location one the proximity of the lake allows for drainage to be diverted into the lake and avoid disturbing the environment.

There are two sites being considered for the ART25. Location one is close to the lake and the terrain consists of lots of sand and loose rock. There does not appear to be good foundation rock at location two. For location one, bedrock is near the surface providing for a stable site. In addition, there is reasonable room for large scale helicopters and small air transports to land. Of these two locations, location two is a better site to build the switchyard on.

A surface water drainage system shall be provided to deal with run-off from the concrete pad and buildings. The run-off will be diverted into the lake to prevent it affecting natural drainage in the area . Oil interceptors shall be installed to protect the surface water from pollution by oil leakage from switchyard equipment.

Environmental Impact
The Switchyard is composed of electrical equipment and wiring, and therefore does not produce any air pollution. Grounding, lightning arrestors, and insulation will protect the surrounding area from any power surges. Construction and maintenance will cause a minimal impact on the environment since it is a relatively small system and the parts are easily replaceable. Noise pollution from the transformers poses the biggest concern regarding the environmental impact.

Review of Design Requirements

Below is a review of the design requirements as they are listed in the design requirements document. The congruence of our design with each design requirement is analyzed.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Functional Requirements
The Switchyard shall admit all electric power coming from the Main-Output Transformer. o The conceptual design admits power coming from the electrical generator. If the main-output transformer (IE some sort of isolation transformer installed on the electrical generator to interface between the electrical generator itself and the switchyard) is a device on the electrical generator then the conceptual design produced meets this requirement. The Switchyard shall transmit electric power to the power grid. o The conceptual design transmits electrical power to the power grid through the power-grid side of the switchyard The Switchyard shall be controllable from a control room. o All the instrumentation readings arrive at a central control room. All the control signals are sent from the control room. In this way, the switchyard is controllable from a control room. The Switchyard shall contain the automatic switching mechanisms (such as fuses or circuit breakers) that inter-connect the station and power grid. o The CSMs placed at the external interfaces of the switchyard interconnect the station to the power grid. This requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall be able to supply electric power to the station in the event of an outage. o The emergency power redirection bus enables both grid power and backup power be redirected to power both the three phase and single phase plant power systems. If an outage does occur, this redirection bus provides electrical power to the plant. This design requirement has been met.

Performance Requirements

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant The Switchyard shall transmit 3 phase AC power to the grid, offset at 120 degrees to maintain a consistent flow of power to the grid. o The switchyard transmits the three phases generated by the electrical generator to the power grid. This requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall be backed by redundancy by utilizing extra lines and double bus bar setups. o The critical components in the switchyard have multiple conductors leading to and from them. In this way, this requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall have a lifetime of at least that of the ART25. o Each of the individual components in the switchyard have a lifetime that is greater than that of the ART25 reactor or are able to be easily replaced (such as the CSM contacts) within the operational life of the switchyard. This requirement has been met. The switchyard shall be able to accept continuous 30MWe electric power (normal operations output 25MWe). o The switchyard is designed to continuously transmit 30MWe of electrical power from the electrical generator to the grid. This is accomplished by using components in parallel and series so that the power across each component is within its operational parameters. This requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall be able to continuously operate automatically. This implies personnel free operation under normal operating conditions. o The digital control computers allow for hands-free operation of the switchyard. This requirement has been met.

Safety Requirements

The Switchyard shall be seismically qualified.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant o Each component in the switchyard is seismically qualified. If each individual component in the switchyard is qualified, then it follows that the entirety of the switchyard is seismically qualified. It follows that this requirement is met. The Switchyard shall be able to route power from grid to the station service transformer in the event of a loss of generator. o The emergency power distribution bus is able to redirect power to the plant from either the electrical power grid or the backup power supply. If the intent of his design requirement was to ensure that the plant received power during black-out conditions, then this design requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall be able to withstand strong winds, heavy snow, and freezing rain. o Since every component within the plant is designed to withstand extreme weather conditions, and many components are placed within weather-proof boxes, it follows that this requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall have sufficient drainage to prevent pooling of water during extended raining or floods. o The pooling of water is prevented by constructing the site of a slight grade. This design requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall have protection against fires. o The onsite fire protection services protect the site from fires. Cooling oil and electrical fires are protected against by using fire extinguishing foams. Furthermore, the guarding around areas that have the potential for arcing further protects the site from fires. This requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall be able to operate in extreme temperature conditions (-60 to +60 deg) o All components within the system are designed to withstand extreme weather conditions. Implicit in this requirement is the requirement to operate in extreme temperature conditions. Furthermore, components with active cooling are

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant further protected from extreme temperature conditions. This requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall be protected against direct lightning strikes. o The lighting arrestors, grounding of components, and ECBDs protect the system against direct lightning strikes. Furthermore, the filter capacitor banks protect the system from power transients with a time scale congruent with a lighting strike. In this way, this requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall have a grounding mechanism emplaced to deal with over-current transients and over-voltage transients. o Over-current and Over-voltage transients are dealt with by isolating system components and sinking them to the resistor banks. Furthermore, the autotransformers can handle minor power transients. This requirement has been met. The Switchyard Shall be able to admit electric power to station service transformer from auxiliary backup generators if necessary. o The emergency backup power redirect bus is able to redirect power from the backup power service to the station power supplies. In this way, the essential functionality of this requirement has been met. The fence of the switchyard shall prevent intrusion from animals or humans. o The fence installed at the perimeter of the switchyard prevents unauthorized intrusion by humans or animals. Without subversive measures, the only way into the site is through the entrance gate. This requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall be resistant to corrosion. o Corrosion resistance is provided by three measures. First, corrosion resistant materials such as stainless steels are used wherever possible. Second, all bare metal surfaces are painted to prevent any initial corrosive attack. Finally much of the equipment is housed in weatherproof boxes that prevent the ingress of water. This requirement has been met. The Switchyard shall be well insulated to prevent arcing.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant o All the conductors in the switchyard are insulated, spatially separated, and shielded where possible. Where this insulation is not possible, and exclusion cage is installed. This requirement has been met.

Client Requirements:

The Switchyard shall be constructed above ground. o The switchyard is constructed above ground, on a grade. This requirement has been met.

The Switchyard shall transmit 25MWe to the power grid. o The switchyard is able to transmit 30 MWe to the power grid. Since 30 MWe is greater than 25 MWe, this requirement has been met.

Reliability and Maintainability Requirements

The Switchyard shall undergo maintenance at least once per year. o The continuous inspection routine performs maintenance on any system components if they drift too far off from their nominal operating values. The once per year aspect of this requirement is unfounded. Nevertheless, the intent of this requirement is met.

The Switchyard shall have voltage and current monitors to facilitate inspection. o The voltage and current measurement devices implemented in each system component. The readings from these instruments are recorded in the control room. Inspection personnel can be given access to these records to facilitate their inspection routines. This requirement has been met.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Cost Requirements

The Switchyard shall be financially reasonable. o No new technology needs to be developed for this switchyard. Standard, off-theshelf components can be used for many of the components. A priori, this enables the switchyard to be financially reasonable. This requirement has been met.

Environmental Requirements

The construction, maintenance and operations of the Switchyard shall not leave a significant environmental footprint. o There are no reaction chambers or effluent streams leaving the switchyard. The only environmental impact is that which is created by its construction and production of replacement operating equipment. A priori, there is no significant environmental impact. This requirement has been met.

The Switchyard shall not be loud during normal operations. o The switchyard has no large-scale motors or other devices that produces elevated noise levels. There will be some hum due to the alternating magnetic fields in the transformers, but this is hardly what one would consider loud. This requirement has been met.

The insulation used in the Switchyard shall not create significant pollution problems. o Due to its lifespan, there is minimal atmospheric pollution created by the degradation of the insulation. The insulation used in the switchyard can be disposed of in a method that traps any leaching material. In this way, the pollution created by the insulation is manageable. This requirement has been met.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Human Factor Requirements

The Switchyard must be easy to operate and easy to access for inspection. o The centralized control room and site layout provides easy control of the switchyard and easy access for inspection. This requirement has been met.

The Switchyard is remotely operated from the control room and easy access is granted for routine inspections and maintenance. o All control signals originate from the control room. The layout of the switchyard enables easy access. This requirement has been met.

Workers given access to the Switchyard shall be outfitted in safety gear during operations. o Compliance with personal protective equipment policy is ensured at the gate to the switchyard. This requirement has been met.

Workers shall wear insulated safety gear when working within the switchyard to prevent any shocks from the electrical systems. o The regular safety patrols will ensure the personal protective equipment policy is followed by employees working in the switchyard. This requirement has been met.

Layout Requirements
The switchyard must be placed between the Main Output Transformer and Power Grid. o The main output transformer (step-up transformer) is located within the switchyard and has transmission lines to the grid. The intent of this requirement has been met.

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant

Assumptions
Since all information on the other systems was not presented or given in design documents it is necessary to make and state assumptions in order to do a proper analysis of the switchyard system.

Turbine Generator Assumptions

While the ART25 Turbine Generator describes in detail what the turbines operating conditions are the only given as 25MWe output at either 50 or 60Hz. For an electrical system this knowledge is inadequate to design a switchyard around. The assumptions made are: 1) 2) The turbine generates AC power. The stator is divided into three equally sized regions at 120 to each other. This will generate three phase power, as opposed to a single phase, which will

increase efficiency as one phase is always peaking. 3) The stators are connected in a wye configuration, as opposed to a delta configuration. This will allow one phase to be disconnected without disconnecting the other

two phases. Delta configuration is also not regularly used in practise (Rizzoni, 2007). 4) The output potential of the turbine generator is a typical 18kV (Rizzoni, 2007).

Bibliography
(2013). ART25 Reactor Project Design Information Package. Advanced Reactor Technologies. Chief Engineer Harvel. (2013). Filing Numbers. Advanced Reactor Technologies. Dave, C. E. (Aug 27, 2010). Conceptual Design Projects for ART25 BOP. Advanced Reactor Technologies. Dr. Glenn Harvel, Chief Engineer. (2013). Phase IIIa conceptual designs. Advanced Reactor Technologies. Electrical4u. (n.d.). Types and Operation of SF6 Circuit Breaker. Retrieved from http://www.electrical4u.com/types-and-operation-of-sf6-circuit-breaker/

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Switchyard Conceptual Design Document for the ART25 Nuclear Power Plant Julia. (2010). Site Characteristics of Blue Valley Mineral Deposit. Advanced Reactor Technologies. Krishna, B. (n.d.). Substation Overview. Retrieved from http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/balu56208-1905811-substation-view/ Pansini, A. J. (2005). Guide to Electrical Power Distribution Systems. CRC Press. Pansini, A. J. (2005). Power Transimssion and Distribution . CRC Press. Rizzoni, G. (2007). Principles and Applications of Electrical Engineering.

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