Ineffectiveness of transmission line

transpositions at harmonic frequencies

Prof. J. Arrillaga, D.Sc, C.Eng., F.I.E.E., E. Acha, T.J. Densem, Ph.D., and
P.S. Bodger, Ph.D.
Indexing terms: Transmission lines, Computer applications

Abstract: There is practically no information on the behaviour of transmission line transpositions at harmonic
frequencies. The paper describes a computer model for the calculation of the phase voltages appearing at the
end of a multiconductor transmission line. The program can model the effect of transpositions under harmonic
voltage or current excitation and variable loading. The effectiveness of the transpositions is shown to deteriorate
substantially with increasing frequencies for electrical distances above one-eighth of their respective wavelengths
and when the power transmitted is below the natural loading of the line.

1 Introduction In fundamental frequency studies the effect of transposi-

tions is generally accounted for by averaging the distri-
The conductor geometries of high voltage transmission buted parameters of the three transposed sections and
lines produce considerable impedance asymmetry, which using them in a single nominal or equivalent 7r-circuit.
in turn causes corresponding voltage imbalance at the far Such a method, however, assumes that the line geometry is
end of the line. perfectly symmetrical at all points, whereas the transposi-
It is generally accepted that, for practical distances, the tions occur at two discrete distances.
effect of line asymmetry can be eliminated by the use of The method adopted in this investigation considers
phase transpositions dividing the line into three, or multi- each transposed section as an independent subsystem [6]
ples of three, equal lengths. Accordingly, transpositions are and subsequently cascades the three admittance matrices
often used in long distance transmission as a means of bal- to obtain an overall equivalent matrix.
ancing the fundamental frequency impedances of the line. The three subsystems are shown in Fig. 1. The equiva-
With the rapidly increasing numbers and ratings of lent parameters of a particular transposed section Y are
static convertors and thyristor-controlled compensators,
R B Y
the harmonic voltage and current levels present in high N
Y N{ R / B
voltage transmission systems are growing considerably. It
is thus important to assess the effect that conventional B Y R
voltage balancing techniques have on the propagation of
harmonics, particularly in long distance transmission lines.
There is practically no reference in the literature to the Vs , _ , V V" VR
EPM
effect of line transpositions at harmonic frequencies. An kr\ I J k I Z>EPM I J k 1 z EPM r p l
early experimental attempt [1] made under very low
voltage and relatively short distance, indicated that the Y
EPM
Y'
EPM Y
EPM Y
EPM Y
EPM
Y"'
EPM
balancing effect of the transpositions reduced considerably
as the frequency increased. Early computer models and
network analysers were very restricted for the assessment Fig. 1 Transposed line diagram and equivalent n sections
of transpositions at harmonic frequencies as they used
simple nominal 7r-circuits for the line modelling. derived from the following expressions:
Higher frequencies increase the electrical distance and
therefore long line effects must be included when modelling (1)
harmonic distortion. This requires cascading a number of L (^x) J
nominal 7r-circuits [2] or, even better, the use of equivalent
7r-circuits derived from the wave propagation equations (2)
[3]. Moreover, the distributed parameters of these equiva-
lent circuits must include their frequency dependence. where x = (line length)/3; [Z'] PM and [Y^f/.^ are square
Finally, the coupling between phases and parallel lines matrices including the equivalent n series and shunt
must be accurately represented. impedances and admittances, respectively; [JVf] is the
A computer model capable of incorporating the above matrix of normalised eigenvectors; [Z*] and [Yr] are
effects [4] is developed further in this paper to study the square matrices including the series impedance and shunt
effect of line transpositions at harmonic frequencies. admittances per unit length of line, their size beingfixedby
the number of mutually coupled conductors.
2 Admittance matrix of a transposed line
A multiconductor transmission line model based on the sinh (y\ x)
use of equivalent 7t-circuits, nodal admittance and linear y\x
transformation techniques has been described by the
authors for the analysis of harmonic flows in power sinh (y'x) sinh (}>2 x)
systems [5]. (3)
y'x /2x
Paper 4316C (P9), first received 20th March and in revised form 2nd October 1985
Prof. Arrillaga, Mr. Acha and Dr. Bodger are with the Department of Electrical & sinh (y 3 x)
Electronic Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. Dr.
Densem is with New Zealand Electricity, Private Bag, Wellington, New Zealand
y' 3 x

IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 133, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1986 99

 cases are illustrated by the simplified diagrams of Figs. 2a
tanh (y\ x/2) and b, respectively.
y\x/2
[v R ] [VRJ
line line
tanh (y'x/2) tanh (y'2 x/2)
y'x/2 f2x/2
v s =i i R -o JL vs=o i R =i
tanh (y'3 x/2) a b
y'3x/2 Fig. 2 Diagram of terminal conditions
a voltage source and open ended line
(4) b current source and short-circuited line

and y'j is the 7th eigenvalue of section 't'.

The "series impedance and shunt admittance matrices 4 Effect of transpositions with voltage excitation
(eqns. 1 and 2) can then be combined into one admittance
matrix that represents the transposed section: Harmonic voltage sources are thought to be of little sig-
nificance at the moment and are generally ignored when
1 yt assessing harmonic distortion. However, under non-ideal
ss ~~ I SR system conditions, synchronous generators can produce
Yt= (5) harmonic EMFs [7]. Moreover some power electronic cir-
Y' 1 cuits operate as harmonic voltage sources [8, 9]. It is thus
Y
RS
RR
appropriate to consider the effectiveness of transpositions
where in the presence of harmonic as well as power frequency
voltage sources.
The computer solution described in previous sections
has been used to calculate the harmonic voltages at the
end of a 500 kV line of flat configuration (details given in
The admittance parameters for the individual sections are Appendix 9) fed from 1 p.u. voltage sources at fundamental
then transformed into A\ B\ C\ Dl parameters, such that and harmonic frequencies.
they can be cascaded, i.e. It is realised that the presence of 1 p.u. harmonic
M = (6) voltage sources is unrealistic, but such a figure provides a
good reference for comparability between the effects at dif-
Finally, the resultant transmission parameters A, B, C, D ferent frequencies. The expected harmonic voltage levels
are converted back into an admittance matrix which prop- are likely to be about 1-3% of the fundamental and there-
erly represents the effects of transpositions. fore the results plotted in later figures should be scaled
down proportionally.
3 Derivation of receiving end voltages 4.1 Open ended line
The nodal admittance matrix equation of the 3-phase The fundamental frequency behaviour of the open ended
transmission line may be written as line is illustrated in Figs. 3a and b for the line untrans-
posed and transposed, respectively. In each case the receiv-
ing end voltages are plotted for line distances varying from
h Yss ~YSR Vs 50 to 1500 km.
(7) These Figures indicate that in the absence of voltage
IR ~YRS YRR VR compensation, the effectiveness of transpositions is limited
to line distances under one-eighth of the wavelength (i.e.
750 km at 50 Hz). For distances approaching the quarter
where IS,IR, Vs and VR are vectors of a size determined by wavelength the transposed line produces considerably
the number of coupled conductors. greater imbalance than the untransposed.
Applying a partial inversion algorithm to eqn. 7, the Although such transmission distances are impractical
following matrix of inverse hybrid parameters is obtained. without compensation, the results provide some indication
of the behaviour to be expected with shorter lines at har-
Is Yss ~ YSR 1
y-1
RR YRS -YSRY -1
RR Vs monic frequencies. Such behaviour is exemplified in Fig. 4
(8)
which corresponds to the case of a line excited by 1 p.u.
y-1 y1 - 1 third harmonic voltage. However, the results plotted in
VR 1
RR YRS RR IR
Fig. 4, obtained at 50 km intervals, are not sufficiently dis-
criminating around the points of resonance. Thus the
or region of resonant distances has been expanded in Fig. 5
V Y~ 1
Y y-i/ to illustrate more clearly the greatly increased imbalance
on IIR
i RR (9)
' K 1 BB * B caused by the transpositions. The resonant peaks of the
Two different cases are of interest and will be used in the three phases occur at very different distances, e.g. Fig. 5b
following sections. The first relates to a harmonic voltage shows 50 km diversity between the peaks. Therefore for a
excited open ended line, specified as Vs = 1 p.u. and IR =0. given line distance the resonant frequencies will vary, thus
This case produces the highest voltage harmonic levels and increasing the risk of a resonant condition.
must therefore be considered for design purposes. The It is also interesting to note the dramatic voltage ampli-
second important case is the harmonic current excited fication which occurs for electrical distances equal to the
short-circuit ended line, specified as Vs = 0 and IR = 1 p.u. first quarter wavelength. Fig. 5a shows a peak of 35 per
which is more likely to be of practical interest. These two unit for the third harmonic when the line is 500 km long
100 IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 133, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1986
and the fifth harmonic peak (not shown) reaches 45 per Figs. 4a and b also show the effect of attenuation with
unit at about 300 km. distance, i.e. the considerable reduction of the peaks at res-
121-

.10 30

d.

i* 324

f6 318

350 650 950 1250 1550

distance, km
a A9
400 430 469 520 550
12 distance, km
a
.10 30
A

H
524 -
d.

tage magnitude,
\
\

\
'X

--N A -s
6 -
50 350 650 950 1250 1550
distance, km
b i
o 1 ^ 1 i i

Fig. 3 Fundamental frequency three-phase voltages at the end of the test 400 430 460 490 520 550
line (open circuited) versus line distance distance, km
b
a without transpositions b with transpositions
R Y Fig. 5 Results of Fig. 4 expanded in the region of resonance
Y ---B
B R For Key see Fig. 3

30h
onant distances at the odd quarters of wavelength other
than the first. Such attenuation is caused by the series and
shunt resistive components of the equivalent Ti-model.
The immediate effect of the transpositions is the com-
pensation of geometrical line asymmetry. This can only
result in electrical symmetry if the average currents in each
of the transposed sections are similar. Thus the deterio-
ration of voltage balance with transpositions at the first
quarter wave distances can be explained by the different
levels of charging current carried by the three transposed
sections. This phenomenon is illustrated qualitatively in
Fig. 6A which shows the voltage and current standing
350 650 950 1250 1550 wave along the line. The improved symmetry of the phase
distance, km voltages at the three quarter wave distance, seen in Fig. 4b,
a
24 -
is due to the averaging effect produced by the third harmo-
nic standing wave, as illustrated by the idealised wave-
forms of Fig. 6B.
From the above discussion the effectiveness of transpo-
sitions should improve as the voltage and current profile
5.12 throughout the line becomes more uniform, i.e. closer to
o
E the natural loading condition, which is discussed in the
next section.
4.2 Line loaded
If an ideal (uncoupled and unattenuated) line is loaded
50 350 650 950 1250 1550
distance, km with its characteristic impedance, the sending end voltage
b will be sustained throughout the line, provided that the
Fig. 4 Three-phase third harmonic voltages at the end of the test line phase angle difference between the sending and receiving
(open circuited) versus line distance end voltages is kept below 45 (or 750 km at 50 Hz). To
For Key see Fig. 3 assess the effectiveness of transpositions with loading, the
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 133, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1986 101
test line described in Appendix 9 was loaded with its char- to distances up to about 750 km. For longer lines, simi-
acteristic impedance calculated at 50 Hz. It must be noted, larly to the open ended line case, transpositions are not
effective, although the per unit voltage imbalance of the
loaded transposed line (Fig. 7b) is greatly reduced as com-
pared with that of the open line (Fig. 3b).
Up to the first quarter wavelength the effect of natural
(fundamental frequency) loading on the harmonic voltages
is very similar to the fundamental frequency. For this par-
ticular loading condition the effectiveness of transpositions
is limited to distances of about 350 and 200 km for the 3rd
and 5th harmonics, respectively. Beyond those distances
Fig. 6A Standing waves along a line of quarter wavelength the transposed lines produce higher levels of imbalance.
(i) voltage wave Subsequent harmonic peaks are seen to reduce rapidly
(11) current wave
with loading. By way of example, the fifth harmonic volt-
ages without and with transpositions are shown in Figs. 8a
and b, respectively.
1.6 -
6
d
1st section 2nd section 3rd section 0,-1.2 y
o S .-

"0.8
E
O>
cn

volt i i i I I
n
50 350 650 950 1250 1550
Fig. 6B Third harmonic standing waves along a line of three quarter
wavelengths distance, km
a
(i) voltage wave 1.6
(ii) current wave
3

d
that in a coupled multiconductor line such impedance is a
ft 1.2
matrix, of which only the diagonal elements are being used
for the loading. Furthermore, the three diagonal elements
are different and are also frequency dependent. We cannot 10.8
therefore expect to see the uniform 1 p.u. voltage predicted
by conventional theory. ^0.4
o
Results for the fundamental frequency, plotted in Fig. 7,
illustrate that the effectiveness of transpositions is limited
50 350 650 950 1250 1550
1.6 distance, km
b
d. Fig. 8 Three phase fifth harmonic voltages at the end of the test line
: 1-2 (loaded with the characteristic impedance)
For Key see Fig. 3
1.8

The harmonic behaviour of a loaded transmission line

o 0.4 without and with transpositions is illustrated in Figs. 9a
"5 and b, respectively. This Figure displays the variation of
0 fifth harmonic voltage at the receiving end of a 250 km line
50 350 650 950 1250 1550 with one per unit voltage injection at the sending end. The
distance, km level of imbalance of the untransposed line (Fig. 9a) shows
a
1.6 a gradual increase up to about the natural load (1 p.u.
a admittance) and very little change thereafter. In contrast,
d Fig. 9b illustrates a dramatic increase in the voltage imbal-
oT 1.2
ance as the load reduces from the natural level (1 p.u.
admittance) to the open circuit condition. A qualitative
0.8 justification for this behaviour has been made in the pre-
E vious section and Fig. 6. As the line load increases above
the natural level Fig. 9b shows that effectiveness of the
transposition increases.
Considering the relatively insignificant levels of harmo-
50 350
nic voltage excitation expected from a well designed
650 950 1250 1550
distance, km system, the resulting voltage distortion in a transposed or
6 untransposed loaded line is not expected to cause prob-
Fig. 7 Fundamental frequency three-phase voltages at the end of the test lems, except when the line is lightly loaded. With harmonic
line {loaded with the characteristic impedance) current excitation the situation may be rather different,
For Key see Fig. 3 and its effect is examined next.
102 1EE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 133, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1986
 As the harmonic order increases, the line experiences
higher levels of voltage distortion. For example, the case of

3.2

2 3

o1.6
o
E

I 0.8
o

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 0
50 350 650 950 1250 1550
load admittance, p.u. distance, km
a a

3.2 -

95
350 65p 1250 1550
distance, km
b
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 Fig. 10 Three-phase third harmonic voltages caused by 1 p.u. third har-
load admittance, p.u. monic current at the point of harmonic current injection
b For Key see Fig. 3
Fig. 9 Three-phase fifth harmonic voltages at the end of a 250 km test
line versus loading admittance (referred to the characteristic admittance)
For Key see Fig. 3

4.0

5 Effect of transpositions with current excitation

=13.2
The main cause of power system harmonic distortion is the Q.
aT
large static power convertor, such as used in HVDC trans-
2 2.4
mission and in the metal reduction industry. Because of c
Ol
their large DC smoothing inductance compared to the AC a
system impedance, static convertors can be considered as
current sources on the AC side and voltage sources on the
DC side [10].
0.8
Thus the harmonic modelling of a long transmission
line feeding a static convertor is basically that of Fig. 2b,
i.e. a harmonic current source at the receiving end of the 95
50 350 5p 1250 1550
line with the sending end shorted to ground through a
relatively low impedance. distance, km
The model described in Section 2 is also directly applic- a
able in this case for the analysis of harmonic voltage dis- 3.2 h
tortion at the receiving end of the line (i.e. at the point of
harmonic current injection). ^2.4
The harmonic voltages at the point of current harmonic o

injection follow the same pattern as those of the open

o>1.6
circuit line with harmonic voltage excitation. This is a
clearly illustrated in Fig. 10 for a case of third harmonic (K

current injection. Similarly to the voltage excited open line, fas

substantial voltage distortion results when the line length
is close to a quarter wavelength, although the imbalance
caused by transpositions is less pronounced in the case of 50 350 659 95
1250 1550
current injection. Fig. 10 indicates that even 1% of harmo- distance, km
nic current injection can produce 3 or 4% voltage harmo- b
nic content at the point of harmonic current injection, Fig. 11 Three-phase fifth harmonic voltages caused by 1 p.u. third har-
which is above the level normally permitted by harmonic monic current at the point of harmonic current injection
legislation. For Key see Fig. 3

IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 133, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1986 103

fifth harmonic current injection, illustrated in Fig. 11, 5 ARRILLAGA, J., DENSEM, T.J. and HARKER, B.J.: 'Zero sequence
shows a peak voltage of about 4.5% in one of the phases. harmonic current generation in transmission lines connected to large
However, in this case the transposed line is seen to reduce convertor plant', IEEE Trans., 1983, PAS-102, pp. 2357-2363
6 ARRILLAGA, J., ARNOLD, C.P., and HARKER, B.J.: 'Computer
considerably the harmonic peaks for the quarter wave- modelling of electrical power systems' (John Wiley, London, 1983)
length distance line. 7 SEMLYEN, A., EGGLESTON, J., and ARRILLAGA, J.: 'Admit-
Although the fifth harmonic current is normally elimi- tance matrix model of a synchronous machine for harmonic
nated by filters, this is not the case for non-characteristic analysers', submitted to the Trans. IEEE, Winter Power Meeting 1986
orders like the third, which will then distort the supply 8 ARRILLAGA, J., and DUKE, R.M.: Thyristor-controlled quadra-
ture boosting', Proc. IEE, 1979,126, (6), pp. 493^198
waveform and, in the absence of equidistant firing control, 9 STEMMLER, H., and GUTH, G.: 'The thyristor-controlled static
may increase further the production of third harmonic phase-shifter', Brown Boveri Rev., 1982, 69, (3), pp. 73-78
current [11]. 10 ARRILLAGA, J.: 'High voltage direct current transmission' (Peter
Peregrinus, 1983)
11 AINSWORTH, J.D.: 'Harmonic instability between controlled static
convertors and AC networks', Proc. IEE, 1967,114, pp. 949-957
6 Conclusions
9 Appendix
The effectiveness of transpositions at harmonic frequencies
has been assessed with the assistance of a computer Details of test line
program capable of modelling in great detail a multi- All the results discussed in this paper relate to the AC
conductor transmission line. EHV transmission line shown in Fig. 12. The line is of flat
For electrical distances within one-eighth of the wave-
length, transpositions have been shown to reduce the 9m^
voltage asymmetry at the end of the line. At the fundamen-
tal frequency it is unlikely to find uncompensated lines of
such distances and, therefore, transpositions are always
effective, though not necessarily cost effective. However, at
harmonic frequencies the limiting distances of transposi- o o
H 0.46m h-
tion effectiveness are much shorter, e.g. 250 and 150 km
for the third and fifth harmonics, respectively. It has been
shown that beyond those distances the levels of harmonic
voltage imbalance increase substantially with transposi-
tions. It has also been shown that transpositions are more
effective when the line is heavily loaded, i.e. below its char-
acteristic impedance.
With harmonic current injections such as those pro-
duced by static convertors, the use of line transpositions
has been shown to increase the harmonic voltage imbal-
ance at the convertor terminals which can produce
uncharacteristic harmonic currents.
The limited results presented in this paper demonstrate Fig. 12 Test line
the need for accurate modelling of the transmission system
at harmonic frequencies. It is hoped that the paper will configuration without earth wires and the main par-
also encourage experimental verification by comprehensive ameters are:
field tests. Nominal voltage = 500 kV
Conductor type: Panther (30/3.00 + 7/3.00 ACSR)
Resistivity = 100 Q/m
Equal distances between transpositions
7 Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their appreciation to 0.0809 +;0.5383 0.0464 + 70.2733 0.0464+./0.2297
Mr. K. McCool, General Manager of New Zealand Elec- 0.0464+./O.2733 0.0809 + 70.5383 0.0464+70.2733
tricity, and to the University of Michoacan (Mexico) for
their support. They also wish to thank Professors H. 0.0464+;0.2297 0.0464 +J0.2733 0.0809 +70.5383
Dommel of the University of British Columbia and A.
Semlyen of the University of Toronto for their help and Qkm
advice.
3.3544 -0.8083 -0.3044
-0.8083 3.5215 -0.8083
References -0.3044 -0.8083 3.3544

1 Joint Committee on Inductive Interference: 'Progress of the investiga- and the natural impedance matrix
tion of inductive interference', Trans. Amer. Inst. Elect. Engrs., 1915,
XXXIV, (II), pp. 2113-2125
2 HESSE, M.H.: 'Electromagnetic and electrostatic transmission line 414.9759-730.6132 165.3702-714.8211 121.9743 -713.9580
parameters by digital computer', IEEE Trans., 1963, PAS-82, pp.
282-291 165.3702-714.8211 415.8876-731.1666 159.9366-713.8378
3 KIMBARK, E.W.: 'Electrical transmission of power and signals'
(John Wiley, New York, 1950) 121.9743 -713.9580 159.9366-713.8378 410.7316-729.7877
4 DENSEM, T.J.: "Three phase power system harmonic penetration'.
Ph.D. thesis, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 1983
104 IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 133, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1986