Electrical Power System

on 24/2/2012 & Updated on Monday 25th of June 2018 at 08:04:18 PM

Before we go to the actual discussion, we would like to tell you what is the need for an
electrical power system​. From the economical point of view, we always construct a
generating station where resources are readily available. The consumers consume​ ​electrical
energy​, but they may stay in such locations where the resources for producing​ ​electricity​ are
not available. Not only that, sometimes there are many other constraints due to which we
can not construct a generating station nearer to the dense consumer's localities or load
centres. We usually have to transmit the generated power to the load centres.
We call the entire arrangement from generating plants to consumer ends for delivering
electricity​ efficiently and reliably as the ​electric power system​.
The generation plants produce​ ​electrical energy​ at a low​ ​voltage​ level. We keep the
generation voltage at a low level because it has some specific advantages. Low voltage
generation creates less stresses on the​ ​armature of the alternator​. Hence at low voltage
generation, we can construct smaller​ ​alternator​ with thinner and lighter insulation. From
engineering and design point of view, smaller alternators are more practical. We can not
transmit this low voltage power to the load centres. Low voltage transmission causes more
copper loss, poor voltage regulations and more installation cost of the transmission system.
To avoid these three difficulties we have to step up the voltage to a specific high voltage
level. We can not raise the system voltage beyond a certain level because beyond a limit of
voltage the insulation cost tremendously increases and also to keep adequate ground
clearance the expenses of the line supporting structures also abruptly increase. The
transmission voltage depends on the quantity of power to be transmitted. The​ ​surge
impedance loading​ is another parameter which determines the voltage level of the system
for transmitting an amount of energy. For stepping up system​ ​voltage​, we use​ ​step-up
transformers​ and their associated protections and operations arrangements at generating
station. We call this as generation substation. At the end of the​ ​transmission line​, we have to
step down the transmission voltage to a lower level for secondary transmission and or
distribution purposes. Here we use​ ​step down transformers​ and their associated protection
and operational arrangements. This is transmission substation. After primary transmission,
the​ ​electrical energy​ passes through secondary transmission or primary distribution. After
secondary transmission or primary distribution again we step down the voltage to a desired
low​ ​voltage​ level to distribute at the consumer premises.This was the basic structure of an
electrical power system​. Although, we have not mentioned the details of each equipment
used in an electrical power system. In addition to three main components alternator,
transformer​ and​ ​transmission line​ there are numbers of associated equipment. Some of
these pieces of equipment are​ ​circuit breaker​, lightning arrestor,​ ​isolator​,​ ​current transformer​,
voltage transformer​, capacitor voltage transformer, wave trap,​ ​capacitor bank​, relaying
system, controlling arrangement, the earthing arrangement of the line and​ ​substation
equipment​ etc.

SOURCE: https://www.electrical4u.com/power-system/