SWITCHYARD EQUIPMENTS

& FUNCTIONS

Atar Singh
Director(Tech.)/HOI
 Essential Features of a Sub-station

An AC Sub-station has following parts:

AC Switchyard
Control Building
Auxiliary Power
DC Battery System
 Switchyard Components
The Switchyard is a junction connecting the Transmission and
Distribution System to the power plant.

Incoming lines Lightning Arrester

Outgoing lines Current Transformer
Bus-bar Voltage Transformer
Transformer Series Capacitor
Insulators Shunt Capacitor
Isolators Reactor
Circuit Breaker Gantry
Earthing Switches Power Cables
Bus-bar
It connects incoming and Outgoing transmission lines.
Used to interconnect loads and sources of electrical power.
Also connect Generator and main transformer in power plant
Material used: Copper & Aluminium.

Bus-bar are either flexible or Rigid. Flexible

bus-bar are made of ACSR conductors and are
supported on strain insulators. Rigid bus-bars
are made up of aluminium tubes and are
supported on post insulators.
Flexible Bus-bar
Rigid Bus-bar
Bus-bar Schemes
Bus Scheme Consideration.
Possibility of major shut-down
Continuity of supply in the event of bus fault
Taking a line / equipment in or out
Taking a bus bar in or out
Taking a circuit breaker in or out

Bus bar Scheme

Single bus Scheme
Single bus with sectionalizer
Double Bus Scheme
Double Bus with Transfer Bus Scheme
Double bus with one & half breaker Scheme
Ring/Mesh Bus Scheme
Single Bus Scheme

Simplest and cheapest bus bar scheme

Maintenance and extensions of busbars are not possible

without shutdown of the substation.
Single Bus With Sectionalizer

Similar to the single bus scheme except the sectionalising breaker or

isolator.

By keeping the sectionaliser open one section can be in service and the
other can be taken for maintenance or extension.

If a bus section breaker is provided, busbar protection can detect fault

on any section and trip the breakers connected to that section and
isolate it.
Double Bus Scheme

Most commonly used bus scheme.

Normally load will be distributed on both the buses and the bus coupler
will kept closed.
For maintenance & extension of any one of the buses the entire load will
be transferred to the other bus.
On load transfer of a circuit from one bus to the other bus is possible
through bus isolators provided the bus coupler is closed and thereby two
buses are at the same potential.
On load, bypassing of any circuit breaker for maintenance is not possible.
Double Bus with Transfer Bus

In this bus scheme, in addition to the main buses there will be a

separate transfer bus also.
Since separate transfer bus is available there will be no need of
transferring the load from one bus to the other bus unlike in a
double main cum transfer bus arrangement.
Double bus with One & half breaker Scheme

In this layout, two circuit have three breakers, the middle breaker ties the
two circuits and hence is called the tie breaker.
Either bus can be taken out for maintenance by putting feeders on to
another bus.
Any circuit breaker can be taken out for servicing/maintenance without
loss of supply.
One great advantage of this scheme is that even both the buses are out
of service , power can be transferred from feeder to another.
 Ring/Mesh Bus Scheme
This arrangement is very
popular.

As long as the mesh is closed

load has two sources of supply
and any circuit breaker can be
taken out of service without
affecting the supply.

Extension of mesh station is

almost impossible.
 Transformer
Used to Step-up or Step-down the voltage
Insulator
Overhead line insulators are used to separate line conductors from each
other and from the supporting structure electrically.

Disc Insulator
These insulators are produced from toughened glass or high quality
porcelain. They are used in high voltage suspension lines and can be
assembled to form string assemblies to suit any particular voltage. It can
be either Suspension type or Tension type.

Strain Insulator
Porcelain strain insulator are used for insulating stay wires, guard wires
etc. They are also used for stretching conductors.

Post Insulator
Post insulators are used for supporting bus bar in switchgear/Switchyard.
Toughened glass & High quality
porcelain insulators
Insulator String
A number of separate
insulators are connected with
each other to form a chain or
string. The insulator string is
suspended from the cross arm
of the support. The conductor
is attached to the lowest
insulator.
Each insulator is designed for
operating voltage of about 11
KV.
For high voltage lines, if single
string is not sufficient to take
the load, two or more strings in
parallel may be employed.
Isolators
Isolators are disconnecting switches which
can be used for disconnecting a circuit under
no current condition. They are generally
installed along with the circuit breaker.

Types of Isolators.
Vertical Break type
Horizontal Break type
 Vertical Break Type
It operates under NO load condition as
it does not have any current breaking or
making capacity.

Each pole consists of two or three

insulator posts mounted on a fabricated
support. The conducting parts are
supported on the insulator posts. The
conducting part consists of conducting
copper or aluminium rod , fixed and
moving contacts.

During the opening operation the

conducting rod swings aparts and
isolation is obtained.

The operating mechanism is manual

plus one of followings
(A) Electrical Motor
(B) Pneumatic System.
Horizontal Break Type
In this type of construction, there are three insulator stacks per pole. The
two on each sides are fixed and one at the center is rotating type. The
central insulator stack can swing about its vertical axis through about 90
degree.
Circuit Breaker (C.B.)
Circuit breakers are used for making or breaking
the electrical circuit under normal and abnormal
operating conditions. It is also a safety device ,
which provides protection against abnormal
operating conditions to all electrical machines like
Generators, Transformers and Motors etc.
Trip Circuit
1- Circuit Breaker
2 - Relay
3 -Trip coil of Circuit Breaker
4 -Trip circuit
5 Battery
6 Relay Contact
7 Potential Transformer
8 Current Transformer
9 Auxiliary Switch
X Protected Element

When a fault occurs in the protected circuit, the relay (2) connected
to the CT and PT actuates and closes its contact (6) and current
flows from the battery (5) in the trip circuit (4). As the trip coil of
circuit breaker (3) is energised, the cicuit breaker opening
mechanism is actuated and it operates for the opening operation.
Circuit Breaker..contd.
The Circuit Breaker has basically three components.

(A) Fixed contact.

(B) Moving Contact
(C) Quenching Medium.

The contact can be separated by means of an operating mechanism. The

separation of current carrying contacts produces an arc. The arc is
extinguished by a suitable medium such as
(a) Compressed air
(b) SF6 gas
( c) Dielectric oil
(d) Vacuum etc.
Types of Circuit Breaker.contd.
Air Blast Circuit Breaker
In Air blast circuit breaker high pressure air is forced on the arc through a
nozzle at the instant of contact separation. The ABCB needs an auxiliary
compressed air system which supplies high pressure air to arc extinction
chamber of the breaker.

SF6 Circuit Breaker

SF6 ( Sulphur hexa-fluoride ) gas is used to quench the arc. SF6 is an inert ,
heavy gas having good dielectric medium and arc extinguished properties.
Physical properties of SF6 gas.

Colorless
Non Corrosive
Odorless
Nontoxic
Non Inflammable
Density- heavy gas and 5 times that of air.
It is transported in liquid form in a cylinder.
Types of Circuit Breaker
Oil Circuit Breaker
There are two types of oil circuit breaker
(A) Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker
(B) Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker

In Oil circuit breaker dielectric oil is used as an arc quenching medium and
dielectric medium. When the electrical contact is opened in the oil medium, the
electric arc produced between the contact decomposes the oil. The gases, formed
due to decomposition of oil, increase the pressure within the chamber fitted in
interrupter. The flow of gases is to channelised through the vent in the chamber
that arc gets extinguished in the vent and cooled by the flowing gas.

Vacuum Circuit Breaker

In VCB , vacuum is created to quench the arc at the instant of contact separation.
VCB comprises of one or more vacuum interrupter units per pole. It includes
vacuum interrupter, operating mechanism and operating links enclosure.

Air Break Circuit Breaker

In Air break circuit breaker, the air at atmospheric pressure is used as an arc
quenching medium. These circuit breakers employ the high resistance interruption
principle.
Circuit Breakers
Type Medium Range
Air break Circuit Air at atmospheric Low voltage up to
Breaker/MCB pressure 1000 V
Air blast Circuit Compressed air 132KV, 220KV &
Breaker (20-30) kgf/cm2 400KV
Tank type Oil Circuit Dielectric Oil Up to 33KV
Breaker
Minimum Oil Circuit Dielectric Oil 33KV,66KV & 132KV
Breaker
SF6 Circuit Breaker SF6 Gas 132KV, 220KV, 400KV
& 765/800KV
Vacuum Circuit Vacuum 11KV & 33KV
Breaker
HVDC Circuit Breaker SF6 Gas +/- 500KV DC
SF6 Circuit Breaker
 Earthing Switches
Earthing switches is connected between the line conductor
and earth. Normally it is open. When the line is disconnected,
the earthing switch is closed so as to discharge the voltage
trapped on the line. Though the line is disconnected, there is
some voltage on the line to which the capacitance between
line and earth is charged. This voltage is significant in high
voltage system. Before proceeding with the
maintenancework these voltage are discharged to earth by
closing the earthing switch.

Normally, the earthing switches are mounted on the frame of

isolators
 Earthing Switches
Sequence of operation while opening/closing circuit

While opening
Open Circuit Breaker
Open Isolator
Close earthing switch

While closing
Open earthing switch
Close isolator
Close circuit Breaker
Earthing Switches
 1
8 x 10 9 x 10 5 x 22

Surge/Lightning Arrester
3600

Lightning arrester divert the transient over voltages to

earth and protect the sub-station equipment from
lightning and switching over voltages.

Lightning
The large park accompanied by light produced by an abrupt,
discontinuous discharge of electricity through the air, from the clouds
generally under turbulent conditions of atmosphere is called lightning.
The clouds get charged during thunder storms, the high potential gradient
causes break-down of insulation of air producing a lightning stroke. The
stroke tries to hit the earth, it is attracted by Over-head (OH) lines.
Voltage 2 x 108 volts(200 MVpeak )
Current 4 x 10 4 amp
Duration 10 5 sec onds
KW 2 x 108 x 4 x 10 4 x 10 3
8 x 109 kw
1
kwh 8 x 109 x 10 5 x 22
3600
Surge Arrester.
It consists of resister elements in series with gap elements.
For normal frequency power system voltages, the resistance
is high. For discharge currents, the resistance is low. The gap
units consists of air gaps of appropriate length. During
normal voltages the LA does not conduct. When a surge
wave travelling along the OH line, line comes to the arrester
and the gap breaks down. The resistance offered being low
the surge is diverted to the earth.

Connection of Surge Arrestor

( A) Between phase and ground at the incoming terminal of each overhead
transmission line for each phase.
(B) Between each terminal and ground near transformer on incoming side
(C) Near Generator Terminal
Control Building, tertiary winding &
Distribution Transformer
Conductor Material
AAAC ( All Aluminium Alloy Conductor)
AAAC is used for urban distribution where short spans are involved. For the
same resistance and voltage drop, AAAC has 1.6 times the cross section of
copper but due to low density, the weight is only 0.48 times, which is a big
advantage in favour of AAAC.

ACSR (Aluminium Conductor Steel Reinforced.)

In ACSR conductor, aluminium wires surround a core consisting of one or
more steel wires. The size of the aluminium and steel wires are usually the
same. Aluminium is supposed to carry all the current while the steel core
provides the tensile strength. ACSR conductors are used for transmission
lines where relatively large spans are employed.
Current Transformer
Used for stepping down current for measurement,
protection and control. The current ratio of CT is
generally high ( 500/5A).

Voltage Transformer
Used for stepping down voltage for measurement,
protection and control. The voltage ratio is
relatively high ( 132KV/100V)
Active & Reactive Power
Every circuit current has two components
Active Component
Reactive Component

The Power associated with resistive loads is expressed as Watts. The power
associated with capacitive and inductive loads is expressed as VARs. As it is
reactive power, the VAR is watt less power and does not contribute to real work
functions. VARs are required in motors, transformers and most coils to produce
magnetic fields in order for the inductive load to function.

Active and Reactive Power

associated with Resistors,
Inductors and Capacitors.
Electrical Power Triangle
The interesting factor that exists in AC power sytems is that inductive VARs
are opposite of Capacitive VARs and can cancel each other out if they are of
the same value.

Active Power or Real Power = V I cos

Reactive Power or Wattless Power = V I sin
The term cos is called the Power Factor.
Power Factor = Real Power
Total Power
The Foam Analogy
Lets say you are at the Energy park and it is a really hot day. You order up a
mug of your favorite beer. The thirst-quenching portion of your beer is
represented by KW and the foam is represented by KVAR.

Total contents of your mug, KVA, is summation of KW (the beer) and KVAR (the
foam).

In beer mug analogy, power factor would be ratio of beer (KW) to beer plus foam
(KVA).

P.F. = KW = Beer
KW+KVAR Beer + Foam
The Foam Analogy contd.
The more foam you have (the higher the percentage of
KVAR), the lower your ratio of KW (beer) to KVA (beer plus foam). Thus, the lower
your power factor.
The less foam you have (the lower the percentage of KVAR), the higher your ratio of
KW (beer) to KVA (beer plus foam).

In fact, as your foam (or KVAR) approaches

zero, your power factor approaches 1.0.
Balance between Reactive Power Sources and Sinks must be
maintained to provide adequate voltage control.
Shunt Capacitor
Used to improve power factor during low power factor. It
is located at receiving sub-station and distribution sub-
station.

Shunt Reactor
Shunt Reactors are switched in during light loads to compensate
the effect of shunt capacitance of the transmission lines and
control the voltage. They are switched off during heavy loads.

Series Capacitor
Used in long EHV AC lines to increase power transfer
ability.
Thank you