1

Analysis of Zero Sequence Impedance of

Single-Point Bonded Cable Systems using ATP/EMTP
CHOI, Jong-kee, LEE, Won-kyo, KWAK, Ju-sik, SHIM, Eung-bo, HWANG, Gap-chul
Korea Electric Power Research Institute
103-16 Munji-dong Yusung-gu, Deajeon, Korea
Abstract
Zero sequence impedance is an important parameter for accurate estimation of unbalanced fault current in power systems.
In case of high voltage cable systems, there are various kind of bonding schemes resulting in more complicated zero sequence
circuit compared to that of overhead transmission systems. Besides, the zero sequence circuit can be much more complicated
when the cable system has a single-point bonding because of the rather complicated distribution of zero sequence current
between cable sheaths grounding and the earth. In this paper, zero sequence impedance of single-point bonding cable system is
analyzed using ATP/EMTP. Zero sequence impedance of overhead and underground transmission lines was calculated based
on both conventional method and ATP/EMTP. The calculation results showed that the conventional method of zero sequence
calculation can be erroneous in case of underground transmission lines mainly caused by its complicated and nonlinear return
path (SVL; Sheath Voltage Limiter) of ground fault current.
Keywords:Zero sequence impedance, Grounding, SVL (Sheath Voltage Limiter), ATP/EMTP
1 INTRODUCTION
Symmetrical component method has a long history in
analysis of faulted power systems. The three phase power
systems with coupled elements can be transformed into
uncoupled system with zero / positive / negative sequence
impedance. Zero sequence impedance is especially an
important factor for accurate estimation of unbalanced fault
current. In case of cable systems, there are various kinds of
bonding scheme resulting in complicated zero sequence
circuit compared with overhead transmission systems. In
addition, the path of zero sequence current can be more
complicated when the cable system has single-point bonding
s with nonlinear elements such as SVL (Sheath Voltage
Limiter). This paper is motivated from a question whether
the conventional method of symmetrical component for
analyzing faulted power systems is still valid in case of
underground transmission systems. As a part of an effort to
answer the question, sequence impedances of various kinds
of transmission lines were simulated using ATP/EMTP and
conventional calculation method.
2 SYMMETRICAL COMPONENT OF OVERHEAD/
UNDERGROUND TRANSMISSION LINES
In this section, a brief review of symmetrical components
of transmission line was described.
Table 1. Differences between Overhead & Underground T/L
Item Overhead T/L Underground T/L
Length of
transmission line
Long Short
Number of
grounding points
Many
(At each tower)
Small
(N/J,SVL)
Span length
between
grounding points
300~500 [m] 900 [m]
Complexity of
ground fault
current path
Simple
(tower grounds
and overhead
groundwire)
Complicated
(sheath, N/J &
SVL grounds, etc.)
Table 1 lists several differences between overhead and
underground transmission lines. Among those items in the
table, the complexity of ground fault current return path is
closely related to zero sequence impedance since zero
sequence current will flow through these return paths, such
as earth, overhead groundwire or cable sheath and etc. In
case of overhead transmission line, the return path of zero
sequence current is rather simple comparing with that of
underground lines since the fault current will return to the
source through tower groundings or overhead groundwires.
In case of underground transmission lines consisted of
cables, however, the return path can be very complicated
because of nonlinear elements, such as SVL, and various
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Panel Discussion 2: Power System Transients Simulation
Part 2 Applications to high voltage engineering
2
scheme of sheath bonding, such as cross bonding. And this
means that the calculation of zero sequence impedance of
cables can be also complicated and should be conducted
carefully taking all elements along the return path into
account.
2.1 Review of Symmetrical Component of T/L
In this section, the calculation procedure of sequence
impedance of overhead and underground transmission lines,
which was used in this paper, was briefly described. Firstly,
the relationship of voltage and current of three phase
transmission lines can be expressed by equation (1).
Subscriptions of v (voltage) , i (current) and z (impedance)
indicate their phase (A, B, C and N (overhead groundwires
for overhead T/L and Cable sheaths for underground T/L) ).
Eq. (1) can be expressed as Eq. (2) by dividing phase
conductors from neutral conductor. Since the neutral voltage
is always assumed as zero in symmetrical component theory,
the current returning through the neutral conductor (i
n
) can
be described using the current of phase conductors (i
a
, i
b
, i
c
)
and their related impedances (Eq. (3) and Eq. (4)). By using
Eq. (4), the voltage and current of neutral conductor can be
removed from the original equation Eq. (1) as expressed in
Eq. (5).
|
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|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
n
c
b
a
nn nc nb na
cn cc cb ca
bn bc bb ba
an ac ab aa
n
c
b
a
i
i
i
i
z z z z
z z z z
z z z z
z z z z
v
v
v
v
(1)
n n abc abc abc
i Z I Z V + = (2)
(where, ( )
T
cn bn an n
z z z Z = )
n nn abc
T
n n
i z I Z v + = = 0 (3)
abc
T
n
nn
n
I Z
z
i =
1
(4)
abc abc
abc
T
n
nn
n abc abc abc
I Z
I Z
z
Z I Z V
'
1
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
(5)
The operator a representing phasor difference between
three phases of voltage and current can be expressed by Eq.
(6) and transformation matrix, A, is described by Eq (7)
using a operator.
2
3
2
1
120
j e a
j
+ = =
o
(6)
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
2
2
1
1
1 1 1
a a
a a A (7)
With A matrix, symmetrical components of voltages of Eq.
(1) can be expressed as Eq. (8) and the transmission line
impedance can also be expressed by Eq. (9).
012
' 1 1
012
AI Z A V A V
abc abc

= = (8)
A Z A Z
abc
' 1
012

= (9)
2.2 Calculation of Sequence Impedances
ATP/EMTP provides users with subroutines of LINE/
CABLE CONTANT for calculation of transmission line
impedance. In case of LINE CONSTANT subroutine,
conductor bundling is possible by denoting each conductors
phase number by users. In case of CABLE CONSTANT
subroutine, however, user cannot define conductor/sheaths
phase number but 0. Besides, it does not calculate sequence
impedances. For these reason, Matlab program was written
to read PCH file generated by EMTP, convert the read data
into a matrix manageable in Matlab, reduce the matrix
according to the user-specified phase numbers and calculate
zero / negative / positive sequence impedance in conformity
with the process described in section 2.1.
A procedure to physically measure sequence impedances
of transmission line is described as follows. Figure 1 shows
the test circuit and dedicated commercial instruments for this
test is already in the market. In Figure 1, self impedance of
phase and neutral conductor is denoted by Z
p
and Z
n
respectively, and mutual impedance between phase and
neutral is Z
mn
and Z
m
is mutual impedance between phase
conductors.
G
(a) positive sequence test (b) zero sequence test
Figure 1. Sequence Impedance Measurement Circuit
From Eq. (1) ~ Eq. (5), positive and zero sequence
impedance can be expressed by Eq. (10) and Eq. (11).
m p
Z Z Z =
1
(10)
n
mn
m p
Z
Z
Z Z Z
3
2
0
+ = (11)
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3
By solving circuit equations shown in Figure 1, positive
sequence impedance can be expressed by Eq. (12), where V
and I is the measured voltage and current of the test circuit
of Figure 1(a).
I
V
Z Z Z Z
I
V
m p
= = =
2
1
2 ) ( 2
1 1
(12)
The circuit equation of Figure 1(b) is described as Eq.
(13) and Eq. (14). Then, zero sequence impedance can be
expressed by Eq. (15) where V and I is the measured
voltage/current of the test circuit of Figure 1(b).
3 3 3
I
Z
I
Z
I
Z I Z V
m m p n m
+ + = + (13)
3
2 3
3
1
0
2
Z
Z
Z
Z
Z
I
V
m
n
mn
p
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ = (14)
I
V
Z = 3
0
(15)
With Eq. (12) and Eq. (13), sequence impedances of
transmission system can be extracted from simulation results
of the test circuit of Figure 1 with ATP/EMTP.
3 CASE STUDIES
In this chapter, sequence impedances of three kinds of
transmission systems were calculated using ATP/EMTP and
Matlab. The first system under study is a simple 154 kV
overhead transmission system (ACSR 410mm
2
x 2 Bundle x
1 T/L with 2 overhead groundwires) . The second system is
a simple 154kV underground transmission system (3 phase
2000 mm
2
XLPE cables x 1 T/L) with equally spaced
sections between cross bonding points and both ends of
sheath grounded. No SVLs were included in the system for
simplicity. The third system under study is a model of real
system of 154 kV underground transmission line with 6
XPLE cables (2000 mm
2
) with various bonding scheme and
many SVLs. SVLs are modeled using nonlinear resistance of
Type-99. In each system, sequence impedances were
calculated by 4 methods. Method #1 (ATP & Matlab) uses
LINE/CABLE CONSTANT subroutines of ATP/EMTP and
Matlab for converting the generated PCH file into sequence
impedance according to the procedure described as Eq. (1) ~
Eq. (5). Method #2 (ATP/LCC) uses LINE CONSTANT
subroutine. Method #3 and #4 uses ATP/EMTP to simulate
sequence impedance test and single-line-to-ground / three
phase fault respectively.
3.1 Overhead Transmission System (CASE 1)
Figure 2 shows a model for 154 kV line-to-ground fault
simulation. For better accuracy, all grounding points at each
tower are not omitted. Span length between towers and
tower footing resistance were 300 m and 15 ohms
respectively.
Figure 2. Overhead transmission system model for
line-to-ground fault simulation
Summary of sequence impedances using method #1 to #4
is shown in Table 2. It is noticeable that all methods show
similar results.
Table 2. Summary of zero/positive seq. impedance (Case-1)
Calculation
Method
Z
0
[ V] Z
1
[ V]
(1) ATP & Matlab 0.1933+j0.9961 0.0355+j0.3113
(2) ATP/LCC 0.1933+j0.9961 0.0355+j0.3113
(3) ATP/Test sim. 0.2072+j0.9854 0.0356+j0.3114
(4) ATP/Fault sim. 0.1104+j0.9776 0.0918+j0.3172
3.2 Underground Transmission System (CASE 2)
Figure 3 shows a model for sequence impedance test in a
154 kV underground transmission system (XLPE 2000 mm
2
x 3 phases). The length of sections and ground resistance at
N/J (Normal Joint) are assumed as 300 m and 10 ohms
respectively. Cable sheaths are cross-bonded at every I/J
(Insulated Joint) point without SVL.
Figure 3. Simulation model for sequence impedance test
For the reason described in section 2.1, it was not possible
to calculate sequence impedances directly using CABLE
CONSTANTS routine of ATP/EMTP (Method #2).
Summary of sequence impedances using method #1, #3 and
#4 is shown in Table 3. The calculated sequence impedances
normalized with respect to the result of Method 4 (ground
fault simulation using ATP/EMTP) are listed in Table 4. As
+
+
+
I
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
154
0.3 km
LCC
0.3 km
M
I
M
+ v -
+
M M M
M M M
LCC
0.3 km
LCC
0.3 km
LCC
0.3 km
NJ
LCC
0.3 km
LCC
0.3 km
M M M
LCC
0.3 km
M
M
M
M M M
M M M
LCC
0.3 km
LCC
0.3 km
LCC
0.3 km
NJ
LCC
0.3 km
LCC
0.3 km
M M M
+
M
I
+
v
-
positive sequence impedance test
zero sequence impedance test
The International Conference on Electrical Engineering 2008
4
for the magnitude of zero/positive sequence impedance,
Method #3 seems to be more close to Method #4 and there is
a large difference between Method #2 and Method #4. It
seems that the difference comes from cross bonding of cable
sheath, which is not considered in Method #1.
Table 3. Summary of zero/positive seq. impedance (case2)
Calc. Method Z
0
[ V] Z
1
[ V]
(1) ATP & Matlab 0.0381+j0.0719 0.0374+j0.0762
(2) ATP/LCC N/A N/A
(3) ATP/Test sim. 0.0380+j0.0719 0.0137+j0.2003
(4) ATP/Fault sim. 0.0078+j0.0550 0.0293+j0.2086
Table 4. Normalized Seq. Impedance (case2)
No Z
0
Z
1
R0 R1 X0 X1
(1) 146% 40% 488% 127% 130% 36%
(3) 146% 95% 487% 46% 130% 96%
(4) 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
3.2 Underground Transmission System (CASE 3)
Figure 4 shows a model for line-to-ground fault in 154 kV
underground transmission system (XLPE 2000 mm
2
x 3
phases x 2 T/L). The length of sections are shown in the
figure and ground resistance at N/Js (Normal Joint) is
assumed as 10 ohms. Cable sheaths are cross-bonded at 2
points and insulated at other joints (IJ1, IJ2 and IJ3).
Figure 4. Underground transmission system for
line-to-ground fault simulation
Figure 5. Sheath Connections in Insulated Joint (IJ3)
Figure 5 shows an example of connections of cable
sheaths at junction point of IJ-3. Summary of sequence
impedances using method #1, #3 and #4 is shown in Table 4.
Compared to CASE-2, there are large differences between
calculation results of each method. It seems that the large
difference comes from various sheath bonding schemes and
nonlinear elements (SVL). The ground fault current path,
which is closed related to zero sequence impedance, can be
changed according to operation regions of SVL.
Table 5. Summary of zero/positive seq. impedance (case3)
Calc. Method Z
0
[ V] Z
1
[ V]
(1) ATP & Matlab 0.0190+j0.0359 0.0186+j0.0383
(2) ATP/LCC N/A N/A
(3) ATP/Test sim. 0.4492+j1.8322 0.0071+j0.0921
(4) ATP/Fault sim. 0.8171+j0.7415 0.0059+j0.0878
Table 6. Normalized Seq. Impedance (case3)
No Z
0
Z
1
R0 R1 X0 X1
(1) 4% 48% 2% 315% 5% 43%
(3) 170% 104% 55% 120% 247% 104%
(4) 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
4 CONCLUSION
In this paper, sequence impedances of overhead and
underground transmission lines were calculated using
various calculation methods. In case of overhead
transmission line, conventional method (method #1 and #2)
agrees well with the results produced by EMTP-based
method (method #3 and #4). In case of underground
transmission lines, however, there are differences between
results of each calculation method. This implies that the
conventional method of sequence impedance calculation
should be applied carefully in case of underground
transmission lines. It seems that detailed simulations taking
all nonlinear elements and sheath bondings along the ground
fault current path is more accurate.
REFERENCES
[1] A.Dierks, H.Troskie, M.Kruger, Accurate Calculation
and Physical Measurement of Transmission Line
Parameters to Improve Impedance Relay Performance,
IEEE PES 2005 Conference and Expo., 11-15 July, 2005
[2] Paul M. Anderson, Analysis of Faulted Power Systems,
Iowa State Univ. Press, 1973
[3] K.K.Choi,T.I.Jang,H.H.Yoon,C.K.Jung, A Study on
Modeling Methods for Cable Covering Protective Unit
on Underground Power Cable Systems, Trans. on KIEE,
Vol.56, No.12, Dec. 2007
[4] Special Bonding of High Voltage Power Cables, CIGRE
Working Group B1.18, Oct. 2005
[5] ATP Rule Book
IJ1 IJ3
LCC
0.46 km
LCC
0.08 km
LCC
0.33 km
LCC
0.13 km
LCC
0.4 km
N J
LCC
0.43 km
N J
LCC
0.24 km
IJ2
LCC
0.37 km
+
+
+
IJ2 IJ1
I
SINGLE-LINE-TO-GROUND FAULT
R
(
i)
R
(
i)
R
(
i)
M M M
R(i)
R(i)
R(i)
R
(
i)
R
(
i)
R
(
i)
R(i)
R(i)
R(i)
R
(
i)
R
(
i)
R
(
i)
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