Power Transmission, Distribution and

Utilization
Lecture# 16: DC distribution

Dr. Hadeed Ahmed Sher

Assistant Professor, EED
KFUEIT, Pakistan

Slide credits
This presentation is based on
Chapter 13 of Principles of power systems by V
K Mehta

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Contents
Introduction
Types of DC distributors
DC distribution calculations
DC distributor fed at one end- concentrated
loading
Uniformly loaded distributor fed at one end
Distributor fed at both ends- concentrated loading

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Introduction
DC system is used in special cases
Operation of variable speed machinery
Electrochemical work
Traction

Rectifiers are used at the substation for such

special applications
DC distributors are of several types

Fed at one end

Fed at both ends
Fed at the center
Ring distributor

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Types of DC distributors
1. Singly fed distributor
Current in different sections of line is not constant.
Voltage at the far end goes on decreasing.
Any fault at A will disconnect all the loads

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Types of DC distributors
2. Doubly fed distributor
Voltage at feeding end may or may not be equal.
Minimum voltage point is not fixed and may occur
at any load point.
More reliable.
X-section area required by this scheme is much
less than that of a singly fed distributor.

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Types of DC distributors
3. Centrally fed distributor
Equivalent to two singly fed distributors.
AD=BD=1/2AB.
Less reliable.

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Types of DC distributors
4. Radially fed distributor
Equivalent to doubly fed distributor connected as a
ring.
May have more than one feeding point

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DC distribution calculations
A distributor may have
Concentrated loading
The concentrated load at a single point e.g domestic load of
each house. It varies

Uniform loading
Equal load is connected to a distributor at equal distance.
For example lighting load. Ideally all uniform loads are
concentrated loads.

Both

The distributor is designed such that the

minimum voltage at the distributor is not less
than 6% of the rated voltage at utilization end.
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DC distributor fed at one endConcentrated loading

2 wire distributor AB fed at point A.
Concentrated loads at 4 points are tapped off.
Let r1, r2, r3 and r4 indicate the resistance of
section AC, CD,DE and EF respectively.
Current fed at point A=AC=I1+I2+I3+I4
Current fed at point CD=I2+I3+I4

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DC distributor fed at one endConcentrated loading

Current fed at point DE=I3+I4

Current fed at point EF=I4
Voltage drop in AC=r1(I1+I2+I3+I4)
Voltage drop in CD=r2(I2+I3+I4)
Voltage drop in DE=r3(I3+I4)
Voltage drop in EF=r4(I4)
Total voltage drop = VAC+VCD+VDE+VEF

Minimum voltage occurs at point F

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DC distributor fed at one endConcentrated loading

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DC distributor fed at one endConcentrated loading

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Uniformly loaded distributor fed at

one end

Consider a point C at distance x

Current at C is =il-ix=i(l-x) amperes
Consider a small length dx near C
Its resistance is rdx.
Voltage drop over length dx is
dV=i(l-x)rdx= ir(l-x)dx

The voltage drop in the distributor upto point C is

V=ir(lx-x2/2)
If x=l then the total voltage drop can be estimated

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Uniformly loaded distributor fed at

one end
Voltage drop = ir{l2-l2/2}=1/2
irl2=1/2(il)(rl)=1/2IR
Therefore, the total voltage drop is equal to
that produced by the whole of the load to be
concentrated at the middle point.

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Distributor Fed at both ends

Concentrated loading
Total voltage drop is reduced considerably.
It has two cases.
Equal voltage at both ends
Unequal voltage at the ends

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Distributor Fed at both ends

Concentrated loading (Case1)
Suppose voltage from A decreases till point E
and then increases as we move towards B
Only the current at E is shared between A and
B i.e I3= x+y
How to identify the point of minimum
potential ?

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Distributor Fed at both ends

Concentrated loading (Case1)
IAC=IA
ICD=IA-I1-I2
IDE=IA-I1-I2
IEB=IA-I1-I2-I3
Voltage drop between A and B= Voltage drop
over AB
V-V=IARAC+(IA-I1)RCD+(IA-I1-I2)RDE+(IA-I1-I2-I3)REB

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Distributor Fed at both ends

Concentrated loading (Case2)
Similar like case 1
See example 13.11

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