A

Report On
Practical Training
Taken At

400/220 KV SCADA CONTROLLED SUBSTATION

SAMBA

OPERATED BY: POWER GRID CORPORATION OF INDIA LIMITED

(A Government Of India Enterprise)

Submitted by Under The Guidance Of

Surya Abhishek (GCET/155/2016) Er. Neeraj Bakshi

(Jr. Engineer)
Batch: 2016-2020

As part of Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical Engineering)

Curriculum of

Government College Of Engineering And Technology, Jammu (J&K)

INDEX
1. Introduction
2. Why we need a substation?
3. About PGCIL Samba 400/220 Kv Sub-Station
4. SLD of PGCIL Samba 400/220 Kv Sub-station
5. Classification of Sub-Station
 According to service Sub-Station
 According to constructional features
 According to nature of duties
 According to operating voltage
6. Sub-Station site selection
7. Main Equipments used in a sub-Station
 Sub-Station components
 Symbols of components
 Inter-connected Transformer
 Lightening arrester
 Wave trap
 Isolators
 Earth switch
 Bus bars
 Circuit breaker
 Reactor
 Insulator
 Protective Relays
8. Faults
 Acknowledgement
It often said that life is a mixture of achievements, failures, experiences,
exponents and efforts to make your dream come true. There are people around
you who help you realize your dream. I acquired this opportunity with much
pleasure to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of all the people who have
helped me through the course of my journey in successful completion of this
project.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to Er. Neeraj Bakshi (Junior Engineer)
and Er. Nishant Tayagi of PGCIL Samba substation for their active support and
continuous guidance without it would have been for me to complete this project.
They were generous enough to take time out of their regular work to lend a
helping hand whenever I needed one and enabling me to complete this project.

I would like to mention the generous guidance of all the staff of

Samba substation, their guidance helped me settle down in the organization and
successfully complete the project within the relatively short time frame of 6
weeks, from 02 July 2019 to 10 august 2019. They were supporting enough to give
me an opportunity to be a part of such a prestigious organization for 6 weeks and
learn day to day functioning.
 1. Introduction:
Electric power is produced at the power generating stations, which are
generally located far away from the load centers. High voltage
transmission lines are used to transmit the electric Power away from
the generating stations to the load centers. Between the power
generating Station and consumers, a number of transformations and
switching stations are required. These are generally known as
substation. Substations are important of power system and form a link
between generating stations, transmission systems and distribution
systems. It is an assembly of electrical components such as bus bars
switches gear apparatus, power transformers etc. Their main functions
are two receive power transmitted at high voltage for the generating
stations and reduce the voltage to a value suitable for distribution.
Some substations provide facilities for switching operations of
transmission lines, others are converting stations. Substations are
provided with safety devices to disconnect equipment or circuit at the
of faults. Substations are the convenient place for installing
synchronous condensers for improving power factor and it provide
facilities for making measurements to monitor the operation of the
various parts of the power system. The substations maybe classified in
according to service requirements and constructional features.
According to service requirements, it is classified in to transformers
substations, switching substations and converting substations.

The present day electrical power system is ac i.e. Electric power is

generated, transmitted and distributed in the form of Alternating
current. The electric power is produce at the power station, which are
located at favorable places, generally quite away from the consumers.
It is delivered to the consumers through a large network of
transmission and distribution. At many place in the line of power
system, it may be desirable and necessary to change some
characteristics (e.g. Voltage, ac to dc, frequency, p.f. etc.) Of electric
supply. This is accomplished by suitable apparatus called substation for
example, generation voltage (11 kv or 6.6 kv) at the power station is
stepped up to high voltage (say 765 kv to 400 kv) for transmission of
electric power. Similarly, near the consumer’s localities, the voltage
may have to be stepped down to utilization level. This job the is again
accomplished by suitable apparatus called sub-station.

2. Why we need a sub-station?

Sub-station forms an important link between transmission network and
distribution network. It has vital influence reliability of service. Apart
from ensuring efficient transmission and distribution of power, the sub-
station configuration should such that it enables easy maintenance of
equipment and minimum interruption in power supply.
3. About the PGCIL Samba Sub-Station:
 Samba Sub-Station is situated at 6.5 Km from samba city in village
Jatwal at jammu-pathankot Highway.
 The sub-station was commissioned in March 2013 with the total
transformation capacity 3x315 MVA=945MVA
 The Sub-Substation acts as an inter-regional link between NR-I
and NR-II plays an important role in power systems strengthening
of Northern region 1 and 2.
 The Samba Sub-Station is interconnected with following sub-
Stations:
 Jalandhar Sub-Station
 Kishenpur Sub-Substation
 Amargarh Sub-Substation
 4. SLD of PGCIL Samba 400/220 Kv Sub-
station:

Single line diagram (SLD) is a line diagram of a concerned electrical system which
includes all the electrical equipments connection sequence wise from the point of
entrance of power up to the end of the scope of the mentioned work. As the
feeders enter the station they are to pass through various instruments. The
instrument has their usual functioning.
S.No. Description Of Parameters 400kV
System
1. System Operating Voltage 400kV
2. Maximum Operating Voltage Of The System (rms) 420kV
3. Rated Frequency 50Hz
4. Number Of Phases 3
5. Corona Extinction Voltage 320kV
6. Rated 3-Phase Symmetrical Short Circuit Current Withstand 40kA/1sec
Capacity
7. System Neutral Earthing Effect
Earthed

5. CLASSIFICATION OF SUBSTATION
 According to service requirement:

a) Transformer sub-station: Those substations which change the

voltage level of electrical supply is called Transformer sub-station.

b) Switching sub-station: This sub-station simply performs the

switching operations of the power line.

c) Power factor correction S/S: This sub-station which improves the

p.f. of the system is called p.f. correction s/s these are generally
receiving end s/s.
d) Frequency changer S/S: Those sub-stations which change the
supply frequency are called frequency changer s/s. Such s/s may
be required for industrial utilization.

e) Converting sub-station: That station which change A.C into D.C

power are called converting s/s ignition is used to convert AC to
DC power for traction, electroplating, electrical welding etc.

f) Industrial substation: Those substations which supply power to

individual industrial concern are known as industrial substation.

 According to constructional features :

a) Outdoor substation: For voltage beyond 66KV, equipment is

invariably installed outdoor. It is because for such voltage the
clearance between conductor and the space required for
switches, C.B. and other equipment becomes so great that it is not
economical to install the equipment indoor.

b) Indoor substation: For voltage up to 11KV, the equipment of the

s/s is installed indoor because of economic consideration.
However, when the atmosphere is contaminated with impurities,
these substations can be erected for voltage up to 66KV.
 c) Underground substation: In thickly populated areas, the space
available for equipment and building is limited and the cost of the
land is high. Under such situations the substation is created
underground. The design of the underground s/s requires more
careful consideration.
1. The size of s/s should be small as possible.
2. There should be reasonable access for both
equipment and personal.
3. There should be provision for emergency lighting
and protection against fire.
4. There should be proper ventilation.

 According to the nature of duties:

a) Step-up or Primary: Substations: When from power is

transmitted to various load centers in the system network and are
generally associated with generating stations.

b) Step-up and step-down or Secondary Substations: May be located

at generating points where from power is fed directly to the loads and
balance power generated transmitted to the network for transmission
to other load centers.

c) Step-down or Distribution substations: Receives power from

secondary substations at extra high voltage (above 66KV) and step
down its voltage for the secondary distribution.
  According to Operating Voltage:
a) High Voltage Substation (HV substation): Involving voltage between
11KV and 66KV.

b) Extra High Voltage Substation (EHV Substation): Involving voltage

between 123KV and 400KV.

c) Ultra HIGH Voltage Substation (UHV substation): Operating on

voltage above 400 KV.

6. Sub-station site selection:

The aspects necessary to be considered for the site selection are:

 Fairly level ground.

 Right of way around the substation yard for incoming and
outgoing transmission and distribution lines.
 Preferably of soil strata having low earth resistance values.
 Easy approach and accessibility from main roads for high
equipment transportation and routine O & M of substation.
 Economy/cost.
 7. MAIN EQUIPMENTS USED IN A
SUBSTATION:
A substation is an assembly of various electrical equipments connected
to step down electric power at high voltages and to clear faults in the
system. The various electrical equipments used in the substation as
follows:

SUBSTATION COMPONENTS:
1. Lightening Arrestors
2. Capacitive Voltage Transformer (CVT)
3. Wave Trap
4. Isolators
5. Current Transformer (CT)
6. Circuit Breakers (CB)
7. Bus Bars
8. Interconnected Transformers (ICT’s)
9. Post Insulators
10. Bus Reactor
Graphical symbols for various apparatus and circuit
elements in substation:
  Inter-connected Transformer (ICT):
Inter-connected transformer is usually an autotransformer which connects two grids at
different voltages. All over India all the ICT’s at different substations are interconnected

Inter- connected Transformer

to each other.
On 31st December 2013, all India’s regional grids were interconnected to each other,
thus forming One Grid One Nation One Frequency. Different regional grids are Northern,
Eastern, Western, North Eastern and Southern grids which all now come under central
grid.
 Ratings of 105 KVA for 1 phase (105 * 3 = 315 KVA - 3 phase)
 ICT is a power transformer.
 The ICT’s are single phase autotransformers having 15 tapings, with their tapping
kept at 11, so that the output
 High Voltage - 400 KV
 Intermediate Voltage - 220 KV
 Low Voltage - 33 KV

Why transformer is rated in KVA?

Rating of any equipment depends on its losses. In transformer there are two types of
losses:
 Copper losses
 Iron losses
Copper losses depend on current (A)
And iron losses depend on voltage (V).
So, the rating of a transformer is given in VA.

Lightening Arrester:
Lightning Arrester is a device which provides a low
resistive path to atmospheric lightening. This device acts
as a non-linear resistance. Atmospheric lightening has a
high voltage, high current and high frequency. When the
lightning strikes the transmission lines the lightning
arrester being a non-linear resistance, when the voltage
is high its resistance reduces and the lightning will be
earthed through this connection. These lightening
arresters are connected in parallel with line.

Lightening Arrester
Uses:

 For protection of equipment connected ahead of the transmission line from high
voltages.
 Protection from Ground surge voltage produced during off load, when switching.

Wave Trap:
Wave trap is used to create high impedance to the
carrier wave having high frequency, for communication
to enter in the substation. Carrier wave communication
uses up to 150kHz to 800kHz frequency for all the
communication. These high frequency damages

the power system components which are designed to

operate at 50 Hz.

When the frequency increases, the inductive

reactance will increase. That’s why it creates high
impedance for high frequency signal and low
impedance for low frequency signal. This unit prevents
the high frequency carrier signal from entering
the power circuits.

Wave Trap

Isolators:
Isolator is a type of mechanical switch, which is used for opening an electrical circuit in
the no-load condition. These are generally employed on both ends of circuit breaker so
that circuit breaker repair can be done without any risk of high electric currents.
Classification of Isolators based on requirement of system:
 Double Break Type Isolator
 Single Break Type Isolator

Double Break Type Isolator:

This type of isolator consists of three loads of post insulators. The middle insulator holds
a flat male that can be turned slightly by a spin of middle post insulator. The rotation of
middle post insulator can be done by manual or motorized operation.

Single Break Type Insulator:

In this type of insulator, the arm contact is
separated into two elements. The first contact
holds male contact and second arm contact holds
female contact. The post insulators rotation stacks
Single Break Type Isolator
in reverse to each other which makes to close the
isolator by shutting the arm contact.

Classification of Isolators based on power

system location:
 Bus Side Isolator
 Line Side Isolator
 Transfer Bus Side Isolator
Bus Side Isolator:
It is a type of isolator that connects to the
main bus.

Line Side Isolator:

It is situated at the line side of any feeder.
Transfer Bus Side Isolator:
This type of isolator is directly connected with transfer bus.

 Earth Switch:
Earth switch is used to ground the residual charge remaining in the circuit when the circuit is
broken or opened by circuit breaker and isolator. Earth switch earthing arms are usually
aligned horizontally at off condition. These earthing arms rotate and move to vertical
position and make contact with earth female contacts fitted at the top of post insulator.
The earthing arms are so interlocked with the main isolator such that the earthing
switch is closed only when isolator is open and similarly isolator contacts can be closed
only when the earth switch is open.

Opening Operation of Electrical Isolator:

Open the Circuit Close the Earth
Open the Isolator Switch
Breaker

Closing Operation of Electrical Isolator:

Open the Earth Close the Circuit

Close the Isolator
Switch Breaker
  Bus Bars:
All the lines having nearly same voltage are connected common to bus bars in a
substation. The bus bar is the collector of electrical energy at one location. There are
two bus bar schemes used in Power Grid Samba:

 Double Main Transfer (DMT)

 One and Half Breaker scheme

Double Main Transfer (DMT):

In DMT scheme there are two main buses and a transfer bus. Whenever we want to
repair any main bus, the load is transferred on to transfer bus using transfer bus
coupler.

This scheme is used in 200 KV yard and this yard has 12 lines connected. On BUS-I, 6
lines are connected, and on BUS-II, remaining 6 lines are connected. When there is high
load on any main bus, then some load is shifted to other main using bus coupler.

Post Insulator in the middle and Bus Bars

One and Half Breaker scheme:
One and half breaker arrangement needs three circuit breakers for two buses in total
and no of circuit breaker per bus comes out to be 1½. So, this scheme is known as one
and half breaker scheme. Here this scheme is used for 400 KV yard. Overall yard has 13
lines, 8 lines are connected to BUS-I and remaining 5 lines are connected to BUS-II.

2 buses and 3 circuit breakers

3 1
=1
2 2

The two buses are connected to each other by using a tie circuit breaker. This breaker is
used when we have to work on any of the main circuit breakers. The power is shifted
through this breaker in order to prevent shutdown of the supply.

 Circuit Breaker:
An electrical circuit breaker is a switching device which can be operated manually and
automatically for controlling and protecting an electrical power system. Circuit breaker
is an on-load switch.

Construction and working:

The circuit breaker consists of fixed and moving contacts. In normal on condition, these
contacts are physically connected to each other due to applied moving pressure on the
moving contacts. There is an arrangement of stored potential energy in the operating
mechanism of circuit breaker which is released if the switching signal is given to the
breaker.
The potential energy can be stored in the circuit breaker by different ways like
deforming metal spring, by compressed air or by hydraulic pressure. The release of
potential energy makes sliding of the moving contact fast.
The circuit breaker consists of operating coils. These coils are externally energized
externally and these coils will store the potential energy. When the circuit breaker is
opened, this stored potential energy is released and energy is converted to kinetic
energy. This kinetic energy is used to separate the moving contact from the stationary
contact.
When the kinetic energy is released, these coils will again store potential energy by
using spring charging or air compressor.
In circuit breaker, there is requirement of insulating fluid in the section where
separation of contacts takes place. This insulation serves two purpose:
 It extinguishes the arc drawn between the contacts when the circuit breaker
opens.
 It provides adequate insulation between the contacts, and from each contact to
earth.
Circuit breaker used in Samba substation is SF6 based.

Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) Circuit Breaker:

In case of H.V circuit breakers, extinguishing of arc requires least time and high dielectric
strength of arc path.SF6 circuit breaker have better properties in this regard. This
breaker employs high density of SF6 gas as the medium for quenching the arc. The
conducting free electrons in arc are rapidly
captured by the gas to form relatively
immobile negative ions. The loss of
conduction electrons in the arc rapidly builds
up enough insulating strength to stop the arc.

Reason for using SF6 in Circuit Breaker:

 SF6 gas have excellent dielectric
properties, arc quenching, chemical
and other physical properties, which
has proved its superiority over other
mediums such as oil or air for use in
circuit breaker.
 It has a thermal conductivity higher
than that of air and assist in better
cooling of current carrying parts.
 Due to the electro negativity of SF6 gas
the arc time constant of SF6 is very low
(≤ 1 µs) and dielectric strength is high.
Spring Mechanism based SF6 Circuit Breaker
 The time between current zero and the instant conductance of contact space
reaches zero value.

 Reactor:
Reactor is a device which is connected to the line. The main purpose of the reactor is to
decrease the reactive power generated by the capacitance, by consuming the reactive
power in the line.

Types of reactor:
Line Reactor:
In long transmission lines, line
capacitance is generated
between HV power lines and
ground. Due to this capacitance,
voltage at the receiving end gets
increased in comparison to
sending end voltage. This
phenomenon happens when
there is open circuit or lightly
loaded at receiving end. This
effect is known as Ferranti effect.
The line reactor is used to
consume this increase in the
voltage. The line reactor is a
device which contains coils and acts as an inductor. This inductor cancels the effect of
the capacitance.
The leading power factor is generated by the capacitance. The inductor creates a lagging
power factor. This balances out the net effect on the power factor.
 Bus Reactor:
A bus reactor is a type of air core inductor, or in some cases, oil filled, connected
between two buses or two sections of the same bus in order to limit the voltage
transients on either bus.
It is installed in a bus to maintain system voltage when the load of the bus changes. It
adds inductance to the system to offset the capacitance of the line which varies due to
load, humidity, weather, generator excitation and temperature. It is also used to
maintain the power factor.

 Insulators:
An electrical insulator is a material whose internal electric charges do not flow freely
and which therefore does not conduct an electric current under the influence of electric
field.

Insulators are used in electrical equipment to support and separate electrical

conductors without allowing current through them.

Types of insulators: -
 Pin type insulator
 Suspension insulator
 Strain insulator
 Shackle insulator
 Post insulator

Insulators used in Samba Substation:

Suspension insulator:
 For high voltages (>33 KV),
suspension type insulators are
used which consist of no. of
porcelain discs flexibly
connected in series by metal
links in the form of a string.

Suspension type Insulator

 These discs are aligned with horizontal plane.
 The suspension insulators hang from the supporting structure and line
conductor is attached to lower end.
 As the working voltage increases, units of suspension type insulators
increase.
 In case of failure of an insulator, one unit instead of whole string, can be
replaced.
 This insulator provides more flexibility to the line and mechanical stresses
are reduced in this arrangement. The connection at the cross arm in such
that the insulator string is free to swing in any direction, and thus takes up
a position where it can experience only pure tensile strength.

Strain insulator:

Strain type Insulator

 When there is a dead end of the line, or there is a corner or a sharp curve,
or the line crosses the river etc., the line is subjected to greater tension.
Then we use shackle insulator for high voltages and for low voltages we
use shackle insulator.
 It consists of assembly of suspension type insulators. The discs of strain
insulators are employed in vertical plane.
Post Insulator:
 These are generally subjected to bending, torsion and compression forces. These
are used as supports for conductors connecting bus-bars. It consists of porcelain
body, cast iron cap and flanged cast iron base.

 Protective Relays:
It is a device that detects the faults and initiates the operation of circuit breakers to
isolate the defective elements from the rest of the system. The relay ensures the safety
of circuit equipment from any damage which might be caused by the fault.

Direction overcurrent relay:

It is a special type of overcurrent relay with directional features. This relay
employs the principle of actuation of relay, then the fault current flows in the
relay in a particular direction.
If the power flow is in opposite direction the relays will not operate. The
directional overcurrent relay recognizes the direction in which the fault occurs,
related to the location of the relay.

Distance relay:
It a protective relay whose action depends upon the distance of the feeding point
to the fault. The time of operation of such relays is a function of the ratio of
voltage and current i.e. impedance.
The impedance between relay and fault depends upon the distance between
them.
The relay will only operate when the impedance of the line becomes less than
predetermined impedance. As the impedance of the transmission line is directly
proportional to its length. So, a distance relay can only operate if fault occurs
within a predefined distance or length of wire.
Substation Earthing: -
Substation earthing system has buried horizontal mesh of steel rods and vertical
electrodes welded to the mesh. The vertical risers and galvanized steel grounding strips
are connected between the grounding mesh and the point to be grounded. The earth
points are held near earth potential by low resistance conductor connections with earth
mat which is also known as earth grid.

Earth risers are usually the mild steel rods bent in

vertical and horizontal shapes and welded to the
earth mesh at one end and brought directly upto equipment or structure foundation.

The new criteria of substation earthing are that they should have low earth resistance,
low touch potential and low step potential.

Substation earthing is provided for its following purposes:

 Safety of operational and maintenance Staff.

 Discharge of electrical charges to ground:
The ground system is to provide return path for discharging fault currents,
discharge current/voltage from earth points of different electrical equipment
used in substation.
 Grounding of overhead shielding wires:
The overhead shielding wires and grounded flanges of insulators and bushing are
connected to earthing system.

Reasons for using Stones/Gravel in Switch yard:

 During Short circuit current foot and Touch potential increases.

Gravel/Stones in the substation are provided to reduce the foot potential and
touch potential when operators work on switch yard.

 Power Transformers installed in the substations will have oil as cooling and
insulating medium. Oil leakage takes place during operation or when changing
the oil in the transformer. These oil spillages which can catch fire is dangerous to
 the switchyard operation and even catch fire. So, Stones/Gravel is provided to
protection.

 Stones eliminate the growth of small weeds and plants inside the switch yard

 Provides protection from wild animals and snakes.

Corona Ring:
These rings are anti-corona rings, are a torroid made from a conductive material. The
role of corona ring is to distribute the electric field gradient and lower its maximum
value below corona threshold, preventing corona.

Corona occurs when the electric field at the surface of conductors exceeds a critical
value of dielectric strength of air. It is around 30kV/cm, but decreases with increase in
pressure. So, corona is more at high altitudes.

The electric field at a conductor is greatest where the curvature is sharpest. So, corona
discharge occurs first at these sharp points, corners and edges. So, corona rings are used
at these locations to distribute the electric field concentrated here and thus avoid
corona.

Direct Generator (DG) Room:

The Generator is an important part of the power substation, as it helps in maintaining a
continuous supply of the electricity in the control room during a power outage.

The generator is turned on when there is a failure in the supply of power, from the
transformer which is used for powering all the equipment. Generator is powered by
petrol and converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
Faults:
Electrical fault is a deviation of voltages and currents from its nominal values. When
fault occurs, it causes excessively high currents to flow which causes damage to
equipment and devices.

There are mainly two types of faults:

 Symmetric Faults:
These are very severe faults and occur infrequently in the power system. These
are also known as balanced faults.
1. LLLG fault:
2. LLL fault:
 Unsymmetrical faults:
They are very common and less severe than symmetrical faults. This fault
occurrence cause’s unbalance in the system. It means that the impedance values
are different in each phase causing unbalance current to flow in the phases.
The main causes of this fault are weather conditions, equipment failure, human
errors smoke or fires.
1. LG fault
2. LL fault
3. LLG fault

Line to ground (LG) fault is most common fault and 65% - 70% faults are of this type. It
causes the conductor to make contact with the earth or ground.

Line to line fault occurs when two conductors make contact with each other mainly
while swinging of wires due to winds. 5% -10% of faults are of this type.

15% -20% of faults are double line to ground, and causes two conductors to make
contact with ground.
Transformer
 Working principle of Transformer
 Types of Transformer
 Components of Transformer
Core
Windings
Insulating materials and Transformer oil
Tap changer
Oil conservation tank
Breather
Buchholz Relay
Cooling tubes and radiator
 Current transformer
 Capacitive voltage transformer
Transformer:
A transformer is an electric device which transfers electric device which transfers
electric energy from one circuit to another through process of electromagnetic
induction.

Transformer is usually used to step-up voltage, step-down voltage, or to isolate two

circuits electrically. The construction and symbol for transformer are shown in given
figure: -

Vp - Primary Voltage

Vs - Secondary Voltage

Np – No of Primary Windings

Ns – No of Secondary Windings

Φ – Flux Linkage

 Working Principle of a Transformer:

The transformer works on the principle of Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction.
According to this law when the flux linking a circuit changes an electromotive force
(Emf) is produced in the circuit proportional to rate of change of the flux.
In transformers there are usually two windings primary and secondary. The primary
winding is connected to an AC source. When a current flow in the primary windings a
flux is generated in the core, this flux is changing periodically. Due to this changing flux
an Emf is generated in the secondary winding of the transformer.

The core of transformer provides a low reluctance path to the flux created by primary
winding. The core acts a medium for linking of flux to secondary winding.

The core of transformer is made up of thin sheets of laminated Silicon Steel.

The sheets are laminated in order to reduce the eddy current losses.

In case of an ideal transformer the power available at output is equal to the power at
the input. This means there is no power loss in the core and the windings, and we get an
efficiency of 100%.

But in case of practical transformer the efficiency is around 94 % to 96%. Because there
are losses in the core and windings. If a transformer operating with a constant voltage
and frequency with a very high capacity, the efficiency can be made as high as 98 %.

Types of transformers: -
The transformers can be classified into various types based on their use, constructions,
supply and purpose. A few types are

On the basis of design: -

 Core Type Transformer:

In this type of transformer, the core is made up of two horizontal and two vertical
limbs. And the shape of the core is rectangular in shape. The windings are wound
on the two vertical limbs.
The entire flux flows through the core.

 Shell Type Transformer:

In this type of transformer, the core is made up of two horizontal and three
vertical limbs. The windings are wound on the central vertical limb.
The value of flux is Φ in central limb and the value of flux is Φ/2 in outer limbs.
HV stands for high voltage winding and LV stands for low voltage winding

On the basis of supply:

 Single-Phase Transformer:
The single-phase transformer has only one set of windings.
i.e. one primary and one secondary winding.
These are usually found in small electronic equipment like power supply,
inverters etc.

 Three-phase transformer:
 In this type of transformer there are three high voltage and three low voltage
windings wound on a single core. These types of transformers are used primarily
in Generation, Transmission and Distribution of power.

On the basis of use:

 Power Transformer:
These transformers usually have high ratings and are used primarily to transfer
power. They are used in generating stations to step-up the voltage and are also
used in sub-stations to further transfer power to distribution stations.
 Distribution Transformer:
These transformers are having low rating and are used in distribution of
electricity to the consumers. They step down the voltage to 220V or 400V. These
transformers can be found in in local distribution centers.
These transformers usually have a delta connection on primary side and a star or
Y connection on the secondary or output side.
 Instrument Transformer:
These types of transformers are used for measurement and protection. These
transformers are connected to relay panels which continuously monitor the
values of current and voltage and in case of a fault the value of current and
voltages changes and crosses a certain limit the relay panel then trips the line in a
sub-station.

 Components of a power transformer:

 Core
 Windings
 Insulating materials
 Transformer oil
 Tap changer
 Oil conservator
 Breather
 Cooling tubes and Radiator
 Buchholz relay
 Oil and Temperature indicator
 Explosion vent or pressure release valve

 Core:
The core of a transformer is made up of laminated soft iron core. It provides a
support for the windings and also acts as a low reluctance medium for the flux to
pass through the transformer.

The core is made of thin laminated sheets of silicon steel in order to reduce the eddy
currents in the core when magnetic field is created in the core. The eddy current
causes heating and energy losses in transformer thereby decreasing efficiency.

The composition of a transformer core depends on factors like voltage, current and
frequency.

The diameter of the transformer core is directly proportional to iron losses and is
inversely proportional to copper losses. If diameter of core is decreased, the weight
of iron in the core is reduced, which leads to less core losses of the transformer but
the no of windings is increased and will have higher copper losses.

So, the diameter of core of transformer should be optimized considering both losses
into consideration.

The main factors that are taken into consideration while designing a transformer
core are

 Higher reliability.
 Reduction in iron losses in transformer and magnetizing current.
 Lowering material cost and labor cost.
 Decreasing of noise levels.
  Windings:
Windings are copper conductor wound on the transformer core. The windings can be
two or more than two.

The copper is used as the material for windings because:

 It has high conductivity. This minimizes copper losses in windings and also
reduces copper needed for winding.
 It has high ductility. So, it can be easily wound into tight windings around
transformer core.

The transformer windings can be classified based on voltage levels as

High voltage winding:

These windings are connected to high voltage side. It is made of thin copper
conductor because the current in the high voltage side will be less. The no of
turns of the windings are more at high voltage side are more.

Low voltage winding:

These windings are connected at the low voltage side. The windings are made
up of thick copper conductor and insulation, because due to less voltage the
current will be high.
There are less no of turns than the high voltage windings.

Intermediate voltage winding:

These types of windings are usually found in transformers of high-power ratings.
The no of turns in these windings are in between that of HV and LV windings.

 Insulating Materials and Transformer

oil:
Insulating paper and cardboard are used in transformers to isolate primary and
secondary winding from each other and from the transformer core.
Transformer oil is another insulating material. Transformer oil performs two important
functions providing insulation to the windings and also to dissipate heat away from the
windings. The core and windings of transformer should be completely immersed in oil.

The transformer oil is usually hydrocarbon mineral oil. Oil contamination is a serious
problem as contamination affects the dielectric properties and renders it useless as an
insulating medium.

The transformer has another insulation method which is called bushing. Bushing is done
to prevent flashover from the high voltage terminal to the earthed tank. Bushing is used
at the high voltage terminal and also at the intermediate and low voltage terminal.
Bushing is made up of porcelain which has good insulation properties.

 Tap changer:
Tap changer is used to change the tapings of a transformer. Tapings are terminals at
fixed no of turns of the windings where terminals can be connected. During loaded
conditions the voltage at the receiving end gets reduced and during lightly loaded
conditions the voltage at the receiving end gets increased. Due to this there is a change
in values of voltage at receiving end so in order to keep a constant voltage at receiving
end the tapings of the transformer are changed accordingly.

There are three types of tap changers

 On load tap changer:

In this the tapings are changed without
isolating the transformer from the
supply lines.
The picture is of On load tap changer.
 Off load tap changer:
In this type of tap changer, the
transformer is firstly isolated from the
supply lines and then its tapings are
changed.
 Automatic tap changer:
 These types of tap changer, the transformer automatically sense the change in
the load and then change its tapings automatically, without any external input.

 Oil Conservation Tank:

The conservator conserves the transformer oil. It is an airtight, metallic cylindrical drum
that is fitted above transformer.

The conservator tank is vented to the atmosphere at the top to release the moisture
generated in the oil. The venting is done through breather.

The oil is kept at the middle of the conservator tank because as the temperature rises
and cools down the oil expands and contracts. So, in order to give it room for
contraction and expansion the tank is only half filled.

The conservator tank is connected to the main tank of transformer through a pipe, the
mai
n
tank
of
tran
sfor
mer
is
com
plet
ely
filled with oil.

The conservator tank comes with a gauge which indicates the current level of the
transformer oil in the conservator.
  Breather:
Breather controls the moisture level in the
transformer. Moisture can arise due to variation
of the oil temperature, which then causes the
pressure variations in the conservator tank. This
pressure is balanced out by allowing the
atmospheric air to go inside the tank and out of
the tank. This way moisture gets inside the oil
conservator.

This moisture may cause faults in the

transformer so this moisture needs to be
prevented from entering the transformer so we
use breather to get rid of this moisture.

Transformer breather is a cylindrical container

that is filled with silica gel to absorb moisture.
When the atmospheric air passes through the silica gel it absorbs the moisture in the air.

The breather acts as an air filter for the transformer and controls the moisture level
inside the transformer. Breather is connected to the end of the breather pipe.
  Buchholz Relay:
It is a type of oil and gas actuated protection relay which is used on transformers. The
relay is placed between transformer tank and the conservator tank.

It is used for the protection of transformer from the faults occurring inside the
transformer. The internal faults include, Short circuit faults, core faults, winding faults
etc. The transformer oil in such cases will breakdown and gas bubbles will be created
inside of the transformer oil. The relay will sense such faults and close the alarm circuit.
The relay consists of two mercury switch upper switch is connected to the alarm circuit
and the lower mercury switch is connected to external trip circuit which will trip the
transformer.

Working principle of Buchholz Relay:

The basic principle of the working of Buchholz relay is that, whenever there is a fault in
the transformer it will lead to breakdown of the transformer oil and gases are generated
as a result.

Whenever there is a fault in the transformer, the oil in the transformer gets overheated
and as a result gases generated. The generation of the gases depends mainly on the
intensity of the fault produced. The gases produced can be used to detect the winding
faults.

Operation of Buchholz Relay:

Whenever there is a fault in the transformer the oil will breakdown and gases will be
produced in the transformer. These gases will rise up towards the conservator tank, and
get collected in the relay.

The gases will displace the oil in the relay it tilts the switch at the top of the chamber
and thereby closing the mercury switch and alarm circuit will be closed indicating the
fault in the transformer.

The collected can be viewed through the window provided on the walls of the chamber.
The samples of gas can be taken and analyzed for determining faults.

During severe faults such as phase to earth faults and faults in tap changing gear, the
amount of gas produced will be more and it will float at the bottom chamber of the
relay and closing the mercury switch at the bottom of the chamber and trip the circuit
and isolate the transformer.

The relay operates when

 Gas bubbles are produced in transformer.

 Whenever the level of transformer oil falls
 Whenever oil rapidly flows from conservation tank to transformer tank or vice
versa.
  Oil and winding temperature indicators:
These indicators are connected to the sensors placed inside the transformer, and
indicate the oil and winding temperatures of the transformer tank. These are connected
to the relay system which turn on different cooling methods as per the temperature of
the transformer and protect transformer from overheating. The protections are Oil
Temperature Indicator (OTI) and Winding Temperature Indicator (WTI).

 Explosion Vent or Pressure release valve:

The explosion vent is used to expel boiling oil in the transformer during a heave fault. It
mainly helps by creating a path for transformer oil to get out and thereby preventing
explosion of the transformer.

The level of explosion vent is normally maintained above the level of the conservator
tank.

In transformers of high ratings there is pressure release valve which is used instead of
explosion vent to provide a path for the boiling oil to flow from in case of a severe fault.

 Cooling Tubes and Radiator:

The cooling tubes and radiator are used to dissipate the heat produced due to the core
and winding losses. In power transformers the cooling is done by these by method of oil
as coolant. The cooling tubes and radiator are used to increase the area for dissipation
of heat.

Oil cooling is of four types:

 ONAN (Oil Natural Air Natural):

In this type of oil cooling the heat is
passed to the oil by method of
conduction. This way the temperature
 of the oil near winding will be hot as compared to the oil in contact with tank
walls and cooling tubes. Due to convection the oil moves to the outer wall region
and is replaced by the cold oil. The heat is then dissipated by the tank and
radiator body by convection and radiation.
This method is used for transformers up to 30 MVA.
 ONAF (Oil Natural Air Forced):
In this method the heated oil moves to the radiator through a pipe by the
method of convention. There the forced air is blows by means of fans to increase
the cooling of the transformer oil.
By this method the cooling of a transformer is increased by about five to six
times. This type of cooling is done automatically by the transformer by attaching
temperature sensors and providing automatic switching of the fans.
 OFAF (Oil Forced Air Forced):

In this method the oil from the radiator to transformer is forced by pumping oil
with a pump. The radiator is cooled by using fans. When there is a light load the
system will become like an ONAN by switching off the pump and fans.

During peak loading conditions the pump and fans are switched on and it becomes
OFAF. This method is used in transformers having ratings more than 30MVA.
  Current Transformer:
This is a measurement transformer which is used to measure current in a transmission
line and for the protection. The transformer steps up the voltage which leads to lower
current in the secondary windings of the transformer. This transformer is connected in
series with the line.

The primary winding is usually a single line and secondary is wound around the core and
have different tapings. The ammeter is connected to the secondary windings.

When there is a rise in current in the primary winding, the current in the secondary
winding will also increase. It will be connected to the relay panel which will trip the line
if current rises beyond a fixed maximum value.

Types of current transformers:

 Live Tank
In this Current transformer the
core is the transformer tank is at
top with the core and secondary
windings in it.
The primary terminal is
connected at the tank. The
secondary output terminal is at
the bottom in base of the
transformer.
These transformers are compact
and reliable.
The heat produced in this
transformer is less as the
primary winding is of shortest
possible length. The insulation is
robust and reliable.
  Dead Tank
In this type of current transformer, the
core and the secondary winding are
housed in the tank at the bottom of the
transformer.
In this the primary is brought from top to
the bottom of the tank and is highly
insulated as it carries high current.
In this the transformer is bulky and costly.
The insulation is not robust.

n this the primary is long and the heat

generated will be more.

 CVT (Capacitive
voltage transformer):
The CVT is a type of instrument transformer
which is used to measure the voltage of the line.
CVT is preferred over the potential transformer
because CVT is cheap to use for voltage above
100kV.

Their accuracy is near to that of potential transformer.

CVT is placed parallel to the line and the voltage of the line is measured.

The capacitive voltage transformer consists of three main parts:

 Capacitive potential divider.

  Inductor
 Transformer

The capacitive potential divider is used to step-down

the high voltage to a low value

The voltage is then further reduced to a measurable

value by a transformer. The secondary is then
connected to voltmeter to measure voltage of the
line.

The CVT should have insulation to protect it from

high voltage. Potentiometer transformer (PT) also
have the same function as CVT.
The CVT is used for the voltages above 132kV. For
voltages below 132kV we use power transformer PT.

Two types of error occur when high current flows

in output.
 Phase angle error
 Ratio error
Phase angle error is due to capacitor, and this error is overcome by introducing an
inductor in series with primary of auxiliary transformer.

Uses:
 For measurement of the line voltage.
 For protection of the equipment from overvoltage.
 For Power Line Communication Carrier (PLCC).