Chapter No.

04 Distribution Substations
Dr. Intesar Ahmed, Engr. Kashif Imran, Engr. Muhammad Shuja Khan

Department of Electrical Engineering COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Lahore

Distribution Substations
Purpose: To lower the voltage from the high voltage transmission and sub-transmission levels to a voltage that can be safely installed on the streets.

4.1) Substation Layout Selection Criteria

It depends on many factors. Voltage Load Requirements Density Expected Growth Available Site Space Location Of Site Protection System Sophistication & Cost Other Stations In The General Area The design of a substation depends on both the subtransmission and/or transmission voltages available.

4.1.1)Voltage And Spacing

Voltage determines the spacing between the

conductors and conductor clearance to ground.

Minimum clearances are 22.3 inches for 34.5kV and

13.2 inches for 12.5kV for rigid buses with fixed supports.

4.1.2) Load:
The size of the load to be served determines the

capacity of substation.
Industrial and commercial loads are served by large

substations.(More reliable and contains more than one transformer)

Load must be distributed such that it can be served

with reasonable feeder loss.

4.1.3) Space And Location:

More spade allows more construction options.

Densely populated areas may contain few locations

suitable for substation construction.

Cost of the land must also be low.

4.1.4) Distribution Substation Protection Needs:

The level of protection of a substation is determined

by how critical the loss of power is to the load. Loss of power to a hospital or to industrial and commercial areas can result in severe damages, both to human life and economy. Fault removal must be fast Automatic switching should be used to decrease the repair time.

4.2) Construction Methods:

Four basic methods exist for substation construction. Wood Steel Lattice Steel Low Profile Unit

Wood:
Wood pole substations are inexpensive.

Can easily use wire bus structures.

Wood is suitable only for small and simple substations. Very few wood substations are built anymore.

Lattice Steel:
It provides structures of low weight and hidg strength.

Multilevel bus structures can be fabricated.

It is reasonably economical and preferrable.

Solid Steel Low Profile:

Superior to lattice or wood.

More expensive than either wood or steel.

Requires more land because multilevel bus structures

can not be used.

Unit:
It is a recent development. It is factory built and tested.

Shipped in modules and bolted together at sites.

Completely enclosed in metal cladding to deny access

to unqualified individuals.

4.3) Trends In Distribution Substations:

It is difficult to add small increments of capacity to

large substations economically. Maximum economy is realized when low voltage feeder mileage is kept as low as possible. Smaller substations allow a lower loss mix of high and low voltage lines, more economical, simpler, design, construction and relaying is easier.

4.4) Insulation Coordination:

A typical method is to establish a definite common

level for all insulation in the station. Bring all equipment and devices to that insulation level. Lightening protection is set at least 20% below this level, but above normal peak operating voltages.

4.5) Voltage Regulation:

Voltage regulation is required when the feeder load is

such that a fixed tap can not keep its voltage between allowed limits.
Most popular scheme for voltage regulation is the use

of automatic tap changer, but voltage level of all the feeders from transformers are changed simultaneously.

4.6) Distribution Substation Layout:

6.6.1) One Feeder Substation: Minimum equipment is used.
Bypass switch is used to continue work during circuit

breaker maintenance.

4.6.2) Single Bus Substation:

Each feeder must have its own over current protection. Primary side switch should be interlocked with feeder

breakers. Primary switch must be able to break the transformer excitation current. Two sources used which allow service to restored quickly upon a sub-transmission circuit fault.

4.6.3)Two Transformer Distribution Substation:

In this type of substation, Transformers normally have primary fuse protection as well as differential relaying.
Secondary over current protection. Bus often has differential relay protection to

disconnect the bus if it faults and each feeder has over current relaying.

4.6.4)Automatic Switching(ThrowOver)
In this type, Service outage time is reduced. Each circuit breakers has disconnects on either side to isolate it during maintenance. Each feeder breaker probably has a bypass switch. Well protected with over current protection on transformer secondaries.

4.6.5) Double Substation:

It has double bus on both high and low voltage side.

Spare bus is in service during maintenance.

Used mostly in high load areas.

4.6.6) Bus Arrangements:

Ring Bus: Requires only one circuit breaker per line. Economical. Power can reach any feeder from two directions. Two breakers are operated when a feeder fault occurs.

Breaker And A Half:

It is more economical, versatile, reliable and easy to

expand.
Bus or feeder fault can easily be isolated while station

remains in service.
Three circuit breakers are required for every two

feeders or 1.5 breakers per feeder.

Double Bus Double Breaker:

Highest in cost . Ultimate in protection.

Each circuit has full protection with any breaker out of

service for maintenance. Used at important locations because of expense.

4.7) Faults:
A fault is a malfunction in the system. Mast faults are result of lightning and wind storms.

Major categories are

1. 2.

3.
4.

5.

Line to ground( about 70 %) Line to line(about 15%) Double line to ground(about 10%) Three-phase faults to ground(less than 1%) Open circuits(Very few)

4.8) Distribution Substation Protection:

Circuit breakers tripped by protective relays are used

to protect the equipment within a substation.

Primary fusing is used to protect the transformer in

small substations.

4.8.1) Zones Of Protection:

The portion of the substation removed from service by

a given relay set is its zone of protection. Feeders breaker zone of protection is the individual feeder. Bus zone of protection is the bus and connections to the bus. Over current protective devices must be coordinated to assure that only the faulted substation section is taken out of service.

4.8.2) Transformer Protection:

Transformers are, very expensive, so must be well

protected. Transformer must have a minimum of: 1. Secondary over current relaying 2. Primary fusing 3. Sudden pressure relay(Attached to a valve on the transformer tank)

4.8.3) Bus Protection:

Differential protection is effective for bus faults. Three major systems used are:

Linear coupler (LC) system, which works by eliminating the iron core of CTs. 2. Multi-restraint, variable percentage relays (CA-16) 3. High impedance voltage operated differential relays(KAB)
1.

4.8.4) Combined Protection of a Bus and a Transformer:

It is done on small substations. Ideally the bus and transformer have separate

protection. Economical requirements may lead to combine these two. HU relays are used for this purpose.

4.8.5) Feeder Over Current Protection: Basic and 50/51 with

50N/51N ground fault sensing is the standard relaying scheme for feeders.

4.9) Substation Grounding:

It is first for safety, and secondly to provide a stable

reference voltage for protection systems. Grounding system of a substation consists of a ground mat. Grid wires are about 20 feet apart but spacing varies with the conductivity of soil. Soil must be tested at each location. All substations structures are to be constructed within the perimeter of the grid.

Thank you