CGIT Application Guide
CGIT Application Guide
CGIT Application Guide
CGIT Westboro, Inc. 30 Oak Street Westborough, Massachusetts 01581 USA Tel. (508) 836-4000 Fax (508) 366-6115
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ____________________________________________________ 3 CGIT DESIGN FOR SF6 TRANSMISSION BUS SYSTEMS ____________________ 4 General Design __________________________________________________ 4 Design Considerations____________________________________________ 4 Description of Components________________________________________ 7 Bus Assemblies_______________________________________________ 7 Tripost Support Insulator ________________________________________ 8 Conical Insulators _____________________________________________ 9 Elbows, Tees and Crosses _____________________________________ 10 Particle Traps _______________________________________________ 10 Finger Contacts ______________________________________________ 10 SF6 to Air Bushings ___________________________________________ 11 Bus Supports________________________________________________ 11 APPLICATIONS OF SF6 CGIT BUS _____________________________________ 12 Introduction____________________________________________________ 12 Power Plant Optimization ________________________________________ 12 PP8 Power Station ___________________________________________ 13 Line Crossings _________________________________________________ 14 Rowville Project ______________________________________________ 14 Penuelas Project_____________________________________________ 15 Underground Transmission_______________________________________ 16 Direct-Buried ________________________________________________ 16 Trenched ___________________________________________________ 16 Long Vertical Shafts _____________________________________________ 17 Balsam Meadows Hydro Electric Station __________________________ Revelstoke Hydro Project ______________________________________ Elevated Installations _________________________________________ Teesside Power Plant _________________________________________ Retrofit of Existing Installations ___________________________________ 18 20 21 21 23
Consolidated Edison Dunwoodie Station __________________________ 23 Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant Substation. ________________________ 24 Long-Term Extensions___________________________________________ 25 Claireville ___________________________________________________ 25
CONCLUSION _______________________________________________ 27
Product Background
CGIT provides a compact, reliable and economical alternative to conventional cable systems and overhead lines for power transmission. The effective electric and magnetic shielding afforded through the CGIT design allow for minimized right-of-way requirements as well as safer environmental conditions. Standard CGIT systems are suitable for voltages between 115 kV through 1200 kV with current ratings as high as 6000 Amperes. The first commercial CGIT system was installed in 1972. Since then, more than 46 miles (75km) of CGIT have been delivered and installed worldwide. Simple and inexpensive interfaces exist to almost all types of high-voltage equipment including GIS, transformers, oil paper cables, and SF6-air bushings. The CGIT system has been utilized in many unconventional applications in addition to standard transmission paths. The CGIT system can be installed in the following ways:
n n n n n n
At ground level Elevated above ground on pillars or support structures Below grade in an open or covered trench Directly buried underground Vertically in tunnels, shafts or towers Suspended from existing substation structures
The CGIT system provides economic advantages for installation, operation, and maintenance. A pre-designated number of sections, each terminating in plug/socket joints, are pre-established prior to arrival to site. Type HM contact assemblies provide the high current conductor connections that continue the low loss electrical paths of the system. The lower losses within the CGIT circuits equate to lower operating costs. Once installed, maintenance of the system can be reduced to annual SF6 gas moisture and pressure checks, and mechanical assembly checks (i.e. bus exterior, supports, etc.). Since the CGIT system includes no active or switching components that may wear during use, it is never intended that the system be opened for inspection or maintenance.
n n n n n n n
No auxiliary pumping or cooling equipment No fire hazard The safety of dead-front, grounded, construction Long life with high reliability No radio noise interference No appreciable external magnetic fields Very low dielectric losses
Design Considerations
The design of the CGIT system is based on the following criteria:
n n n n
Maximum System Voltage Rated Lightning impulse Withstand Voltage (BIL) Rated Switching Impulse Withstand Voltage (SIL) Power Frequency Withstand Voltage
Table 1 shows the CGIT characteristics for the various voltage classes offered. The critical dielectric design parameter for compressed gas insulated transmission lines is usually the lightning impulse requirements (BIL). Another factor influencing the dimensions of the coaxial system is the ampacity rating. For a high ampacity system the current requirements determine the size of the conductor. Thus, the design of a gas insulated transmission line is an optimization of the dielectric, ampacity and material costs.
145 kV
121/145/169 215/310/365 550/650/750 N/A 2500 117 63 59.5 56 0.187
242kV
242/300 425/460 900/1050 720/750 3000 150 80 52.6 63.4 0.211
362 kV
362 500 1050/1300 850/950 3500 170 100 53.1 62.8 0.210
550 kV
420/550 680/740 1425/1550 1050/1175 4500 232 100 54.2 61.5 0.205
800 kV
800 960 2100 1425 5000 261 100 45.1 73.9 0.247
Enclosure Inside Diameter Conductor Outside Diameter Nominal SF6 Gas Filling Density per Single-phase Meter Factory Test: 60 Hz 1 minute withstand voltage Field Test: 60 Hz 1 minute withstand voltage
kV kV
215/310/365 172/248/292
425/460 340/368
500 400
680/740 544/592
960 768
Table 1
F 12 15 18 22 26 28 32 40
G 24 36 36 36 36 36 42 48
H 32 48 48 48 52 52 60 66
J 40 50 60 72 84 90 104 122
System dimensions and minimum clearance - millimeters A 72.5 145/172 242/300 362 420 550 800 1200 51 89 102 127 152 178 178 203 B 12.7 15.2 12.7 12.7 12.7 12.7 12.7 12.7 C 6.4 7.6 7.6 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 9.5 D 165 241 307 375 470 508 622 762 E 229 343 406 483 610 648 749 889 F 305 368 457 559 660 711 813 1016 G 610 914 914 914 914 914 1067 1219 H 813 1219 1219 1219 1321 1321 1524 1676 J 1016 1270 1524 1829 2134 2286 2642 3099 K 210 241 318 356 457 457 533 610
Description of Components
The CGIT Westboro Inc. bus system consists of four major elements:
n n n n
Bus Assemblies
The basic CGIT bus system consists of three parallel isolated phases of coaxial transmission line. Each phase of the transmission line consists of a grounded 6063-T6 aluminum alloy tube, which encloses a concentric tubular 6101-T64 aluminum alloy conductor. The inner conductor is supported within the outer enclosure by solid dielectric insulators. The interior of the bus is filled with SF6 to provide electrical insulation between the inner conductor and the outer enclosure. The various components of the bus assembly including straight sections, elbows, tees and crosses are factory assembled in shipping units up to 60 feet (18 meters) long. Depending upon the physical requirements of a particular installation, the bus sections may also be factory assembled to switches, breakers or other active station components. The sections are shipped filled with dry nitrogen at 5 psig (35 kPag) to keep the interior of the bus clean and dry. In the field, center conductors are joined together using plug-in contacts. The outer enclosure is either butt welded with an internal backup ring or bolted together using flanges with double O-ring seals. The joints are then leak checked after assembly. In the case of underground joints, a coating of corrosion protection material is applied. When an electrical proof test and hookup of accessory systems is complete, the bus is ready for operation. Each section of bus may take many forms: straight, elbow as shown in Figure 1, or tee bus. Multiple assemblies may also be factory- joined to create double elbows, elbow-tee or other combinations. Bus sections are usually constructed with one fixed insulator, which anchors the conductor to the enclosure. On long sections, one or more moving insulators may be included to support the conductor. These moving insulators are rigidly attached to the conductor and are allowed to move at the enclosure to compensate for thermal expansion. The fixed insulator may be either a Tripost or a conical insulator. The conical insulator may be either a particle barrier with integral filter or a full gas stop insulator used to separate the system into separate gas compartments. On a straight bus section, the fixed insulator is located near one end of the section. On elbow or tee bus the fixed insulator is always located near the elbow or tee element to insure that the conductor in the elbow or tee will remain centered in the enclosure.
The moving insulator is always a Tripost insulator. Between sets of fixed insulators there is always a set of conductor contacts, which compensate for differential thermal expansion movement between enclosure and conductor.
Figure 1
Each section of bus is stamped with a part number and a serial number for positive identification. This stamp is located on the top of the bus at the fixed insulator position.
Figure 2
Conical Insulators
Where it is necessary to have a gas or contamination barrier in the bus, a conical insulator is used. The epoxy insulator is cast onto a short section of conductor, which is then factory welded into a longer conductor section. This insulator is shown in Figure 3. A two-piece grading shield is assembled over the outside diameter of the insulator. This shield is in turn welded to the inside of the enclosure tube. The shield is either welded all the way around with a gas tight weld or only tacked in several places depending on whether a gas barrier or contamination barrier is required. In the case of a contamination barrier, a plastic filter material is mounted between the shield and the enclosure tube. This filter allows free flow of gas from one side of the insulator to the other, but blocks the flow of particulate contaminants. Like the Tripost insulator, the cone is completely surrounded by a particle trap.
Figure 3
Where the conical insulator is used to separate compartments that operate at different gas densities, a flange-mounted insulator may be used. This insulator is the same as internally mounted conical insulators, except that the outside of the cone is sealed between flanges using a double O-ring seal. This configuration insures that there is no possibility of hidden leakage from the higher density section to the lower one.
Particle Traps
Both the Tripost and conical insulator system include a Tri-Trap particle trap. Basically, the particle trap provides a region with a very low field between itself and the enclosure. The simple but effective design consists of an aluminum shield with slots that is electrically connected to the enclosure. Any conducting particle is moved by the electric field through the slots into the very low field region. Here the particle is effectively trapped as the field is so low that the particle will not be elevated or moved. During the high-voltage field acceptance test, the voltage is raised in steps specifically designed to move any contamination into the particle traps, thus insuring a completely reliable system. The trap is also installed at low points in the system to trap particles moving under the influence of gravity.
Finger Contacts
HM type finger contacts are used throughout the system for joining the center conductors of adjacent sections. This contact is located in the socket end of a conductor. The silver plated plug end of the adjacent conductor slides into the socket. This contact arrangement provides a low- resistance and compact current transfer path. The HM contact assembly consists of a ring of segmented individually spring biased, silver plated, copper alloy contacts. The surface of the contact is coated at the factory with a lubricant. Care is to be taken when working with the contacts to avoid removing the lubricant or causing dirt to be introduced onto the surface of the contacts.
10
To reduce the voltage field at the plug and socket, and to insure that any particles generated by the contact do not escape into the dielectric region, a thin aluminum shield is provided. This shield bridges the transition connecting one conductor to another and is secured in place by spring loaded contacts in the conductor. The contacts seat in a groove cut in the I.D. of the shield. An adhesive particle trap is used inside the shield to captivate any particles before they can escape into the dielectric space of the bus. Inside the conductor a particle filter is installed in both the plug and socket halves of the contact, to prevent particles inside the conductor from migrating into the contact area. The contact assemblies will normally allow a total of over plus or minus 1.5 inches (38 mm) of longitudinal motion and plus or minus 2.5 degrees of angular motion to compensate for assembly tolerance and thermal expansion. Where required in the system a style of bus socket contact is used that can also be offset radially up to 0.1 inch (2.5 mm) to minimize alignment forces when making up a field joint.
Bus Supports
Periodically the bus sections must be supported from the foundation or other structures. Each installation has a unique selection of support locations and design details to insure that the bus is properly supported. Since aluminum has a rather high thermal expansion rate it is necessary to provide both a fixed type of support to anchor the bus in place and sliding supports to allow the bus sections to move during thermal expansion and contraction. Both types of supports use a specially shaped support saddle that is welded to the bus enclosure, usually at the factory. The fixed support saddle is in turn bolted or welded to the support structure or foundation. The sliding support uses the same saddle as the fixed support with the addition of plastic glides and a polished stainless steel wear plate on the bottom side. This provides a low friction surface to permit the bus run to move easily during thermal expansion or contraction. Plastic stops are provided to limit the sideways motion of the bus and act as a guide to insure that the motion is in the correct direction. The guides also act as motion limiters during a seismic event.
11
Power Plant Optimization Transmission Line Crossing Underground Transmission Long Vertical Shafts Elevated Installations Retrofit of Existing Installations Long-term Extensions
12
13
Line Crossings
Occasionally, a situation arises in which existing substations looking for an extension finds itself limited by the amount of line congestion. Such conditions are hard solved without the use of CGIT bus. Proper clearances will not be achieved with air-insulated bus. Oil cable and solid dielectric cable are both limited in their abilities for directional changes (i.e. angles). Typical examples of usage of CGIT bus in these situations are the Rowville, Australia, and Peuelas, Puerto Rico, projects.
Rowville Project
Rowville is a 550 kV above ground installation located in Melbourne, Australia. The sole purpose of the gas insulated bus was to safely transmit two, threephase circuits of 550 kV power across an existing 230 kV overhead transmission corridor. The customers main concern in this project was the possible mechanical failure of either the 230 kV or 550 kV (if overhead lines were used) transmission towers or lines. Failure of one or the other could result in damage to the lower feeder such that outages would be much more inclusive and costly. The grounded enclosure sheath of the CGIT, however, would protect the ground level 550 kV line from breakdown and prevent further outages to result from 230 kV line failure. A spare phase was installed at the request of the customer as a further precaution should a single phase of CGIT experience a breakdown. In the event of single-phase failure, this would reduce the outage time to a matter of hours by simply adjusting the line feeder leads accordingly.
14
Peuelas Project
The Penuelas project in Puerto Rico required a compact installation for a 230 kV line crossing under existing overhead lines, and also had to meet particular environmental and access requirements imposed by wetlands and roadways at the site. The CGIT bus supplied by CGIT Westboro Inc., besides allowing the addition of a new 230kV circuit under the space constraints of the existing lines, made it possible to cross over underlying wetlands with minimum impact. Part of the bus, running inside a steel truss bridge, spans without interference a natural floodwater stream. Another section runs under a roadway, in a covered trench. Figures 5-a and 5-b show both aspects of the installation.
15
Underground Transmission
There are two kinds of underground CGIT installations; direct-buried and trenched. Direct buried has the advantage of lower cost installations in open fields. Trenches are necessary when crossing roads or installing in areas where water tables are close to ground level. Either way, below-ground installations are more aesthetically pleasing, provide less above ground congestion, and result in lesser right-of-way distances. Hudson Switching Station in New Jersey, USA and the Midway Sunset Cogeneration in California, USA are two examples, respectively, of these types of installations.
Direct-Buried
The aluminum sheath of a CGIT transmission line, while made of a corrosion resistant aluminum alloy, is still subject to corrosion when buried in the earth. One way to prevent corrosion is to bias the aluminum relative to the earth such that it becomes cathodic, that is, its potential relative to the earth is made negative. A zinc anode is utilized to this cause and is in effect sacrificed and corrodes in place of the aluminum. A Cu-CuSO4 half-cell is used to meter the potential of the buried metal compared to the earth. Polarization cells are also utilized to provide a special means of grounding the system for AC fault currents. In order to prevent underground currents from transmitting into the sheath of the bus, an extruded polyethylene coating is applied to the underground portion of the CGIT enclosure. A complete coating, cell and metering set up is provided for each end of the underground line for every CGIT direct-buried installation.
Trenched
Road crossings are the main consideration when choosing trenched installations. The Midway Sunset Cogeneration Project is a perfect example of the advantages of trenched transmission. The layout consisted of three 242 kV circuits. Each circuit crossed the path of the plants main access road. Placing the CGIT in trenches allowed for an undisturbed road routing as well as access to the trenchs access panels for easy installation and maintenance of the bus between the GIS and connecting transformers. Figure 6 shows a typical combined trenched and above ground installation.
16
Air insulated bus Oil cable Solid dielectric cable SF6 Gas Insulated Bus
The air-insulated bus would require large clearances. Shaft sizes would need to be very large to accommodate this solution. In addition, there is a significant safety hazard due to the exposed high voltage conductors. While the oil cable would solve the size problem, it has two distinct disadvantages: (1) Large vertical drops result in very large pressure heads, and (2) Since oil burns easily, a real fire hazard exists should a fault occur in the cable system. If a fault were to occur in one cable circuit, the potential fire would spread to the adjoining circuits eliminating all power transmission capabilities. Solid dielectric cable, while not as flammable as oil cable, still offers a fire hazard. Close attention to support over the vertical distances would be required to prevent the cable from stretching and failing, especially at field splices. The utilization of SF6 CGIT bus for vertical shaft applications offers the following advantages relative to the other technologies:
n
Since the SF6 bus is enclosed and grounded, clearances can be small thus reducing the required shaft size. Also, the dead-front construction eliminates any high voltage safety hazards. SF6 is an inert gas and will not burn, so there is no fire hazard. Since SF6 is a gas, the pressure head is very low; typically about 10 psi per 1000 feet of vertical head. The design of SF6 bus enclosures offers little risk of stretching or mechanical damage. Since the joints offer the same mechanical strength as the balance of the bus system, no elaborate support methods are required.
The CGIT Westboro System concept has been successfully applied in vertical installations. An existing installation at the Southern California Edison Balsam Meadows Station, operates at 242 kV and transmits 200 MW of power up a 1000-foot vertical shaft.
17
The entire 1000 foot vertical run of SF6 bus is hung from a single support near the top of the shaft. Each 20,000-pound phase is guided and supported horizontally at forty-foot intervals. This is done both to provide seismic restraint during normal service, and to prevent column collapse of the bus during installation and service, at which time the bus is supported from the bottom of the shaft. A hydraulic ram system beneath the elbow at the bottom of the shaft acts as a seismic damper during normal service and provides support for the bus during installation and maintenance. Thermal expansion of the bus is accomplished by flexing at the bottom elbow. No enclosure expansion joints are required. CGIT Westboro, Inc.
18
Because the station is in the Sierra Mountains, where winter access to the summit is limited, the station is designed with a permanently mounted crane at the top of the shaft. To minimize outage times should a fault ever occur, a complete spare 252 foot gas zone is hung at the top of the shaft, ready to be installed at a moments notice. The station was commissioned in July 1987, and has functioned without incident.
Figure 7-b Balsam Meadows Hydro Bus Exit from Top of Shaft Enclosure Building to Overhead Line Bushings
19
20
Elevated Installations
Every station layout design has certain physical boundaries to which the transmission components must adhere. When determining a transmission line route through a given area, the choice of available power transmission methods may become limited. If the space available precludes the use of air-insulated bus, and the lack of available land prevents continuous a transmission line at ground level or below grade, one solution is to elevate the bus system. An example of this type of installation is the Teesside Power Plant.
21
Figures 9-a & 9-b: Teesside Combined Cycle Power Plant - United Kingdom
22
due leaks and insulator failures within the bus. This was a particularly cause of concern within areas of the substation that were not protected by redundant sections of the installation, thereby having no backup in case of section bus failures. CGIT bus, backed by its established record of reliability in long-term service, was selected to replace the ITE bus for these critical connections. They involved connections from the GIS to both main transformers and to auxiliary transformers. In addition to offering a reliable bus design, CGIT Westboro was able to complete the installation within a one-week outage to comply with the NRC approved outage schedule, and under tight space and access conditions. The first of the Seabrook CGIT bus installations has been in service without fault since its completion in 1990.
24
Long-Term Extensions
Retrofit projects like Dunwoodie were unplanned; however, many existing GIS substations have been designed with provisions for future expansion. When a utility is able to anticipate growing needs, and foresees necessary technological advances, substations can be designed to accommodate both short- and longterm requirements. Many of the same challenges presented by a retrofit project are also encountered when expanding existing stations. There are various interfaces to be designed, and restrictive outage schedules that must be adhered to. In addition, the supplier of the expansion equipment must compile enough station data to ensure that the new equipment does not interfere with any existing equipment. Also, system ratings may have changed based upon customer experience, or load growth. The Ontario Hydro Claireville TS in Toronto, Ontario, is an example of such an extension.
Claireville
Often gas-insulated substations only allow unidirectional reductions in yard dimensions due to the space needed for incoming lines. At the Claireville TS, Ontario Hydro reduced yard dimensions in all directions with the "spaghetti junction" arrangement of bus circuits. The decision to use GIS switchgear was based on the size of the station and its location near urban centers. A conventional station at Claireville would require approximately two hundred acres of land. The use of GIS switchgear reduces the space requirement to about forty acres. The Ontario Hydro Claireville TS was initially commissioned in 1975 and has undergone several phases of expansion over several years. The station consists of gas insulated switchgear and multiple layers of CGIT bus, arranged to untangle line exits and feed twenty-six 550 kV and fifty-two 250 kV circuit breakers. The GIS is housed in an elevated switchgear building, and the CGIT bus exits through the floor. Incoming lines enter the Claireville substation along power corridors from the North, South, East and West. The latest extensions of the Claireville TS are currently installed. These include the following:
n
One bay of 250 kV GIS and three circuits of CGIT line exits. The system requirements were increased from 3000 to 4000 amps per circuit. One bay of 550 kV GIS and three circuits of CGIT line exits. The BIL requirement for the bus increased from 1550 to 1800 kV. Three circuits of 550 kV CGIT interfacing to existing CGIT Westboro and GEC Alsthom (now Alstom) GIS. Four circuits of 250 kV 4000 amp bus interfacing to existing 230 kV 3000 amp bus.
25
For these most recent extensions, over approximately 12,500 feet of CGIT was supplied. In order to ensure that this bus did not interfere with existing equipment, a layered CAD file was created, and included the following:
n n n n n n n
Three levels of existing bus Foundation footings Drainage pipes Cable trays Stairways Access roads Building columns
The proposed routings for the new bus extension were added to this file, and revised as was needed to prevent interference. The routing of the bus, piping analysis, and foundation location became an iterative process due to the magnitude of potential interference points. Other design parameters involved installation considerations. Requirements include clearances for welding, personnel access, and coordinating a practical installation sequence with the allowable outage schedules. At that time, installation was proceeding in accordance with the scheduled outages and manpower availability. Figure 11 shows the condensed installation of existing GIS equipment and new CGIT bus.
26
CONCLUSION
For more than twenty-five years CGIT has been selected for a wide range of unique applications, and the uses of CGIT are not limited to GIS installations. The examples outlined above -- power plant optimization, line crossings, underground transmission, long vertical shafts, elevated installations, retrofits, and extensions -- each solve a unique problem. CGIT has many distinct advantages over other methods of power transmission. Low required clearances, safe operating conditions, and the ability to route right-angled transmission make CGIT an ideal candidate for both conventional and unconventional applications.
CGI
and TRI-TRAP
27