UNIT V TRANSIENTS IN INTEGRATED POWER SYSTEM

The short line and kilometric fault - distribution of voltages in a power system - Line dropping
and load rejection - voltage transients on closing and reclosing lines - over voltage induced by
faults switching surges on integrated system Qualitative application of EMTP for transient
computation.
THE SHORT LINE AND KILOMETRIC FAULT:
The maximum fault current, that a circuit breaker may be called on to interrupt, is the
current which is arising due to a fault immediately at its terminals. This fault on a transmission
line close to the terminals of a high-voltage circuit breaker is known as a short-line fault.
Although this is the most tedious from a short circuit current viewpoint, it is not necessarily so in
respect of the transient recovery voltage.

Overhead line fault, remote to the circuit breaker is one of the most frequent system-fault
conditions. Under these circumstances, a double-frequency recovery voltage transient is applied
across the circuit breaker, comprising of the vector difference of source and line-side transient
recovery voltages. In the case of the fault being some few kilometers distant from the circuit
breaker (as shown in Fig.5.1), an extremely tedious fault condition occurs. The voltages
associated with this type of fault, commonly known as a. short-line or kilometric fault, are
illustrated in Fig.5.2.
At zero current, the voltage at the circuit breaker line-side terminal is equal to the voltage
drop along the faulted line section. On interruption of current, the line remains charged at this
voltage. The stored energy of the line is then dissipated by means of a voltage wave traversing
the line length, resulting in a high-frequency voltage transient of saw tooth waveform impressed
on the circuit breaker as shown in Fig. 5.2(i).
The peak voltage and frequency of oscillation of this line-side transient are a function of
the distance of the fault from the terminal of the circuit breaker. Although the time to peak of the
line-side transient may be short, the source-side contribution during this period, as shown in Fig.
5.2(ii), cannot be ignored. The circuit breaker is subjected to a total transient recovery voltage
comprising of the vector difference of source and line-side transients [Fig. 5.2(iii)].
The rate of rise of recovery voltage is considerably greater for the short-line fault
condition than for the terminal-fault case, although the peak transient voltage is comparatively
low (Fig. 5.2). However, considerably more energy is injected into the circuit breaker interrupter
during the post-arc current period from the line-side transient, rather than from the source
transient, and it is this factor which accounts for the increased severity of duty compared with the
terminal-fault condition.
Control of Short-Line Transient recovery voltage (TRV):
It is possible to reduce the voltage stresses of TRV by incorporating resistances or
capacitances in parallel with the contact break and by synchronous switching.

Figure 5.3. shows some control methods. In (a) resistor switching is used. The main
contacts open leaving the resistor in the circuit, which is opened after about 1 cycle. The current
has a parallel path through the resistor which decreases the rate of rise. In (b) a shunt capacitor is
provided. In (c) a capacitor is applied across the open poles of the circuit breaker. Most
multibreak high-voltage circuit breakers (more than one breaker per phase) use grading
capacitors to ensure voltage division across the multibreaks. The capacitor acts the same way as
a shunt capacitor. The sawtooth wave is delayed by the time constant ZC.
LINE DROPPING AND LOAD REJECTION:
The power frequency overvoltages occur in large power systems and they are of much
concern in EHV systems, i.e. systems of 400 kV and above. The main causes for power
frequency and its harmonic overvoltages are
(a) Sudden loss of loads,
(b) Disconnection of inductive loads or connection of capacitive loads,
(c) Ferranti effect, unsymmetrical faults, and
(d) Saturation in transformers, etc.
Sudden Load Rejection:
Sudden load rejection on large power systems causes the speeding up of generator prime
movers. The speed governors and automatic voltage regulators will intervene to restore normal
conditions. But initially, both the frequency and voltage increase. The approximate voltage rise,
neglecting losses, etc. may be taken as,
v=

[( ) ]

f '
f xs
E 1
f0
f 0 xc

where xs is the reactance of the generator ( the sum of the transient reactances of the generator
and the transformer), xc is the capacitive reactance of the line at open end at increased frequency,
Ef the voltage generated before the over-speeding and load rejection, f is the instantaneous
increased frequency, and f0 is the normal frequency.
This increase in voltage may go to as high as 2.0 per unit (p.u.) value with 400 kV lines.
The voltage at the sending end is affected by the line length, short circuit MVA at sending end
bus, and reactive power generation of the line (due to line capacitive reactance and any shunt or
series capacitors). Shunt reactors may reduce the voltage to 1.2 to 1.4 p.u.
Line Dropping:
The transmission line or cable can be represented by resistor equal to its surge impedance
until the wave to travel to the remote end of the line and back again. The representation of the
source may be simple or complex, depending on the nature of the source. In the simplest case,
the source might be represented by an inductance equal to its transient short circuit inductance,
or its leakage inductance if it is a transformer.
Resistors can be of considerable value in capacitance switching or line dropping. The
disconnection of the capacitor bank or transmission line is actually executed by the resistor
switch; thus the load at that time is a series combination of R and C. The system voltage is
therefore no longer at a peak at current zero when interruption is effected, and consequently less
voltage is trapped on the line, which reduces the chance of a restrike. The importance of this
factor will depend upon the relative values of the circuit breaker resistor and the capacitive
reactance of the load. This is illustrated in Fig. 5.4.

For
a long energized line, the line voltage is not uni-valued but varies with position on the line at any
instant. Thus when the line is cut loose by a switching operation, a nonuniform charge will be
left trapped on the line.

VOLTAGE TRANSIENTS ON CLOSING AND RECLOSING LINES:

The transient phenomena will vary according to the system configuration, the source
type, line length, and terminations. For a line open at the far end, three types of transients on
switching are shown in Fig. 5.5.

Figure 5.5.a. shows a transient which can be expected when the source is mainly
inductive, for example, a single line connected to a transformer. It is single-frequency transient,
and if switching takes place at maximum voltage in a phase, the transient oscillates to almost
twice the value of the system voltage across the entire line length. The losses in the system will
dampen the transient by some percentage.
Figure 5.5.b. shows a high-frequency transient which can be expected with infinite source
impedance. This means that the system from which the line originates has a number of lines
connected to it, and the line being switched is not longer than the incoming lines. Many line
terminations and connections at the point of origination of the line being switched, means that
these terminations gives overall low characteristic impedance compared to the line being
switched. As a result the transient occurs at its natural frequency.
Figure 5.5.c. shows the pattern of switching transient with complex source impedance,
consisting of inductance of transformers and the surge impedance of other lines and cables
feeding the system. The transient overvoltage occurs at a number of frequencies.
Highest overvoltages occur when unloaded high-voltage transmission lines are energized
and re-energized and this imposes voltage stresses on circuit breakers. Figure 5.6.a. shows
closing of a line of surge impedance Z0 and length l, which was opened at the far end. Before the
breaker is closed, the voltage on the supply side of the breaker terminal is equal to the power
system voltage, while the line voltage is zero. At the moment of closing, the voltage at the
sending end must rise from zero to the power frequency voltage. This takes place in the form of a
traveling wave on the line with its peak at Vm interacting with supply system parameters. As an
unloaded line has capacitive impedance, the steady-state voltage at the supply end is higher than
the system voltage, and due to Ferranti effect, the receiving-end voltage is higher than the
sending end. Overvoltage factor can be defined as follows:

Overvoltage factor (OVtotal) =

Vm
Vn

where Vm is the highest peak voltage at a given point and Vn is the power-frequency voltage on
the supply side of the breaker before switching.
The power-frequency overvoltage factor is the ratio of the power-frequency voltage Vpf
after closure at a point and power-frequency voltage Vn on the supply side before closing.

Power frequency overvoltage factor (OVpf) =

V pf
Vn

The transient overvoltage factor is given by,

(OVtr) =

Vm
V pf

The power-frequency overvoltage factor can be calculated by known line parameters.

This is given by:

1
Xs
cos ( l ) sin( l)
Z0
This shows that the increase in power-frequency voltage depends considerably on the line
length and the transient depends upon the phase angle at the closing instant.
OVER VOLTAGE INDUCED BY FAULTS:
Overvoltage may be produced by certain types of asymmetrical fault such as a ground
fault on one of the phase conductors of a three-phase transmission line. The situation is
somewhat similar to the switching transients except that here instead of injecting a current, a
voltage equal and opposite to the pre-fault voltage at the fault point is applied. Figure 5.7(a)
shows the faulted system in which a ground fault has occurred on the `a'-phase at point F.

Fig:5.7. A faulted 3 phase system (a) Faulted Network (b) &(c) Faulted network Voltage
(d) Superimposed Voltage
Figure 5.7.b. shows the pre-fault steady-state voltage V fSa at the fault point. If it is
assumed that a fault occurs at the peak of the pre-fault voltage and t=0 at this instant, then the
voltage injected at the fault point is as shown in Figure 5.7.c.
Figure 5.7.d shows the de-energized network to which is applied the voltage V ffa. This is
also known as the superimposed voltage.
We can study the problem of overvoltage by asking how the de-energized network
behaves in response to the application of this voltage. Complex analysis based on travelling
wave theory (such as Bewley lattice diagrams) can be used to depict the level of overvoltage
likely to be induced, particularly on the un-faulted phases due to the injection of the suddenly
applied voltage at the fault point. A line-to-ground fault can produce an overvoltage on an unfaulted phase as high as 2.1 times the normal line-to-neutral voltage on a three-phase line.

Waveform shown in the above figure is an example of an overvoltage, obtained from a

transient network analyzer (TNA) study. The worst fault location from this standpoint is at the
midpoint of the line, and the maximum overvoltage is at the midpoint. The overvoltage decreases
slowly as the fault location changes, but the maximum remains above 1.75 per unit for locations
over about 67% of the line length. The worst termination,

is zero impedance, which is

approximate by a bus having several other lines.

The phenomena just described would have considerable relevance to HVDC transmission
lines, which are frequently arranged with a pair of conductors on the same towers at V to
ground. A fault on one circuit will cause a disturbance on the other. It is particularly desirable
that this should not cause lightning arrester operation on the un-faulted phase.
SWITCHING SURGES ON INTEGRATED SYSTEM:

This topic deals with switching surges in an interconnected system. The disturbance
produced by the switching operation as modified by the system spreads through the system,
setting up waves that travel out along the connected lines and reflect to and fro as discontinuities
are encountered.

Consider the circuit of Fig.5.9 (a), which is a simplified circuit, represents many stations.
There are buses at 138 kV and 345 kV interconnected by autotransformer(s). The 138 kV bus is
fed through the generator transformer(s). There are lines and/or ties connected to both buses. The
circuit is redrawn in Fig.5.9 (b), using a single-phase representation and the significant
capacitances are included. Assume, a fault in a system which is at a short distance down the line
and one of the 345 kV circuit breakers is opened to clear this fault. The switching operation will
evoke a response from both the line and the system.
If the impedance is reduced to a common voltage base, we see the equivalent circuit of
Fig.5.9.(c) when we look back into the system. The components have the various significances.
Note that the lines are represented by the resistors R1 and R2. This is an accurate representation

of a line under transient conditions until it is modified by reflection from points down the line.
The diagram, therefore, is only valid within this limitation.
It is possible to determine the response of the circuit in Fig. 5.9(c) to a ramp of current by
hand calculations, but in practice we would use one of the computer techniques since we would
be carrying out a three-phase analysis. Although we might suppose that the circuit would yield
three frequencies, parameter values are such that the resistance R1 effectively suppresses all
oscillations. The following values, which are referred to 345 kV, are typical:

The 80 of the 345-kV lines is so much lower than this value that it will overdamp the
circuit. For the parameter values given above, the source circuit can be replaced with very little
error by a parallel RL circuit in which L = L1 + L2 + L3 and R = R1.
The response of a parallel RL circuit to a ramp of current I0 is readily shown to be,
R
t
L

1e
)
V ( t )=L I 0

If the impedance limiting the fault being switched exists almost exclusively in the source,
rather than the line, the slope I0 of the current ramp, simulating the fault current, will be
I0 =

Vp
L
where Vp is the peak system voltage. Substituting I0 in the voltage equation, we get,
R

1e L
)=
V ( t )=V p
This is illustrated in figure 5.10.

1et
V p ) -----------------(1)

Further details of switching surges on integrated power system are provided by a hypothetical
system

as

shown

in

fig.5.11.

Each of the circles in the diagram represents a station. The lines between them are the tie
circuits. The lengths of these transmission lines are given and between Diamond and Topaz there
is a double circuit line. We assume that the events described above have been occurring at the
Diamond station and that the voltage described by Eq. (1) is the bus voltage at that station
following the breaker operation. Waves of this form, generated by this switching, will travel to
Emerald, Ruby, and Topaz, suffer reflection and refraction at these points, and the reflected
waves, returning to Diamond, will set off new waves when they arrive. The times of arrival will
depend upon the travel times to the distant stations and therefore on the circuit miles covered. In
order to follow events, it is important to tabulate data of this kind.
As an approximation, each station can be represented by a parallel RL circuit. The
inductance will depend upon the source impedance of the station and the resistance upon the

transmission lines connected to its bus. Figure 5.12 represents the first generation of encounters
to be evaluated.

The
wave will

reflected

be,

where Vi is the incident wave, Z2 is the impedance of the station being encountered, and Z1 the
impedance of the line along which the incident wave is advancing.
After encounters, the reflected and refracted waves return from where they came or
proceed to more distant stations; in either event they experience what might be termed as secondgeneration encounters.
QUALITATIVE APPLICATION OF EMTP FOR TRANSIENT COMPUTATION:
The electromagnetic transient program (EMTP) is developed by H. W. Dommel, who
started to work on the program at the Munich Institute of Technology in the early 1960s. Electric
Power Research Institute (EPRI) has recoded, tested and extended most parts of the program in a
concerted effort and this has improved the reliability and functionality of the transient program.
Presently, the EMTP and other programs that are built on a kernel (such as electromagnetic
transients for DC (EMTDC) and power system computer-aided design (PSCAD)) based on the
same principles are a widely used and accepted program for the computation of electrical
transients in power systems.
The EMTP is based on the application of the trapezoidal rule to convert the differential
equations of the network components to algebraic equations. This approach is demonstrated in
the following text for the inductance, capacitance, and lossless line.
For the inductance L of a branch between the nodes k and m, it holds

The models consist of current sources, which are determined by current values from
previous time steps, and resistances in parallel. Thus a network can be built up of current sources
and resistances by using the equivalent circuits as shown in Figure 5.13. This approach will be
demonstrated on the sample RLC network that is shown in Figure 5.14.

By means of the equivalent models for the inductance and the capacitance, as depicted in
Figure 5.13, and the replacement of the voltage source and the series impedance by a current
source with a parallel resistance, the RLC circuit can be converted into the equivalent circuit as
shown in Figure 5.15. To compute the unknown node voltages, a set of equations is formulated
by using the nodal analysis (NA) method.

The actual computation, works as follows:

The building up and inversion of the Y-matrix. This step has to be taken only once.
However, when switching occurs, this step has to be repeated while the topology of the
network changes.
The time-step loop is entered and the vector of the right-hand side of
Equation (8) is computed after a time step t

The set of linear equations is solved by means of the inverted matrix Y and the vector
with the nodal voltages u is known
The vector in the right-hand side of Equation (8) is computed for a time step
t further in time and we continue this procedure till we reach the final time.

The arc models within the EMTP are implemented by means of the compensation
method. The nonlinear elements are essentially simulated as current injections, which are
superimposed on the linear network, after a solution without the nonlinear elements has been
computed first.
The procedure is as follows: the nonlinear element is open-circuited and the Thevenin
voltage and Thevenin impedance are computed. Now, the two following equations have to be
satisfied.
First, the equation of the linear part of the network (the instantaneous Thevenin
equivalent circuit as seen from the arc model).

Secondly, the relationship of the nonlinear element itself. Application of the trapezoidal
method of integration yields for the arc resistance at the simulation time t:

To find a simultaneous solution of Equation (9) and Equation (10), the equations have to
be solved by means of an iterative process (e.g. NewtonRaphson). More than three arc
models have been implemented in the latest version of EMTP.

Two Mark Questions

1. Define Kilometric fault or Short line fault.
A fault on a transmission line close to the terminals of a high-voltage circuit
breaker is known as a short-line or kilometric fault
2. What are the causes for power frequency overvoltages?
The main causes for power frequency and its harmonic overvoltages are
(a) Sudden loss of loads,
(b) Disconnection of inductive loads or connection of capacitive loads,
(c) Ferranti effect, unsymmetrical faults, and
(d) Saturation in transformers
3. What is load rejection?
Load rejection in electric power system is the condition in which there is a sudden
load trip in the system which causes the generation side to be over-frequency.
4. How does a surge occur during switching?
Switching surges can occur during operation of circuit breaker and line switch
opening and closing at the same substation. Switching surges occur in the vicinity of nonself-restoring insulating equipments such as generators, transformers, breakers, cables
etc.
5. What meant by distribution of voltage in a power system?
In an integrated power system the voltage produced will be distributed to the
consumer ends through transmission line .If a fault occurs at transmission line then the
CB operates and interrupts the fault current. During the interruption of fault the voltage
will be distributed along the lines according to its added impedance.
6. What is meant by line dropping?
In electric power distribution, line dropping is the de-energization of overhead
transmission line running from a one bus to another bus.
7. Explain the over voltage induced by faults.
Overvoltage may be produced by certain types of asymmetrical fault such as a
ground fault on one of the phase conductors of a three-phase transmission line. The
situation is somewhat similar to the switching transients except that here instead of
injecting a current, a voltage equal and opposite to the pre-fault voltage at the fault point
is applied.
8. What are the switching surges on integrated system?

In an integrated power system, the surges produced by switching operation

spreads through the system, setting up waves that travel out along the connected lines and
reflect to and fro as discontinuities are encountered.
9. Define Overvoltage factor.
Overvoltage factor is defined as the ratio of highest peak voltage (Vm) at a given
point to the power-frequency voltage (Vn) on the supply side of the breaker before
switching.
Overvoltage factor (OVtotal) =

Vm
Vn

10. Define power-frequency overvoltage factor.

The power-frequency overvoltage factor is the ratio of the power-frequency
voltage Vpf after closure at a point and power-frequency voltage Vn on the supply side
before closing.
Power frequency overvoltage factor (OVpf) =

V pf
Vn

11. Define transient overvoltage factor.

Transient overvoltage factor is defined as the ratio of highest peak voltage at a
given point Vm to power-frequency voltage Vpf.
Transient Overvoltage factor (OVtr) =

Vm
V pf

12. Explain EMTP for transient computation.

The EMTP is a comprehensive computer program designed to solve electrical
transient problems in lumped circuits, distributed circuits which is based on the
application of the trapezoidal rule to convert the differential equations of the network
components to algebraic equations. This program is capable of solving steady-state
circuit problems. Transient analysis can be carried out in circuits with any arbitrary
configuration of lumped parameters (R, L and C). Transmission lines with distributed
parameters, transposed (or) transposed, can be included in the network.
13. How an inductance is represented in EMTP?

14. How

capacitance is represented in EMTP?

15. How a lossless line is represented in EMTP?

16. Draw the equivalent circuit of a RLC series circuit in EMTP.

16 Mark Questions
1. Explain short line kilometric fault.
2. What is line dropping and load rejection? Explain.
3. Explain switching surges on integrated system.
4. Explain about the transients on closing and reclosing lines.
5. Explain the over voltage induced by faults.
6. Explain EMTP for transient computation.