POWNT ZC423T: PROJECT REPORT

“RLA/RLE STUDY OF SUB-STATION EQUIPMENTS AND “RLE

STUDY OF POWER CABLES AND OPTIMIZING POWER CABLE
FAULTS THROUGH DIAGNOSIS.”

MID SEMESTER PROGRESS REPORT

Work Carried

BY

Name of the student(s) ID. No. (s)

Joginder Singh 200635ND537

Naresh Kumar 200635ND534
Sanjeev Kumar 200635ND520
RLE STUDY OF POWER CABLES AND OPTIMIZING
POWER CABLE FAULTS THROUGH DIAGNOSIS
INTRODUCTION
Liberalization of electricity markets brings about important changes in the working environment
of power Utilities. As a result, the network operators have to concentrate more on asset
management to reduce costs, to postpone the investments, to optimize technical management
keeping at the same time the reliability and power quality at high level. As a result of these
changes, maintenance and investment costs for the power network are reduced.
Furthermore, the operation loads of the existing network should be increased and the service
life of existing network components should be maximized. On the other hand, a higher
reliability of the power supply is required, and the claims for non-delivered energy in case of
network component failures are increasing.
The power cable is one of the most important components in the electric network. An integral
approach is applied to assess the condition of cable insulation through the diagnostic
techniques which help in detecting the weak spots. By taking corrective steps before the failure
occurred resulting in Life extension of the cable. The technique RLA/RLE study helps to
understand the condition of the assets and evaluate the risk involved in the operation.Our
electricity network and related equipments are designed for life of nearly 30-40 years. As the
load characteristics changes beyond the design limits, the failure and tripping in network
become frequent. For minimizing these risks residual life assessment and extension plays a key
role.

In RLE study we develop various tools and strategies to calculate the life cycle of assets
and risk involved in operation.

In RLE the various diagnostic tools and testing techniques are used for system study.

It gives the actual condition of our ageing substation equipments

Clear identification of fault at pre stage.

Helps to increase the system Reliability

Optimize replacement decisions.

CM versus CBM
For many years, the maintenance strategy for power cable networks has been corrective
maintenance (CM), which means that maintenance actions are only undertaken in
case of failure occurrences

With the new compensation arrangements and furthermore the responsibility claims resulting
from unexpected outages, during the last decennium, utilities are more and more turning to a
condition based maintenance strategy. CBM is predictive maintenance depending on the actual
insulation condition. This is a philosophy that uses data from testing and monitoring to adjust the
maintenance activity rather than relying on fixed maintenance intervals and corrective
maintenance. The Hard pressed utility needs to focus limited time and money into the areas that
are most critical and most at risk. The benefits come in both optimizing the cost of the
maintenance program and meeting high reliability.

Residual life Extension and condition based monitoring

Basically, RLA/RLE Study helps to understand the condition of the substation assets like,
Distribution transformer, circuit breakers, current transformers, potential transformers, lightning
arresters etc. For this we plan our testing and diagnostic
Approaches to check the real running condition of our ageing assets.

The failure of electrical assets causes operation disruptions; hazardous situation like fire, loss of
lives etc. For substation personals, asset damages that costs lots of money.
So it is necessary for utility to check its assets running condition, time to time.

Our electricity Network and related equipments are designed for life of nearly 30-40 years. As
the load characteristics changes beyond the design limits, the failure and tripping in network are
Frequent.

In RLA study we develop various tools and strategies to calculate the assets life cycle
and risk involves in operation.

In RLA the various diagnostic tools and testing equipments are used for system study.

How RLE study help in operation and maintenance planning?

There are many sources of problems that can directly affect the reliability of supply. In old days,
most known operation and maintenance strategy is scheduled maintenance in which the assets
diagnosed after the failure occurs which affect the system reliability in form of sudden outages,
collapse due to unequal loading, damages. It costs lots of money in operation. To overcome this
situation, most of utilities now days adopt a new strategy called “condition based maintenance”
(CBM) of substation equipments where we diagnosed the equipment before fault.

RLA/RLE study is a key element for condition based maintenance planning where we develop
some tools to monitor the remaining life of our ageing equipments. This study helps in the
operation & maintenance decisions that can save a lot of money involved in O&M.

Objectives of RLE
Residual life extension is an important operation and maintenance strategy for a distribution
utility to check its actual condition of electrical assets. Reliability centered monitoring and
condition monitoring of electrical equipments is most popular technique adopted by utilities.
RLE study of the power cables helps the utility to manage its precious electrical assets in a
reliable and optimum way to provide better services to its customers.
In our distribution company, the majority of cable assets are 15 to 25 year old. With the growth
of population and increase in industrial load, demand of electricity also increases that directly
affects the aging of the power equipments. As competitive pressure within electrical utility, asset
management is a very visible to management, planning engineers and its customers. RLA/RLE
study helps to reduce the future forced outages and failure rates of substation grid equipments.

The primary objectives of this project are

Reduction in operation and maintenance cost.

Enhance system reliability.

Minimize the investment.
 RLE PROCESS

Problem Identification

Diagnostic and
Analyses approaches Testing
and tools

Evaluation Strategies

Condition monitoring

Review

Documentations of
field
Data

Replacement
 RLE LIFE CYCLE

Replacement Problem
Identification

Documentations
Analysis
Strategies

Review Assessment

Monitoring
Insulation condition Assessment

Power cable in dependence on their availability, important detailed information on their actual
insulation condition is necessary; Moreover, the philosophy of CBM related to cable circuits is
based on a number of steps. The history, the operational and the laying conditions together with
the importance of the cable circuit in the network are necessary conditions to decide to perform
diagnostic testing. Due to the service life of high voltage components the insulating materials
are subject to structural changes. In most cases these changes can be seen as a degradation of
the insulation properties in particular HV components. In order to detect changes in the
insulation at an early stage and to gain insight to the maximum service life of a HV component,
Condition Assessment testing/ diagnostic testing is often recommended.

Parameters which help to assess the condition of a cable are:

1) Insulation Resistance
2) Polarization index
3) Dielectric discharging
4) Step voltage characteristics
5) Leakage current at rated voltage
6) Impedance characteristics

Condition Assessment testing/ diagnostic testing:

Various solutions have been studied to conduct a number of diagnostic tests may be termed
Condition Assessment Testing (CAT). CAT is not a single go/ no go test, but is designed to
provide a ranking of the cable system and assist in prioritizing future cable maintenance and
replacement. There is as yet no one specific test that will determine the remaining life of cable.
But by conducting the various diagnostic tests help to predict the insulation condition, Location
of Voids and Pre locate & pinpoint the locations of joints i.e previous repeated failures zones of
a cable section. Replacement of repeated failure zone may help in life extension of the cable
section.

The Condition assessment Testing is a cock tail of following tests:

1) Insulation Resistance Measurement
2) Polarization Index
3) Dielectric Discharge characteristics Measurement
4) Step voltagecharacteristics Measurement
5) Impedance characteristics Measurement
6) Leakage current measurement at DC rated voltage
7) Very Low Frequency testing
8) Audio Frequency Testing
Diagnostic Testing:

Insulation Resistance Measurement

Purpose:

It is used to measure the insulation resistance of the Cable

1 Phase to Phase of the cable

1 Phase to Earth of cable.

Significance:

An insulation resistance test is the measure of the condition of insulation of the

cable.

There are three types of current that appear in insulation testing:-

1 Capacitance charging current:-

This is the starting current, which starts out high and tapers off rapidly to zero.

2 Absorption Current:-
This is due to the Polarization of the insulating materials. At or about one
minute, absorption.

3 Leakage Current: -
It is a steady current Leakage through or over the insulation due to moisture, dirt, or other
reasons. This test must be continued for one minute or until the reading holds steady for 15
seconds. This assures us that the capacitive and absorption currents have reached a static
point.

Polarization Index
Polarization is the ability for a material’s dipoles (equal and opposite charges separated by
some distance) to line up in the presence of an electric field. As the dipoles align themselves
absorption current is created that decrease over time. Initially the absorption current is high, but
as fewer and fewer dipoles are left to align themselves with the applied field the current drops.
Thus an IR measurement taken after 1 second would yield a lower resistance than an IR
measurement taken at stay, 60 seconds. In fact, the most common test times are a 10 minute
test divided by a 1 minute test. The resulting ratio of the test measurement is known as the
polarization index.
Polarization Index = Insulation Resistance after 10 minutes/
Insulation Resistance after 1 minute

A ratio of the 10 min. reading to the 1 min. reading (10 min./ 1 min.) is called the Polarization
index.

Range of Polarization Index:-

Dangerous >> less than 1.0

Poor >> 1.0 – 1.10
Questionable >> 1.1- 1.25
Fair >> 1.25 – 2.0
Good >> above 2.0

IR Range:-

More than 1 GΩ

Instrument Specification

Name: Magger
Maximum voltage Range 5 KV
Maximum Resistance Range 100GΩ

Dielectric discharge ‘DD’ test:

Purpose:
The ‘DD’ test is a diagnostic insulation test that allows ageing, deterioration, and voids in the
insulation to be assessed

1 Phase to Earth of cable.

Significance:

The ‘DD’ test is a diagnostic insulation test that allows ageing, deterioration, and voids in the
insulation to be assessed. The result is dependent on the discharge characteristic, so the
internal condition of the insulation is tested, largely independent of any surface contamination.
On discharge the capacitive component of the discharge current decays from a high value with
a relatively short time constant of a few seconds. The other current component, comprising the
released absorption current, decays from a lower value with a relatively long time constant of up
to several minutes. If this component of the discharge current is large (>7 @500 V test voltage)
then the insulation condition is poor. The main timer will default to 30 minutes, which is normally
sufficient time for full absorption to take place in an insulation material. The default test voltage
is set to 500 V. The ‘DD’ test requires the instrument to measure the discharge current 1 minute
after the removal of the test voltage. At this time the capacitive current should be insignificant

Dielectric Discharge (DD) = I 1 min

VxC

Where I is the measured current expressed in milliamps (mA), V is the test

Voltage in Volts (V), and C is the measured capacitance in Farads (F).

Step Voltage Test:

Purpose:
The Step Voltage test is a diagnostic insulation test that allows assessing the contamination in
the cable insulation.

1 Phase to Earth of cable.

Significance:

This test based on the principle that an ideal insulator will produce identical readings at all
voltages, while an insulator which is being over stressed, will shows lower insulation values at
higher voltages. The time of test & test voltage are set value of 5 min in the 5 steps. During the
test voltage incrementally steps by one fifth of the test voltage setting every minute, for 5 min,
taking successive measurements until the final voltage is reached.
Results of all steps are interpreted which help to assess the contamination in the cable
insulation.

TDR Measurement Test:

Purpose:

This test is used to identify the change in electrical characteristics of the cable

Significance:
It is based on pulse reflection method. Suitable measuring pulses are transmitted into the cable
being tested. The pulses pass along the cable at a propagation velocity that is dependent on the
connected test object. The part of the transmission pulse are reflected wherever the electrical
characteristics of the cable change and travel back to TDR equipment
The most important advantage of the pulse reflection method is that it is possible to locate faults
as well as detect them.

Change of
characteristic
impedance

DC High Voltage Test:

Purpose:

It is used to measure the leakage current through insulation of the Cable

1 Phase to Phase of the cable

2 Phase to Earth of cable.

Significance:

This Method judge the cable insulation performance from the temporal change in the current when a
DC voltage is applied between cable conductor & sheath.

There are three types of current that appear in insulation testing:-

 1 Capacitance charging current :-
This is the starting current, which starts out high and tapers off rapidly to zero.
2 Absorption Current:-
This is due to the Polarization of the insulating materials. At or about one
minute, absorption.

3 Leakage Current: -
It is a steady current Leakage through or over the insulation due to moisture, dirt, or other
reasons. This test must be continued for one minute or until the reading holds steady for 15
seconds. This assures us that the capacitive and absorption currents have reached a static
point.

Very low frequency (VLF) testing

Purpose:
VLF testing methods utilize AC signals in the frequency range from 0.01Hz to 1 Hz. VLF testing
methods can be categorized as withstand testing or diagnostic Testing. Diagnostic testing by
VLF allows the determination of the relative amount of degradation of a cable system section.

1 Phase to Phase of the cable

2 Phase to Earth of cable.

Significance:

VLF testing methods utilize AC signals in the frequency range from 0.01Hz to 1 Hz. VLF testing
method scan be categorized as withstand or diagnostic. In withstand testing; the test object
must withstand a specified voltage applied across the insulation for a specified period of time
without breakdown of the insulation. The magnitude of the withstand voltage is usually greater
than that of the applied voltage. If the cable insulation is sufficiently degraded a breakdown can
occur. The cable system may be repaired and the insulation retested until it passes the
withstand test. Diagnostic testing allows the determination of the relative amount of degradation
of a cable system section and establishes, by comparison with figures of merit or accumulated
data, whether a cable system section is likely to continue to perform properly in service.
Diagnostic tests may be nondestructive and are usually performed at lower voltages than
withstand tests. However, when the cable system insulation is in advanced condition
ofdegradation, the diagnostic tests can cause breakdown before the test can be terminated.

TDR after VLF Testing:

Purpose:
This test is used to identify the change in electrical characteristics of the cable after VLF testing.
Significance:
Application of VLF testing on cable insulation, the existing voids in the cable insulation grow
quickly even in withstood test mode which can be resulted in change in the
electricalcharacteristics of the cable. After VLF testing, TDR measurement plays a vital role to
pre locate the contaminated point in the cable.

Audio Frequency Testing:

Purpose:
This test is conducted to pinpoint the location of cable joints on route of the cable.

Significance:
The AF generator is a low frequency generator for main operation. When combined with a
suitable search receiver is used to search for and follow cable/ joints laid underground.

The AF tracer is consisting of two basic modules:

The transmitter — an ac generator which supplies the signal current on the underground cable/
jointto be traced.
The receiver — detects the electromagnetic field produced by the transmitted ac current flow.

The test is used to pinpoint the previous failure spots by identification of joints.

Sample Selection:

3Nos 11KV U/G cable sections have been selected for RLE study. Selection of these sections is
based on failure rate, loading pattern, Type of dielectric, No. of Joints, Size of Cables.

Sample – 1

Cable section between Grid 2 to A s/s

Type & size of cable: 3X300 sqmm XLPE

Length of section: 500 mtr.
Av Load: 220A
Failure Rate: 2 faults in 08-09, previous faults - unknown
Diagnostic Tests Measurements’

S. Test Measurement Values Remarks

no. R ph- E Y ph- E B ph- E Rph-Yph Yph-Bph Bph-Rph
1 IR 120 MΩ 120 MΩ 130 MΩ N/A N/A N/A
2 PI 1 1 1 N/A N/A N/A
3 DD 0.9 0.9 1 N/A N/A N/A
4 SV 120-100- 120-100- 120-105- N/A N/A N/A
115-120- 111-120- 115-120-
115 115 125
5 TDR Reflections of all ph are identical, 6 joints are observed
6 DC 0mA 0mA 0mA
Leakage
@ 5KV
DC
7 VLF withstood withstood withstood withstood withstood withstood
8 TDR after Reflections of all ph are identical
VLF
9 Repeated 8nos joints are pinpointed at
Failure (93,106,117,124,128,203,213,240 Mtr from A s/s)
Zone
Tracing
 A s/s

Conclusion:-

1) After interpreting the measurement values, It is observed that TDR reflections before &
After VLF testing are identical. All measurement values are satisfactory.
2) Previous failure zone is identified. 6 nos joints are pinpointed and uploaded in the GIS.
Recommendations:
It is under stood that joints prone to the weak spots and identified zone has congested joints. A
major digging activity had been done by other utilities on the identified zone.

So it is recommended that affected zone may be revived to enhance the life of cable section

Sample – 2

Cable section between s/sB---- s/s C

Type & size of cable: 3X300 sqmm PILCA + XLPE

Length of section: 390mtr.
Av Load: 200A
Failure Rate: 2 faults in 08-09, previous faults - unknown

Diagnostic Tests Measurements’

S. Test Measurement Values Remarks

no. R ph- E Y ph- E B ph- E Rph-Yph Yph-Bph Bph-Rph
1 IR 110 MΩ 120 MΩ 50 MΩ N/A N/A N/A
2 PI 1.25 1.25 0.98 N/A N/A N/A
3 DD 0.06 0.06 2 N/A N/A N/A
4 SV 65-90-105- 67-95- 20-26-32- N/A N/A N/A
100-110 110-116- 40-51
125
5 TDR Reflections of all ph are identical, 6 joints are observed
6 DC 0 0 0.3mA
Leakage
@ 5KV
DC
7 VLF withstood withstood withstood N/A N/A N/A
8 TDR after Deviation observed in B ph TDR reflection
VLF @9
KV
9 DC 0 0 0.08
Leakage
@ 5KV
DC
9 Repeated 12nos joints are pinpointed on cable route
Failure
Zone
Tracing
 10 Joint Locations within 150m from s/s C

TDR before VLF Testing

TDR after VLF Testing

Contaminated spot at 18 m from Bs/s. which is split during VLF

testing may be due migration of OIL in the dielectric.

Conclusion:-

1) After interpreting the measurement values, it is observed that TDR reflections of R & Y
ph are identical and deviation observed in TDR of B ph reflection wrt R&Y ph. before
VLF testing.
2) VLF testing is conducted at all phase. In B ph, it is observed that initially its showing
increasing trend of leakage and suddenly leakage comes down to zero value.
3) After VLF testing, TDR reflection is taken and compared with the related phase of
previous reflection and Deviation observed in reflection of B ph.
4) Leakage current value of B phase measured and observed improvement wrt previous
value (0.3mA to 0.08 mA)

Recommendations:

Measurement values show the presence of contamination in the dielectric of the cable which
requires close monitoring.
Sample – 3

Cable section between s/s B---- s/s D

Type & size of cable: 3X300 sqmmPILCA +XLPE

Length of section: 1180mtr.
Av Load: 180A
Failure Rate: 3 faults in 08-09, previous faults - unknown

Diagnostic Tests Measurements’

Sr. Test Measurement Values Remarks

no R ph- E Y ph- E B ph- E Rph- Yph- Bph-
. Yph Bph Rph
1 IR 10 MΩ 100 MΩ 120 MΩ N/A
2 PI 0.8 1 1.2
3 DD 2 1 0.9
4 SV 6- 9-10- 120- 120-100-
10-11 100- 115-120-
115- 115
120-115
5 TDR Reflections of all ph observed identical, 22 joints are observed
6 DC 0.3mA 0 mA 0 mA
Leakage
@5KV
7 VLF @ Breakdown withstoo withstoo withstoo withstoo withstoo
9KV d d d d d
8 TDR Deviation observed in R ph reflection at 26 mts distance from 4/3 s/s
after VLF
DC 1.0 mA 0 0
Leakage
@ 5KV
9 Repeate 20nos joints are pinpointed
d Failure (11,16,25,40,182,198,240,303,314,355,370,378,680,685,692,700,8
Zone 68,890,980,1160 Mtr from B s/s
Tracing
 TDR before VLF Testing
TDR after VLF Testing

Contaminated spot at 26
m from B s/s.

Conclusion:-

1) After interpreting the measurement values, It is observed that TDR reflections before
VLF testing are identical. But After VLF testing, breakdown occurred in R ph.
2) Deviation observed at distance of 26 mtr from B s/s.
3) Spot is pinpointed on the cable Route by AF testing for preventive maintenance.

Recommendations:

Zonal authorities are advice to replace the 30 mtr section of the cable from B s/s.

References:

1. Power Engineer Hand Book TNEB M/S Allied publishers Pvt. Ltd.
2. Manuals, Scope Instrument Pvt.Ltd.
3. Manuals, Megger Instruments Ltd.
4. Advanced power cable technology by Toshikassu Tanaka. Ph.D& Allan Greenwood,
Ph.D Publisher CRC Press, Inc. Florida
5. Condition assessment Test by V Bala Kumar NDPL
6. Cigre Conference paper by E.Gulski, F.J.Wester Knowledge rules support for CBM of
Power cable circuits.
7. Manuals, Seba KMT, Germany