CHAPTER 2

BACKGROUND THEORY OF SUBSTATION

2.1. Substation
An electrical substation is a subsidiary station of an electricity generation,
transmission and distribution system where voltage is transformed from high to low or
the reverse using transformers. Electric power may flow through several substations
between generating plant and consumer, and may be changed in voltage in several
steps. A substation that has a step-up transformer increases the voltage while
decreasing the current, while a step-down transformer decreases the voltage while
increasing the current for domestic and commercial distribution.
Substations generally have:
 Switching equipment

 Protection equipment

 Control equipment

 One or more transformers

Power system includes three parts such as generation, transmission and
distribution. An electrical distribution system is all of that part of an electric power
system between bulk power source or sources and the consumer's service switches.
All types of electric utility customers such as residential, commercial, institutional
and industrial are heavily dependent on the availability of electric power.
Distribution substation is a combination of switching, controlling and voltage
step down equipment arranged to reduce sub-transmission voltage to primary
distribution voltage for residential, farm, commercial and industrial loads. Electricity
distribution is the final stage in the delivery of electricity to end users. Electrical
power systems utilize several voltage levels using power transformers to transfer
voltages and connect parts of the power system with different voltage levels. Electric
power distribution systems have many unique aspects and requirements.
Distribution system can be divided into six parts, namely, sub-transmission
circuits, the distribution substation, the distribution or primary feeders, distribution
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transformer, secondary circuits or secondary feeders and consumer’s service

connections and meter. The distribution plant occupies and important place in any
electric power system.
Briefly, it function is to take electric from the bulk power source or sources
and distribute or deliver it to the consumer’s. The effectiveness with a distribution
system fulfills this function is measured in terms of voltage regulation, service
continuity flexibility, efficiency and cost.
These are completely depends upon sub-station design. The sub-transmission
circuits extend from the bulk power sources to the various distribution sub-station
located in the local area. They may be radial circuits connected to a bulk power source
at only one end or load and ring circuits connected to one or more bulk power sources
at both ends. The sub-transmission over head open wire conductions carried on poles,
or some combination of them. The sub transmission voltage is usually between 11 kV
and 33 kV.
The distribution substation must be required measuring and protected system
to prevent equipment and circuits, hazards to the public and utility personal, and to
maintain a high level of service by preventing power interruption. Substations may be
on the surface in fenced enclosures, underground, or located in special-purpose buildings.
A typical substation has the following essential features:
 Outdoor switchyard having bus bar arrangement.
 Low voltage switchgear, medium voltage switchgear & control room building.
 Office building.
 Road & rail tracks for transporting equipment.
 Incoming line tower & outgoing line towers/ cables.
 Stores.
 Maintenance workshops
 Auxiliary power supply scheme, protection system.
 Battery room & low voltage DC supply system.
 Firefighting system.
 Station earthing system.
 Lightning protection system, overhead shielding.
 Drainage system.
 Substation lighting system.
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 Fence & gate, security system.

 Water system for earthing & drinking.
 SCADA

2.1.1. Major Tasks of Substations

There are numerous tasks associated with power substations in the
distribution and transmission system. Some of the major tasks that substations
perform are as follows.
 It serves as protection hub of the transmission system.
 It maintains the frequency of system confined in targeted limits and has to deal
with load shedding.
 It controls the exchange of electrical energy amid consumers and generating
stations.
 It is ensuring transient stability along with steady-state stability of the system.
 It delivers sufficient line capacity hence securing supply.
 It helps in reducing the flow of reactive power, hence gaining voltage control.
 Through line carrier, it performs data transmission to ensure monitoring of
network, protection, and control.
 It helps in fault analysis and pinning cause for a failure, hence improving the
performance of the electrical network.
 It ensures reliable supply through feeding network at numerous points.
 It assists in determining energy transfer with help of transmission lines.
 It step-down the voltage level of the bulk power transmitted from a central
station.
 Supply of electrical power within specified voltage & frequency limits.
 Supply of required electrical power to all the consumers.  
 Supply of electrical power to all the consumers with shortest possible fault
duration.
 Supply of electrical power to the consumers with an optimum efficiency of
plant & network.

2.1.2. Substation Equipment

The following are the equipments of substation
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 Surge Arrestors (Lightning Arrestors)

 Isolators (Disconnecting Switch) with or without Earth Switch
 Bus bars
 Circuit Breakers
 Power Transformers
 Instrument Transformers(CT & PT)
 Shunt Reactor
 Capacitor Banks
 Insulators
 Metering Panels, Control & Relay Panels
 Low Voltage AC Switchgears
 Station Earthing System
 Earthing Switches
 Lightning Mast
 Power Cables
 Control Cables
 Carrier Equipment
 DC System / Station Battery
 Fire Extinguishers/ Fire Fighting Equipment
 Auxiliary Transformer

2.2. Lightning Arrester (Surge Arrester)

The device which is used for the protection of the equipment at the substations
against travelling waves, such type of device is called lightning arrester or surge
diverter. Surge arresters are the basic protective devices against system transient
overvoltage that may cause flashovers and serious damage to equipment. They
establish a baseline of transient overvoltage above which the arrester will operate to
protect the equipment. When a transient overvoltage appears at an arrester location,
the arrester conducts internally and discharges the surge energy to ground without
affecting the continuity of supply. Once the overvoltage is reduced sufficiently, the
arrester seals off or stops conducting, the flow of power follow current through itself
and the circuit is returned to normal.
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As voltage-sensitive devices, arresters have to be carefully selected to

correlate properly with the system operating voltages. There are many types of
lightning arrester which are used to protect the power system. The choices of the
lightning arrester depend on the factor like, voltage and frequency of the line, cost,
weather condition and reliability. The lightning arrester is located close to the
equipment that is to be protected. They are usually connected between phase and
ground in an AC system and pole and ground in case of the DC system. In an extra-
high voltage AC system the surge diverter is used to protect the generators,
transformers, bus bars, lines, circuit breakers, etc. In HVDC system the arrester is
used to protect the buses, valves converter units reactors, filter, etc. The arrester
which uses zinc oxide semiconductor as a resistor material, such type of arrester is
known as a metal oxide surge arrester or ZnO Diverter. The most common surge
arrester is a non-linear metal oxide resistors type in a porcelain or silicone rubber
housing, and are fitted in parallel with the intended circuit to protect from surges and
connected to the earth grid. In Tagongtaing Substation lightning arrester is using to
protect transformer and others equipment in the substation.

2.3. Isolators (Disconnecting Switches)

The isolator is one type of switching device, and the main function of this is to
make sure that a circuit is totally not triggered in order to perform the preservation.
These are also recognizable like isolation switches to isolate the circuits. These
switches are applicable in industrial, distribution of electrical power, etc. High voltage
type isolation switches are utilized in substations for permitting isolation of
equipment like transformers, circuit breakers. Usually, the disconnected switch is not
proposed for circuit control but it is for isolation. Isolators are activated either
automatically or manually.
The isolator can be defined as it is one type of mechanical switch used to
isolate a fraction of the electrical circuit when it is required. Isolator switches are used
for opening an electrical circuit in the no-load condition. It is not proposed to be
opened while current flows through the line. Generally, these are employed on circuit
breaker both the ends thus the circuit breaker repair can be done easily without any
risk.

2.3.1. Types of Electrical Isolators

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The electrical isolators are classified based on the requirement of the system
which includes the following.
 Double Break Type Isolator
 Single Break Type Isolator
 Pantograph Type Isolator

2.3.1.1. Double Break Type Isolator

This type of isolator consists of three loads of post insulators. The middle
insulator holds a flat male or tubular contact that can be turned straightly by a spin of
middle post insulator. The rotation of the middle post insulator can be done by a lever
method at the bottom of the post insulator, as well as it is related to manual operation
(operating handle) or motorized operation motor (using motor) of the isolator via a
mechanical knot rod.

2.3.1.2. Single Break Type Isolators

In this type of isolator, the arm contact is separated into two elements. The
first arm contact holds male contact, as well as second arm contact, holds female
contact. The arm contact shifts because of the post insulator rotation upon which the
arm contacts are fixed.
The post insulators rotation stacks in reverse to each other which makes to
shut the isolator by shutting the arm contact. Post insulators counter rotation stacks to
open the arm contact, as well as an isolator, rotate into an off condition. Generally, the
motor operated isolator is used however an emergency manual operated isolator is
also offered.

2.3.1.3. Pantograph Type Isolator

The pantograph type isolator permits current switchgear installation, and it
requires the least space. This type of insulator includes a post insulator as well as an
operating insulator.
According to the power system location, the isolator can be classified into
three types namely bus side, line side and transfer bus side isolator.
 Bus Side Isolator is a type of Isolator that connects by the major bus.
 Line Side Isolator stay connected by a feeder in line side.
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 Transfer Bus Side Isolator stay connected by the major bus of a transformer.

2.4. Electrical Bus-Bar

An electrical bus bar is defined as a conductor or a group of conductor used
for collecting electric power from the incoming feeders and distributes them to the
outgoing feeders. In other words, it is a type of electrical junction in which all the
incoming and outgoing electrical current meets. Thus, the electrical bus bar collects
the electric power at one location.
The bus bar system consist the isolator and the circuit breaker. On the occurrence of a
fault, the circuit breaker is tripped off and the faulty section of the bus-bar is easily
disconnected from the circuit.
The electrical bus bar is available in rectangular, cross-sectional, round and
many other shapes. The rectangular bus bar is mostly used in the power system. The
copper and aluminum are used for the manufacturing of the electrical bus bar.
The various types of bus bar arrangement are used in the power system. The
selection of the bus bar is depended on the different factor likes reliability, flexibility,
cost etc. The following are the electrical considerations governing the selection of any
one particular arrangement.
 The bus-bar arrangement is simple and easy in maintenance.
 The maintenance of the system did not affect their continuity.
 The installation of the bus bar is cheap.
The small substation where continuity of the supply is not essential uses the
single bus bar. But in a large substation, the additional bus-bar is used in the system
so that the interruption does not occur in their supply.

2.4.1. Single Bus-Bar Arrangement

The arrangement of such type of system is very simple and easy. The system
has only one bus bar along with the switch. All the substation equipment like the
transformer, generator and feeder is connected to this bus bar only.
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Figure 2.2. Single Bus-Bar Arrangement

2.4.2. Single Bus-Bar Arrangement with Bus Sectionalized
In this type of bus-bar arrangement, the circuit breaker and isolating switches
are used. The isolator disconnects the faulty section of the bus-bar, hence protects the
system from complete shutdown. This type of arrangement uses one addition circuit
breaker which does not much increase the cost of the system.

Figure 2.3. Single Bus-Bar Arrangement with Bus Sectionalized

2.4.3. Main and Transfer Bus Arrangement

Such type of arrangement uses two type of bus-bar namely, main bus-bar and
the auxiliary bus bar. The bus-bar arrangement uses bus coupler which connects the
isolating switches and circuit breaker to the bus-bar. The bus coupler is also used for
transferring the load from one bus to another in case of overloading. The following
are the steps of transferring the load from one bus to another.
 The potential of both the bus bar kept same by closing the bus coupler.
 The bus bar on which the load is transferred is kept close.
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 Open the main bus bar.

Thus, the load is transferred from the main bus to reserve bus.

2.4.4. Double Bus Double Breaker Arrangement

This type of arrangement requires two bus bar and two circuit breakers. It does
not require any additional equipment like bus coupler and switch. Because of its
higher cost, such type of bus-bars is seldom used in substations.
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2.4.5. One and a Half Breaker Arrangement

In this arrangement, three circuit breakers are required for two circuits. The
each circuit of the bus bar uses the one and a half circuit breaker. Such type of
arrangement is preferred in large stations where power handled per circuit is large.

2.4.6. Ring Main Arrangement

In such type of arrangement, the end of the bus bar is connected back to the
starting point of the bus to form a ring.
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2.4.7. Mesh Arrangement

In such type of arrangement, the circuit breakers are installed in the mesh
formed by the buses. The circuit is tapped from the node point of the mesh. Such type
of bus arrangement is controlled by four circuit breakers.

When a fault occurs on any section, two circuit breakers have to open, resulting in the
opening of the mesh. Such type of arrangement provides security against bus-bar fault
but lacks switching facility. It is preferred for substations having a large number of
circuits.

2.5. CIRCUIT BREAKER

A circuit breaker is a switching device that interrupts the abnormal or fault
current. It is a mechanical device that disturbs the flow of high magnitude (fault)
current and in additions performs the function of a switch. The circuit breaker is
mainly designed for closing or opening of an electrical circuit, thus protects the
electrical system from damage. Circuit breakers are required for carrying
continuously maximum current of the system.
Circuit breaker essentially consists of fixed and moving contacts. These contacts are
touching each other and carrying the current under normal conditions when the circuit
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is closed. When the circuit breaker is closed, the current carrying contacts, called the
electrodes, engaged each other under the pressure of a spring.
During the normal operating condition, the arms of the circuit breaker can be opened
or closed for a switching and maintenance of the system. To open the circuit breaker,
only a pressure is required to be applied to a trigger.
Whenever a fault occurs on any part of the system, the trip coil of the breaker gets
energized and the moving contacts are getting apart from each other by some
mechanism, thus opening the circuit. Electrical circuit breaker can be operated
automatically or manually for protecting and controlling of electrical power system.
They are located near every switching point, at the both ends of every protected zone.
In the modern power system the design of the circuit breaker has changed
depending upon the huge currents and to prevent from arc while operating
.
2.5.1. Types of Circuit Breaker
Circuit breakers are mainly classified on the basis of rated voltages. Circuit
breakers below rated voltage of 1000 V are known as the low voltage circuit breakers
and above 1000 V are called the high voltage circuit breakers.
The most general way of the classification of the circuit breaker is on the basis of the
medium of arc extinction. Such types of circuit breakers are as follow:
 Oil Circuit Breaker
 Air Blast Circuit Breaker
 Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) Circuit Breaker
 Vacuum Circuit Breaker
 Air Break Circuit Breaker
All high-voltage circuit breakers may be classified under two main categories i.e oil
circuit breakers and oil-less circuit breaker.

2.5.1.1. Oil Circuit Breaker

Oil circuit breaker is such type of circuit breaker which used oil as a dielectric or
insulating medium for arc extinction. In oil circuit breaker the contacts of the breaker
are made to separate within an insulating oil. When the fault occurs in the system the
contacts of the circuit breaker are open under the insulating oil, and an arc is
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developed between them and the heat of the arc is evaporated in the surrounding oil.
The oil circuit breaker is divided into two categories
 Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker
 Low Oil Circuit Breaker

2.5.2. Air Blast Circuit Breaker

Air blast circuit breaker used compressed air or gas as the arc interrupting
medium. In the air blast, circuit breaker compressed air is stored in a tank and
released through a nozzle to produce a high-velocity jet; this is used to extinguish the
arc. Air blast circuit breakers are used for indoor services in the medium high voltage
field and medium rupturing capacity. Generally up to voltages of 15 KV and rupturing
capacities of 2500 MVA. The air blast circuit breaker is now employed in high
voltage circuits in the outdoors switch yard for 220 KV lines.
Though gasses such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, freon or hydrogen are used as
the arc interrupting medium, compressed air is the accepted circuit breaking medium
for gas blast circuit breakers. The reasons are given below.
The circuit breaking capacities of nitrogen are similar to compressed air and hence no
advantage of using it. Carbon dioxide has the drawback of its being difficult to control
owing to freezing at valves and other restricted passages. Feron has high dielectric
strength and good arc extinguishing properties, but it is expensive, and it is
disintegrated by the arc into acid-forming elements.
The air blast needs an additional compressed air system which supplies air to
the air receiver. When opening air is required, compressed air is admitted to the arc
extinction chamber. It pushes away the moving contacts. In doing so, the contacts are
pulled apart, and the air blast moves away the ionized gas along with it and assists arc
extinction.
Air blast extinguishes the arc within one or more cycles, and the arc chamber
is filled with high-pressure air, which prevents restrikes. The air blast circuit breakers
fall under the category of external extinguishing energy type. The energy supplied for
arc quenching is achieved from the high-pressure air, and it is free from the current to
be interrupted.
All air blast circuit breakers follow the principle of separating their contacts in
a flow of arc established by the opening of a blast valve. The arc which is drawn is
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usually rapidly positioned centrally through a nozzle where it is kept to a fixed length
and is subjected to the maximum range by the air flow. The air blast circuit breakers
according to the type of flow of blast of compressed around the contacts are of three
types namely axial, radial and cross blast.

2.5.3. Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) Circuit Breaker

A circuit breaker in which SF6 under pressure gas is used to extinguish the arc
is called SF6 circuit breaker. SF6 (sulphur hexafluoride) gas has excellent dielectric,
arc quenching, chemical and other physical properties which have proved its
superiority over other arc quenching mediums such as oil or air. The SF 6 circuit
breaker is mainly divided into three types
 Non-puffer piston circuit breaker
 Single- puffer piston circuit breaker.
 Double-puffer piston circuit breaker.
The circuit breaker which used air and oil as an insulating medium, their arc
extinguishing force builds up was relatively slow after the movement of contact
separation. In the case of high voltage circuit breakers quick arc extinction properties
are used which require less time for quick recovery, voltage builds up. SF 6 circuit
breakers have good properties in this regards compared to oil or air circuit breakers.
So in high voltage up to 760 kV, SF6 circuit breaker is used.
Sulphur hexafluoride possesses very good insulating and arc quenching properties.
These properties are
 It is colorless, odorless, non-toxic, and non-inflammable gas.
 SF6 gas is extremely stable and inert, and its density is five times that of air.
 It has high thermal conductivity better than that of air and assists in better
cooling current carrying parts.
 SF6 gas is strongly electronegative, which means the free electrons are easily
removed from discharge by the formation of negative ions.
 It has a unique property of fast recombination after the source energizing spark
is removed. It is 100 times more effective as compared to arc quenching
medium.
 Its dielectric strength is 2.5 times than that of air and 30% less than that of the
dielectric oil. At high pressure the dielectric strength of the gas increases.
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 Moisture is very harmful to SF6 circuit breaker. Due to a combination of

humidity and SF6 gas, hydrogen fluoride is formed (when the arc is
interrupted) which can attack the parts of the circuit breakers.
In the normal operating conditions, the contacts of the breaker are closed.
When the fault occurs in the system, the contacts are pulled apart, and an arc is struck
between them. The displacement of the moving contacts is synchronized with the
valve which enters the high-pressure SF6 gas in the arc interrupting chamber at a
pressure of about 16kg/cm^2.
The SF6 gas absorbs the free electrons in the arc path and forms ions which do
not act as a charge carrier. These ions increase the dielectric strength of the gas and
hence the arc is extinguished. This process reduces the pressure of the SF 6 gas up to
3kg/cm^2 thus; it is stored in the low-pressure reservoir. This low-pressure gas is
pulled back to the high-pressure reservoir for re-use.
Now a day puffer piston pressure is used for generating arc quenching
pressure during an opening operation by mean of a piston attached to the moving
contacts.

2.5.4. Vacuum Circuit Breaker

A breaker which used vacuum as an arc extinction medium is called a vacuum
circuit breaker. In this circuit breaker, the fixed and moving contact is enclosed in a
permanently sealed vacuum interrupter. The arc is extinct as the contacts are
separated in high vacuum. It is mainly used for medium voltage ranging from 11 KV
to 33 KV.
Vacuum circuit breaker has a high insulating medium for arc extinction as
compared to the other circuit breaker. The pressure inside the vacuum interrupter is
approximately 10-4 torrent and at this pressure, very few molecules are present in the
interrupter. The vacuum circuit breaker has mainly two phenomenal properties.
 High insulating strength: In comparison to various other insulating media used
in circuit breaker vacuum is a superior dielectric medium. It is better than all
other media except air and SF6, which are employed at high pressure.
 When an arc is opened by moving apart the contacts in a vacuum, an
interruption occurs at the first current zero. With the arc interruption, their
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dielectric strength increases up to a rate of thousands time as compared to

other breakers.
The above two properties make the breakers more efficient, less bulky and
cheaper in cost. Their service life is also much greater than any other circuit breaker,
and almost no maintenance are required.
When the fault occurs in the system, the contacts of the breaker are moved apart and
hence the arc is developed between them. When the current carrying contacts are
pulled apart, the temperature of their connecting parts is very high due to which
ionization occurs. Due to the ionization, the contact space is filled with vapor of
positive ions which is discharged from the contact material.
The density of vapor depends on the current in the arcing. Due to the decreasing mode
of current wave their rate of release of vapor fall and after the current zero, the
medium regains its dielectric strength provided vapor density around the contacts
reduced. Hence, the arc does not restrike again because the metal vapor is quickly
remove from the contact zone.

2.5.5. Air Break Circuit Breaker

In air break circuit breaker the arc is initiated and extinguish in substantially
static air in which the arc moves. Such breakers are used for low voltages, generally
up to 15 KV and rupturing capacities of 500 MVA. Air circuit breaker has several
advantages over the oil, as an arc quenching medium. These are
 Elimination of risk and maintenance associated with the use of oil.
 The absence of mechanical stress that is set up by gas pressure and oil
movement.
 Elimination of the cost of regular oil replacement that arises due to
deterioration of oil with the successive breaking operation.
In the air break, circuit breaker the contact separation and arc extinction take
place in air at atmospheric pressure. In air break circuit breaker high resistance
principle is employed. In this circuit breaker arc is expanded by the mean of arc
runners, arc chutes, and arc resistance is increased by splitting, cooling and
lengthening.
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The arc resistance is increased to such an extent that the voltage drop across
the arc becomes more than the system voltage, and the arc gets extinguished at the
current zero of AC wave.
Air break circuit breakers are employed in DC circuits and Ac circuits up to
12,000 voltages. Such breakers are usually of indoor type and installed on vertical
panels or indoor draw out switch gear. AC circuit breakers are widely employed
indoor medium voltage and low voltage switchgear.
When the fault occurs, the main contacts are separate first, and the current is
shifted to the arcing contacts. Now the arcing contacts are separate, and the arc is
drawn between them. This arc is forced upwards by the electromagnetic forces and
thermal action. The arc ends travel along the arc runner. The arc moves upward and is
split by the arc splitter plates. The arc is extinguished by lengthening, cooling,
splitting, etc.
Air break circuit breaker is suitable for the control of power station auxiliaries
and industrial plants. They do not require any additional equipment such as
compressors, etc. They are mainly used in a place where there are possibilities of fire
or explosion hazards. Air break principle of lengthening of the arc, arc runners
magnetic blow-up is employed for DC circuit breakers up to 15 KV.

2.6. Power Transformers

The Power transformer is a one kind of transformer that is used to transfer
electrical energy in any part of the electrical or electronic circuit between the
generator and the distribution primary circuits. These transformers are used in
distribution systems to interface step up and step down voltages. The common type of
power transformer is liquid immersed and the life span of these transformers is around
30 years. Power transformers can be classified into three types based on the ranges.
They are small power transformers, medium power transformers and large power
transformers.
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Figure. Power Transformer

 The range of small power transformers can be from 500-7500 kVA
 The range of medium power transformers can be from -100 MVA
 The range of large power transformers can be from 100 MVA & beyond
 The average life of a transformer is around 30 years
These transformers transform the voltage. It holds a low voltage, high current
circuit at one side of the transformer and on the other side of the transformer it holds
high voltage low current circuit. Power transformer depends on the principle of
Faradays induction. They describe the power system into zones where every gear
connected to the system is sized per the ratings set by the power transformer.
The skeleton of the power transformer is designed with metal which is
laminated by sheets. It is fixed into either a core type or shell type. The skeletons of
the transformer are wound and connected using conductors to make three 1-phases or
one 3-phase transformer. Three 1-phase transformers require each bank isolated from
the additional and thus offer continuity of service when one bank flops. A single 3-
phase transformer whether the shell or core type will not function even with one bank
out of service. The 3-phase transformer is inexpensive to make and it has a smaller
footprint, and functions comparatively with higher efficiency.
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The skeleton of the transformer is absorbed in a fire retardant protecting oil

inside a tank. The conservatory on top of the oil tank lets for the increasing oil to fall
into it. The charger of the load taps to the side of the tank changes the no of turns on
the high voltage-low current winding for superior voltage regulation. The bushings of
the tank permit for conductors to carefully enter and exit the tank without stimulating
the outer shell. The power transformer can be worked beyond its small rating as long
as it stays within the 65 ºC rise of the temperature. To allow the above nominal
operation, transformers are built-in with fan that cools the core of the transformer to a
point below the indicated temperature.

2.6.1. Accessories of Power Transformers

The parts of the power transformers are listed following;
 Conservator
 Buchholz relay
 Dehydrating filter breather
 Temperature indicator
 Oil level indicator
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 Bushing

2.7. Instrument Transformer

Instrument transformers are high accuracy class electrical devices used to
isolate or transform voltage or current levels. The most common usage of instrument
transformers is to operate instrument or metering from high voltage or high current
circuits, safely isolating secondary control circuitry from the high voltage or current.
The primary winding of the transformer is connected to the high voltage or the high
current circuit, and the meter or relay is connected to the secondary circuit.
Instrument transformers may also be used as an isolation transformer so that
secondary quantities may be used in phase shifting without affecting other primary
connected devices. Instrument transformer can be divided into two types;
 Current Transformer (CT)
 Voltage Transformer (VT)

2.7.1. Current Transformer

The current transformer is used for measuring and also for the protection.
When the current in the circuit is high to apply directly to the measuring instruments,
the current transformer is used to transform the high current into the desired value of
the required in the circuit.
The primary winding of the current transformer is connected in series to the
main supply and the various measuring instruments like ammeter, voltmeter,
wattmeter or protective relay coil. They have accuracy, current ratio and phase
relation to enable the meter on the secondary side. The term ratio has great significant
in CT. For example, if its ratio is 2000:5, it means a CT has an output of 5 Ampere
Current Transformer depends upon many factors like Burden, load, temperature,
phase change, rating, saturation, etc. In the current transformer, the total primary
current is the vector sum of the excitation current and the current equal to the reversal
of secondary current multiplied by turn ratio.

2.7.2. Voltage transformer

The voltage transformer is also called the potential transformer. The primary
winding is connected across the high voltage line whose voltage is to be measured,
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and all the measuring instruments and meters are connected to the secondary side of
the transformer. The main function of the potential transformer is to step down the
voltage level to a safe limit or value. The primary winding of the potential transformer
is earthed or grounded as a safety point. For example, the voltage ratio primary to
secondary is given as 500:120; it means the output voltage is of 120V when the 500V
is applied to the primary. The different types of potential transformer are
electromagnetic, capacitor, optical.
 Electromagnetic (it is a wire wound transformer)
 Capacitor(capacitor voltages transformer CVT uses capacitor voltages divider)
 Optical (works on the electrical property if optical materials)

2.8. Shunt Reactor

A shunt reactor is an absorber of reactive power, thus increasing the energy
efficiency of the system. Shunt reactor is same as power transformer but it has only
one winding per phase as compared to power transformer. It is the most compact
device commonly used for reactive power compensation in long high-voltage
transmission lines and in cable systems. The shunt reactor can be directly connected
to the power line or to a tertiary winding of a three-winding transformer. These are
used for long Extra High Voltage transmission lines to control voltage and
compensate shunt capacitance of the line during low load periods. To mount
monitoring instrument, control equipment and provide access to various transducers.
Control & protective cables are laid between marshaling box. It is located in switch
yard & corresponding indoor control panels.

2.9. Capacitor Bank

A capacitor bank is very essential equipment of an electrical power system.
The power required to run all the electrical appliances is the load as useful power is
active power. The active power is expressed in kW or MW. The maximum load
connected to the electrical power system is mainly inductive in nature such as
electrical transformer, induction motors, synchronous motor, electric furnaces,
fluorescent lighting are all inductive in nature.
In addition to these, inductance of different lines also contributes inductance to
the system. Because of these inductances, the system current lags behind system
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voltage. As the lagging angle between voltage and current increases, the power factor
of the system decreases. As the electrical power factor decreases, for same active
power demand the system draws more current from source. More current causes,
more line losses.
Poor electrical power factor causes poor voltage regulation. So to avoid these
difficulties, the electrical power factor of the system has to be improved. As a
capacitor causes current to lead the voltage, capacitive reactance can be used to cancel
the inductive reactance of the system. The capacitor reactance can be used to cancel
the inductive reactance of the system.
The capacitor reactance is generally applied to the system by using static
capacitor in shut or series with system. Instead of using a single unit of capacitor per
phase of the system, it is quite effective to use a bank of capacitor units, in the view of
maintenance and erection. This group or bank of capacitor units is known as capacitor
bank.
There are mainly two categories of capacitor bank according to their
connection arrangements.
 Shunt capacitor.
 Series capacitor.

2.10. 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 an electric field. Insulators are used in electrical equipment to support and separate
electrical conductors without allowing current through themselves. Insulators are the
integral part of the power system. Among them polymeric insulators are essential for
the better performance. There are many shapes and types of insulators used in power
system transmission with different densities, tensile strengths and performing
properties with the aim to withstand the worst conditions such as surge during
lightning and switching operations which will voltage to spike. Reliability of the
insulator is the most important property that must take into consideration whether it is
a polymeric (composite) insulator or ceramic insulator. The good insulator should
offer optimum electrical and mechanical strengths.
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2.11. Control and Relay Panel

A control & relay panel is designed to provide to control the associated line or
transformer through outdoor switchgear at various 11 KV and 33 KV zonal
substations. The control & Relay panels are complete in themselves with all main and
auxiliary relays, annunciation relay, fuses, links, switches, wiring, labels, terminal
blocks, earthing terminals, base frame, foundation bolts, illumination, cable glands
etc. These panels are used for the control & monitoring of electrical equipments such
as transformers, generators and circuit breakers. Indoor Control panel for Outdoor
VCB includes IDMT Numerical relay, Master Trip Relay, Trip circuit Supervision
Relay, Indications & meters etc. These control & Relays panels are available in
various combinations as single circuit or multi-circuit depending upon the customer
requirements.

2.12. DC System or Station Batteries

DC systems are installed in substations to supply power for control,
protection, alarms, communications, and other critical auxiliary circuits where
maximum reliability of supply is essential.
AC supplies can be unreliable, whether it is obtained from the local supply or
from on-site alternator sets. In the event of AC supply failure, DC electricity is stored
in batteries with sufficient capacity to provide enough power until the AC supply
becomes available again. Different DC voltages are used within substations
depending upon equipment requirements. Common voltages are 50, 120 and 400. The
storage batteries may be of a few main types: lead-acid, alkaline, and nickel cadmium;
each type with its own characteristics. Substation staffs need to have an understanding
of how batteries are maintained, the principles of charging and discharging of
batteries, how to recognize and diagnose battery faults, and how to diagnose faults
which may occur in the DC distribution network. The principles contained within this
module are also appropriate to other electrical and electronic fields that use DC
storage systems, including telecommunications, security, computer and renewable
energy.

2.13. Underground Cable

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Underground cable essentially constitutes of one or more conductors covered

with suitable insulation and surrounded by a protective cover. Underground cable is
divided by two part 1 .Power cable and 2. Control cable. Underground Cable are used
for connection from AC distribution box & DC distribution box as a power cable
control & relay panel to different equipment such as CB, CT, PT, LA, transformers
accessory as a control cable.

2.14. Auxiliary Transformer

This transformer is used to provide supply for auxiliary services (i.e. battery
charger, compressors, charging system of breakers, control and relay panels, control
rooms, lighting purpose, cooling system of transformers etc.) It is an 11 kV / 415 v
distribution transformer which are installed as per requirement of grid station. It plays
a vital role in the grid station burning may cause serious problem. At large stations
two station service transformer may be used with auto transfer (ATS) scheme.