The purpose of Carrier Communication system in substation:

 In the EHV & UHV system, whenever any line fault occurred, then both end CB needs to be tripped
simultaneously & clear the fault as soon as possible & for this the inter trip command need to be issued
by relay due to tripping of circuit breaker at any one end to the remote end. This inter tripping it possible
when we have communication between substation.

Therefore, with help of carrier communication, the simultaneous CB tripping would be possible at both
end of bay & with help carrier communication the inter trip command can be issued. (Direct tripping &
status monitoring purpose)

 Further to get the tele-metering of electrical quantities that are KW, Kva, Kvar, Voltage and Power
factor etc.. by grid monitoring authority to all connected substation, the carrier communication system is
also required.

Considering above, to get the substation-to-substation tele-protection, tele-metering, tele-control the

carrier communication system is required in substations & no any separate telephone network would be
required particularly in remote areas & dependency on telephone network could be avoided when a
dedicated communication available. And for the carrier communication system, the carrier signals needs
to transmit & receive by both end of substation for that purpose we have a set of equipments.
Overall Technique for Carrier:

Communication There are 2 technique used for the carrier communication in substations

1) PLCC-Power Line Carrier Communication (when we have PLCC then required Wave Trap)
2) FOTE-Fiber Optic Terminal End (when we have FOTE then required OPGW- Optical fiber
Ground Wire)

What is Power Line Carrier Communication?

Power Line Carrier Communication is a communication technology that allows transfer of

communication signal data over the same line conductors (means phase conductors) on which the power
is transmitting means we don’t required a separate conductors / path to send the signal. So, from the same
line conductor the Audio & Radio frequencies signals is transmitted from sending substation to receiving
end substation.

And the power line conductor itself is used for data transmission also along with power transmission by
using a frequency much higher than power frequency in kilohertz range (i.e 40kHz to 500kHz).
How PLCC system works?

Each end of transmission line or both end of substation is provided with identical PLCC equipment
consisting of below equipment:

1) Line Trap or wave trap

2) Coupling capacitor (we are using from the CVT)
3) LMU (Line Matching Unit) mounting on the CVT support structure
4) Coaxial Cables
5) Drain Coils and
6) PLCC Plane

1. Line Trap or Wave Trap:

As in the power line carrier communication, the High Frequency (i.e kHz) and Power frequency (i.e Hz)
transferred simultaneously through the same transmission lines conductor.

Therefore, the line trap or wave trap is used in substation, as a stopper equipment for the high-frequency
signals & needs to connect in series to the transmission line conductors, and Wave trap stop the
transmission of high career frequency carrier signals (40 kHz to 1000 kHz) towards the substation
equipment & as substation equipment are designed only for 50 Hz signals & Therefore, the WT works as
a separation and safe isolation of the 50 Hz power frequency and career frequency signals.

Career frequency we need to check at telecommunication planning department of utility what they are
planning to do.

Note: For wave trap and CVT take separate earthing rod due to high frequency.

Applicable Standard for Wave Trap or Line Trap is IEC 60353.

Wave trap provide inductance,

The standard rating of Wave Trap: L = 0.5 mH or 1 mH

For 50Hz, Wave trap provide inductance, = 2 x 3.14 x 50 x 0.5 = 157

For 500kHz, Wave trap provide inductance, = 2 x 3.14 x 50 x 0.5 = 157

CVT’s coupling capacitor provide capacitance,

CVT Capacitance rating of the value of C = 4400 or 8800 pF, for system voltage range of 110 kV to 800
kV for a frequency range from 40 to 500 kHz mostly & using tuning purpose.

For 50Hz, CVT’s coupling capacitor provide capacitance,

For 500kHz, CVT’s coupling capacitor provide capacitance,

Wave Trap Stop the High Frequency (i.e 500 kHz) but pass the low frequency (i.e 50 Hz) & CVT’s
coupling capacitor pass the High Frequency but stop the low frequency.

Wave Trap Location:

After the CVT

Wave Trap Quantity:

Out of three phase only two phase or one phase use communication purpose & on that phases only install
the Wave Trap, it will be depended on sending side on which phase we have to put Wave Trap as well as
on the receiving side we need to Wave Trap on the similar phases.

For short transmission line or any other transmission line use OPWG wire as backup protection.

Whenever make the drawing please put wave trap area under hold

Installation Method of Wave Trap:

There are two types of mounting of line traps, one is suspension, the other is pedestal.

Suspension

 Small and medium-size line traps can be suspended directly on the line side gantry by insulators.

 Voltage level from 66KV to 132 KV line traps shall be suspension type. (because weight is less)

Pedestal

 Large size line traps shall be pedestal mounted.

 Voltage level from 220KV & above line traps shall be pedestal mounting type.

 For pedestal mounting the post insulators used.

When we pursues the post insulator for the substation so in that post insulator we have to add post
insulator quantity of the wave trap also. For each wave trap we required usually three number of the post
insulator.

2. Coupling Capacitors:

Coupling capacitor connects the carrier equipment (PLCC) to the transmission line. The function of the
Coupling capacitor is to provide high impedances to the 50Hz frequency and low impedances to the
carrier signal, Therefore, the carrier frequency diverted to carrier equipment & not the 50 Hz.

Few utility takes separate Coupling capacitor equipment, they are not utilizing CVT’s Coupling capacitor.

3. LMU:

LMU acts as a coupling device between coupling capacitor & PLCC equipment, LMU serves the purpose
of connecting Audio/Radio frequency signals to the PLCC equipment. LMU have matching transformer
and a few capacitive components used to match impedance of CVT, EHV line and indoor PLCC
equipment to have maximum carrier-power transfer.

4. Coaxial Cables:
The coaxial cable is one type of electrical cable that carries high-frequency signals with low losses. It is
single copper core shielded armored screened cable.

5. Drain Coils:

The purpose of the drain coil is to provide high impedances to the carrier frequency and low impedances
to the power frequency. Between Coupling capacitor of CVT and Drain Coil take LMU.

Coupling Capacitors Position:

The CC placed inside of voltage transformer, and due to this combination of CC & VT, the combined
equipment called as capacitive voltage transformer. The drain coil also inside the CVT.

In CVT have inductor, L it is worked as compensating reactor because when we have capacitance, C1 &
C2 due to capacitance phase shift happen between Voltage & Current during voltage measurement so
counter balance this phase shift we need the provide inductor, L & we don’t want to allow carrier signal
to reach to the VT part of CVT that’s why putting inductor also. Since we have L & C so both
combination can produce the Ferro resonance (oscillation) so we need to suppress / above Ferro
resonance so that’s why each CVT we will find a Ferro resonance circuit, (Z-G) also.

LMU Position: LMU location in substation is fixed on the CVT support structure
SNAPSHOT OF PLCC SYSTEM COMPONENTS SLD VIEW