CHAPTER THREE

Under Ground Power Transmission Line

Definition:
 Underground power line is a structure used in electrical power
transmission and distribution to transmit electric power to a
specified distance using an appropriate cable type and size
beneath the ground.
• the type of cable to be used will depend upon the Working
voltage and service requirements.
• In general, a cable must fulfill the following necessary
requirements
 Should be tinned stranded copper / aluminium of high conductivity.

 Stranding is done so that conductor may become flexible and

carry more current.
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Continued …
 Should have proper size such that the cable carries the desired
load current without overheating and causes voltage drop within
permissible limits.
 Must have proper thickness of insulation in order to give high
degree of safety and reliability.
 Must be provided with suitable mechanical protection so that it
may withstand the rough use in laying it.
 The materials used in the manufacture of cables should be such
that there is complete chemical and physical stability throughout.

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3.2. Construction of Cables
• A conductor cable is consisted of mainly 6 parts:

1. Cores or Conductors.
 Responsible for transmitting the current.
 A cable may have one or more than one core (conductor) depending upon the type of
service for which it is intended.
 For instance, the cable shown above is used for 3- phase service.
 The conductors are made of tinned copper or aluminium and are usually stranded in
order to provide flexibility to the cable.
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 Power system I 3
2. Insulation.
• Each core or conductor is provided with a suitable
thickness of insulation,
• The thickness of layer depending upon the voltage to be
withstood by the cable.
• The commonly used materials for insulation are
impregnated paper, varnished cambric or rubber mineral
compound.
3. Metallic sheath.
 It is metallic sheath of lead or aluminium
 Provided to protect the cable from
 moisture, gases or other damaging liquids (acids or
alkalis) in the soil and atmosphere.

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4. Bedding.
 it is a layer of fibrous material like jute or hessian
tape, applied over the metallic sheath.
 It protect the metallic sheath against corrosion and
from mechanical injury due to armoring.
5. Armouring.
 Over the bedding, armouring is provided which
consists of one or two layers of galvanized steel
wire.
 Protects the cable from mechanical injury.
 Armoring may not be done in the case of some
cables (low tension cable).
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6. Serving.
 It is a layer of fibrous material (like jute) similar to
bedding or made up of hard plastic provided over
the armoring.
 protect armoring from fading due to atmospheric
barriers.
 helps the cable to have good looking.

characteristics of cable insulation

 In general, the insulating materials used in cables
should have the following properties.
a) Non-inflammable.

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A. Non-inflammable --- to avoid probability of burning.
B. High insulation resistance --- to avoid leakage current.
C. High dielectric strength---- to avoid electrical
breakdown of the cable.
D. High mechanical strength --- to resist the mechanical
handling of cables.
E. Low cost ---- to make the underground system a
practicable plan.
F. Unaffected by acids and alkalis --- to avoid any
chemical reaction
G. Non-hygroscopic i.e. it should not absorb moisture from
air or soil. In case the insulating material is
hygroscopic, it must be enclosed in a waterproof
covering like lead sheath.
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3.3. Classification of Cables
 Cables for underground service may be classified as
per the following two ways.
The type of insulating material used in their
manufacture
 The voltage for which they are manufactured.
 Most of the time cables are classified according to
the second method in to five classes.
Low-tension (L.T.) cables — up to 1000 V
High-tension (H.T.) cables — up to 22,000 V
Super-tension (S.T.) cables — from 22 kV to 33 kV
Extra high-tension (E.H.T.) cables — from 33 kV to 66
kV
Extra super tension (E.S.T) cables — beyond 132 KV
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• A cable may have one or more than one core
depending upon the type of service for which it is
intended. i.e.
 (I) single-core
 (ii) two-core
 (iii) three-core
 (iv) four-core etc
Example :
 For a 3-phase service, either
 3-single-core cables or
 Three-core cable can be used depending upon
the operating voltage and load demand
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 (a) (b)
Single core cable three core cable
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3.4. Comparison of OHL and UGC transmission
 OHL
 Very cheap or economical
 Easy to maintain
 Location of fault is easily identified -
 It is not safe -
 Used by undeveloped countries
 UGC
o Very expensive or uneconomical
o Difficult to maintain
o Difficult to identify location of fault
o It is more secured than OHL
o Used by developed countries
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3.5. Transmission line constants
They are parameters which are uniformly distributed
along the entire length of the line conductor.
they affect the transmission voltage and efficiency as
well.
Transmission line constants or parameters mainly
include
 Resistance – R
 Inductance - L
 Capacitance – C

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3.5.1. Resistance of a Transmission Line
• Resistance to DC current is given by

• Where;
• ρ is resistivity of conductor at 20oC (normal condition)
• L is length of the conductor
• A is cross sectional area of the conductor
• Because of the skin effect, the AC resistance is different
from DC resistance.
• The AC resistance is referred to as effective resistance,
and is found from power loss in the conductor.
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  The effective resistance is equal to the DC resistance
of the conductor if the current distribution is uniform
throughout the conductor.

3.5.2. Inductance of a Transmission Line

 The inductance of a circuit is defined as flux linkage
per unit current. It is expressed in Henrys.

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 If the current is alternating the above equation cane
be written as;

 Where; 𝜆 is Greek letter, read as ‘lambda’ that

represents the r.m.s. value of flux linkage, I is the
current value (r.m.s.) flowing through the circuit and L
is the inductance of a circuit.
 The mutual inductance between two circuits is
defined as the flux linkages of one circuit per unit
current in the other circuit.
 If current I2 produces 𝜆12 flux linkage with current one,
the mutual inductance isPower
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given
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by 15
• When AC current flows through a conductor;
 Magnetic lines of force are appeared around the
conductor.
 These lines of force lead to the existence of flux.
 This magnetic field changes and links with the same
conductor as well as with other conductors
• Where ever flux occur inductance occurs!.
• Basically there are two flux linkages
a. Flux linkages due to internal flux
b. Flux linkages due to external flux

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A. Flux Linkages Due to Internal Flux
 Consider a straight cylindrical conductor of radius r meter
and carrying current I amperes. (x < r),

dx
r

Figure 3.3 Flux Linkages Due to Internal Flux

 The magnetic field intensity H at a point x meter from the
center is given by

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 Where n = 1
 As per amperes law, the m.m.f. (Ampere-Turn) around
any closed path is equal to the current enclosed the
path. i.e.

• Assuming uniform current density we have

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 This implies that

 If µ is the absolute permeability of the conductor then

flux density at considered point is given by

 Now the flux through cylindrical shell of radial

thickness dx and axial length 1 meter is given by
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• This flux links with only the current lying
within the circle of radius x. i.e. I should be in
terms of

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• Integrate both sides to illuminate the derivative term

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- Therefore the above equation implies that flux linkage due to internal flux depends
only on current magnitude.
- The internal inductance is constant; irrespective of conductor
diameter

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Flux Linkages Due to External Flux
 Consider external flux which extends from surface
of the conductor to infinity.
 The magnetic field intensity at a distance of x from
the center of the conductor (x > r) is given by,

dx
r

Figure 3.3 flux linkages due to external flux

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Where n = 1

But X >>> r

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Remember that

‘X’ ranges from r to ∞

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• Thus; the external flux linkage due to external flux
depends on the current and on the radius of the
conductor.

 Flux linkages in parallel current carrying

conductors
– Consider a group of parallel current carrying
conductors A, B, C, D, …,N carrying currents IA ,
IB , IC , ID , …, IN respectively As shown bellow
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• Let’s consider the flux linkage with conductor A ,
which includes the flux linkage due to its own current
and flux linkage due to mutual inductance effect of
currents IB , IC , ID , …, IN respectively.
B

A DAD D

Figure 3.4 flux linkages in parallel current carrying conductors

• The flux linkage with conductor A due to its own current is;

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• Flux linkages with conductor A due to current IB flowing
in conductor B, situated at distance D1 = DAB (since only
external flux due to IB links with conductor A from DAB to
∞)

• Similarly flux linkages with conductor A due to current I C

flowing in conductor C situated at distance D2 = DAC (since
only external flux due to IC links with conductor A from
DAC to ∞)
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• Again the flux linkages with conductor A due to
current ID flowing in conductor N situated at distance
DN = DAN (since only external flux due to IN links
with conductor A from DAN to ∞)

• Then the total flux linkages with conductor A,

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Inductance of three phase overhead transmission line
• Consider three phase current carrying conductors
A, B, C, carrying currents IA , IB , IC and having
spacing between them DAB, DBC, DCA respectively As
shown bellow
• Assume the load is balanced. i.e. IA + IB + IC = 0

Figure 3.5 Three phase Overhead line

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• Then the total flux linkages with conductor A,
is given as
𝜆A(T) = Flux linkage with conductor A due to its own
current IA + Flux linkages with conductor A due to current
IB + Flux linkages with conductor A due to current IC .

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Symmetrical spacing –
• If the three conductors A, B and C are placed symmetrically
at the corners of an equilateral triangle (DAB = DBC = DCA =
D), then the total flux linkage with conductor A will be;

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• Inductance of conductor A,

Unsymmetrical spacing
 When 3-phase line conductors are not at equal distance
from each other, the spacing is said to be unsymmetrical.
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• Under such conditions,
 Flux linkages and inductance of each phase are
not the same.
 Resulting an unequal voltage drops in the entire
phases.
 i.e. voltage at the receiving end will not be the
same for all phases.
• To correct such problem, the positions of the
conductors are made interchanged at regular
intervals along the line.
• Such an exchange of positions is known as
transposition.
• Figure 3.6 shows the transposed line
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 Figure 3.6 Transposition of three phase conductor

• The inductance per phase is given by

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Capacitance of a 3-Phase Overhead Line
• Reading Assignment !

Unsymmetrical line spacing Symmetrical line spacing

Cus = ? Cs = ?
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