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17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution

Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003

REDUCTION FACTOR OF FEEDING LINES THAT HAVE A CABLE AND AN OVERHEAD SECTION
Ljubivoje Popovic J.P. Elektrodistribucija - Belgrade - Yugoslavia ljubivoje@beotel.yu SUMMARY The paper presents an analytical procedure which enables a quick and, at the design stage, correct evaluation of the ground fault current distribution, for a fault in a substation supplied by a line composed of two or more mutually different (overhead and underground) sections. The advantages of the method are based on the simplicity and accuracy of the formulae for solving uniform lumped parameter ladder circuits of any size and under any terminal conditions. INTRODUCTION During ground faults in an HV installation, raised potentials appear in places where they do not exist under normal operating conditions. The magnitudes of these potentials, as well as all of the potential differences significant for the safety conditions (touch and step voltages) are proportional to the current emanating from the substation grounding system into the surrounding earth. It is known that only a part of the total fault current flows into the earth, and the rest returns to its sources (power system) through various metal conductors (ground wire(s) of the overhead line, the cable sheath(s) and grounding connections), so that it does not contribute to the creation of the elevated potentials in the grounding system of the substation [2]. Therefore, when designing grounding systems of high voltage plants the primary task is to evaluate as precisely as possible the part of the fault current flowing through the grounding system into the earth. This is the only way to be sure that the problem is solved according to actual requirements, which practically means that the safety conditions are reached without excessive expenditures. The evaluation of the distribution of the ground fault current for faults in substations supplied by transmission lines homogenous through their entire length is performed by a relatively simple procedure. This case has been studied, systematized and presented in [7] for various types of stations and for different types of transmission towers. However, the problem gains in complexity if the feeding line has two or more sections with one or more mutually different relevant parameters. Examples for such feeding lines are encountered in distribution networks of various voltage levels and are a consequence of different degree of urbanization of the areas where the feeding line passes. Regarded as a whole, these lines are usually a combination of cable and overhead sections with different lengths. As a rule, the overhead section is closer to the source station, and the cable section is closer to the supplied station. When ground faults appear, such lines form a very complex electrical circuit with a large number of conductively and inductively coupled elements. References [5] and [8] point to the problem and give some analytical expressions enabling its solution in some practical situations. However, these papers do not encompass all the cases of importance for current engineering practice. Thus it may be said that this work represents a logical continuation of the efforts to solve this kind of problems. The possibility to simplify the problem is found in the reduction of the number of the elements of the equivalent circuit. To this purpose, we have derived formulae for an exact representation of lumped parameter ladder circuits of any size (from one pi to an infinite number of pis) by only one pi. This is achieved using the General equations of uniform ladder circuits [3], [4], [5]. Starting from the usual and unavoidable approximations at the design stage and using the mentioned solution for ladder circuits, the paper derives analytical expressions for evaluating the ground fault current distribution when the feeding line contains a cable section of an arbitrarz length. With a permanent elevation of the ground fault current level and with an increasing deficiency of free urban areas for the building of large substations, a correct solution of the problem of ground fault current distribution in various practical situations gains in importance. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION If the feeding line is solely a cable or an overhead line along the whole of its length from the source station to the supplied station, the calculation of the ground fault current distribution in supplied substation is a routine engineers job [7]. Problems appear when a substation is supplied directly by an underground cable representing the continuation of an overhead line, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Typical situation

The situation represented in Fig. 1 is typical for the feeding lines in distribution networks and appears as a consequence of the following facts. The large source stations supplying distribution networks of big cities require large areas and are thus built outside of urban zones. Lines emerge from them and form a radial network supplying high-voltage distribution stations (e.g. 110/10 kV), situated deep within urban surroundings (the center of electric energy consumption). Each of the outgoing lines usually supplies two or three such stations in a succession (or in the so-called radial distribution system).

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17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution

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The current which appears due to the inductive coupling faulted phase conductor/ground wire (or cable/sheath) in such situations (Fig. 1) cannot be determined by standard calculation procedures [5]. One part of the component of the ground fault current at the point of discontinuity D flows towards the supply source through the ground. Because of this the reduction of the fault current through the grounding system of the supplied station is smaller than in the case when the feeding line is a cable along the whole of its length, but is larger than in the case when it is an overhead line along the whole length. In practice, however, when determining the fault current such a line is treated either as a cable only, or as a overhead line only. This may result in serious errors when estimating and ensuring the safety conditions in the supplied station. Because of the strong inductive coupling of the cable/sheath, most of the fault current can be injected into the ground at the place of discontinuity rather than at the fault location. When the place of discontinuity is in a transition station, this phenomenon is described as the fault application transfer effect [8]. EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT AND NECESSARY ANALYTICAL EXPRESSIONS General case Let us assume that a distribution substation, B, is supplied from the station, A, by a cable which is an elongation of an overhead line. We will adopt the most complex case when the cable has a non-insulated sheath, and the overhead line has a ground wire. The following theoretical foundation Method of symmetrical components, Driving point technique, Decoupling technique [9] and Reduction of ladder circuits [5] is used to represent such a line under the conditions of a ground fault at the substation B by the equivalent circuit in Fig. 2.

external grounding conductor (metal cable sheath(s), neutral conductors of the low voltage network, metal pipelines, etc). Iib current source which replaces the influence of the inductive coupling between the faulted phase conductor and the metal cable sheath(s) Iia current source which replaces the influence of the inductive coupling between the faulted phase conductor and ground wire of the overhead line ZB impedance of the power system at fault location Qb, Pb - impedances of the equivalent pi replacing the influence of galvanic coupling of metal cable sheath(s) on the cable section Qa, Pa - impedances of the equivalent pi replacing the influence of galvanic coupling of ground wire(s) of the overhead line Za(Zb) - impedance of the grounding system of station A (B), not incorporating the grounding effects of the feeding line RN footing resistance of the tower at the point of discontinuity D of the line Gremote ground. In the case when the station B has a grounded neutral point(s), the equivalent circuit in Fig. 2 should have an additional branch containing the zero sequence impedance of the local transformer and connects the points F and B (Fig 2). According to [5], the elements representing the cable section of the line in the given equivalent circuit are determined by the following expressions

I ib = (1 rc )I f

(1)

Qb =
Pb =

L kc

2 L kc + 1
L kc 1

kc L

Z ' c

(2)
(3)

Z ' c .

If Iia
~

F Iba ZB
~

In the given expressions rc is the reduction factor of the cable (usually given as factory data,) and L the relative length of the cable section (expressed relative to a one meter length), while the other parameters are defined by the following relations kc = 1 + Z c Rc (4) (5)
(6)

A Za

Qa

D RN

Qb Zb

B Ie G
Z c =

Pa Pa

Pb Pb

Zc Z2 + Rc Z c + c 2 4

1 Z ' c = Z c + R c 1

Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit

The symbols in the circuit have the following meaning Ffault position (substation B) Vf auxiliary driving source at fault location with the voltage equal to the voltage at the source station If total ground fault current Ie current injected into the earth through the substation grounding grid and through the connected long
ELE_Popovic_A1 Session 3 Paper No 55

The parameters Zc and Rc represent the elements of the uniform ladder circuit obtained by the discretization of the cable sheath as a grounding conductor. By this, the impedance Zc represents the self-impedance of the sheath on a length of one meter, while Rc represents the grounding resistance of the sheath on a length of one meter. According to [5] the resistance Rc is given by

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17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution

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Rc =

L' ln , dh

(7)

r (1rc)If D Qb Pb Zb

rcIf B Ie

where is the specific soil resistivity along the cable in m, L' is the cable length in m, d is the outer cable diameter in m and h is the burial depth of the cable, also expressed in meters. For the part of the equivalent circuit of the line overhead section, according to [4], [5] the following relations are valid

ZD

Fig. 3. Simplified equivalent circuit

I ia = (1 r )I f
Qa = Z k + k N +1 k N +1 Pa = N Z k k Z r = 1 m . Zs
N

(8) (9)

k 2N 1

According to the circuit shown in Fig. 3 and using the Kirchhoffs rules we can write a closed system of equations. Its solution gives us

rt =
(10)

Ie r (1 rc ) Z D + rc (Qb + Z D ) = , If Z 1 + b (Qb + Z D ) + Z b Pb

(14)

(11)

where the impedance Zd and the grounding impedance of the ground wire at the pint of discontinuity, ZN, are given by 1 1 1 ZD = R +Z + P N b N Z N ( Z a = 0) = k 2N 1 k 2N + k
1

In the given expressions Zs is the self-impedance of the ground wire(s) per span and Zm is the mutual impedance between the ground wire(s) and the faulted phase conductor per span, while N is the total number of spans of the overhead section. The parameters k and Z are defined by the following relations

(15) (16)

Z .

Z k = 1+ R
Z = Zs Z2 + RZ s + s , 2 4

(12)
(13)

The coefficient rt defines the ground fault current distribution including the grounding effects of the feeding line. At the design stage the impedance Zb is often calculated to include the grounding effects of the feeding line. In such cases the reduction factor should exclude these effects. We will eliminate them if we adopt Zb=0. Then according to (14) we obtain ri = rc + r (1 rc ) Z D . Qb + Z D (17)

where R is the towers' footing resistance (the average value). The impedances Zc, Zs and Zm are calculated using the formulae based on the Carsons theory of ground fault current return path (e. g. [1]). Since to estimate the safety conditions it is necessary to determine the maximum of the current Ie, the impedance Zm should be determined under an assumption that the fault occurred on the phase conductor which is the farthest one from the ground wire(s). The equivalent circuit does not comprise the proximity effect of the cable and the grounding grid [6] of the supplied station B. However, it is necessary to bear in mind that under the considered circumstances thus effect is very weak. The reason for this is the fact that due to the strong inductive coupling cable-metal sheath the most part of the ground fault current goes into the earth at the point of discontinuity which is in the case of any larger cable section far enough from the station B. In practical situations the influence of the impedance Za can be neglected (Za0). Thus to determine the current If distribution we can use the equivalent circuit shown in Fig. 3.

The coefficient ri expresses only the influence of the inductive coupling cable/metal sheath(s) and phase conductor/grounding wire(s) to the distribution of the ground fault current If. The second addend in the equation (17) obviously represents the increment of the reduction factor of the feeding line in comparison to its value when the feeding line is a cable along the whole of its length. If we assume that the length of the cable section tends to infinity (Qb), the value of the reduction factor ri tends to rc. Since under real conditions the reduction factor of a cable is lower than the reduction factor of an overhead line (rc<r), it can be said that the value of ri is situated between two limiting values (rc<ri<r). In practice, however, when designing a grounding system of a supplied station, the line under consideration is often treated as if it were solely a cable or an overhead line along the whole of its length. In the first case it produces results on the unsafe side (more favorable than in reality), while in the second case the estimation of the safety conditions is too severe. What is the value of the deviation from the reduction factor of the real

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17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution

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feeding line will be seen later from the result of quantitative analysis. According to the expression (17) it can be also seen that the reduction factor ri depends on the value of the grounding impedance at the place of discontinuity. With the decrease of this impedance, if other relevant parameters remain unchanged (17), the value of the reduction factor ri also decreases. If the value of this impedance becomes negligible, the value of the reduction factor of the feeding line becomes practically equal to the reduction factor of the cable (rirc).
Special Cases

corresponding parameters. However, since the active length La depends on Rc and, according to (7), Rc is a function of L', this expression cannot be directly applied. Its purpose is to define x (by testing a large number of numerical examples) in the following semi-empirical formula La ( = const ) x , | Z c | / 1m (23)

The presented equivalent circuit and the necessary analytical expression can be simply modified for various special cases encountered in practice. When the length of the overhead section is such that we can consider it as infinite, instead of (15) we can use

where x is an unknown, dimensionless number, different for different cable cross-sections and burial depths, determined from the condition that (19) should be approximately satisfied for different values of . At that, we apply in (19) the appropriate parameters (instead on N, Na, Zs and R we have L', La, Zc and Rc, respectively). When the length of the cable section tends to its active length, according to (2) and (3), Qb tends to infinite and Pb to Z, so that according to (22) it follows
lim
Qb Pb Z C

1 1 1 ZD = R +Z +P . a N

(18)

ri = lim

Qb Pb Z C

rc Qb + Pb = rc . Qb + Pb

(24)

A line or its section with N spans can be considered as infinite from the point of view of grounding effects if, according to [4], the following condition is satisfied
1 N > N a = ln1 + where Na | Zs | ln1 + R (19)

On the basis of (24) we can write ri (L' La) = rc . (25)

As it can be seen from (25), the reduction factor of a sufficiently long cable section becomes equal to the reduction factor of the feeding line that is cable along its whole length.
Cables with insulated outer sheath

active line length expressed in the number of spans desired relative accuracy, |ZZN|/Z (an a priori adopted arbitrarily small number) ZN grounding impedance of ground wire seen from the point D. When the place of discontinuity is a transition station, the impedance ZD is equal to the grounding impedance of this station, or Z D = Z gt (20)

This type of cables, because the outer sheath is insulated, does not have grounding properties (the fault current is not conducted via the sheath into the surrounding ground). This is the reason why it is necessary to modify the circuit shown in Fig. 3. The impedance Pb is omitted (Pb=), and for the impedances Qb and ZD the following relations are valid

Q b = L' z c
Z D = R N1 + Z N1

(26)

where Zgt denotes the grounding impedance of the transition station. In the case of a ground wire of steel the expressions (14) and (17) can be simplified by introducing the approximation r1. When the overhead section is without a ground wire (r=1 and ZDPb), instead of (14) and (17), we have

(27)

where zc is the self-impedance of the cable sheath per meter. Then, on the basis of (22), (26) and (27) we have ri = rc L' z c + Z D . L' z c + Z D (28)

rt =

rc Qb + Pb Z 1 + b (Qb + Pb ) + Z b Pb

(21)

In the common case when the overhead section regarding the grounding effects may be treated as infinitely long, we have

ri =

rc Qb + Pb Qb + Pb

(22)

Z D = R N1 + Z 1

(29)

Active cable length can be estimated by using (19) and the

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and when a place of a discontinuity is a transition station,

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17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution

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discontinuity [8]. ZD=Zgt . (30) Now we shall assume that one cable of a voltage 110 kV supplies a distribution station with a transformation 110/X kV, while, at the other end, the cable is connected to the overhead section of the feeding line. The cable has three lead sheaths and their external and internal diameters are equal: 54.6 mm and 51.4 mm, while the value of the reduction factor of the cable, according to the manufacturers data, is equal to 0.22. For the overhead part of the line we assume that in one case it is equipped by a steel ground wire, so that it can be taken that r1, while in the other case we have a ground wire ACSR 95/55 mm2 with a reduction factor of r=0.675. The calculation results of the feeding line reduction factor versus cable length for the first and the second case are shown in Figs. 5 and 6, respectively.

The last case is especially important for the substations in the high voltage (e.g. 110 kV) distribution networks. The real values of the relevant magnitudes (L and Zgt) in these networks are such that the condition Zgt/Lzc<0.05 is satisfied in many cases and the approximation rirc can be used. If the discontinuity point is on the line itself, the reduction effect of this type of cables is less pronounced, because the grounding impedance ZD is larger in that case (Pb=). The parameters k and Z are defined by the following relations In the mid-voltage distribution networks it is common case that two or more substations are successively supplied through the same cable section. If the cable is with an insulated outer sheath, the reduction factor for these substations is also defined by (28). However, in that case L' represents the length from D to the considered substation, while the grounding impedance ZD includes the influence of the galvanic connections (through the cable sheath(s)) with the grounding systems of all of these substations.
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

|ri|
1.0

0.8

|Zgt|=2
0.6

|Zgt|=1 |Zgt|=0.5

0.4

At first we shall assume that the substation is directly fed by a cable with an uninsulated outer sheath which is connected at the other end to an overhead line without any ground wire (ZN and RN are treated as infinitely large). This situation is quite common in mid-voltage distribution network with oil-filled cables. After the discretization of the cable sheath based on the following cable data: outer diameter d=44 mm and experimentally determined Zm/Zs0.8 and Zs=(0.0007 + j 0.002) , we performed the calculations and for differential soil resistivity obtained the results displayed in Fig. 4.
|ri|
100 m 0.8 0.6 0.4 60 m 40 m

0.2

|Zgt|=0.2
0.0 0 1 2

|Zgt|=0.1
3 4 5

L (km)

Fig. 5 Cable with insulated outer sheath in the case r=1

|ri|
0.8

|Zgt|=2 |Zgt|=1

0.6

|Zgt|=0.5
0.4

0.2

|Zgt|=0.2
0.0 0 1

|Zgt|=0.1

0.2

L (km)

20 m 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 L' (km)

Fig. 6 Cable with insulated outer sheath in the case r=0.675

0.0

Fig. 4. Cable with uninsulated outer sheath in the case r=1, ZN=, RN=.

As the cable length L' increases, it is evident that the reduction factor ri tends to the value it would have if the cable were laid along the whole length of the feeding line. Certainly, for the equal cable length, the effect would be still more pronounced if a transition station were at the point of
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If we assume that the length of the cable section is 3 km (the average length of the cable lines in the 100 kV network of Belgrade is approximately 4 km), the increase of the reduction factor ri in comparison to rc is for the first case (Fig. 5) 6.4%, 13%, 49%, 110% and 195%; while for the second case (Fig. 6) it is 4%, 10%, 32%, 71% and 128%. The absolute value of the grounding impedance of stations in 110 kV distribution networks larger than 0.1 (|Zgt|>0.1 ) is rare and may be expected only in the cases of unfavorable
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17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution

Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003

natural conditions (high soil resistivity). However, according to the presented calculation results one can gain a global insight into the reduction factor ri in comparison to the cable reduction factor when the impedance Zgt has different values. On the basis of the given results the following can be concluded. The safety conditions based on the cable reduction factor rc would give more favorable results (lower values of touch and step voltages). This means that it could happen that the required safety conditions in the supplied station would not be met. It should be stressed that the standard measurements of safety conditions, which are mandatory before a newly built station is put in operation, do not comprise check of the reduction factor value of the feeding line (e.g. [2]).
CONCLUSIONS

The paper presents a directly applicable and practical method for the determination of the ground fault current distribution in substations supplied by a cable section of the feeding line containing at least one overhead section as well. The calculations are very simple and take into account all relevant data available at the design stage.
REFERENCES

[1] Current During Two Separate Simultaneous Single Phase Line-To-earth Short Circuits and Partial ShortCircuit Currents Flowing Through Earth, International Standard, ref. No. CEI/IEC 909-3, 1995.

[2] IEEE Guide for Safety in Substation Grounding St. d. 80-1986. [3] Lj.M. Popovi, 2000, Efficient Reduction of Fault Current Through the Grounding Grid of Substation Supplied by Cable Line, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, 15, 556-561. [4] Lj.M. Popovi, 1998, Practical Method for Evaluating Ground Fault Current Distribution in Station, Towers and Ground Wire, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, 13, 123-128. [5] Lj.M. Popovi, 1997, Practical Method for Evaluating Ground Fault Current Distribution in Station Supplied by an Inhomogeneous Line, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, 12, 722-727. [6] Lj.M. Popovi, 1993, Practical Method for the Analysis of Earthing Systems with Long External Electrodes, IEE Proc. C, 140, 213-220. [7] B. Thapar, S. Madan, 1981, Current for Design of Grounding Systems, IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and Systems, 100, 342-345. [8] J. Villas, D. Mukhedkar, V. Fernandes, A. Magalhaes, 1990, Grounding Grid Design of a Transition Station System - a Typical Example of Fault Transfer, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, 5, 124-129. [9] S. Sobral, V. Costa, M. Campas, D. Mukhedkar, 1988, Dimensioning of Nearby Substations Interconnected Ground System, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, 3, 16051614.

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