EE450: High Voltage Engineering

Lecture 1

Farhan Mahmood, PhD

Department of Electrical Engineering
UET, Lahore

January 25, 2017

Outline

Introduction to High Voltage Engineering

• Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy

• Voltage Stresses
• Need for High Voltage
• Testing Voltages
• High Voltage Engineering
• Levels of High Voltage
• Some Examples of High Voltage Equipment

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Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy

• Early electric power systems

 The first public power station was put into service in 1882 in London.
˗ To produce direct current at low voltage.
˗ Its service was limited to highly localized areas.
˗ Used mainly for electric lighting.
 The first major AC power station was commissioned in 1890 at Deptford.
˗ To supply power over a distance of 28 miles.
˗ To produce alternative current at high voltage of 10 kV.

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Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy

• DC Systems
 HVDC permits a higher power density as compared to AC transmission.
 HVDC provides an economic solution for interconnecting asynchronous AC
systems (back-to-back installation).

• AC Systems
 Voltage level can be changed using transformers.
 High voltage generation is only possible with synchronous generators.

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Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy

• Power transfer capability P of an AC system is approximately considered as:

where U is the operating voltage.

Z is the wave impedance of a transmission line

• Power transfer capability P of a bipolar DC system is approximately considered as:

P = 2 Ud Id
where Ud is the operating voltage of one line
Id is the current flowing through the line.

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Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy

Table: Power transfer capability of an AC system and its relationships with operating
voltage and transfer distance

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Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy

Table: Power transfer capability of a DC system and its relationships with operating
voltage

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Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy

2008 1000 kV Jindongnan-Nanyang-Jingmin (China)

Major AC systems in chronological order of their installations

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Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy

Major DC systems in chronological order of their installations

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Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy

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Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy

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Voltage Stresses

• Normal operating voltage

 Operating voltage determines the dimensions of the insulation which forms part
of electrical equipment.
 Normal operating voltage does not severely stress the power system’s insulation.
Only in special circumstances, for example under pollution conditions, may
operating voltages cause problems to external insulation.

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Voltage Stresses

• Overvoltages
 Transient overvoltages can reach up to 6 per unit (1 per unit = nominal voltage).
 Voltage stresses on power systems arise from various overvoltages.
− External overvoltages: associating with lightning strokes on lines
− Internal overvoltages: generated by changes in the operating conditions of
systems, such as,
o Fluctuations in loads (voltage rise and dip).
o Switching operation (switching overvoltage)
o Short-circuit faults on systems (EE454: Power system protection)

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Voltage Stresses

Lightning strike to an UHV line

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Voltage Stresses

500 kV disconnector opened

under load

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Voltage Stresses

Short-circuit on 110 kV
power line

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Voltage Stresses

No. Type of Shape Designation Causes

Overvoltage
1. Temporary Low-frequency Electric faults
overvoltages oscillations Sudden changes of load
2. Switching Slow front surges Fault interruption
overvoltages De-energization of capacitor banks
Energization of lines
Energization/de-energization of
transformers

3. Lightning Fast front surges Lightning—cloud-to-ground flashes

overvoltages
4. Restrike Very fast front surges Opening or closing of circuit breakers,
overvoltages, disconnecting switch and earthing
GIS switch etc.

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Voltage Stresses

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Need for High Voltage

• It is desirable to increase the transmission voltage to obtain higher efficiency, but this
causes increased stresses on the insulation.
• System voltages have steadily increased over the years to deliver more power.
Today, we have ac systems operational at 1000 kV and dc systems operated at
±800 kV.
• For the reliable operation of power system, equipment must be designed and tested
at very high voltages.
• Gas, liquid and solid materials are used for insulation in power systems. Therefore, a
good understanding of insulation systems is essential to improve the reliability of
power systems.

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Testing Voltages

• It is necessary to test HV equipment during its development stage and prior to

commissioning.
• The magnitude and type of test voltage varies with the rated voltage of a particular
apparatus.
• Basic classification of testing voltages:
 Testing with power frequency AC voltages
 Testing with very low-frequency AC voltages
 Testing with DC voltages
 Testing with lightning impulse voltages
 Testing with switching impulse voltages

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Testing Voltages

Temporary Overvoltages

Switching Overvoltages

Lightning Overvoltages

Very-fast Front Overvoltages

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High Voltage Engineering

• The behaviour of a synchronous machine during a disturbance is described by the

swing equation.
• Consider a generating unit consisting of a three-phase synchronous generator and
its prime mover.

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High Voltage Engineering

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Levels of High Voltage

• Definition of High Voltage

 IEC and its national counterparts (IET, IEEE, VDE, etc.) define high voltage
circuits as those with more than 1000 V for AC and at least 1500 V for DC.
 In electric power transmission engineering, high voltage is usually considered
any voltage over approximately 35 kV.
 DC systems:
HVDC levels: 600 kV and below
UHVDC levels: above 600 kV

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Levels of High Voltage

Table: Voltage Classification for HVAC systems, in general

Voltage Class Voltage Range

Low voltage (LV) V ≤ 1 kV

Medium voltage (MV) 1 kV < V ≤ 33 kV

High voltage (HV) 33 kV < V ≤ 230 kV

Extra high voltage (EHV) 230 kV < V ≤ 750 kV

Ultra high voltage (UHV) V > 750 kV

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Some Examples of HV Equipment

Windings of a 220-kV
transformer

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Some Examples of HV Equipment

750-kV transmission line

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Some Examples of HV Equipment

Mineral oil in transformer

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Some Examples of HV Equipment

AC testing transformer (left) and DC voltage generator (right)

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HV Equipment

Impulse voltage generator

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Suggested Readings

• Suggested Reading: Chapter 1 (Kuffeel and Zaengl’s book)

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION