2014 Electrical Power, Electronics, Communications, Controls, and Informatics Seminar (EECCIS)

Characteristics and Suppression of Secondary Arc on

500 kV Transmission Lines for Single Pole Reclosure
Purposes
Kevin Marojahan B.N. Nanang Hariyanto Muhammad Nurdin
School of Electrical Engineering and School of Electrical Engineering School of Electrical Engineering and
Informatics, InsitutTeknologi Informatics, InsitutTeknologi Informatics, InsitutTeknologi
Bandung Bandung Bandung
Jl. Ganeca 10 Bandung, Indonesia Jl. Ganeca 10 Bandung, Indonesia Jl. Ganeca 10 Bandung, Indonesia
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract— Single phase to ground faults are the most Nowadays, there are many auto-reclosure failures in the
frequent problem in the extra high voltage overhead lines, and Java-Bali system due to secondary arc. The electrical utility
are temporary in most cases. This type of fault can be quickly company, PLN, has considered about using shunt reactor
eliminated using a single pole reclosure, but secondary arc with neutral reactor in order to solve this problem. But they
phenomenon often makes the reclosure fail to work. This study
haven’t found a good way to determine the optimum
aimed to obtain the characteristics of the secondary arc on the
500 kV transmission lines as well as obtain a solution to inductance, and since the loadings of EHV lines are usually
minimize the amplitude of secondary arc on both transposed high, the use of shunt reactor is less favored because it
and untransposed lines, so that the reclosure can work worsens voltage profiles of the lines. From those situation, a
properly and the system maintains its stability. The effect of new idea to suppress secondary arc current is considered,
high speed grounding speed and neutral reactor attachment at that is how if we use either high speed grounding switch or
neutral of shunt reactors on minimizing secondary arc and a switched shunt reactor, which would be connected to the
possibility to activate shunt reactor only during dead time are lines only during the dead time period of single phase auto
analyzed in this study. reclosure. Those ideas were simulated by using ATP-Draw, a
well-known graphical processor to ATP-EMTP.

Keywords— reclosure, secondary arc, high speed grounding II. THEORY

switch, neutral reactor.
A. Shunt Capacitances
I. INTRODUCTION Shunt capacitances of transmission lines are a natural
Extra high voltage overhead transmission is an important phenomenon, as there are potential differences among lines
part of power systems. It is used to carry electricity to long and between every line to the ground. Those are usually
distances. Untreated disturbance on the extra high voltage explained using capacitance matrix or mesh circuit. For
lines can be fatal to the stability of the power systems. balanced lines, there are only two different capacitances.
Approximately ninety percent of the faults on extra high They are interphase capacitance and phase to ground
voltage transmission lines are single line to ground faults, capacitance.
most of which are temporary in most cases so they can be
removed using a single pole auto-reclosure [1]. It means that
single pole auto-reclosure can improve stability and
reliability of the power systems, and this equipment has been
very widely used in the transmission network.
The performance of the single pole auto-reclosure is
related to dead time, secondary arc existence, and reclosing
overvoltage [2] [3]. After a single phase-to-ground fault is
detected, the relay will give a signal to open the circuit
breaker on both sides of the disturbed lines. During this
event, two other healthy phases are still energized. During Fig. 1. Mesh circuit Representing Shunt Capacitances of Balanced
this dead time, secondary arc current will exist, and is highly Single Circuit Transmission Lines [5]
dependent on the line configuration, recovery voltage, and
temperature [2], and it will affect the performance of the Symmetrical components of capacitive susceptances are
auto-recloser. developed using mesh circuits. In order to find positive,
negative, and zero sequence susceptance, the delta connected

978-1-4799-6947-0/14/$31.00 (c) 2014 IEEE 1

 2014 Electrical Power, Electronics, Communications, Controls, and Informatics Seminar (EECCIS)

interphase capacitances are transformed to wye-connection. real sets to find secondary arc magnitude. When the switch f
Then, each sequence voltage is applied and analyzed. The is closed, secondary arc If will flow, as shown in Figure 3.
results are shown below. The equations below show the magnitude of secondary
arc.

(5)








 (1)
And if there are no shunt reactors installed on the lines,











(2) the magnitude is shown below.

The inverse of the equations above is:





(6)








(3)
C. Shunt Reactors













(4) One of reactive power compensators which are usually

installed on transmission lines is shunt reactor. Generally,
shunt reactors are installed in order to reduce positive
B. Secondary Arc sequence shunt susceptances of long transmission lines. In
Secondary arc is the current which exists after isolating addition to that feature, the shunt reactors, if equipped with
the faulted conductors by opening the appropriate circuit the neutral reactor, can be used to suppress the secondary
breaker poles. arc, as we’ll discuss later.
When the disturbed phase is isolated by opening of the
appropriate circuit breaker poles, that phase remains
capacitively and inductively coupled with other healthy
phases, and as a consequence, current occurs in the disturbed
phase [1]. The existence of the secondary arc makes single
pole auto reclosure fail to work properly.
Figure 3 shows us simplified equivalent circuit of
disturbed lines. Naturally, there are a shunt interphase
capacitance and a shunt phase to ground capacitance for
every phase. Both shunt interphase inductance and shunt
phase to ground inductances represent shunt compensation
that we install across the transmission lines.

Fig. 3. Shunt Reactors with Four Branches as a Shunt Compensator of

Balanced Single Circuit Lines [5]

To minimize the secondary arc, we can use shunt reactors

composed of phase reactance and a neutral reactance, as
shown in figure 2. The requirements are as follows:

a) Phase to phase capacitance neutralization

(7)

b) For a chosen degree of compensation F








(8)

Fig. 2. Equivalent of Source and Faulted Line Section, Neglecting the c) From both equations above we have:
Series Impedance [4]
















(9)
a2E and aE can be expressed in real and imaginary sets of
voltage, and we find the secondary arc using superposition
theorem. The imaginary sets are balanced so they have no So we can install shunt reactors with phase reactance Xp
contribution to the secondary arc. We only need to focus on to compensate a chosen degree of capacitive compensation F
and neutral reactance Xn, which is one third of zero sequence

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 2014 Electrical Power, Electronics, Communications, Controls, and Informatics Seminar (EECCIS)

reactance minus positive sequence reactance. Those are IV. SECONDARY ARC CHARACTERISTICS
shown below. From the simulation performed using ATP-Draw, it is
found that generally secondary arc increases as the length of





(10) the lines increases, and decreases as the relative rotor
angleincreases. The capacitive susceptance increases as the









(11) length of the lines increases. Hence, capacitive coupling


between healthy phase and disturbed phase increases as well,
III. MODELLING OF THE SYSTEM resulting higher secondary arc amplitude.
As the loadings increase, the relative rotor angle

In the simulation, a small system consisting of sending
increases, and the voltage profiles across the lines changes,
end, transmission, and receiving end is modeled.
as shown in Figure 6. In order to derive phasor diagrams in
Figure 6, it is assumed that the lines are modeled as 4 T-
Transmission Lines equivalents. The secondary arc current is calculated by
Sending End Receiving End
applying equation 6 on every T-equivalent circuit.
Es, 

 Er, 

 In Figure 6, we can see that although the voltage
magnitude of the receiving end and sending end are the
same, the relative rotor angle affects the angle difference
Fig. 4. System Modeling among voltages across the lines, thus it affects the magnitude
of secondary arc. Figure 6 is observed with assumption that
Parameters of sending end and receiving end are given in the transmission lines consist of four T equivalents.
Table 1.

TABLE I. PARAMETERS OF SENDING END AND RECEIVING END

Parameter Sending End Receiving End
E 500 kV 500 kV

200, 400, 600 00
R 10 Ω 6Ω
X 62.8 Ω 47.1 Ω

The data which are needed for transmission lines

modeling consist of single circuit and double circuit data.
Those are given in Table 2 and Table 3.
Gannet ACSR conductors are used as phase conductors,
and steel 50 conductors are used as earthing conductors.
(a)
TABLE II. DATA OF SINGLE CIRCUIT TRANSMISSION LINES

TABLE III. DATA OF DOUBLE CIRCUIT TRANSMISSION LINES

(b)
Fig. 5. (a) Effect of Length on Secondary Arc, (b) Effect of Relative
Rotor Angle on Secondary Arc (Phase A, Transposed Single Circuit)

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 2014 Electrical Power, Electronics, Communications, Controls, and Informatics Seminar (EECCIS)

V. SUPPRESSION OF SECONDARY ARC possibly switched only during the fault isolation if the
loadings of the lines are high.
A. Suppression of Secondary Arc on Untransposed
Procedures for calculating the reactance of shunt reactors
Transmission Lines
are developed as shown below.
For both untransposed single and double circuit lines, 1) Find phase to phase and phase to ground capacitive
Suppression can be done using high speed grounding switch susceptances of transmission lines
which will be switched on a moment after isolation of the

(a)

Fig. 7. Secondary Arc Suppression Using HSGS (Phase A)

Current (A)

(b)
Time (s)
Fig. 6. Phasor Diagram of Secondary Arc Current and Voltage Across
the Lines (a)
= 200, (b)
=600 Fig. 8. Secondary Arc Current Consisting of DC Component

disturbed phase [6]. HSGS grounds the fault phase, and it is 2) Calculate zero, positive, and negative sequence of
able to reduce secondary arc current to below 20 A. The capacitive susceptance, BC0 = BCg, BC2 = BC1 = BCg+ 3BCh.
level of suppression is related to HSGS resistance. DC 3) Calculate positive sequence inductive susceptance
component of the current as the effect of switching can be needed for a chosen degree of compensation h. BL1 = h BC1.
minimized by setting the appropriate HSGS delay so that the 4) Minimize phase to phase capacitive susceptance
primary arc has been completely extinguished when the using equation BC1 - BC0 = BL1 - BL0, therefore we obtain BL0
HSGS is switched on. = BC1 (h – 1) + BC0.
In Figure 7, HSGS resistance is assumed to be 0.02Ω and 5) Calculate zero and positive sequence shunt reactance
the arc resistance varies. It should be noted that in reality, arc using equation XL1 = (BL1)-1, and XL0 = (BL0)-1.
resistance consists of arc path resistance, tower impedance, 6) Calculate phase reactance of shunt reactor, Xp= XL1
and grounding impedance. In Figure 8, a small arc resistance
and neutral reactance of shunt reactor Xn= (XL0 – XL1)/3,
is assumed in order to show the transient period, which
should we install the shunt reactors at only one end. If the
would be faster to reach zero with appropriate HSGS delay.
shunt reactors will be installed at both ends, Xp= 2XL1 and
neutral reactance is Xn= 2(XL0 – XL1)/3.
B. Suppression of Secondary Arc on Transposed Single Appropriate selection of neutral reactors with the
Circuit Transmission Lines abovementioned procedure will give optimum suppression of
Shunt reactors are used as both a positive sequence shunt secondary arc, and the AC part of the current can be reduced
compensator and a secondary arc suppressor. They can be to lower than 10 A. In the simulation using ATP Draw, the

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 2014 Electrical Power, Electronics, Communications, Controls, and Informatics Seminar (EECCIS)

result was found as shown in Figure 9. Jose Marty Not only do the transmission lines have phase to ground
transmission lines model was used in the simulation. and interphase susceptances, they also have
intercircuitsusceptances, which consist of intercircuit like
phase and intercircuit unlike phase susceptances. Since we
C. Suppression of Secondary Arc on Transposed Double
have a compensation scheme with only three different
Circuit Transmission Lines
reactances, of course it is impossible to completely
Once again, shunt reactors are used as both a positive compensate four different capacitive susceptances.
sequence compensator and a secondary arc suppressor, but it Therefore we must install capacitors connected among
is more complicated than on the single circuit. Shunt reactos intercircuit like phases in order to make all the
must completely compensate phase to ground, interphase, intercircuitsusceptances balanced so that a complete
and intercircuit capacitive susceptance. The scheme of shunt compensation can be done using scheme in Figure 10.
reactors we are using are shown in Figure 10. The symmetrical components of the capacitive
susceptances are calculated using the equation below.



 


Fig. 9. Effect of Shunt Rectors on Secondary Arc (Phase A, Transposed
Single Circuit)

For analyzing the symmetrical components of double Fig. 11. Six Symmetrical Components for Analyzing Double Circuits [5]
circuit lines, six symmetrical components are introduced as
With matrix T:
shown in Figure 11.
For the scheme as shown in Figure 10, we find that the
zero sequence reactance is XL0 = 6Xn + 3Xm + Xp, the third
sequence reactance is XL3 = 3Xm + Xp, and the first sequence
reactance is XL1 = Xp.

We know that shunt reactors make poor voltage profiles

at receiving end, so it would be better if we could switch the
shunt reactors only when they are needed, that is during low
loadings or dead time of SPAR. Correct setting of switching
delay will make better secondary arc suppression, because
the DC component of secondary arc current depends on
instantaneous current when switching is performed. This
statement is also valid for shunt reactors switching on single
circuit lines. Figure 12 show the secondary arc if the shunt
reactors are switched on during deadtime of SPAR. Small
arc resistance is assumed to make the transient period easily
observed.
Procedures for calculating the reactance of shunt
reactors are developed as shown below.
Fig. 10. Shunt Reactors as a Shunt Compensator of Balanced Double
Circuit Lines [5]

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 2014 Electrical Power, Electronics, Communications, Controls, and Informatics Seminar (EECCIS)

1) Find phase to ground, interphase, intercircuit like Appropriate selection of neutral and connecting reactors
phase, and intercircuit unlike phase capacitances of by using the abovementioned procedure will optimally
transmission lines. suppress the AC part of secondary arc to 5 A or lower, as
2) Calculate capacitance which we must install in order shown in Figure 13. This suppression fastens the arc
to make intercircuitsusceptances balanced. C = Ci – Cjif the extinction [5], and thus increases the success rate of single
capacitors are intalled at one end, and C = (Ci – Cj)/2if the pole auto reclosing, not to mention the other determining
capacitors are installed at both ends. factors such as recovery voltage and the arc characteristics
3) Calculate capacitive susceptances of the lines which are not discussed in this paper, and important subjects
4) Calculate symmetrical components of the lines’ of future research.
capacitive susceptance using equation 12.

(a)

Fig. 13. The Effect of Shunt Reactors on Suppressing Secondary Arc

(Phase A, Circuit 1, Transposed Double Circuit Lines

VI. CONCLUSION
It has been shown that:
1) Secondary arc increases as the length of transmission
lines increases.
2) Generally, secondary arc increases as the relative
rotor angle decreases.
(b) 3) Secondary arc current can be suppressed using high
Fig. 12. (a)Secondary Arc If the Switching Delay of Shunt Reactors is speed grounding switch for untransposed transmission lines.
too Fast (b) Secondary Arc If the Switching Delay of Shunt Reactors 4) Shunt reactors can be used as both positive sequence
is Made Longer
compensator and secondary arcsuppressor, with
appropriate selection of reactance.
5) inimize intercircuit and interphase susceptances
5) In order to suppress secondary arc, shunt reactors
using equation BL1 - BL0 = BC1 - BC , therefore BL0 = BC1(h –
can be switched on only during dead time of SPAR if the
1) + BC0
lines are highly loaded.
6) Calculate third sequence inductive susceptance using
equation BC3 - BC0 = BL3 – BL0, therefore BL3 = BC3 +BC1(h – REFERENCES
1) [1] Yu Liu, Jun Wen, "Simulation Analysis of Single-Phase Adaptive
7) Calculate zero sequence, first sequence, and third Auto-Reclose on UHV Transmission Lines with Shunt Reactors,"
sequence shunt reactance using equation XL3 = (BL3)-1, XL1 = International Conference on Energy and Environment Technology
(ICEET '09), vol.2, pp.279-282, 16-18 October, 2009.
(BL1)-1, and XL0 = (BL0)-1.
[2] T. Lobos, P. Schegner, T. Sikorski, "Assessment of Transient
8) Calculate phase reactance of shunt reactors, Xp= XL1, Disturbances in HV Systems With Single-Phase Autoreclosures," XV
connecting reactance Xm= (XL3 - XL1)/3 and neutral International Symposium on Theoretical Engineering (ISTET), pp.1-
reactance Xn= (XL0 - 3Xm - Xp)/6 if the shunt reactors are 4, 22-24 June 2009.
[3] L. Prikler, M. Kizilcay, G. Ban, P. Handl, “Improved Secondary Arc
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 2014 Electrical Power, Electronics, Communications, Controls, and Informatics Seminar (EECCIS)

[6] Lei Chen; Haijun Liu; Ming Wu; Delin Wei; MengNiu, "Study on
Compensation for Secondary Arc Current on UHV Double-Circuit
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