Conductors

Brajesh Kumar
Asstt. General Manager(Engg-TL)
Power Grid Corporation of India limited
New Delhi
 Conductors
 Carries the Load Current
 Very Costly : Comprises 30% - 40% of
line cost
 Another 30% - 40% is the cost of Tower,
Foundations etc depends on conductor
 Wind Load
 Tension Load
 Height of Tower : Max sag dependant on Conductor
 Hence, selection of Conductor is very
important
 History of Conductors
 Copper was the first metal used to transmit electricity during the
development of the electrical industry in the early 1880's

 Criteria for determining the size of Conductor was the Mechanical

Strength and Not Electrical Conductivity (Cu has a very high
conductivity)

 Conductors were, therefore, generally larger than required from the

standpoint of efficient electrical conductivity

 Because of the weight, span lengths were short, thus increasing the
overall cost of the transmission line.
 Hence, Aluminium began to replace Copper
 The first transmission line using aluminum conductors
was constructed in California in 1895, quickly followed
by a second line in 1898
 The first transmission line using a stranded (7-strand)
aluminum cable was constructed by the Connecticut
Electric Light Company in 1899
 Aluminum possesses a conductivity-to-weight
ratio twice that of copper and its strength-to-
weight ratio is 30% greater than copper.
 ACSR Conductor
 With the widespread use of Aluminium, need
was felt to increase the Strength of Al Conductor
 Thus, in 1907 a new aluminum-steel composite
cable was introduced
 This new conductor combined the light weight
and high current carrying capacity of aluminum
with the high strength of a galvanized steel core
 Known to world as : ACSR : Aluminum conductor
Steel reinforced.
 AAAC Conductor

 In 1939 a new all aluminum-magnesium-

silicon alloy cable was introduced
 The new all-aluminum alloy cable (AAAC)
was developed to retain the mechanical
and electrical properties of ACSR while
improving weight and corrosion resistance
characteristics
 This provided new alternatives to ACSR
 New Trends

 More recently, many innovative conductor

designs have been developed to address
the changing needs of the electrical utility
industry
 New alloys have been developed to
provide thermal stability, increased
conductivity, vibration resistance and
other specific characteristics.
 Types of Conductors
 There are four major types of overhead
conductors used for electrical transmission and
distribution.
 AAC - All Aluminum Conductor
 AAAC - All Aluminum Alloy Conductor
 ACSR - Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced
 ACAR - Aluminum Conductor Aluminum-Alloy Reinforced
 The various combinations and modifications of
these conductor types provide a wide variety of
possible conductor designs.
 AAC: All Aluminum Conductor
 High Conductivity but poor strength-to-weight
ratio
 Limited use in transmission lines and rural
distribution because of the long spans utilized
 AAC has seen extensive use in urban areas
where spans are usually short but high
conductivity is required.
 Used in Coastal region as it is corrosion
resistance
 ACSR - Aluminum Conductor Steel
Reinforced
 This conductor has combined the light weight
and high current carrying capacity of aluminum
with the high strength of a galvanized steel core

 To meet varying requirement the quantity of

Steel and Aluminium can be varied.
 ACSR such as 6/1, 30/7, 30/19, 54/19 and 54/7 strandings
feature high steel content, 26% to 40%
 18/1, 45/7, 72/7, and 84/19, comprising a range of steel
content from 11% to 18%.
Some Common Conductors used in
India at Transmission Voltages
 ACSR MOOSE
 54/3.53mm Aluminium + 7/3.53mm Steel

 ACSR Panther
 30/3.00mm Aluminium + 7/3.00mm Steel

 ACSR Zebra
 54/3.18mm Aluminium + 7/3.18mm Steel

 ACSR Bersimis.
 42/4.57mm Aluminium +7/2.54 mm steel
 AAAC

 Alloy : Aluminum-Magnesium-Silicon
 High Strength
 Excellent ‘Sag – Tension’ Characteristics as
improved ‘Strength/Wt’ ratio.
 ACSR MOOSE : UTS-161.2 kN, Wt- 2004 kg/km
 AAAC MOOSE : UTS-159.8 kN, Wt- 1666 kg/km

 Superior corrosion resistance to that of ACSR

 ACAR: Aluminum Conductor-
Aluminum Alloy Reinforced
 Excellent balance of Electrical &
Mechanical properties.
 Invar Conductors
 Core made of alloy of Iron – Nickel having low
thermal coefficient of expansion (1/3rd that of
steel)
 After certain transition temperature all load
transferred to the core and hence lower sag
compared to ACSR after transition temperature
 Can be operated up to 200degC
 Manufactured by Japanese and Korean
manufacturers
 CONDUCTOR SELECTION SCENARIOS
 Scenario I
Selection of conductor for a transmission line of identified voltage
level and specified minimum power flow but power flow capacity
becomes ruling factor in selection of conductor size (low voltage
lines).

 Scenario II
Selection of conductor for a transmission line with identified
voltage level and a specified minimum power flow but voltage
level becomes ruling factor in selection of conductor/conductor
bundle size (EHV/UHV lines).

 Scenario III
Selection of conductor for high power capacity long distance
transmission lines where selection of voltage level and
conductor/conductor bundle size are to be done together to
obtain most optimum solution (HVDC Bipole).
 CAPITAL COST OF 400kV D/C TRANS.
LINE VS. DESIGN SPAN (Indicative)
80
Capital Cost (Rs/km)

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
250 300 350 400 450 500 550
Design Span (M)
 LOADABILITY OF TRANSMISSION LINES

 Stability limit: Determined by system configuration.

 Thermal limit: Determined by conductor size & its
permissible temp.
 Indian practices for max. conductor temp for ACSR:
- 65deg C in 1970’s .
- Increased to 75 degrees in 1980’s.
 Line Loadability generally restricted by stability limit.
Thermal limits are not fully exploited for longer lines.
 Series compensation etc.,improve stability limits &
enable loading close to thermal limits.
 Maxm. Permissible temperature limits increased to 85
deg C in general by POWERGRID and upto 95 deg C
on case to case basis
 Power Flow in AC Lines

Thermal limit

Stability limit
Power Flow

Line length

Normal Power flow kept much below the peak value to

maintain reserve under contingency conditions
 Conductor Heat Balance
 Heat Generated = Heat Dissipated
 Heat Generated = I2R + Solar radiation
(qs)
 Heat Dissipated = Convection Cooling
(qc)+ Radiation Cooling (qr)

 I2R = (qc) + (qr) - (qs)

The above equation solved for conductor

temperature at point of heat balance
 CURRENT CARRYING CAPACITY:
VARIATION W.R.T AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
Conductor- ACSR Moose
Max Temp 75deg C
Current Carrying Capacity

1200
Solar Radiation: 1045 W/sqm
1000 Wind Speed 2Km/hr
Absorption Coeff: 0.8
800 Emmisitivity coeff: 0.45
(Amp)

600

400

200

0
20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Ambient Temp (degC)

 Conductor Current Carrying Capacity : Variation w.r.t
Max. Permissible Temp
1400
Conductor- ACSR Moose
1200
Current Carrying Capacity

Ambient Temp: 45 degC

1000 Solar Radiation: 1045 W/sqm
Wind Velocity :2km/hr
800
(degC)

Absorption Coeff: 0.8

600 Emmisitivity Coeff: 0.45
400
200
0
65 75 85 95 115 125

Max Permissible Temp (deg C)