UNIT I - INTRODUCTION AND SURVEY

Two Mark Questions

1. What are the sources of transients?

The major sources of transients in power system are,
i. Lightning
ii. Switching and
iii. Ferroresonance
2. What are the types of power system transients?
Power system classified based on 4 categories. They are listed below.
i. Based on Nature
a) Impulsive transient
b) Oscillatory transient
ii. Based on mode of generation
a) Electromagnetic Transient
b) Electromechanical Transient
iii. Based on frequency
a) Low Frequency Oscillations
b) Slow front surges
c) Fast front surges
d) Very fast front surges
iv. Based on origin
a) Atmospheric Origin
b) Switching Origin
3. What is double frequency transient? Draw its circuit.
A circuit with inductance and capacitance on both sides of the circuit breaker gives
rise to double frequency transients.

4. List the effects of transients in power system.

Few effects of transients in power system components are,
i. Motors will run at higher temperatures
ii. Produces hysteresis losses in motors
iii.Degrades the contacting surfaces of switches and circuit breakers
iv.Electrical transformers are operates inefficiently
5. What are the effects of lightning transients?
Lightning produces a steep fronted voltage wave on the line. The voltage of this may
rise from zero to peak value in about 1µs and decay to half the peak value in about 5µs.
6. What is meant by arcing ground?
The phenomena of irregular arc taking place in line to ground fault of a three
phase system with production of transients is known as arcing ground. It can be prevented
by earthing the neutral.
7. Define transient.
The term transient is defined as the variations in power system parameters to denote
an event that is unwanted and momentary in nature.
8. What is meant by subsidence transient?
When a disturbance such as fault occurs on the primary of transformer, then
subsidence transient is produced. Due to this sudden reduction of voltage produced on the
primary.
9. What is ferroresonance?
The resonance that involves capacitance and nonlinear characteristics of iron-core
inductance is known as ferroresonance.
10. What are the types of lightning?
Types of lightning are,
 Cloud-to-Ground Lightning - Negative
 Cloud-to-Ground Lightning – Positive
 Ground-to-Cloud Lightning
 Intracloud Lightning

16. Mark Questions

1. Explain briefly about double frequency tansients.

2. Briefly explain the importance of study of transients in planning.
Power System transient is the variations in power system parameters to denote an
event that is unwanted and momentary in nature.
Transient phenomenon is an aperiodic function of time and does not last longer. The
duration for which they last is very insignificant as compared with the operating time of
the system. Yet they are very important because depending upon the severity of these
transients, the system may result into black out in a city, shut down of a plant, fires in
some buildings, etc. Apart from electrical power systems, electronic components are also
affected by transients. The effects of transient on various components of electrical
system are discussed below.
Power system planning is a process in which the aim is to decide on new as well as
upgrading existing system elements, to adequately satisfy the loads for a foreseen future.
Overvoltage from lightning strikes, electrical failures or switching actions, as well as
other transient phenomena, may significantly impact system performance and equipment
condition. The recovery of a power system subjected to a severe large disturbance is of
interest to system planners and operators. Respective modeling, analysis and insulation
coordination studies build the foundation for the resilience of equipment and systems.
For example, consider we are going to build a transmission line, passing through a
mountainous area. Once built, the line may be subject to severe lightning. Lightning is
such a very fast phenomena that it affects the system within nanoseconds. The designer
should think of appropriate provisions on the line, by proper modeling the system in
these very fast situations and performing enough studies, to make sure that the line does
not fail, if such lightning happens in practice. This is a typical very short-term study of
power systems. A detailed duration for power system studies is shown in the below
figure. Though system planning studies is a long term one and transient studies involve
short term, the transient studies play a major role in system planning.

Power system transient analysis for transmission and distribution systems is an

integral part of pre-specification analysis, operation and maintenance practices, root
cause analysis, and system planning for equipment. Energizing transients are becoming
 increasingly more important with the growing number of shunt and series reactive device
installations in power systems. This is because reactive device switching is one of the
most frequent utility operations, potentially occurring multiple times per day and
hundreds of time per year throughout the system, depending on the need for system
voltage/VAR support. There are a number of important concerns to be aware of when
these devices are energized at the transmission system voltage level.
3. Explain the various sources of transients in power systems.
There are two main sources of transient overvoltage on utility systems: capacitor
switching and lightning. These are also sources of transient overvoltage as well as a
numerous of other switching phenomena within end-user facilities. Some power electronic
devices generate significant transients when they switch. The major causes for power
system transients are explained in detail.
Capacitor switching:
Capacitor switching is one of the most common switching events on utility systems.
The use of capacitors on power systems is quite common that provide reactive power (in
units of VARs) to correct the power factor, which reduces losses and supports the voltage
on the system.
Some capacitors are energized all the time (a fixed bank), while others are switched
according to load levels. Various control means, including time, temperature, voltage,
current, and reactive power are used to determine when the capacitors are to be switched.
The use of capacitors produces oscillatory transients when switched. Transient caused by
capacitor switching in the utility side is shown in below figure.
Capacitor-switching transients are usually not damaging. However, the timing of
switching may be unfortunate for some sensitive industrial loads. For example, if the load
picks up the same time each day, the utility may decide to switch the capacitors coincident
with that load increase. There have been several cases where this coincides with the
beginning of a work shift and the resulting transient causes several adjustable-speed drives
to shut down shortly after the process starts. One simple and inexpensive solution is to
determine if there is a switching time that might be more acceptable. For example, it may
be possible to switch on the capacitor a few minutes before the beginning of the shift and
before the load actually picks up. It may not be needed then, but probably won’t hurt
anything. If this can’t be worked out, other, more expensive solutions will have to be
found.
Lightning:

Lightning is a strong source of impulsive transients. Currents from lightning

strokes passing through the power system cause high-impulse voltages that frequently
flash over insulation and lead to other phenomena, such as short circuits. Lightning
does not have to actually strike a conductor to inject impulses into the power system.
Lightning may simply strike near the line and induce an impulse by the collapse of the
electric field. Lightning may also simply strike the ground near a facility causing the
local ground reference to rise considerably. This may force currents along grounded
conductors into a remote ground, possibly passing near sensitive load apparatus. An
example for lightning transient is shown in figure 1.1.
Ferroresonance:

The term ferroresonance refers to a special kind of resonance that involves

capacitance and nonlinear characteristics of iron-core inductance. Ferroresonance can
occur most probably on the transformers. Such a resonance can result in voltages as
high as five times the rated system voltage, damaging lightning arresters and other
equipment and possibly even the transformer itself. When ferroresonance is occurring,
the transformer is likely to produce loud squeals and groans, and the noise has been
compared to the sound of steel roofing being dragged across a concrete surface. An
example of transient caused by ferroresonance is shown in the below figure.
 UNIT 2 - INTRODUCTION AND SURVEY
Two Mark Questions

1. What are the causes of switching surges?

The making and breaking of electric circuits with switch gear may result in
abnormal transient over voltages in a power system having large inductance and
capacitance.
The root causes for the switching surges include the following.
i. Capacitance Switching
ii. Load Switching
iii.Ferroresonance
2. What is meant by resistance switching?
The excessive voltage surges due to current chopping, capacitive current
breaking etc during circuit interruption can be prevented by the use of a shunt
resistance R connected across the circuit breaker contacts. This is known as resistance
switching

3. What is meant by capacitance switching?

The shunt capacitors are employed to correct a lagging power factor, or in

some cases, to provide voltage support for the system. In some applications they are
switched in and out quite frequently as the system load varies and the system
fluctuates. The process of energizing or de-energizing capacitor banks for power
factor correction is called capacitance switching.
4. Define current chopping.
The phenomenon of arc suppression devices in the circuit breaker bringing the
current to zero abruptly and prematurely ahead of the normal zero is known as current
chopping.
5. Draw the equivalent circuit for interrupting the resistor current.

6. What is meant by
load switching?
 The most frequent functions performed by some switching devices are to
switch on and switch off a load which is represented by a parallel RL circuit. Low
power factor loads will be mostly inductive, high power factor loads will be mostly
resistive. When such a load is switched off, the effective capacitance of the load
becomes important in determining the form of the transient generated
7. Define normal and abnormal switching transients.
Transients during energization are termed as normal switching transients. The
voltage value will be Up to 2 p.u. and no trapped charges are assumed. Eg: Capacitor
Energization
Transients during de-energization are termed as abnormal switching transients.
The voltage value will be very high and trapped charges are assumed.
8. What are the effects of source regulation?
Effects of source regulation include the following.
i. Negative regulation.
ii. Lowers the source side potential of the breaker.
9. What is restriking voltage?
It is the transient voltage that appears across the contacts of the circuit breaker
at or near the zero current instant during arcing period. A high frequency transient
voltage appears across the contacts and is caused by the rapid distribution of energy
between the magnetic & electric field associated with the station & transmission lines
of the system at the zero current. This transient voltage is known as restriking voltage
10. What is the need for resistance switching?
Resistance switching is used to prevent the excessive voltage surges due to
current chopping, capacitive current breaking etc. using a shunt resistance R
connected across the circuit breaker contacts

16. Mark Questions

1. Explain capacitance switching including effects of source regulation. Also

explain restrike and multiple restrikes.

The importance of shunt capacitor banks in power systems increasing due to

the increase of inductive loads. The operation of power factor improvement involves
energizing and de-energizing of capacitor banks. During capacitance switching
operations, the stored energy in the electric field of capacitance is released in the
system which may results in excessive overvoltages. Dropping of a long open-
circuited line or underground cable or disconnection of capacitor banks may present
hazardous overvoltages.
 Figure 2.9 depicts events occurring before and after such a switching
operation, which in this case was performed successfully.

Because of the relative phase of current and voltage (current leads the voltage
by 90°), the capacitor is fully charged to maximum voltage when the switch
interrupts. The capacitance which is isolated from the source retains its charge as
shown in Fig. 2.9(b). As a consequence of this set up of the charge, it can be seen
from Fig. 2.9(c) that, half a cycle after current zero, the voltage across the switch
reaches a peak value of 2 V, which is potentially dangerous. Figure 2.9 tends to
simplify conditions to some extent. When a capacitor is connected to a system, the
leading current that it draws, flowing through the inductance of the system causes the
capacitor voltage to be somewhat higher than the open-circuit system voltage. This is
a negative regulation sometimes referred to as the "Ferranti Rise."
When the capacitor is disconnected, the potential of the source side of the
circuit breaker will return to this lower value, but will do so by way of an oscillation
involving the source inductance and the stray capacitance adjacent to the breaker on
the source side. A more accurate representation of the disconnecting event is shown in
Fig. 2.10. In order to simplify the subsequent analysis we will choose to ignore this,
however, it does exist and can be important on relatively weak systems.

A situation can arise where a lower voltage system is being supplied by a

higher voltage system through a stepdown transformer with cable on the higher
voltage side and the lower voltage breaker is called upon to interrupt the charging
current of the cable.
Some circuit breakers, when called upon to interrupt a load or fault current, do
not do so at the first current zero, but instead wait until sufficient gap has been
established between their contacts for their various arc-extinguishing agencies to have
a better chance of operating successfully. The current involved in capacitance
switching is frequently small, so that more often than not the circuit breaker is capable
of interrupting it at the first current zero. If this should occur soon after the contacts
have parted, the voltage of 2 V will appear across the contacts while their separation
is small, so there is an increased possibility of the device reigniting. Let us assume, a
restrike takes place exactly when the voltage reaches its peak, which is equivalent to
reclosing the switch at that instant. This is an LC circuit, so we would expect it to
respond to this sudden disturbance by going into an oscillation at its natural
frequency, which is
where L is the inductance of the supply and C the capacitance of the bank.

When examining the energization of capacitor banks; a reignition or restrike is

in fact an inadvertent re-energization, in this case with a trapped charge of 1 pu. The
restrike current will be the instantaneous voltage across the switch divided by the
circuit surge impedance, or

Neglecting damping, the voltage will swing as far above the

instantaneous system voltage as it started below. This is indicated in Fig. 2.11, which
shows the initial clearing, the trapping of charge on the capacitor, and the subsequent
restrike. The transient voltage excursion to 3Vp is an abnormal overvoltage by our
definition and is the consequence of the energy stored in the capacitor bank at the
 In the sequence drawn in Fig. 2.11(a) the Rs represent sequential restrikes and the Cs
subsequent clearings. The sequence is idealized and to some extent oversimplified. For
example, in practice restrikes will not always occur precisely at the voltage peak, so that the
voltage, if it escalates, does so more slowly. Again, the circuit is more complicated. Some
capacitance will exist on the source side of the breaker, which will introduce higher frequency
disturbances, as was pointed out in Fig. 2.11. When the switch recovers after point A, the
potential at the switch is quite high. But the source would have it be at its potential. The
source side of the switch, therefore, goes through a high-frequency transient involving an
oscillation of the aforementioned capacitance and the inductance of the source. In fact, at this
time, it is possible for a voltage of 4 per unit to be developed across the switch, a point which
is often overlooked. A re-ignition may occur at this time rather than half a cycle later, which
will probably result in the switch conducting current for another half cycle.

2. What is current chopping? Explain in detail.

The phenomenon of arc suppression devices in the circuit breaker bringing the
current to zero abruptly and prematurely ahead of the normal zero is known as current
chopping. This phenomenon is an example of what is known generically as current
suppression. It can give rise to an abnormal voltage as a consequence of the release of
trapped magnetic energy associated with the current. It is often observed when the no-
load or magnetizing current of a transformer is being switched, or when a shunt
reactor is disconnected. The phenomenon has been observed for many years and
continues to attract attention. The overvoltage generation can be understood by
reference to Fig. 2.12.

Let us assume that at the time the chop occurs the instantaneous current is I 0.
This is flowing in the transformer winding and is associated with a certain amount of
magnetic energy, most of which resides in the transformer core:
1 2
Energy= Lm I 0
2

This may be considerable, for although I is only about 1 % of the normal full
load current, the magnetizing inductance Lm is quite high. The current cannot cease
suddenly in such an inductive circuit, yet it has no complete path through the switch.
It is therefore diverted into the system capacitance on the transformer side of the
switch, which is designated C in Fig. 2.12.
This consists primarily of the transformer winding capacitance, together with any
capacitance that may be in the connections between the switch and the transformer.
When the current is diverted into this capacitance, the energy from the magnetic field
of the transformer is transferred to the electric field of the capacitance. If this
capacitance is known, it is possible to calculate the voltage to which C will be
charged:
 1 2 1 2
C V = Lm I 0
2 2

( )
1
Lm 2
V =I 0
C
This states that the peak voltage reached across the capacitor, and therefore
across the winding, is given by the product of the instantaneous current chopped and
the surge impedance of the transformer. Figure 2.13. shows the energy released by a
transformer core when the magnetizing current is chopped.
3. Explain Load switching.

The most frequent functions performed by some switching devices are to

switch on and switch off loads. In many instances, this can be represented by a
parallel RL circuit. Low power factor loads will be mostly inductive, high power
factor loads will be mostly resistive. When such a load is switched off, the effective
capacitance of the load becomes important in determining the form of the transient
generated. This is illustrated in Fig. 2.5.
 The load depicted in Fig. 2.5 has a relatively high power factor. When the
current extinguishes, the instantaneous voltage, and therefore the voltage across the
load, is V0. Now C will be charged to this voltage and will subsequently discharge
through L and R. In Fig. 2.5(b), this is shown as a damped oscillatory discharge and is
in fact a damped cosine wave.

As the power factor improves, the current comes more and more into phase
with the voltage, so that V0 diminishes. At unity power factor (purely resistive load),
voltage is zero when current is zero, so there is no transient at all. The situation is
different if the power factor is corrected to unity. An example given below will make
this clear and also provide an opportunity to look at series damping.
Arc furnaces are commonplace in industry. Ore is smelted and metals are
alloyed and refined by melting them with the intense heat of an electric arc, using
graphite electrodes. Such installations usually operate at a low voltage and high
current and are consequently fed by a step down furnace transformer. They are
characterized by low power factor and frequent switching. Capacitors are frequently
connected to the high voltage bus to improve the power factor; they are switched with
the transformer and furnace.
Fig. 2.6. shows one phase of such an installation, with its equivalent circuit.
Delta and star connections can be used; the figure shows one phase of a star
connected circuit.
 Steady-state conditions are depicted in the phasor diagram of Fig. 2.7. The
post interruption transient can be computed from the circuit shown in 2.8.

UNIT 3 - LIGHTNING TRANSIENTS

Two Mark Questions

1. List the characteristics features of lightning strokes.

The parameters and characteristics of lightning include the amplitude of the
currents, the rate of rise, the probability distribution of the above, and the waveshapes
of the lightning voltages and currents.

2. What is tower footing resistance? Write its formula.

It is the effective resistance offered against drainage of the charge and lightning
current through the tower structure and tower foot.
 Rg
RT =

√ 1+
I
Ig
where RT is the tower footing resistance, Rg is the tower footing resistance at
low current and low frequency, I is the surge current into ground, Ig is the limiting
current initiation soil ionization.
3. Define Isokeraunic level.
Isokeraunic level is defined as the number of days in a year when thunder is heard or

recorded in particular location. It is given by, Ng=( 0 . 1 to 0 . 2 ) TD/strokes/km 2 -year

4. Define overvoltage factor.
It is defined as the ratio of peak overvoltage to the rated peak system
frequency phase voltage.
5. Define Shielding Angle.
Shielding angle or Protective angle of the ground wire is defined as the angle between
the vertical line passing through the ground wire and the line passing through the outermost
power conductor.
Protective zone is the zone which is a cone with apex at the location of the ground
wire and surface generated by line passing through the outermost conductor.

6. What are the factors that influence the lightning induced voltage on transmission lines?
i. The ground conductivity ii. The leader stroke current iii. Corona
7. Explain direct and induced lightning strokes.

When a thunder cloud directly discharges on to a transmission line tower or

line wires it is called a direct stroke.
When the cloud discharges to some earthed object other than the line, the
transmission line is left with a huge concentration of charge (positive) which cannot
leak suddenly. The transmission line and the ground will act as a huge capacitor
charged with a positive charge and hence overvoltages occur due to these induced
charges. This would result in induced lightning stroke.
8. Define black flashover
When a direct lightning stroke occurs on a tower, the tower has to carry huge
impulse currents. If the tower footing resistance is considerable, the potential of the
tower rises to a large value, steeply with respect to the line and consequently a
flashover may take place along the insulator strings. This is known as back flashover.

9. Define basic impulse level (BIL).

 Basic impulse insulation level can be defined as reference level expressed in
impulse crest voltage with a standard wave not longer than a 1.2/50 microsecond
wave, according to Indian standards.
10. What is the significance of tower footing resistance?
i. A low value of tower footing resistance results in less voltage stresses across
line insulation.
ii. A tower footing resistance of 20 Ω for EHV lines and 10 Ω for HV lines
provides sufficient lightning protection.

16. Mark Questions

1. Explain various theories involved in the formation of clouds.
The mechanism of charge formation in the clouds and their discharges is quite a
complicated and uncertain process. Several theories have been put forth for explaining
the phenomenon of cloud formation. Few important theories are discussed in this
section.
Wilson’s Theory of Charge Separation:
Wilson’s theory is based on the assumption that a large number of ions are
present in the atmosphere. Many of these ions attach themselves to small dust
particles and water particles. It also assumes that an electric field exists in the earth’s
atmosphere during fair weather which is directed downwards towards the earth (Fig.
3.1(a)).

The intensity of the field is approximately 1 volt/cm at the surface of the earth and
decreases gradually with height so that at 9,500 m it is only about 0.02 V/cm. A relatively
large raindrop (0.1 cm radius) falling in this field becomes polarized, the upper side
acquires a negative charge and the lower side a positive charge. Subsequently, the lower
part of the drop attracts –ve charges from the atmosphere which are available in
abundance in the atmosphere leaving a preponderance of positive charges in the air. The
upwards motion of air currents tends to carry up the top of the cloud, the +ve air and
smaller drops that the wind can blow against gravity. Meanwhile the falling heavier
raindrops which are negatively charged settle on the base of the cloud. It is to be noted
that the selective action of capturing –ve charges from the atmosphere by the lower
surface of the drop is possible. No such selective action occurs at the upper surface. Thus
in the original system, both the positive and negative charges which were mixed up,
producing essentially a neutral space charge, are now separated. Thus according to
Wilson’s theory since larger negatively charged drops settle on the base of the cloud and
smaller positively charged drops settle on the upper positions of the cloud, the lower base
of the cloud is negatively charged and the upper region is positively charged (Fig. 3.1(b)).

Simpson’s and Scarse Theory:

According to the Simpson's theory (Fig. 3.2) there are three essential regions
in the cloud to be considered for charge formation. Below region A, air currents travel
above 800 cm/s, and no raindrops fall through. In region A, air velocity is high enough to
break the falling raindrops causing a positive charge spray in the cloud and negative
charge in the air. The spray is blown upwards, but as the velocity of air decreases, the
positively charged water drops recombine with the larger drops and fall again. Thus
region A, eventually becomes predominantly positively charged, while region B above it,
becomes negatively charged by air currents. In the upper regions in the cloud, the
temperature is low (below freezing point) and only ice crystals exist The impact of air on
these crystals makes them negatively charged, thus the distribution of the charge within
the cloud

becomes as shown in Fig. 3.2.

Reynolds and Mason Theory:

 The above theory is obsolete and the explanation presented is not enough satisfactory.
Recently, Reynolds and Mason proposed modification, according to which the thunder
clouds are developed at heights 1 to 2 km above the ground level and may extend up to 12
to 14 km above the ground. For thunder clouds and charge formation air currents,
moisture and specific temperature range are required.
The air currents controlled by the temperature gradient move upwards carrying
moisture and water droplets. The temperature is 0 o C at about 4 km from the ground and
may reach - 50o C at about 12 km height. But water droplets do not freeze as soon as the
temperature is 0o C. They freeze below - 40 o C only as solid particles on which crystalline
ice patterns develop and grow. The larger the number of solid sites or nuclei present, the
higher is the temperature (> -40o C) at which the ice crystals grow. Thus in clouds, the
effective freezing temperature range is around - 33 o C to - 40o C. The water droplets in the
thunder cloud are blown up by air currents and get super cooled over a range of heights
and temperatures. When such freezing occurs, the crystals grow into large masses and due
to their weight and gravitational force start moving downwards. Thus, a thunder cloud
consists of supercooled water droplets moving upwards and large hail stones moving
downwards.
When the upward moving supercooled water droplets act on cooler hail stone, it
freezes partially, i.e. the outer layer of the water droplets freezes forming a shell with
water inside. When the process of cooling extends to inside warmer water in the core, it
expands, thereby splintering and spraying the frozen ice shell. The splinters being fine in
size are moved up by the air currents and carry a net positive charge to the upper region
of the cloud. The hail stones that travel downwards carry an equivalent negative charge to
the lower regions of the cloud and thus negative charge builds up in the bottom side of the
cloud.
According to Mason, the ice splinters should carry only positive charge upwards.
Water being ionic in nature has concentration of H + and OH- ions. The ion density
depends on the temperature. Thus, in an ice slab with upper and lower surfaces at
temperatures T1 and T2, (T1 < T2), there will be a higher concentration of ions in the lower
region. However, since H+ ions are much lighter, they diffuse much faster all over the
volume. Therefore, the lower portion which is warmer will have a net negative charge
density, and hence the upper portion, i.e. cooler region will have a net positive charge
density. Hence, it must be appreciated, that the outer shells of the freezed water droplets
coming into contact with hail stones will be relatively cooler (than their inner core -
warmer water) and therefore acquire a net positive charge. When the shell splinters, the
charge carried by them in the upward direction is positive.
 According to the Reynold's theory, which is based on experimental results, the
hail packets get negatively charged when impinged upon by warmer ice crystals. When
the temperature conditions are reversed, the charging polarity reverses. However, the
extent of the charging and consequently the rate of charge generation was found to
disagree with the practical observations relating to thunder clouds. This type of
phenomenon also occurs in thunder clouds.

2. Discuss the mechanism of lightning strokes and over voltages on transmission lines.
When the electric field intensity at some point in the charge concentrated cloud
exceeds the breakdown value of the moist ionized air (≈ 10 kV/cm), an electric streamer
with plasma starts towards the ground with a velocity of about 1/10 times that of the light,
but may progress only about 50 m or so before it comes to a halt emitting a bright flash of
light The halt may be due to insufficient build-up of electric charge at its head and not
sufficient to maintain the necessary field gradient for further progress of the streamer. But
after a short interval of about 100 µs, the streamer again starts out repeating its
performance. The total time required for such a stepped leader to reach the ground may be
20 ms. The path may be quite shining, depending on the local conditions in air as well as
the electric field gradients. Branches from the initial leader may also be formed. Since the
progress of this leader stroke is by a series of jumps, it is referred as stepped leader. The
picture of a typical leader stroke taken with a Boy's camera is shown in Fig. 3.3.

After the leader touches the ground, the return stroke follows. As the leader moves
towards the ground, positive charge is directly accumulated under the head of the stroke or
canal. By the time the stroke reaches the ground or comes sufficiently near the ground, the
electrical field intensity on the ground side is sufficiently large to build up the path. Hence,
the positive charge returns to the cloud neutralizing the negative charge, and hence a heavy
current flows through the path. The velocity of the return or main stroke ranges from 0.05
to 0.5 times the velocity of light, and currents will be of the order of 1000 to 250,000 A.
The return strokes vanish before they reached the cloud, suggesting that the charge
involved is that conferred to the stroke itself. The duration of the main or return stroke is
about 100 µs or more. The diameters of the return strokes were estimated to be about 1 to 2
cm but the corona envelop may be approximately 50 cm. The return strokes also may
develop branches but the charges in the branches are neutralized in succession so that their
further progress is arrested. A Boy's camera picture of return stroke is shown in Fig. 3.4.

After the completion of the return stroke, a much smaller current of 100 to 1000 A
may continue to flow which persists approximately 20 ms. Due to these currents the initial
breakdown points in the cloud are considerably reduced and discharges concentrate towards
this point Therefore, additional reservoirs of charge become available due to penetration of
a cloud mass known as preferred paths and lead to repeated strokes. The leader strokes of
the repeated strokes progress with much less velocity (≈1% of that of light) and do not
branch. This stroke is called continuous leader, and return stroke for this leader follows
with much less current. The interval between the repeated strokes may be from 0.6 ms to
500 ms with an average of 30 ms. Multiple strokes may last for 1 s. The total duration of
the lightning may be more than 1 s. The current from the ground by the main return stroke
may have a peak value of 250,000 A, and rates of rise may be as high as 100 kA/µs or 10 11
A/s. The time intervals between successive strokes, the number of successive strokes, the
duration of lightning discharges the discharge current, the rate of rise of current, and
wavefront and wave tail times and their probability distribution are given in Figs. 3.5 to
3.10.
3. Discuss the interaction of lightning with power system.

When a lightning strikes a power line, a current is injected into the system. The
voltages that this current will give rise to, depend upon its wave shape and the
impedance through which it flows. According to this concept, current coming into a
line by lightning stroke from a cloud disappears into the ground either by flashover of
line insulators or by operation of a protective device or through the ground wires
giving an induced path to ground. A useful concept to know its return will be to think
of the cloud and earth (or line conductor) as forming a vast capacitor which is
discharged by the stroke. The return circuit would then be completed by displacement
current in the electric field. This is shown in Figure 3.14.

On the ground or on objects on the ground such as transmission lines, charges are
induced by the charges in the cloud and are bound by it. Whenever the charges in the
cloud move due to motion of the cloud or redistribute due to cloud flashes, the induced
charges on the ground or the lines also move and redistribute. Such motion gives rise to
currents and momentary potential differences are created. These voltages are relatively
safe. Much more serious are electromagnetically induced surges which arise from
lightning strokes taking place close to the line, but not actually striking the line. Such
induced surges may have enough magnitude to cause flashover of insulators.
When a tower in a transmission line is directly struck by lightning, the voltage drop
down the tower will appear across the line insulator. The impedance of the tower will be
of concern and if it exceeds a limiting value, the potential at the cross-arm with respect to
earth may attain an alarming value due to the passage of lightning current and may be
much higher than the line potential. This may cause a flashover of the line insulator,
commonly known as back flashover.
Direct strokes to the line produce a rate of rise of voltage of about 100 to as much as
1500 kV/µs. The wave-shapes of lightning surges are usually unidirectional impulses.
The frequency of lightning strokes on a line conductor is a function of the frequency of
stroke to ground in the area in question and the height of the line above the ground.

UNIT 4 - TRAVELING WAVES ON TRANSMISSION LINE COMPUTATION OF

TRANSIENTS
Two Mark Questions

1. What are the specifications of a traveling wave?

2. Write the expression for series and shunt lumped parameters in distributed
lines.
3. Define standing waves and natural frequencies.
4. What is meant by reflection and refraction of traveling waves.
5. What is the importance of bewley’s lattice diagram?
6. Why step waves are considered to be dangerous to the apparatus?
7. Why velocity of propagation of over all over head lines is same?
8. Draw the lattice diagram of a single transmission line terminated by an
impedance.

16 Mark Questions
1. With neat sketch explain Bewley’s Lattice diagram.
2. Derive the reflection and refraction coefficients of a traveling wave.
3. Discuss transient response of systems with series and shunt lumped parameters
and distributed lines.
 UNIT 5- TRANSIENTS IN INTEGRATED POWER SYSTEM
Two Mark Questions

1. Define Kilometric fault or Short line fault.

A fault on a transmission line close to the terminals of a high-voltage
circuit breaker is known as a short-line or kilometric fault
2. What are the causes for power frequency overvoltages?
The main causes for power frequency and its harmonic overvoltages are
(a) Sudden loss of loads,
(b) Disconnection of inductive loads or connection of capacitive
loads,
(c) Ferranti effect, unsymmetrical faults, and
(d) Saturation in transformers
3. What is load rejection?
Load rejection in electric power system is the condition in which there is
a sudden load trip in the system which causes the generation side to be over-
frequency.
4. How does a surge occur during switching?
Switching surges can occur during operation of circuit breaker and line switch
opening and closing at the same substation. Switching surges occur in the vicinity of
non-self-restoring insulating equipments such as generators, transformers, breakers,
cables etc.
5. What is meant by line dropping?
In electric power distribution, line dropping is the de-energization of overhead
transmission line running from a one bus to another bus.
6. Define Overvoltage factor.
Overvoltage factor is defined as the ratio of highest peak voltage (Vm) at a
given point to the power-frequency voltage (Vn) on the supply side of the breaker
before switching.
Vm
Overvoltage factor (OVtotal) =
Vn

7. Define power-frequency overvoltage factor.

The power-frequency overvoltage factor is the ratio of the power-frequency
voltage Vpf after closure at a point and power-frequency voltage Vn on the supply side
before closing.
 V pf
Power frequency overvoltage factor (OVpf) =
Vn

8. Define transient overvoltage factor.

Transient overvoltage factor is defined as the ratio of highest peak voltage at a
given point Vm to power-frequency voltage Vpf.
Vm
Transient Overvoltage factor (OVtr) =
V pf
9. Explain EMTP for transient computation.
The EMTP is a comprehensive computer program designed to solve electrical
transient problems in lumped circuits, distributed circuits which is based on the
application of the trapezoidal rule to convert the differential equations of the network
components to algebraic equations. This program is capable of solving steady-state
circuit problems. Transient analysis can be carried out in circuits with any arbitrary
configuration of lumped parameters (R, L and C). Transmission lines with distributed
parameters, transposed (or) transposed, can be included in the network.
10. Draw the equivalent circuit of a RLC series circuit in EMTP.

16 Mark Questions

1. Explain short line kilometric fault.

The maximum fault current, that a circuit breaker may be called on to
interrupt, is the current which is arising due to a fault immediately at its terminals.
This fault on a transmission line close to the terminals of a high-voltage circuit
breaker is known as a short-line fault. Although this is the most tedious from a short
circuit current viewpoint, it is not necessarily so in respect of the transient recovery
voltage.
Overhead line fault, remote to the circuit breaker is one of the most frequent
system-fault conditions. Under these circumstances, a double-frequency recovery voltage
transient is applied across the circuit breaker, comprising of the vector difference of
source and line-side transient recovery voltages. In the case of the fault being some few
kilometers distant from the circuit breaker (as shown in Fig.5.1), an extremely tedious
fault condition occurs. The voltages associated with this type of fault, commonly known
as a. short-line or kilometric fault, are illustrated in Fig.5.2.
At zero current, the voltage at the circuit breaker line-side terminal is equal to the
voltage drop along the faulted line section. On interruption of current, the line remains
charged at this voltage. The stored energy of the line is then dissipated by means of a
voltage wave traversing the line length, resulting in a high-frequency voltage transient of
saw tooth waveform impressed on the circuit breaker as shown in Fig. 5.2(i).
The peak voltage and frequency of oscillation of this line-side transient are a function
of the distance of the fault from the terminal of the circuit breaker. Although the time to
peak of the line-side transient may be short, the source-side contribution during this
period, as shown in Fig. 5.2(ii), cannot be ignored. The circuit breaker is subjected to a
total transient recovery voltage comprising of the vector difference of source and line-side
transients [Fig. 5.2(iii)].
The rate of rise of recovery voltage is considerably greater for the short-line fault
condition than for the terminal-fault case, although the peak transient voltage is
comparatively low (Fig. 5.2). However, considerably more energy is injected into the
circuit breaker interrupter during the post-arc current period from the line-side transient,
rather than from the source transient, and it is this factor which accounts for the increased
severity of duty compared with the terminal-fault condition.
Control of Short-Line Transient recovery voltage (TRV):
It is possible to reduce the voltage stresses of TRV by incorporating
resistances or capacitances in parallel with the contact break and by synchronous
switching.

Figure
5.3.
shows
some
control
methods.
In (a)
resistor
switching is used. The main contacts open leaving the resistor in the circuit, which is
 opened after about 1 cycle. The current has a parallel path through the resistor which
decreases the rate of rise. In (b) a shunt capacitor is provided. In (c) a capacitor is
applied across the open poles of the circuit breaker. Most multibreak high-voltage
circuit breakers (more than one breaker per phase) use grading capacitors to ensure
voltage division across the multibreaks. The capacitor acts the same way as a shunt
capacitor. The sawtooth wave is delayed by the time constant ZC.

2. Explain the over voltage induced by faults.

Overvoltage may be produced by certain types of asymmetrical fault such as a ground
fault on one of the phase conductors of a three-phase transmission line. The situation is
somewhat similar to the switching transients except that here instead of injecting a
current, a voltage equal and opposite to the pre-fault voltage at the fault point is applied.
Figure 5.7(a) shows the faulted system in which a ground fault has occurred on the `a'-
phase at point F.
Fig:5.7. A faulted 3 phase system (a) Faulted Network (b) &(c) Faulted network
Voltage (d) Superimposed Voltage
Figure 5.7.b. shows the pre-fault steady-state voltage V fSa at the fault point. If it is
assumed that a fault occurs at the peak of the pre-fault voltage and t=0 at this instant, then
the voltage injected at the fault point is as shown in Figure 5.7.c.
Figure 5.7.d shows the de-energized network to which is applied the voltage V ffa. This
is also known as the superimposed voltage.
We can study the problem of overvoltage by asking how the de-energized network
behaves in response to the application of this voltage. Complex analysis based on
travelling wave theory (such as Bewley lattice diagrams) can be used to depict the level
of overvoltage likely to be induced, particularly on the un-faulted phases due to the
injection of the suddenly applied voltage at the fault point. A line-to-ground fault can
produce an overvoltage on an un-faulted phase as high as 2.1 times the normal line-to-
neutral voltage on a three-phase line.

Waveform shown
transient network analyzer (TNA) study. The worst fault location from this standpoint is
at the midpoint of the line, and the maximum overvoltage is at the midpoint. The
overvoltage decreases slowly as the fault location changes, but the maximum remains
above 1.75 per unit for locations over about 67% of the line length. The worst
termination, is zero impedance, which is approximate by a bus having several other lines.
The phenomena just described would have considerable relevance to HVDC
transmission lines, which are frequently arranged with a pair of conductors on the same
towers at ± V to ground. A fault on one circuit will cause a disturbance on the other. It is
 particularly desirable that this should not cause lightning arrester operation on the un-
faulted phase.

3. Explain switching surges on integrated system.

This topic deals with switching surges in an interconnected system. The disturbance
produced by the switching operation as modified by the system spreads through the system,
setting up waves that travel out along the connected lines and reflect to and fro as
discontinuities are encountered.

Consider the circuit of Fig.5.9 (a), which is a simplified circuit, represents many
stations. There are buses at 138 kV and 345 kV interconnected by autotransformer(s). The
138 kV bus is fed through the generator transformer(s). There are lines and/or ties connected
to both buses. The circuit is redrawn in Fig.5.9 (b), using a single-phase representation and
the significant capacitances are included. Assume, a fault in a system which is at a short
distance down the line and one of the 345 kV circuit breakers is opened to clear this fault.
The switching operation will evoke a response from both the line and the system.
If the impedance is reduced to a common voltage base, we see the equivalent circuit
of Fig.5.9.(c) when we look back into the system. The components have the various
significances. Note that the lines are represented by the resistors R 1 and R2. This is an
accurate representation of a line under transient conditions until it is modified by reflection
from points down the line. The diagram, therefore, is only valid within this limitation.
It is possible to determine the response of the circuit in Fig. 5.9(c) to a ramp of current
by hand calculations, but in practice we would use one of the computer techniques since we
would be carrying out a three-phase analysis. Although we might suppose that the circuit
would yield three frequencies, parameter values are such that the resistance R1 effectively
suppresses all oscillations. The following values, which are referred to 345 kV, are typical:

The 80Ω of
circuit. For the parameter values given above, the source circuit can be replaced with very
little error by a parallel RL circuit in which L = L1 + L2 + L3 and R = R1.
The response of a parallel RL circuit to a ramp of current I0 is readily shown to be,
 V ( t )=L I 0 ¿)

If the impedance limiting the fault being switched exists almost exclusively in the
source, rather than the line, the slope I0 of the current ramp, simulating the fault current, will
be
Vp
I 0=
L
where Vp is the peak system voltage. Substituting I0 in the voltage equation, we get,
V ( t )=V p ¿) = V p ¿) -----------------(1)

This is illustrated in figure 5.10.

Further details
system as shown in fig.5.11.

Each of the circles in the diagram represents a station. The lines between them are the
tie circuits. The lengths of these transmission lines are given and between Diamond and
Topaz there is a double circuit line. We assume that the events described above have been
occurring at the Diamond station and that the voltage described by Eq. (1) is the bus voltage
at that station following the breaker operation. Waves of this form, generated by this
switching, will travel to Emerald, Ruby, and Topaz, suffer reflection and refraction at these
points, and the reflected waves, returning to Diamond, will set off new waves when they
arrive. The times of arrival will depend upon the travel times to the distant stations and
therefore on the circuit miles covered. In order to follow events, it is important to tabulate
data of this kind.
As an approximation, each station can be represented by a parallel RL circuit. The
inductance will depend upon the source impedance of the station and the resistance upon the
transmission lines connected to its bus. Figure 5.12 represents the first generation of
encounters to be evaluated.

The reflected wave will be,

where Vi is the incident wave, Z2 is the impedance of the

station being encountered, and Z1 the impedance of the line along which the incident wave is
advancing.
After encounters, the reflected and refracted waves return from where they came or
proceed to more distant stations; in either event they experience what might be termed as
second-generation encounters.