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Design Features of GIS in industrial areas to fulfill high-energy demands by space

saving design with a minimum of cost. Only SF6 insulated
switchgear is able to fulfill these requirements.
Arun Arora, IEEE Substations Committee Today’s GIS has its origin in the metal enclosed concept,
Hermann Koch, IEEE Substations Committee first applied at high voltage in the 1920’s, using oil as the
insulating medium. The first gas insulated metal enclosed
The design of GIS is based on the long experiences of AIS switchgear used Freon as the insulating gas, a technology
equipment with all its improvements since then. However the already known since the 1930`s (see figure 1).
use of pressurized SF6 as insulating and arc extinguishing The world’s first high-voltage gas-insulated switchgear
medium since 1967 within gastight housings brought up a new using SF6 as the insulating and arc-quenching medium was
design for the main elements of a substation. introduced in 1968. In another development step a SF6
GIS technology typically is being of very compact and switchgear installed in Canada in a 550kV substation achieved
modular design, and used for indoor and outdoor applications. the highest breaking capacity ever with 100kA. Consistent
The housings are sealed and the required density of the research and development and innovative energy led to the
pressure system is continuously monitored. All parts of the current third generation of compact and overall optimized
main circuit and the primary insulation is completely protected switchgear.
from the polluting and aging effects of the atmosphere by the
enclosure, so that no environmental impact on the service
performance is possible. View ports allow to control the
position of the disconnector contacts. The compact design
leads to small dimensions; especially in comparison to an AIS
substation space savings of more than 70% are possible.
Furthermore the compact design with its low centre of gravity
offers a high seismic withstandability.
Considering all this a GIS ends up with remarkable low
Life Cycle Cost LCC.
GIS provides also inherent benefits when compared to con-
ventional AIS with regard to environmental impact, generation
of EMF and susceptibility to EMC and we can expect in-
creased selection of GIS in the future for these benefits.
There is now much more awareness of the vulnerability of
transmission systems regarding terrorist attack. Reviews of
existing substations may lead to changes in design and opera-
tional philosophies. For future substations the issue of security
will become even more important than in the past and GIS
solutions might have some inherent advantages in relation to
security. Fig. I-1. Early GIS 1936 using Freon gas as insulating media
An ongoing continual development of GIS technology
GIS technology is typically of modular design and filled
involving the integration of primary functions into single
with a minimum of SF6. It is characterized by its low life-
elements can be seen. The objectives of such developments
have been to make the GIS of today: cycle cost (LCC) and can be used for indoor and outdoor
application.
• More compact
GIS has the following major features:
• Simpler, involving fewer components
• Factory pre-assembled and tested units
• Increased performance and reliability
• Operating life > 50 years
• Less costly
• Major inspection not before 25 years
Today also changes in the general substation layout, • Motor-operated self-lubricated mechanisms
making use of the specific design features of a GIS, are • Minimal cleaning requirement
considered. • Corrosion-resistant
• Low fault-probability / high availability
A. Development and Manufacturing • Protected against aggressive environmental conditions
Reliable and economical power transmission and distribu- • Seismic resistant
tion are key functions of the future electric power supply. • Space requirement less than 20 % of comparable AIS
High-voltage switchgear and equipment for voltages above
1 kV up to 800 kV are safety elements within the electrical 1960 Start of fundamental studies in research and develop-
energy supply and therefore subjected to a very high standard ment of SF6 technology
of availability and reliability. Gas insulated switchgear is used 1964 Delivery of the first SF6 single-pressure circuit-
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breaker electrical fields for they have a screening effect, and they re-
1968 Delivery of first GIS by major manufacturers duce magnetic fields depending on the reverse current within
1974 Delivery of first GIL (420 kV) the housing.
1976 Delivery of first 550 kV GIS However, the most important task of the encapsulation is to
1983 Delivery of the world's largest GIS for Itaipu, Brazil safely and permanently enclose the insulating and arc extin-
1984 Delivery of 550 kV GIS for severe network conditions guishing gas SF6, which is until today not replaceable in high-
(rated current 8000 A, rated short circuit breaking cur- voltage equipment.
rent 100 kA, 17 circuit-breakers) The breaking capacity and the dielectric withstand capa-
1986 Delivery of first 800 kV GIS bilities of the switchgear depend on the gas density, which is
1996 Introduction of the smallest 123kV GIS continuously controlled by density monitors. Leakages of gas-
1997 Introduction of intelligent bay control, monitoring and ket O-rings at the enclosure flanges will lead automatically to
diagnostics a malfunction of the equipment.
1999 Introduction of the smallest 145 kV and 245 kV GIS To guarantee a reliable and safe behavior of the switchgear
2000 Introduction of new compact and hybrid solutions the tolerances of possible changes of the density value are
• more than 20000 bays in over 2000
very restricted. Accordingly, the requirements for gas
tightness are very high. Therefore only completely sealed and
substations
installed worldwide closed gas tight pressure systems are in service nowadays.

• more than 200,000 bay-years of operation 1) Design

Fig. I-2. More than 40 years of experience with gas-insulated switchgear of
major manufacturers
Since it its first introduction in 1968 metal-enclosed SF6 in-
sulated switchgear (GIS) has accumulated a long service ex-
Together with the initial equipment cost of a GIS many perience and has become an interesting and economical alter-
other criteria/advantages need to be considered in the process native to conventional air insulated substations. The GIS tech-
of deciding between a GIS and an AIS substation. The funda- nology started based on extensive fundamental research and
mental factors for the application of a GIS are its high reliabil- since then the service experience together with innovative
ity and availability, its encapsulation and its compactness. All development work has brought this technology forward to a
these qualities have a direct impact on land requirement, land safe and environmentally compatible, most reliable and avail-
cost, visual impact and possible technical applications, from able element of the energy supply. The tremendous progress in
which further advantages can be derived. The compact size development can be seen as an example of the classic three
offers a high design flexibility which in turn opens options for phase enclosure of a 72.5-170kV GIS on the following picture.
indoor, outdoor, underground, hybrid and containerized in-
stallations, either for temporary or continuous operation. For
certain applications these advantages are the key factor which
make GIS the only possible solution.
For the entire service life the secure performance depends
on the optimized quality of all switchgear components The
quality of the encapsulation is of major importance and is in-
fluenced by its material, the machining process, the design of
gaskets and the sealing material itself . The tightness of the
gas-insulated switchgear over the entire service life is not only
a condition for reliable function of the switchgear but also for Fig. I-3. Classic three phase cross-section of a 72.5-170kV GIS

a prevention of SF6 leakages.

The advantages of gas-insulated switchgear are its compact
In general, the encapsulation of high-voltage switchgear
design and modularity. The standardized modular structure is
and substation equipment is housing the electrical components
made to match the various customers’ specifications and
and in many cases also the structure of the mechanical layout.
allows realization of almost all substation configurations in
The design of the enclosure is more determined by the dielec-
compliance with them.
tric requirements than by mechanical ones. The choice of the
material and the mechanical dimensioning is done according
to the state of the art of engineering techniques.
The encapsulation protects the electrical components from
external influences and environmental effects. The easily
coated aluminum enclosure provides all-round protection
against contamination and mechanical damage. Furthermore,
the grounded metallic encapsulation reliably prevents that
energized parts can be touched. It also protects the service
personnel from direct consequences of arcs from internal
dielectric failures. Metallic encapsulations avoid emission of
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Circuit- Current Extension Busbars Termination

breakers transformers modules modules
Cables

Transformers

Disconnectors Outdoor
and earthing Voltage Surge Expansion bushings
switches transformers arresters joints

Fig. I-4. Typical Modules of a 245 kV - GIS

In the following major components of the GIS are shown in
detail as schematic cross sections. A wide range of bay varia-
tions can be achieved using only 20 different standard mod-
ules. This applies even to unconventional arrangements such
as the triplicate bus bypass or the 1 1/2 circuit-breaker
arrangement.
Fig. I-7. Disconnector module of a 245 kV - GIS
Specially developed "load break disconnectors", which
cannot interrupt short-circuit current, only the load current of
the switchgear, can fulfill the functions of the disconnector as
well.

Fig. I-8. Load-break disconnector module of a 245 kV - GIS

Fig. I-5. Circuit-breaker module of a 245 kV – GIS
The modular system of GIS components allows the creation
of any single-line diagrams (circuit configurations / busbar
schemes) in a most effective way corresponding to the specific
conditions of each individual construction. Recently a new
three-position type of integrated disconnecting and grounding
switch with common moving contact and common drive was
introduced for single-phase enclosed constructions as well.

Fig. I-6. 3-phase busbar module of a 245 kV - GIS

Fig. I-9. 3-phase disconnector/grounding switch module of a 145 kV – GIS

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Figure I-12 shows the inside of a three-phase voltage

transformer.

Fig. I-10. Current transformer module

Fig. I-12. Three-phase voltage transformer

Figure I-13 shows the inside of a three-phase current

transformer.

Fig. I-11. Voltage transformer module

In comparison to AIS layouts, the GIS grounded modular

system with its compactness and minimal dimensions offers a
much wider range of different combinations. These may be
characterized e.g. by the following:
• Three- or single-phase encapsulation or combinations
thereof
• Mixed, separated or coupled phases of busbars and/or bay
arrangements
• Single-, two- or more-line arrangement of circuit-breakers
• Horizontal or vertical ("U" or "Z") circuit-breaker designs
• Vertical, horizontal, triangle or upper or lower flange-con-
Fig. I-13. Three-phase current transformer
nected busbar arrangements

The bay design and the construction of the GIS switchgear

have a wide variation according to its voltage range from
72.5 kV to up to 800 kV. They have been tailored to the de-
mands of all kinds of substations with their different circuit
arrangements such as bypass and ring-bus systems as well as
sectionalizers and bus couplers. The next picture gives exam-
ples of typical switchgear designs in dependence of the
voltage level. The small overall dimensions due to the
compact design lead to reduced space requirements in smaller
buildings. The comparison of the dimensions between a 145
kV bay from 1968 and one from 1991 shows a reduction of
the required space by 26.5%.