GAS INSULATED SUBSTATION

substation
A substation is a part of an
electrical generation,
transmission, and distribution
system.
Substations transform voltage
from high to low, or the reverse,
or perform any of several other
important functions such as
switching operations etc.

CLASSIFICATION OF SUBSTATIONS
Classification based on voltage levels:
EHV,HV,LV,HVDC

Classification based on configuration:

Conventional AIS,
Non-conventional GIS
Composite substation

AIR INSULATED SUBSTATION

Air used as dielectric.

Normally used for outdoor substations.

Easy to expand provided no issue of space.

Simple handling and easy access.

LIMITATIONS OF AIR INSULATED SUBSTATIONS

Large dimensions due to statutory clearances and poor dielectric

strength of air.

Susceptible to pollutants.

Wastage of space.

Large planning and execution time.

Regular maintenance of substation required.

THE NEED FOR GIS

Non availability of sufficient space.

Difficult climatic and seismic conditions at site.
Urban site(high rise building).
High altitudes.
Limitations of AIS.

GAS INSULATED SUBSTATIONS

A gas insulated substation (GIS) is a high voltage substation in which

the major structures are contained in a sealed environment with
sulfur hexafluoride gas as the insulating medium.

The total space required for a GIS is 10% of that needed for a conventional substation.

Gas insulated substations offer other advantages in addition to the reduced space
requirements.

It can be used in very harsh environments.

Because the substation is enclosed in a building, a GIS is less sensitive to pollution, as well as
salt, sand or large amounts of snow.

The various models of GIS produced here at alstom are :

F35

- upto 145kV

B105 - 170 to 300kV

T155

- upto 420kV

PROPERTIES OF SF6

Non-toxic, very stable chemical.

Insulating properties : 3 times that of air.
Colorless & heavier than air.
Non inflammable.
Superior cooling characteristics.
Greater dielectric strength.
Good arc quenching property.
It is inert , non corrosive and non reactive.

COMPONENTS PRESENT:

F35 gas insulated

substation
FEATURES:
It is a three phase gas
insulated , high voltage
metal enclosed switch gear.
It is light weight and can be
used upto 145 kV.
It is designed for both
indoor and outdoor
installations.
It is very compact and upto
3 bays can be combined in
one transport unit.

Circuit breaker.
Combined circuit breaker/ disconnector.
Combined disconnector/ earthing switch.
Make proof earthing switch.
High voltage interfaces.
Customized instrument transformers.
ADVANTAGES:
It is light weight thanks to the aluminium alloy
enclosure.
It is portable.
It can be used to set up a mobile power station.
Simple transport and on site erection.
DISADVATAGES:

Can be used only upto 145kV.

B105 GAS
INSULATED
SUBSTATION
FEATURES:

It is a single phase, gas

insulated, high voltage,
metal enclosed switchgear.

COMPONENTS PRESENT:
Circuit breaker
High performance operating mechanism
Disconnector
Earthing switches
Instrument transformers
Standard terminations
Interconnecting components
ADVANTAGES:

It is used for operation

between 170 & 300kV .
Almost unlimited extension
and modification
possibilities.
The electromagnetic field
strength in the switchgear
room is harmless.

Minimum floor space requirements.

Long service life expectancy.
High operational reliability.
Modular design.
DISADVATAGES:

Can be used only upto 300kV.

T155 GAS
INSULATED
SUBSTATION
FEATURES:

COMPONENTS PRESENT:

Aluminium enclosure.
Sf6 sealing.
High quality conductor.
Safe insulator.
Circuit breaker
Spring mechanism.
Disconnector.

Can be used up to 420kV, 5000A.

High power earthing switch.

Busducts.

It makes use of gas insulated lines to

raise reliability.

Instrument transformers.
Surge arrestors.

It is suitable for all kinds of

applications indoor, outdoor,
underground , mobile etc.
Clear and simple layouts.
It has best seismic resistance in its
class.

Interconnecting components.
High voltage terminations .
Advantages:

Maximum safety & easy to expand.

Low total cost of ownership.
Total adaptability.
It is smart grid ready.
Disadvantages:

Can be used only upto 420kV

COMPONENTS OF GIS

circuit breaker
Disconnecting switch or isolator
Earthing switch
Make proof earthing switch
Current transformer
Voltage transformer
Interconnecting components
Standard terminations
Aluminium enclosure
Surge arrestor
Sf6 sealing
GIL(gas insulated lines)

Failure & protective measures :

Circuit breaker

Failure of circuit breaker is usually caused due to improper

operating mechanisms.
In order to avoid such failures timers are used .

A circuit breaker is an
automatically operated
electrical switch designed to
protect an electrical circuit from
damage caused by overload or
short circuit.
A circuit breaker is usually
operated under load condition.
It is operated in GIS using a
spring mechanism.

Local breaker failure protection and remote breaker

scheme are also used to avoid such circuit breaker failures.
Local breaker detects weather the circuit breaker trips
within 0.5 seconds else sends a pulse to trip all the circuit
breakers in the system.

Types :
According to the operating mechanism of circuit breaker they can be divided as:
1) Spring operated circuit breaker

2) Pneumatic circuit breaker

3) Hydraulic circuit breaker

According to their arc quenching (rapid cooling) media the circuit breaker can be
divided as:
1) Air circuit breaker

2) SF 6 circuit breaker

DISCONNECTING SWITCH OR ISOLATOR

A disconnector, disconnect switch or isolator switch is used to ensure that an
electrical circuit is completely de - energized for service or maintenance.
It is always operated in open condition.
Usually disconnector are connected in both load side and
supply side.
Disconnectors are manually operated unlike that of circuit
breakers.
Usually when the disconnector switch is opened the
earthing switch is closed to remove trapped\residual
charges and vice verse.

EARTHING SWITCH
An earthing switch is a mechanical switching device used to remove the trapped charges
present in the system by grounding of conducting parts of during maintenance.
They can be installed anywhere according to users protection concept.
They are generally slow acting devices that are operated during open state of the GIS
equipment.

Make proof Earthing switch

Make proof earthing switches are used for safe earthing of primary circuits including
closing on short circuit & to switch induced current.
The moving contacts are activated by a charged spring for opening and closing.
It has reduced maintenance.

current
transformer
A current transformer (CT) is
used for measurement of
alternating electric currents.
When current in a circuit is too
high to apply directly to measuring
instruments, a current transformer
produces a reduced current
accurately proportional to the
current in the circuit, which can be
conveniently connected to
measuring and recording
instruments.

Principle:
The alternating current in the primary produces an
alternating magnetic field in the core, which then
induces an alternating current in the secondary
winding circuit.

An essential objective of current transformer design

is to ensure the primary and secondary circuits are
efficiently coupled, so the secondary current is
linearly proportional to the primary current .

Voltage
transformer

A voltage transformer is used for

measurement of the voltage.
When voltage in a circuit is too
high to apply directly to measuring
instruments, a voltage transformer
produces a reduced voltage
accurately proportional to the
current in the circuit, which can be
conveniently connected to
measuring and recording
instruments.

Principle:
A transformer basically is very simple static (or stationary)
electro-magnetic passive electrical device that works on the
principle of Faradays law of induction by converting electrical
energy from one value to another.

INTERCONNECTING COMPONENTS
The various components of the GIS are assembled together by
means of standardized bolted flanges which are referred to as
interconnecting components.
Interconnecting components are comprised of aluminium enclosures
with insulated supported conductors.
Telescopic couplings are used to connect adjacent switchgear
sections.
Expansion bellows are provided to compensate for thermal
expansion movements
and tolerances.
Standard
terminations

Cables, overhead lines and transformers can all be connected to

their respective GIS interface components.
These include sf6 to air bushings, cable terminations and direct
transformer connections.

ALUMINIUM ENCLOSURE
The enclosures used for making the substation bays are made of
aluminium alloys, cast or welded due to the following reasons:
1) Low electrical resistance and reduces resistive losses.
2) Non magnetic behavior so, no magnetic losses.
3) High resistance to corrosion .
4) Light weight.

Surge
arrestor

A surge arrester is a
device to protect electrical
equipment from overvoltage transients caused by
external (lightning) or
internal (switching) events.
Surge arrestors are
employed to protect GIS
units, the connecting cables,
transformers etc against all
types of over voltages .

Function of surge arrestor :

To protect a unit of equipment from
transients occurring on an attached
conductor, a surge arrester is connected to
the conductor just before it enters the
equipment.
The surge arrester is also connected to
ground and functions by routing energy
from an over-voltage transient to ground if
one occurs, while isolating the conductor
from ground at normal operating voltages.
This is usually achieved through use of a
varistor, which has substantially different
resistances at different voltages.

SF6 SEALING
It provides three concentric sealings.
It reduces the gas leakage rate of substation by less than 0.1% per year.
It also maintains constant pressure inside the GIS and prevents the entry of
moisture into the GIS.

Gas insulated lines(GIL)

GIL are connections of very long runs in shafts, underground galleries or at
ground level to connect the GIS to overhead lines with the minimum
number of interfaces.
Main features and characteristics
1) Open air (on supports, in trenches )
2) Tunnels (includes with slope or vertical shafts)
3) Buried (to reduce visual impact)

ADVANTAGES OF GIS

Low space requirement.

Increased safety and reliability.
Suitable for both indoor & outdoor applications.
Possesses modularity and adaptability.
Suitable for harsh environment conditions.
Long service life.
The complete substation is reduced to about 10% of the conventional air insulated substation.

Locations where Gas Insulated Substation is preferred:

Large cities and towns

Under ground stations
Highly polluted and saline environment Indoor GIS occupies very little space
Substations and power stations located Off shore
Mountains and valley regions

DEMERITS OF GAS INSULATED SUBSTATION

Cost is higher compared to Air Insulated Substation or conventional

substation.
Procurement of SF6 gas and supply of gas to the site is problematic.
Normally this type of substations are indoor type and requires separate
building.
Maintaining Cleanliness is very important. Dust or moisture inside the
compartment causes the flash overs.
When fault occurs internally, the outage period will be very long. The
damage effect will also be severe.
Gas leakage & dielectric failure occurs.

FUTURE TRENDS IN GIS

PD detection
Partial discharge (PD) is an electrical discharge that does not completely bridge the gap between two
electrodes. PD happens all the time in power systems, but usually occurs in components that can withstand it (such as switchgear).
You may be aware of PD activity near you (that buzz you hear from medium or high voltage substation equipment or overhead
power lines). Modern cable and cable accessories cannot withstand partial discharge. In these cases, PD can slowly erode the
insulating material until failure.
Green Gas for Grid
In August 2014, Alstom became the first company in the world to offer the electrical industry an
alternative to SF6 for high voltage applications.
Alstom g3 green gas for grid is an environmentally friendly, non-toxic, non-flammable, SF 6-free gas mixture that can replace SF6
for high voltage air-insulated switchgear (AIS) or gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) applications. This gas mixture was jointly
developed with 3MTM, a leader in environmentally friendly solutions.
Alstom g3 has an extremely low global warming potential (GWP); in fact, its GWP is 98% lower than the GWP of SF 6. Alstom g3 is
safe to handle and has no impact on ozone depletion.
features of g3

Use at extremely low temperatures (25C and -30),

Compatibility with switchgear materials,
Stability versus temperature and time,
Easy handling for filling and topping-up,
Similar design compactness for equipment as of today.