Transmission & Distribution

System Design

Arbind K. Mishra
IOE, Pulchowk Campus

07/02/2021 AKM/T&D/M18-Distribution basics

Distribution System
• The final stage in power delivery of electricity
– Carries electricity from the transmission system
– Delivers it to consumers
• The transmission power lines will enter a distribution substation where the voltage
will be stepped down to distribution levels and it will be distributed for use by
industrial, commercial and residential customers.
• Within the distribution system
itself there are different voltage
levels

Commonly industrial and large

commercial customers are connected to
the higher voltage levels.

Utilization Voltage: Public safety is prime concern

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 The Distribution System Terminology (contd.):

• Service Wire (Or Secondary Distribution):

• Distribution Transformer (or Service Transformer):
• Load Center:
• Primary Distribution:
• Substation( Area Substation):
• Service Area:
• Sub-transmission Line:

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Distribution System Layouts
• In fact the distribution lines, their layouts and voltage levels vary widely.
These can be broadly classified as:
• Single-phase or three phase prospective
i.e switching from 3-phase to single phase
• Feeder layouts
e.g. radial, loop, network etc.
• Construction
e.g. overhead/ underground etc.
• Urban and rural distribution systems
A Distribution System type has five attributes that determine how well it matches
the particular needs of distribution system
• Does it fit?
• Capacity
• Voltage drop
• Reliability
• Cost AKM/T&D/M18-Distribution basics
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 Transition from three phase
• For distribution system, three-phase segments have a tremendous
advantage:
• The current only has to be sent “out” to the load.
• There are no losses or voltage drop associated with bringing the current “back” to the
source in a completely balanced ckt.

Remember: High Power rating Electrical devices are usually 3 phase; smaller 1-phase
Two popular methods for 3-phase to one-phase Transition :
1. American system
Use 1-phase laterals and relatively small 1-phase
transformers:
The chief advantage of American system is low
capital investment when the load density is low.
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1- phase transformer connection
• The secondary voltage level in American system for residential service is 120V/240V
depending on the load requirements.
• Lower wattage devices (e.g. light) 120V. Higher wattage devices e.g. Oven connected
to 240V.

Single-phase distribution transformers

have one high-voltage primary winding
and two low voltage secondary
windings.

• Secondary coils each rated at a nominal 120 V may be connected in parallel to

supply a two-wire 120-V circuit or they may be connected in series to supply a
three-wire 120/240-V single circuit
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2. European system
• European Layout uses few laterals and 1-phase primary circuit.
• Service Transformers are larger & often 3-phase

In the secondary circuit Individual

consumers are provided with single
phase Service from three phase
secondary circuit.

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Practical System

• European system:
• Quite appropriate for higher load densities as are often found in urban areas.
• 3-phase secondary provides fairly well balanced loading on the service level,
decreasing losses and increasing utilization.

• While both American and

European styles were largely
institutionalized
• The difference in utilization
voltage 230 V in European and
120 V in American system also
seems substantial.

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1-phase ground return
• Up to 66 kV single phase-ground return are in use in US, India , China, Australia
• Major problem is high quality earthing at each load center/consumer
• When the distance between load center/consumer is very high may be preferable
option.

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 Feeder Layout Types
• There are three fundamentally different ways
• Radial,
• Loops
• Network

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 Primary Radial Distribution System
• Each line comes out of a substation as a separate feeder and has no
interconnection with any other circuit
• In general, the main feeder are 3-phase-3-wire or 3-phase-4-wire and the
laterals may be three- phase or single-phase or both.
• The current magnitude is the greatest
Circuit 1 for factory
in the section that leave the substation.
• From there on, the current keeps decreasing Secondary
S/S
towards the tail end of the feeder. Circuit 2 feeding s/s in the city

• The biggest advantage of the radial system

configuration, in addition to its lower cost, Circuit 3 for rural areas

is the simplicity of analysis.

Radial Primary Feeder

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Primary Radial Distribution System Contd.
• On debt side,
• Radial feeder systems are less reliable than loop or network systems because
there is only one path between the substation and the customer.
• Thus if any elements along the path fails, a loss of power delivery results.
• But a cleaver design and planning of radial distribution system can achieve a fair
degree of reliability even without much addition of cost
2 km B C
B C
2 km 2 km
2 km 2 km
2 km A 2 km
2 km A S/S D
S/S D

2 km 2 km

E E
(a) Option-A (b) Option-B

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Modified radial-type primary feeder

With express feeder and back-feed

With sectionalizing switches

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Primary Loop Distribution System
• Loop system consists of a distribution design with two paths
between the sources and customer (Substations and service
transformer) .
• High Reliability
• The parallel feeder paths can also be connected to separate
substation and supplied from separate transformers.

• The major disadvantage of loop systems is capacity and cost.

• A loop must be able to meet all power and voltage drop requirements when fed from
only one end, not both.
• In terms of complexity, a loop feeder system is only slightly more complicated than a
radial system
• This layout is often called European because this configuration is preferred in Europe.
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