BANGLADESH UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND

TECHNOLOGY

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Course No.: EEE 306

Course Title: Power System I Laboratory
Section: A1, Group No: 05
Level: 3, Term: I

Experiment No.: 05
Name of the Experiment: Study of BUET Power Plant and Substations

Date of Performance: 01-06-2021

Date of Submission: 28-06-2021

Submitted by: Roll No:

Shafin Shadman Ahmed S201706020
Partners:
Md. Jahidul Hoq Emon S201706017
Swapnil Siddiky S201706018
Md. Redwan Hossen S201706019
Introduction
BUET has a 5.8 MW power plant, its own distribution network and substations to meet its
demand for electricity. The power plant is located at BUET campus in West Palashi and uses
natural gas and diesel as the main energy sources. It is connected to four substations through 400
V underground cables. The substations are used to supply power to the BUET main campus,
residential halls, residential quarters and Palashi Bazar to fully meet the power demand.
The maximum demand on the BUET campus in summer is approximately 2.5 MW. Electricity
from the power plant is supplied from morning until midnight. From midnight to early morning,
electricity is provided by Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDCL). The
conversion is performed automatically by an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) located in each
substation. A full description of the entire system is given first, and then in the later part each of
the elements will be described.

Places Visited
1. BUET Power Plant
2. Substations of BUET Power Plant Network

Objectives
The objectives of this study are:
1. To get an exposure to a realistic small-scale power plant and 11 kV substations.
2. To observe the power plant and its construction and working.
3. To observe the four substations and their construction and working.
4. To observe the generation and the distribution of a power system.
5. To observe the basic necessary components of the power plant and the substations and their
function involved in the system.
Overview
The discussion begins with the BUET power plant (Figure 1). Since the demand for BUET is
400 V and the power plant is able to produce with the same voltage, no transformer is required.
The transformer is basically used for step-up or step-down activity.
However, since the DPDC supply is 11 kV, we need to bring it to 400 V as per the BUET
requirements, so we have four separate substations which we will discuss later. The transformers
in this substation are step-down transformers that accept 11 kV and reduce it to 400 V for use in
BUET. It turns out that we get power from two sources, one from BUET's own control center
and the other from DPDC; the ATS or Auto Transfer Switch is used to coordinate between these
two. It has two inputs and one output. There are two power supplies in the inputs, and the output
is an outgoing power supply that is supervised by DPDC via an external control device. The
generators at the BUET plant mainly generate electricity using internal combustion engines.
There are four generators in the plant, three running on natural gas and one on diesel. The total
capacity of the plant is 5.8 MW, of which it is possible to get an output of 2 MW, 2 MW and 1
MW from the three natural gas generators. On the other hand, it is possible to obtain an output of
800 kW from the diesel generator.
The diesel generator is not often used since it is used for emergency situations. It has not been
used for a long time. Due to the relatively similar demand of power in BUET due to COVID-19
situation compared to the previous demands, the possibility of using more diesel generators is
unlikely. A sufficient supply is usually provided by the natural gas generators, since the costs are
lower here. The costs for diesel generators are comparatively much higher. The efficiency of the
generator is mainly 30 to 40 percent. In this case, an IC engine is used, which loses a lot of
energy as thermal energy. This heat creates a lot of temperature in the generator. This means that
the system has a cooler or cooling tower to cool the generator or lower the temperature. This
cooler or cooling tower plays an important role in cooling. In addition, three natural gas
generators have gas lines for gas supply. Lubricating oil is used as a lubricant for internal
combustion engine parts. If lubricants are not used on parts, the engine parts will experience a lot
of decay over time. Energy is lost due to frictions between them. Lubricants are mainly used to
prevent this loss of energy. In this case, lubricating oil is better because compared to other
lubricants, lubricating oils are cheaper. These generators in the BUET power station use lead-
acid batteries for starting. In general, a 24 V lead acid battery is required for starting; with these
batteries, the generator can be started properly. There is also a control panel for controlling the
generator; this control panel is located in the BUET power plant. Each generator is connected to
a common bus via the control panel and the bus is connected to DPDC power via an automatic
switch. The DPDC power supply is 11 kV. However, not all essential elements of a complete
substation are available, but at present they are not necessary. The need to build a complete
substation is not yet there, as the power supply required is easily obtained.
Figure 1: Diagram of BUET Power Plant
 BUET Power Plant
The BUET power plant is located at the West Palashi Campus, to the left of the entrance. The
area is generally restricted to students and visitors.

Figure 2: Entrance of BUET power plant

There are two red buildings, one of which contains the 3 gas generators and the cooling system
on the roof, and the other contains a diesel generator. A substation with 3 transformers is located
at the rear of the building. There are 3 main areas of the building: generator room or engine
room, control room and radiator room. There are three generators in the engine room of the first
building. They are all natural gas generators. Three generators are rated at about 2 MW, about 2
MW and about 1 MW respectively.
The specifications of these three synchronous generators are given below. We also verified the
information from their nameplates as well.
1. Caterpillar G-3516: Installation-2003, Capacity-1030 kW, Fuel-Natural gas
2. Caterpillar G-3520: Installation-2008, Capacity-1950 kW, Fuel-Natural gas
3. Caterpillar G-3520C: Installation-2017, Capacity-1972 kW, Fuel-Natural gas
Figure 3: Caterpillar generator 2002 (1MW) nameplate
Figure 4: Caterpillar generator 2015 (2MW) nameplate
There is a generator in the other building. That generator is powered by diesel. This generator is
left for emergency use. The power supply capacity of this generator is 800 kW.
The specifications of that synchronous generator are:
Mitsubishi MGS1000B: Installation-2003, Capacity-800 KW, Fuel-Diesel.
We also verified these from its nameplate as well.

Generator Room-First Building

Gas generator
In general, the generator room on the first floor of the main building is equipped with three large
three-phase generators, each with an output of 400 V and a nominal output power of 1 MW, 2
MW or 2 MW, located on the side. All three use natural gas as the engine fuel. During the visit,
due to the COVID-19 lockdown, no generators were in operation. Only one 2 MW generator was
operating under normal conditions, enough to meet the 2.5 MW peak demand.

Figure 5: Caterpillar generator 2015 (2MW) - construction

Some parts of these generators are discussed below:

1. Engine:
All three generators use IC engines as the prime mover. The 1 MW generator has 8
cylinders on each side, so a total of 16 cylinders can be seen from the outside. For the
other two generators (2 MW), they have 10 + 10 = 20 cylinders. The rotational speed is
1500 rpm. The turbocharger is used to pump the air-fuel mixture into the engine. The
charger draws in natural gas and air through the gas and air intake line that first passes
through the gas and air filter.

2. Synchronous Generator:
This is the main part of the generators. All three are synchronous 4-pole generators
operating at 1500 rpm. The main part is protected inside a large cylindrical structure.

3. Battery:
There are four 12 V batteries in the engine room to start the generators. These batteries are
enough to start the generator. These batteries are in series-parallel combination and they will
provide an output of 24 V which is sufficient to start. A high-torque motor is used for the
batteries.

Figure 6: DC batteries for generator starting.

4. Gas Supply:
Natural Gas is supplied by thick pipes, through a gas header. The main supply comes
from Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited (TGTDCL) at 33 psi.
The pressure is then decreased in three steps: 17 psi, 10 psi and 2 psi, before being finally
supplied to the generator room.

5. Water Cooling System:

It consists of water inlet and outlet and pipes. The cold water is directed from the ceiling
through a blue pipe that is used to cool the comparatively hotter parts of the generators to
keep the temperature from rising too high and causing engine damage. The hot water is
then directed back to the roof through a large red pipe to cool it down.

6. Aftercooler:
The second cooling mechanism is the aftercooler. It cools the air-fuel mixture inside the
turbocharger. This is highly important in lowering the lowest level of T-S curve and
significantly improving engine efficiency. Aftercooler temperature ranges from 36°C to
56°C.

7. Air Cooling:
Additional cooling is required for the main generators because of friction-windage and
copper losses. However, due to their very low power rating, these losses are not so great
that water cooling is required, so air is used instead to cool the generators. Cool ambient
air is brought through large pipes from outside in order to cool the two 2 MW generators
(but not for the 1 MW generator, because of the lower heating power). The room itself has
several exhaust fans to release hot air and some blowers to bring in cold air from outside,
thus maintaining normal room temperature even in the time of engine operation.

8. Gas Exhaust:
The exhaust gas from the IC engines is let out via a large exhaust pipe.

9. Lubricating System:
Lubricant oils are essential parts of any large machinery. Here, the lubricating exhaust is let
out through an extra pipe.

Control Panel Room-First Building

Beside the generator room, there is the control panel room to control the generators. In this case,
we get various data from the generator control panel, mainly speed, current, voltage, power, etc.
to check and control the generator. The people responsible are constantly monitoring the
generator from the control panel room to obtain generator data.
Each generator has its own control panel, so there are only three control panels for the three
generators. In this case, each 2 MW generator has a control panel, and the other is closed because
the 1 MW generator is off. The 1 MW generator control panel is the manual type.

Figure 7: Manual control panel - top half (Generator 03)

 Figure 8: Manual control panel - bottom half (Generator 03)

These are the pictures of a 1 MW generator control panel. This control panel has been around for
a long time. The generator is mainly controlled by an alarm and some knobs.
The 2 MW generator has circuit breakers in the switch box, which is used to connect the
generator to the common bus; in this case it is connected by push-on and disconnected by push-
off. Control panel of the other two generators work the same way. The shared bus is connected
or disconnected by sliding it up or down. Four generators are connected to this common bus. The
common bus has cables, connection switches and other components. In this case this circuit
breaker goes directly to ATS and helps connect to ATS. The cooling tower control panel is
located next to the generator control panel. Here, everything is done about the amount of water
and controlling the heat from this control panel.

Figure 9: Main busbar where 3 generators are paralleled, feeder lined drawn from this busbar
 Figure 10: Control panel of radiator fans of cooling tower

There are a total of 9 ATS units in the four substations. Each unit controls whether the
corresponding power is supplied from the BUET power plant or from the DPDCL power supply.
Each ATS unit is connected to the main bus through switchgear and underground cables. There
are a total of 9 switches. In each of them, the voltage and current consumption of each power
section can be observed. If a switch is disconnected from the common bus, the corresponding
ATS unit automatically reconnects it to the DPDCL power line. We describe each unit after a
brief overview of the roof cooling system and the diesel generator.
 Figure 11: Four of the nine switchgears. They are connected to the main substation 1, Nazrul Hall
substation (New), main substation 1, Nazrul Hall substation (Old) respectively.

For demonstration, some values of operating switchgear are given below:

Feeder Switchgear 2 Inputs (Main Substation)

Parameter Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Neutral

Line Voltage (V) 402.9 404.6 408.4 -
Phase Voltage (V) 235.9 233.4 233.9 -
Current (A) 667 633 719 53
Power Factor (pf) 0.87 0.87 0.88 -
Real Power 425 kW
Reactive Power 231 kVAR
Overall pf 0.87
Frequency 50.51 Hz
 Cooling System
There is a cooling system at the rooftop of the power plant building. There are a total of 3
radiators containing 8-10 fans on the rooftop, one for each generator. There are 4 pipes
connected to each system. Among them two are for water cooling. These are colored as red for
hot water flow and blue for cold water flow. The other two pipes are for aftercooling .They are
also colored as red for hot water flow and green for cold water flow. They take cool air from the
surface and let the temperature of the water cool and allow the water to cool the machine.

Figure 12: Radiator Fans

 Figure 13: Bottom view of the radiator

Figure 14: Hot water from the engine enter the radiator in red pipes
Figure 15: Cooled water from the radiator goes to the engine in blue pipes

Figure 16: Radiators inside and outside control panel

 Diesel Generator Room
In front of the ECE Building, a small building contains a diesel generator placed under a blue
steel cover. The covering is done to prevent the huge noise of the diesel engine from propagating
outside. The engine is rated at 800 kW and 400V. A diesel engine is used as a prime mover, and
it has a distinct advantage of a quick start. The engine has 6 + 6 = 12 cylinders in total. It has
only air cooling system, and the fan is connected with it for this reason. Here the control panel is
attached with it. The generator is connected to a breaker, which is situated in a separate room.

Figure 17: Mitsubishi Canopy Diesel Generator (DG)

Figure 18: Control Panel

 Substations
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. In the BUET substations, there are ring main units (RMU), meters,
transformers and ATS units, breakers with power factor improvement (PFI). The main intention
of the substations is to step down the 11 kV DPDC voltage to 400 V. Also, the substations switch
the connection between DPDC and main power supply when needed. To cover supply in
different parts of the campus, feeders are also connected.
There are four substations in BUET power distribution system. The four sub-stations are:

1. Substation located in the BUET main campus

2. Substation located near Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall
3. Substation located near Dr. M. A. Rashid Hall
4. Substation located behind the BUET power plant at West Palashi

All the substations consist of mainly the following components:

1. Metering unit maintained by DPDC

2. HT switchgear containing vacuum circuit breaker at the HT side of each transformer
3. 11/0.415 kV step-down transformer
4. Automatic transfer switch (ATS)
5. LT switchgear having incoming and outgoing circuit breakers.
6. PFI plant
7. Incoming and outgoing feeders
8. HT and LT panel
9. Protective relays
10. Metering instruments (CT, PT)
11. Ring main unit (RMU)

Elaborate descriptions about the workings of the equipment in each substation are given below:
Substation Behind BUET Power Plant
Visiting Date: 30 May 2021

We have two DPDCL lines. Of the two DPDCL supply lines, one comes from Azimpur
substation via M.A. Rashid Hall Substation and then to the substation behind BUET power plant.
Different parts of the substation are described below:

 RMU: RMU is needed if there are multiple supply lines. As the substation takes supply
from only one DPDCL line, there is no need to connect both lines and therefore no RMU
is needed. The line is directly connected to the High Tension (HT) Meter.

 High Tension (HT) Meter: There is a single meter taking input from the DPDC
line. It measures the power consumed in the connected feeds, according to which BUET
pays DPDCL the power bills. From the back of this meter, 3 lines went to 3 HT breakers.

Figure 19: DPDC Meter (11 kV, Power Plant SS)

 HT Switch Gear (Vacuum Circuit Breaker): As the voltage supply is very

high, VCBs are used to connect the meter to the HV side of the three transformers. So,
there are 3 separate HT breakers for each one.
 Figure 20: 11kV VCB Panel (Power Plant SS) Figure 21: VCB nameplate (Power Plant SS)

 Transformers: There are three step-down transformers, each rated at 11 kV/400 V,

800 kVA. So, the total power is 2.4 MVA. The high voltage side of each one is connected
to its HT breaker (at 11 kV) via four lines (for three phase and one neutral), and the
stepped down voltage in the LT side (400 V) goes to its corresponding ATS unit.

Figure 22: 11 kV supply from DPDCL, stepped down to 400 V via 3x800kVA transformers
Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS): A transfer switch is an electrical switch that switches
a load between two sources. The principal purpose of an ATS is to ensure the continuous
delivery of electrical power from one of two power sources to a connected load circuit. For each
unit, there are two input lines: one from a transformer LT side (through 4 wires), i.e. the DPDCL
supply line, and one from the corresponding feeder switchgear in the main power plant. The
output goes to the LT breaker panel. Inside the ATS, these three are arranged from top to bottom
in the mentioned order. All of these are at 400V level. It operates like a SPDT switch that can
automatically switch between the DPDCL supply and BUET main power supply. During our
visit, only DPDCL supply line was being used. Necessary power supply to ECE building and
Palashi market is provided from this substation and is controlled at the same time.

Figure 23: Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) new (Power Plant SS)
 Low Tension (LT) Switch Gear: There are 3 LT switchgears. Each panel takes
supply from the ATS unit through a main breaker, and in turn supplies different feeders.
Each feeding line is connected to a small breaker. The main power plant substation
mainly feeds the ECE building, Palashi Market etc.

Figure 24: 3 * LT switchgear (power plant SS)

 PFI Plant: The power factor improvement plant is used to improve the power factor. It
contains capacitors and other magnetic units. It is connected to one of the breakers of the
LT switch gear panel. It improves pf by supplying reactive power to the loads.

Figure 25: 3 * PFI (power plant SS)

Figure 26: PFI (power plant SS) - outside

Sub-station near Dr. M A Rashid Hall
Visiting Date: 30 May 2021

This substation is located just by M. A. Rashid Hall, and it takes DPDC supply from both lines.
One line comes directly from Azimpur substation at 11kV, and another line originating from
Dhanmondi substation comes from Dhaka University and then through the main campus
substation, then Nazrul Islam Hall substation and finally to this one. This substation has RMU.
Other components are described below:

 RMU: This substation takes DPDCL power from both lines. So, a Ring Main Unit is
required to connect the two sources and select one or both if necessary. This helps to
prevent fault current and short circuit. This ring connection is completely controlled by
DPDC. They know how and when the power supply will be provided. In this case BUET
has no control. The ring is locked in the cabinet like a connection box. There was no
opportunity to access inside it.

Figure 27: Ring Main Unit (Rashid Hall SS)

 HT Meter: There is one HT meter. The 11kV output from the RMU goes to the HT
Meter which is enclosed in a room which was not accessible at the time of the visit. It
measures power consumption and calculates power bill.
 HT Breaker: There is one HT breaker. It connects the HT meter and the high voltage
side of the transformer
 Transformer: There is only one 11 kV/400 V, 800 kVA rated three phase transformer,
which is connected to the HT breaker on the high voltage side (similarly as before) and
then the low voltage output of 400 V is sent to ATS unit.
 ATS: The single ATS unit in this SS takes DPDCL line input from the transformer LV
side, BUET power plant input from the common bus, and the output is connected to the
LT breaker panel, all rated at 400 V. The DPDCL line was active at the time of the visit.
 LT Breaker Panel: There is one LT breaker panel. This panel takes 400V input from
the ATS output through a main breaker. It has a number of small breaker units, each one
supplying a single line of Rashid Hall residential area and other loads. One breaker is
connected to the PFI plant.
 PFI Plant: There was one PFI Plant for one transformer. There are several capacitors (8
in total) inside, each connected to a magnetic contact to turn the capacitors on and off,
which are in turn connected to a common bus that connects the PFI to the LT breaker
unit.

Figure 28: PFI (Rashid Hall SS)

Sub-station at Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall
Visiting Date: 30 May 2021
This substation also takes two supplies from DPDCL. One comes from Dhaka University line,
through the main campus substation; and the other one, the Azimpur line, comes through M. A.
Rashid Hall substation. Description of different components are given below:
 RMU: As there are two supply lines from DPDCL, the substation requires an RMU
operating at 11 kV. The RMU is also controlled by DPDCL .So it could not be accessed.
 HT Meter: There is one HT Meter operating at 11 kV that takes supply from RMU and
measure power in the output.
 HT Breaker: The output of the HT meter is split into two, and one goes to each HT
breaker, operating at 11 kV, for each transformer. The breakers are then connected to the
HT side of the transformers.
 Transformers: There are two transformers. The ratings are-
11 kV/400 V, 500 kVA (old); 11 kV/400 V, 750 kVA (new)
The transformers take 11 kV DPDCL supply via the HT breakers, steps it down to 400 V,
and then are connected to their corresponding ATS units on the LT side.
 ATS: There are two ATS panels. The one for the old transformer is the same as the ATS
panels in the other substations. The one for the newer transformer is a new model, and
slightly different display. Supplies are taken from the transformer LT sides (DPDCL line)
and the respective feeder switchgears from the main power plant. The ATSs are set in
such a way that it never takes supply from the two supplies at the same time. The output
of the ATS units go to LT switch gears as usual.
 LT Switch Gear: In each unit, there is one main breaker, which is connected to a bus
which in turn is connected to an ATS unit; at the output side, there are 3 small breakers.
One for PFI unit, one supplies power to Nazrul Hall and surrounding areas, one for
Shaheed Smrity Hall which doesn’t work now.
 PFI Plant: There are 2 PFI Plants. For each LT switch gear, there is a PFI plant with
capacitors and magnetic contacts in order to supply reactive power and improve pf.

Sub-station at BUET Main Campus

Visiting Date: 30 May 2021
This fourth and last substation is located near the old academic building inside the main campus.
It takes a DPDCL supply line directly from Dhaka University. Another one from the Azimpur
substation comes via MA Rashid Hall SS and Nazrul Hall SS. This substation has four
transformers. Of them, 3 are used for the purpose of power supply inside the BUET campus, and
an additional transformer that is used in an adjacent glass and ceramic factory. There is an
important difference here compared to the previous substations. There is a separate HT meter for
each transformer in this substation.
 Figure 29: Entrance of BUET Main Campus substation

 RMU: As there are two supply lines from DPDC, a RMU unit is required. 4 parts are for
the three phases and one for the neutral phase.

Figure 30: Ring main unit at the Main substation

 HT Meter: Although there weren’t separate HT meters for each transformer in other
substations, there are separate HT meters for each transformer here. Inside the SS control
room, there are three HT meters for the three transformers that are part of BUET’s own
power network. Each of these is then connected to an HT breaker unit.
 HT Breaker: 3 HT Breakers are connected to the HT side of the transformer at 11 kV
 Transformers: Two transformers were seen which had a rating of 750 kVA. Two
more on the back of these two. Their rating is 500 kVA.
 ATS: 3 ATS for 3 transformers which work as before.
 LT Switchgear: 3 units for 3 transformers.

Figure 31: LT switchgear - Main substation

 PFI Plants: 3 units. For each LT switch gear, there is a PFI plant with capacitors and
magnetic contacts in order to supply reactive power and improve pf.

Glass and Ceramics Department: There is a small place adjacent to the main campus
substation, used to power the glass and ceramics department. It has a transformer rated at 11
kV/400 V and works at 500 kVA rated power. It is one of the 4 transformers mentioned
above. There is a separate RMU for it as takes both DPDCL supplies as the main SS. But it is
not connected to BUET main power plant. The output then is connected to a HT meter
located at that building, which in turn is connected to the HT side of the transformer through
a HT breaker unit. There is no ATS, as it doesn’t need to utilize BUET main power line. The
 LT side of the transformer goes directly to an LT breaker panel, which then supplies various
loads.

Figure 32: 11 kV VCB (GCE dept.) Figure 33: LT switchgear (GCE dept.)

Reports
Question: 2
The voltages generated at the two dates are shown in the tables below:
Log Sheet for G-3520 c Gen Set of BUET Power Plant, 1 March 2020
8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00
Main SS 1 53 104 144 156 153 152 150 158 145 112
Main SS 2 104 144 192 182 192 210 240 233 233 207
Main SS 3 120 186 204 219 221 208 170 193 210 180
Dr. Rashid Hall SS 71 125 125 142 144 144 152 146 80 86
Nazrul Hall SS (Old) 78 76 79 83 82 99 101 94 84 83
NAB SS 1, 2, 3 170 244 289 311 282 292 233 288 292 219
Total Power Generated 596 879 1033 1093 1074 1105 1046 1112 1044 887

Log Sheet for G-3520 c/e Gen Set of BUET Power Plant, 1 March 2021 (9:00 - 16:00)
9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00
Main SS 1 77 98 105 128 121 104 109 128
Main SS 2 147 210 241 245 237 234 229 226
Main SS 3 140 200 217 222 181 199 220 196
Dr. Rashid Hall SS 95 99 99 100 109 106 113 39
Nazrul Hall SS (Old) 94 91 97 105 116 126 109 98
Nazrul Hall SS (New) 109 107 116 129 140 149 120 123
NAB SS 1, 2, 3 209 304 244 252 272 272 231
Total Power Generated 662 1014 1179 1173 1156 1190 1172 1041
 Log Sheet for G-3520 c/e Gen Set of BUET Power Plant, 1 March 2021 (17:00 - 24:00)
17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 24:00
Main SS 1 66 51 50 40 37 38 38 40
Main SS 2 203 185 187 171 118 119 110 105
Main SS 3 125 82 95 72 60 48 52 42
Dr. Rashid Hall SS 32 52 114 54 114 50 48 44
Nazrul Hall SS (Old) 102 108 139 143 144 146 145 144
Nazrul Hall SS (New) 116 138 177 177 178 181 176 154
NAB SS 1, 2, 3 235 205 201 206 160 200 171 190
Total Power Generated 879 821 963 863 811 782 740 719

A graph is plotted using the sums of the voltage data collected with respect to times of voltage
generation:

Figure 34: Power Generation vs. Time graph

Explanation of Graph:
The blue line on the graph shows the power generated at different hours on March 1, 2020 while
the red line represents the power generated on March 1, 2021. From an analytical point of view,
it is seen that before 11:00 am, the power generated in 2021 is less than that of 2020; the
difference is significant for 9 am but not much for 10 am. However, after 10 am, it is seen that
the power generated in 2021 is significantly greater than that of 2020. This situation continues up
to 5 pm. After 5 pm, there is no data available for 2020 but the data from 2021 shows that power
generation increased a bit at 7 pm but then a decreasing trend continued up to 12 am.
In 2020, offline classes were still going on in full swing in the morning, so there was power
generation at that time, hence the recording of power generation starting from 8 am. Between 11
am and 4 pm, classes and labs continue together, so more power is generated. However, after 5
pm there is no data for power generation, so presumably after 5 pm, power was taken from
DPDC substations.
In 2021, there is no offline class due to lockdown, and naturally power generation in the
morning has decreased significantly. However, other activities have continued normally;
especially offices in BUET and the adjacent market continue to operate. In addition to this, some
departments of BUET have been unable to provide teachers to provide facilities for taking online
classes form home, so some teachers come regularly at BUET. Videos for sessional classes are
made by staying at BUET. Also, the halls are partially illuminated at night. All these have
contributed to an increase in power generation.

Question: 3
A complete single-line diagram of the BUET power system is given below:

Figure 35: SLD of BUET Power System

Question: 4
Ring Main Unit:
In a power distribution system, a Ring Main Unit is a metal-enclosed set of switchgears. It is
used in the load connection points of a ring-type distribution network or near a distribution
transformer. One end of it is connected to two or more main conductors and the other end can be
connected to a transformer (HT meters for BUET power distribution network). It has breaker
units, and so it can connect the load side to more than one power supply; however, which power
supply will be active can be controlled either manually or automatically. The unit box can be
either indoor or outdoor type, and connects to feeders and distribution transformers through
cables known as Ring Main Cables.
Normally, an RMU is utilized to enable a fed supply from two directions and tapping of a
transformer. One of the supplies might have a number of RMUs in series creating a ring. When a
section of the network requires being isolated because of work or failure, an RMU on every end
of this area could be opened without hindering other parts of the network.
Some functions of the RMU switchgear are shortly described as follows:

1. Circuit Control:
It controls the whole circuit of the system to switch functions according to necessity. For
instance, if BUET needs to utilize power from DPDC then the circuit will be connected to either
Dhanmondi or Azimpur substation, depending on availability or other factors. If BUET decides
to use power from its own power plant, the DPDC lines are shut down.

2. Isolation:
It isolates the faulty equipment from the rest of the circuit. Also, an isolator works to connect the
circuit to the right power supply at the right time.

3. Protection from Hazards:

It protects the circuit from ground fault currents, current faults due to short circuits, and
overload. The earth connections can be utilized for safety of workers when there is a fault in a
line that requires fixing. The breaker can also safely stop faulty current from feeders so that it
cannot reach the transformer. Compared with medium voltage fuses, the circuit breaker
combined with relays will enhance the ability to protect selectively.

Discussions:
This experiment was crucial in having an understanding of the different parts of a power plant
network and its components, many of which have been encountered for the first time. However,
power distribution systems in larger applications are much more complex. This experiment also
gave an opportunity to understand the working process of a small size power distribution system.
The power plant stationed at BUET is capable of meeting the university’s own power demands.
This also gives BUET a distinct upper hand in situations where there is a blackout in adjacent
areas. In those situations, BUET power station can generate enough power to keep a smooth
workflow within the campus. However, there is also a setup for using auxiliary power from
DPDC substations. One possible reason is the excessive cost to run and maintain a power plant,
be it small-scale or large-scale. Throughout the visit, it was seen that some components were
non-operational due to being unused along with a lack of proper maintenance. The fuel cost is
also considered when running a power plant. The DPDC power has its own uses, especially
when the usual works at BUET reduce at night.
From a standpoint of environmental consciousness, solar power would be a very viable
alternative for BUET. However, a solar panel will be the most effective if the conditions are
favourable. In situations where the solar panel cannot be effective for power generation, the
traditional gas and diesel generators will always come in handy.