Overhead Power Line

An overhead power line is an electric power transmission line suspended by towers or poles. Since most of the insulation is provided by air, overhead power lines are generally the lowest-cost method of transmission for large quantities of electric power. Towers for support of the lines are made of wood (as-grown or laminated), steel (either lattice structures or tubular poles), concrete, aluminum, and occasionally reinforced plastics. The bar wire conductors on the line are generally made of aluminum (either plain or reinforced with steel or sometimes composite materials), though some copper wires are used in medium-voltage distribution and low-voltage connections to customer premises.

The invention of the Strain insulator was a critical factor in allowing higher voltages to be used. At the end of the 19th century, the limited electrical strength of Telegraph-style Pin insulators limited the voltage to no more than 69,000 Volts. Today overhead lines are routinely operated at voltages exceeding 765,000 volts between conductors, with even higher voltages possible in some cases.

Overhead power transmission lines are classified in the electrical power industry by the range of voltages:

• Low voltage – less than 1000 volts, used for connection between a residential or small commercial customer and the utility.
• Medium Voltage (Distribution) – between 1000 volts (1 kV) and to about 33 kV, used for distribution in urban and rural areas.
• High Voltage (Subtransmission if 33-115kV and transmission if 115kV+) – between 33 kV and about 230 kV, used for sub-transmission and transmission of bulk quantities of electric power and connection to very large consumers.
• Extra High Voltage(Transmission) – over 230 kV, up to about 800 kV, used for long distance, very high power transmission.
• Ultra High Voltage – higher than 800 kV.

Lines classified as "low voltage" are quite hazardous. Direct contact with (touching) energized conductors still present a risk of electrocution. A major goal of overhead power line design is to maintain adequate clearance between energized conductors and the ground so as to prevent dangerous contact with the line. This is extremely dependent on the voltage the line is running at.

Structures

Structures for overhead lines take a variety of shapes depending on the type of line. Structures may be as simple as wood poles directly set in the earth, carrying one or more cross-arm beams to support conductors, or "armless" construction with conductors supported on insulators attached to the side of the pole. Tubular steel poles are typically used in urban areas. High-voltage lines are often carried on lattice-type steel towers or pylons. For remote areas, aluminium towers may be placed by helicopters. Concrete poles have also been used. Poles made of reinforced plastics are also available, but their high cost restricts application.

Each structure must be designed for the loads imposed on it by the conductors. A large transmission line project may have several types of towers, with "tangent" ("suspension" or "line" towers, UK) towers intended for most positions and more heavily constructed towers used for turning the line through an angle, dead-ending (terminating) a line, or for important river or road crossings. Depending on the design criteria for a particular line, semi-flexible type structures may rely on the weight of the conductors to be balanced on both sides of each tower. More rigid structures may be intended to remain standing even if one or more conductors is broken. Such structures may be installed at intervals in power lines to limit the scale of cascading tower failures.

Foundations for tower structures may be large and costly, particularly if the ground conditions are poor, such as in wetlands. Each structure may be considerably strengthened by the use of guy wires to resist some of the forces due to the conductors.

Power lines and supporting structures can be a form of Visual pollution. In some cases the lines are buried to avoid this, but this is more expensive and therefore not usual.

Insulators

Insulators must support the conductors and withstand both the normal operating voltage and surges due to switching and Lightning. Insulators are broadly classified as either pin-type, which support the conductor above the structure, or suspension type, where the conductor hangs below the structure. Up to about 33 kV (69 kV in North America) both types are commonly used. At higher voltages only suspension-type insulators are common for overhead conductors. Insulators are usually made of wet-process Porcelain or toughened glass, with increasing use of glass-reinforced polymer insulators.

Suspension insulators are made of multiple units, with the number of unit insulator disks increasing at higher voltages. The number of disks is chosen based on line voltage, lightning withstand requirement, altitude, and environmental factors such as fog, pollution, or salt spray. Longer insulators, with longer creepage distance for leakage current, are required in these cases. Strain insulators must be strong enough mechanically to support the full weight of the span of conductor, as well as loads due to ice accumulation, and wind.

Porcelain insulators may have a semi-conductive glaze finish, so that a small current (a few milliamperes) passes through the insulator. This warms the surface slightly and reduces the effect of fog and dirt accumulation. The semiconducting glaze also insures a more even distribution of voltage along the length of the chain of insulator units.

Insulators for very high voltages, exceeding 200 kV, may have grading rings installed at their terminals. This improves the electric field distribution around the insulator and makes it more resistant to flash-over during voltage surges.

Conductors

Aluminum conductors reinforced with steel (known as ACSR) are primarily used for medium and high voltage lines and may also be used for overhead services to individual customers. Aluminum conductors are used as it has the advantage of better resistivity/weight than copper, as well as being cheaper. Some copper cable is still used, especially at lower voltages and for grounding.

While larger conductors may lose less energy due to lower Electrical resistance, they are more costly than smaller conductors. An optimization rule called Kelvin's Law states that the optimum size of conductor for a line is found when the cost of the energy wasted in the conductor is equal to the annual interest paid on that portion of the line construction cost due to the size of the conductors. The optimization problem is made more complex due to additional factors such as varying annual load, varying cost of installation, and by the fact that only definite discrete sizes of cable are commonly made.

Since a conductor is a flexible object with uniform weight per unit length, the geometric shape of a conductor strung on towers approximates that of a Catenary. The sag of the conductor (vertical distance between the highest and lowest point of the curve) varies depending on the temperature. A minimum overhead clearance must be maintained for safety. Since the temperature of the conductor increases with increasing heat produced by the current through it, it is sometimes possible to increase the power handling capacity (uprate) by changing the conductors for a type with a lower coefficient of thermal expansion or a higher allowable operating temperature.

Bundled conductors are used for voltages over 200 kV to avoid corona losses and audible noise. Bundle conductors consist of several conductor cables connected by non-conducting spacers. For 220 kV lines, two-conductor bundles are usually used, for 380 kV lines usually three or even four. American Electric Power is building 765 kV lines using six conductors per phase in a bundle. Spacers must resist the forces due to wind, and magnetic forces during a short-circuit.

Overhead power lines are often equipped with a ground conductor (shield wire or overhead earth wire). A ground conductor is a conductor that is usually grounded (earthed) at the top of the supporting structure to minimise the likelihood of direct lightning strikes to the phase conductors. The ground wire is also a parallel path with the earth for fault currents in earthed neutral circuits. Very high-voltage transmission lines may have two ground conductors. These are either at the outermost ends of the highest cross beam, at two V-shaped mast points, or at a separate cross arm. Older lines may use surge arrestors every few spans in place of a shield wire, this configuration is typically found in the more rural areas of the United States. By protecting the line from lightning, the design of apparatus in substations is simplified due to lower stress on insulation. Shield wires on transmission lines may include optical fibers (OPGW), used for communication and control of the power system.

Medium-voltage distribution lines may have the grounded conductor strung below the phase conductors to provide some measure of protection against tall vehicles or equipment touching the energized line, as well as to provide a neutral line in Wye wired systems.

While overhead lines are usually bare conductors, rarely overhead insulated cables are used, usually for short distances (less than a kilometer). Insulated cables can be directly fastened to structures without insulating supports. An overhead line with bare conductors insulated by air is typically less costly than a cable with insulated conductors. A more common approach is "covered" line wire. It is treated as bare cable, but often is safer for wildlife, as the insulation on the cables increases the likelihood of a large wing-span raptor to survive a brush with the lines, and reduces the overall danger of the lines slightly. These types of lines are often seen in the eastern United States and in heavily wooded areas, where tree-line contact is likely. The only pitfall is cost, as insulated wire is often costlier than its bare counterpart. Many utility companies implement covered line wire as jumper material where the wires are often closer to each other on the pole, such as a underground riser/Pothead, and on reclosers, cutouts and the like.

Low voltage

Low voltage overhead lines may use either bare conductors carried on glass or ceramic insulators or an Aerial bundled cable system. The number of conductors may be anywhere between four (three phase plus a combined earth/neutral conductor - a TN-C earthing system) up to as many as six (three phase conductors, separate neutral and earth plus street lighting supplied by a common switch).

Train power

Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains. Overhead line is designed on the principle of one or more overhead wires situated over rail tracks.Feeder stations at regular intervals along the overhead line supply power from the high voltage grid. For some cases low-frequency AC is used, and distributed by a special Traction current network.

Further applications

Overhead lines are also occasionally used to supply transmitting antennas, especially for efficient transmission of long, medium and short waves. For this purpose a staggered array line is often used. Along a staggered array line the conductor cables for the supply of the earth net of the transmitting antenna are attached on the exterior of a ring, while the conductor inside the ring, is fastened to insulators leading to the high voltage standing feeder of the antenna.

Usage of area under overhead power lines

Use of the area below an overhead line is restricted because objects must not come too close to the energized conductors. Overhead lines and structures may shed ice, creating a hazard. Radio reception can be impaired under a power line, due both to shielding of a receiver antenna by the overhead conductors, and by partial discharge at insulators and sharp points of the conductors which creates radio noise.

In the area surrounding overhead lines it is dangerous to risk interference; e.g. flying kites or balloons, using ladders or operating machinery.

Overhead distribution and transmission lines near Airfields are often marked on maps, and the lines themselves marked with conspicuous plastic reflectors, to warn pilots of the presence of conductors.

Construction of overhead power lines, especially in wilderness areas, may have significant environmental effects. Environmental studies for such projects may consider the effect of brush clearing, changed migration routes for migratory animals, possible access by predators and humans along transmission corridors, disturbances of fish habitat at stream crossings, and other effects.

History

The first transmission of electrical impulses over an extended distance was demonstrated on July 14, 1729 by the physicist Stephen Gray, in order to show that one can transfer electricity by that method. The demonstration used damp hemp cords suspended by silk threads (the significance of metallic conductors not being appreciated at the time).

However the first practical use of overhead lines was in the context of telegraphy. By 1837 experimental commercial telegraph systems ran as far as 13 miles (20 km). Electric power transmission was accomplished in 1882 with the first high voltage transmission between Munich and Bad Brook. 1891 saw the construction of the first three-phase Alternating current overhead line on the occasion of the International Electricity Exhibition in Frankfurt, between Lauffen and Frankfurt.

In 1912 the first 110 kV-overhead power line entered service followed by the first 220 kV-overhead power line in 1923. In the 1920s RWE AG built the first overhead line for this voltage and in 1926 built a Rhine crossing with the Pylons of Voerde, two masts 138 meters high. In Germany in 1957 the first 380 kV overhead power line was commissioned (between the transformer station and Rommerskirchen). In the same year the overhead line traversing of the Strait of Messina went into service in Italy, whose pylons served the Elbe crossing 1. This was used as the model for the building of the Elbe crossing 2 in the second half of the 1970s which saw the construction of the highest overhead line pylons of the world. Starting from 1967 in Russia, and also in the USA and Canada, overhead lines for voltage of 765 kV were built. In 1982 overhead power lines were built in Russia between Elektrostal and the power station at Ekibastusz, this was a three-phase alternating current line at 1200 kV (Powerline Ekibastuz-Kokshetau). In 2003 the building of the highest overhead line commenced in China, the Yangtze River Crossing.

Similar constructions

• Antenna (Some antennas for lower frequencies are similar to overhead power lines)
• Overhead line
• Third rail
• Radio masts and towers
• Electric fence
• Air cable
• Double-circuit transmission line