Electrical Wiring

Estimation and
Installation

 Power and Energy are buzz words in todays world.

Electricity is emerged as basic necessity with Food,
Shelter and Clothing for human being.
Life without electricity has become highly unimaginable.
Electric locomotives, Heating, Cooling, Fans, Blowers,
Motors, Illumination are some applications that converts
electrical energy into useful work.

 Progress of any nation is measured in terms of per

capita consumption of electrical energy.(KWH consumed
per person per year)
India- 500 KWH /person per year
UK- 15 times that of India
US- 30 times that of India
Reasons of Popularity of electricity:

Clean environment for user

Higher efficiency
Better controllability
Quick transfer of power from source to load
Energy conservation is simple

Power Generation Scenario In India

Thermal Power -- Hydro Power

1,00,000MW

---

65,000MW

Nuclear Power ---

10,000MW

Other sources ---

20,000MW

Total Installed Capacity--- 1,95,000MW

Sources Of Electrical Power Generation

A.

B.

Conventional Sources
Thermal (Coal)
Nuclear
Gas
Water
Non conventional Sources
Wind
Solar- PV
Biomass

Disadvantages Of Conventional Sources

Fossil fuels shall be depleted, forcing us to
conserve them and find alternative resources.
Toxic, Hazardous gases, Residues pollute
environment.
Overall conversion efficiency is very poor.
Sources are located at remote places with
reference to load, increasing transmission cost.
Maintenance cost is high.

Block

Of

Coal Based Thermal Power Plant

India has rich stock of coal as natural resource.
Chemical energy stored in coal is transformed to
electrical energy.
Coal powder is fired in boiler that converts water into
steam at high temp. and pressure.
This steam is injected over the blades of steam turbine
(prime mover) in controlled way and hence, rotor of 3 PH
a.c. generator rotates.

 Mechanical energy is converted into electrical energy at

rated voltage(10-30KV).
Used steam is cooled down to water using cooling
towers and condensers.
This preheated water is again injected in boiler tubes to
convert back to steam.
Flue gases are passed into atmosphere and fine
particles of ash are collected through ESP.
Ash(40% of coal weight) is collected and transported to
AHP.

Merits of Coal Thermal Plant

Coal is cheap and available in abundance at present.
It is a time tested process, so no experimentation is
required.
Less space required as compared to Hydro based
station and less hazardous than Nuclear power plant.

Less initial cost as compared to other conventional

process of power generation.

Demerits of Coal Thermal plant

Calorific value (Kcal/Kg) of Indian coal is very low and
large ash content.
Huge volume of ash is produced daily and its disposal is
burning issue today.
Atmospheric pollution is very high.
Transportation of coal to plant and transmission of
generated power to load centre involves large expenses.

Nuclear Thermal Power Plant

Huge amount of thermal energy is produced through
Nuclear Fusion and Fission process of radioactive
elements.
This thermal energy is used to produce steam that can
be utilized to rotate the turbine coupled to 3 PH a.c.
generator.

Fusion is the process in which two light weight nuclei

combine to produce heavier nucleus, a neutron and lot of
exothermic energy.

 In fusion Deuterium and Tritium nuclei are fused to

produce heavy Helium, Neutron and 17.6 MeV of energy.
One gram of Deuterium contains 1,00,000 KWh of
energy which is 10 million times that released by
combustion of one gram of coal.
Fission is the reaction in which heavy nucleus is split in
to two or more lighter nuclei with release of neutrons,
fission fragment, gamma rays and lot of thermal energy.
Released neutrons has high KE and collides with other
nuclei resulting into secondary fission which again
produce same components as before.

 This process results into sustained chain reaction

producing huge amount of energy that can be utilized for
producing steam that is subsequently used for rotating
turbine.
The main requirement of fission is such that the reaction
should be self sustained in nature.

For self sustained reaction the substance should be

fissile, it should not decay quickly and should be
available in nature in moderate quantity.

 All radioactive elements are fissile and satisfy the

conditions as specified for self sustained reaction.
Uranium-235 is commonly used for the process.
When it accepts neutron, it is fissioned into Barium,
Krypton, neutrons, gamma rays and 200MeV energy.
All the time this huge heat energy is not required and if it
is not controlled then may result in disaster.

Speed of neutrons is controlled by moderators like

Graphite and heavy water to achieve critical speed of
reaction.

 Further more, control rods, like cadmium, are placed

between fuel rods that absorb neutrons for regulation of
reaction thereby to obtain power control of generators.
The control rods are pushed in and pulled out to
decrease and increase power output respectively.

Advantages of Nuclear Power Generation

Less quantity of fuel for generation of given amount of
energy compared to other sources.
High reliability, Efficient and less running cost.

Disadvantages of Nuclear Power Generation

Fuel is expensive and not available in abundance
everywhere.
High capital cost.
Maintenance cost is very high.
Nuclear waste disposal is a great problem.

Block Schematic for Nuclear Power Plant

 Hydro-electric power is generated by the flow of water

through turbine, turning the blades of the turbine.
A generator shaft connected to this turbine also rotates
and hence generates electricity.
The main components of a hydel power plant are:

1. Dam/Reservoir/Large buffer tank

2. Penstock
3. Power House
a. Turbines
b. Generators
c. Step-up Transformers

Depending on the capacity, hydel power plants

are divided into the following categories:

 Hydel plants are normally not in a continuous operation

mode and used for peak periods during the day like the
wee hours and in the evening.
Also, they are used when the continuously operating
thermal plants go into overhauling.
This is possible due to the less start up time required by
hydro power stations which is normally in few minutes as
compared to thermal power plant which is more than 8
hours.
The command for starting or shutting is issued by from
the related Load Dispatch Center (LDC) of that particular
region

 Once a dam is constructed, electricity can be produced

at a constant rate
If electricity is not needed, the sluice gates can be shut,
stopping electricity generation
The build up of water in the lake means that energy can
be stored until needed, when the water is released to
produce electricity.
The lake's water can be used for irrigation purposes.
Hydropower is fueled by water, so it's a clean fuel
source. Hydropower doesn't pollute the air like power
plants that burn fossil fuels, such as coal, oil or natural
gas.

 Dams are extremely expensive to build and must be built

to a very high standard.
People living in villages and towns that are in the valley
to be flooded, must move out.

Hydro power plants can be impacted by drought. When

water is not available, the hydro power plants can't
produce electricity.

The grid-connected application

 The wind energy is one of the most effective renewable

power and relevant technologies for its conversion in
useful form.
India has the fifth largest installed wind power capacity in
the world.
A Wind Energy Conversion System is a structure that
transforms the kinetic energy of the incoming air stream
into electrical energy.
There are two basic configurations namely vertical axis
wind turbines (VAWT) and horizontal axis wind turbines
(HAWT).
Today the vast majority of manufactured wind turbines
are horizontal axis with either two or three blades.

 There are two types of Wind Energy Conversion System

(WECS).
1. Variable-speed WECS
2. Fixed-speed WECS.
Variable-speed wind turbines are currently the most used
WECS.
Fixed-speed WECS operate at constant speed and
Variable-speed WECS at variable speed.
In Fixed-speed WECS generated voltage and frequency is
constant but in Variable-speed WECS generated voltage
and frequency is varying with respect to wind speed.

 The wind is free and with modern technology it can be

captured efficiently.
Once the wind turbine is built the energy it produces,
does not cause green house gases or other pollutants.
Remote areas that are not connected to the electricity
power grid can use wind turbines to produce their own
supply.
Wind turbines are available in a range of sizes which
means a vast range of people and businesses can use
them.
Single households to small towns and villages can make
good use of range of wind turbines available today.

The strength of the wind is not constant and it varies

from zero to storm force.

This means that wind turbines do not produce the same

amount of electricity all the time.
There will be times when they produce no electricity at
all.

Wind turbines are noisy.

 A photovoltaic cell is the basic device that converts solar

radiation into electricity.
PV cell can be either circular in construction or square.
Cells are arranged in a frame to form a module. Modules
put together form a panel. Many Panels together form an
array.
Each PV cell is rated in watt-peak (Wp).
Only a small part of the radiant energy that the sun emits
into space ever reaches the Earth, but that is more than
enough to supply all our energy needs. The energy
which reaches earth surface is taken as 1 KW/ sq.m
approximately

 Solar Water Heating : Solar energy can be used to

heat water. A solar water heater works a lot like solar
space heating. A solar collector is mounted on the roof
where it can capture sunlight.

Photovoltaic Electricity:- Photovoltaic comes from the words photo

meaning light and volt, a measurement of electricity. Sometimes
photovoltaic cells are called PV cells or solar cells for short.
Solar cells are made up of silicon, the same substance that
makes up sand. Silicon is the second most common substance
on Earth.
Electricity is produced when sunlight strikes the solar cell,
causing the electrons to move around.

After initial investment, all the electricity produced is

free.

Incentives and rebates from government and utility

companies offset the initial investment.

Clean, renewable energy source.

No transmission costs for stand alone systems.

Virtually no maintenance and no recurring costs

Ideal for remote locations that cannot be tied to the grid

 High initial cost to purchase solar panel system

A relatively large area is required to install a solar system
The highest efficiency is dependent on full sun exposure
No electricity can be produced at night, and reduced
production on cloudy/rainy days

Interconnection of Generation, Transmission,

Distribution and Utilization Systems

UPS Block Diagram

Inverter
Inverters change Direct Current (DC) to
Alternating Current (AC).

Stand-Alone inverters can be used to convert

DC from a battery to AC to run electronic
equipment, motors, appliances, etc.

AUTOMATIC
SWITCH

AC SUPPLY
CONVERTER
AC TO DC

INVERTER
DC TO AC

BATTERY

AC FAIL

CRITICAL
LOAD
(AC)

 CONVERTER - AC TO DC
Surge Protection Devices (SPD) - Protects against SPIKES
and TRANSIENTS
BATTERY

STORED ENERGY DEVICE - Protects against

INTERRUPTIONS

INVERTER DC TO AC

WAVEFORM SYNTHESIS Protects against DC

OFFSET and INTERHARMONICS

FILTER Protects against HARMONICS, NOTCHING

and NOISE

VOLTAGE REGULATOR Protects against SAGS,

SURGES and FLUCTUATIONS

 MAINTENANCE
INSPECT PERIODICALLY
REPLACE AS NEEDED
RISKS
ACID
ELECTRIC SHOCK
BURN
FLYING, MOLTEN METAL (EYES)
INJURIES RESULTING FROM CARRYING HEAVY
BATTERY PACKS
DISPOSAL
DISPOSE OF PROPERLY
RECYCLE WHENEVER POSSIBLE

 The potential of the earth is considered to be at zero for

all practical purposes.
Earthing is to connect any electrical equipment to earth
with a very low resistance wire, making it to attain earths
potential.
This ensures safe discharge of electric energy, which
may be due to reasons like failure of the insulation, line
coming in contact with the casing etc.
Earthing brings the potential of the body of the
equipment to ZERO i.e. to the earths potential, thus
protecting the operating personnel against electrical
shock.

BLOCK DIAGRAM

Necessity of Earthing:
To protect the operating personnel from danger of shock
in case they come in contact with the charged frame due
to defective insulation.
To maintain the line voltage constant under unbalanced
load condition.
Protection of the equipments
Protection of large buildings and all machines fed from
overhead lines against lightning.
Methods of Earthing:
Plate earthing
Pipe earthing
Strip or wire earthing
Rod earthing

 Protection for electrical installation must be provided in the event of

faults such as
1.Short circuit
2.Overload
3.Earth faults
Short circuit
a. In this phenomenon, the current is diverted from its desired
path.
b. Its magnitude may be 10 to 20 times full load current and
power losses are 100 to 400 times the normal value.
c. During short circuit, the rate of heat dissipation is very low or
nil, but the rate of rise of conductor temperature is very high

a.

The

protective circuit or device must be fast acting and isolate

the faulty part of the circuit immediately.

It also helps in isolating only required part of the circuit

without affecting the remaining circuit during maintenance.

 The electrical equipments are designed to carry a

particular rated value of current under normal
circumstances.
Under abnormal conditions such as short circuit,
overload or any fault the current raises above this value,
damaging the equipment and sometimes resulting in fire
hazard.
Fuses are pressed into operation under such situations.

Re-wirable or kit -kat fuses

These fuses are simple in construction, cheap and available up-to a
current rating of 200A. They are erratic in operation and their
performance deteriorates with time.
HRC cartridge fuse
The high rupturing capacity or (HRC) fuse consists of a heat
resistant ceramic body.
Then silver or bimetallic fuse element is welded to the end brass
caps.