UGANDA ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION COMPANY LIMITED

ROTATIONAL TRAINING REPORT

BY : KATAMBA RAYMOND
Designation : Trainee Protection Engineer
Section : Communication Section
Duration : 20th March- 21th May 2013
Supervisor: Principal Communication Engineer
Mr. Walugembe J.B

Sign………………………………………………Date………………………
1 Training report of Raymond Katamba
Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
UETCL

The company was incorporated on 26th march 2001 under the PERD statue under the
companies Act as a public liability company and started operations on 1 st April 2001 this was as
a result of the disbanding of Uganda Electricity Board U.E.B ownership is by the Government of
Uganda

LICENSES OF OF UETCL

System operator

UETCL operates the power system with the objective of dispatching available electricity to meet
load requirements at the lowest cost for customer service, maintaining system integrity and
load requirements

Bulk power supply

UETCL is empowered to purchase power to provide continuous and economic supply of

electricity to meet the load requirements to customers served directly or indirecty from High
voltage transmission grid facilities at lowest reasonable cost

Power import and export

UETCL will import and export electricity power to neighboring countries pursuant to the terms
of agreements for such international power transactions

Public infrastructure provider

This is license empowers UETCL to provide platform for providing public infrastructure for
telecommunications

2 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
 TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Supervisor’s report---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
1.2 Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3
1.3 Mandate of communication-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------6
1.4 Power line carriers------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7
1.5 Types of PLC--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7
1.6 Line traps-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8
1.7 Line matching unit------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9
1.8 PLC frequency modulation -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------10

CHAPTER TWO
2.1UMUX technology-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11
2.2 Interfaces on UMUX--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11
2.3 Services of UMUX-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12
2.4 Fiber communication-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13
2.5 Fiber test equipment-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15

CHAPTER THREE
3.1 Hit 7025-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------17
3.2 FMX-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------17
3.3 VOIP----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18

CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 Power supplies---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18
4.2 Rectifiers----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------19
4.3 Generators--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------21
4.4 Activities of training--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22

3 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
1.1 Supervisors report

Please indicate to the trainee any constructive comments that may assist in
improving report standards

General Comments:

Layout:

Sketching /Drawing:

Assessment:

4 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Acknowledgement
I extend my sincere and deep appreciation to the staff of communication section for the
assistance they accorded me during the one month period I was training with the
communication section

My deep thanks go to the Principal communication engineer, senior engineers for the section
work briefings and overall section functions that they introduced me to

In a special way I must thank the communication engineers: Carol Ssekamate, George Alioka
that I spent the greater time of my training with and they endeavored to show me the core,
technical and practical works that the section handles

I would also like to thank the entire team in communication section that showed me good
hospitality and taught me one thing or another during the one month period of training that I
spent in the section

5 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
 CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Introduction - Communication section at UETCL

Communication section lies under the department of ICT its headed by a principal
communication engineer under him is the senior communication engineers and trainee
communication engineers

Organization of the section Manager

ICT

Principal
communication
engineer

SENIOR COMMUNICATION SENIOR COMMUNICATION

ENGINEER ENGINEER

COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

ENGINEERS -PLC ENGINEERS ENGINEERS - ENGINEERS –
TELEPHONY FIBER & UMUX POWER SUPPLIES

TECHNICIAN TECHNICIAN

6 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
1.2 Mandate of communication section
Communication section plays a number of roles and support to the high voltage grid to enable
smooth operation of the high voltage grid in real time

 Operate an integrated communication network structured to support data, telephony

and tele-protection interfaces

 Provision of reliable auxillary power supply to essential loads ;

 The auxiliary power auxiliary supplies are grouped into two categories : 48VDC for
communication and 110 VDC for protection

 Provision of communication links and interfaces , the communication links include the
communication media and necessary terminal equipment
 Provision of reliable speech infrastructure interconnected to the public telephone
network e.g UTL and MTN

Communication and the overall grid management

In the power systems network we have the following components that we have to optimally
manage to achieve desirable performance these include

 Generation
 Transmission
 Distribution

To have a desirable performance and good return on investigate management of power system
performance is key. SCADA plays an important role in achieving this objective

These following tools are utilized in managing SCADA.

1. Master system: for generating of instructions

2. Remote Terminal Unit (RTU): These components take up the instructions e.g for operation,
Fault management . It collects and integrates all the data from the substations ready to be
passed to the communication link up to LCC.

3. Communication Links: These are the links that are used to support the SCADA system by
providing path to the desired signals

7 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
To provide these communication links UETCL uses the following technologies to achieve
communication long its lines, substations and control centers

 PLC power line carriers

 Optical fiber
 Microwave links

1.4 POWER LINE CARRIER TECHNOLOGY

Transmitting information along high voltage power lines with PLC technology has been one the
main and certainly the most economic means of communication in electric power systems for
more than 50 years ago.

The concept of PLC is based on modulation of frequency band normally 8khz for digital PLC like
ACE and power link for each direction on a power line, the signal is picked from two phases red
and blue

This is accomplished with a frequency multiplexer the 8khz frequency has been transferred to
nominal frequency band normally in the range of 40khz – 500khz for transmission on the power
line.

PLC performs the necessary filtering and amplification of this signal. A line matching unit (LMU)
matches the signal to the impedance characteristic of the line. The line trap will ensure defined
impedance from the coupling point to the line to prevent the substation to act as a high
frequency reflector or sink.

In order for us to have successful transfer of RF signals we employ a device called a line trap on
the power line.

1.5 TYPES OF PLC TERMINAL EQUIPMENT FAMILIES AT UETCL

 ETL 640 –ABB
This is a Digital PLC
 ETL 41 – ABB
It has one channel and it’s an analog PLC
 ETL 42-ABB
It has two channels and it’s an analog PLC
 Power link – SIEMENS
8 Training report of Raymond Katamba
Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
 This is a digital PLC

From the equipment above we are able to get our voice, scada data , teleprotection commands

1.6 LINE TRAPS

The purpose of power line traps include:

 Provision of defined high voltage line impedance regard less of the configuration of the
primary switch gear.
 Prevention of signal losses due to propagation into other lines.
 Attenuation of RF (Radio Frequency) signals from other parts of the power system, thus
permitting multiple uses of the same frequency bands.
 PLC line traps are connected in series with high voltage tension lines and must therefore
be rated for maximum continuous load current and be able to with stand maximum
fault current at the place of installation

POWER LINE CARRIER TERMINAL, LINE MATCHING UNIT AND LINE TRAP

Construction of the line trap

PLC line traps comprise of three components: the main coil, a surge arrestor and a tuning unit.

9 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
The main coil

There is no insulation around the conductor this open type of construction which provides for
excellent cooling by surrounding air.

The method of construction achieves a good RF characteristic with a high Q, low stray
capacitance and a high resonant frequency of the coil its self.

Surge arrestors
These are used to earth the high fault currents or lightening.

Tuning unit

This is connected in parallel with the main coil and the surge arrestor. Its main function is to
provide defined impedance or blocking resistance in the frequency band prescribed by the PLC
channel

1.7 Line matching unit LMU

The line matching unit is a device that plays a number of functions in ensuring we get good
quality of RF signal from the source to the respective destination, roles of LMU

 LMU can be used as a earthing point to ground off the high voltage signal that may leak
into the communication equipment so it’s a protection to communication equipment
 LMU is used for Impedance matching helps to match equipment impedance to the line
impedance to allow communication signals flow smoothly
 LMU acts as a filter for removing noise that may be carried along with communication
signals

1.8 PLC and frequency modulation

During modulation the 8khz frequency band is divided into two each of 4 khz to establish a
duplex connection the we suppress the carrier and limit our signal to a 4khz band this is
intended to reduce the noise that may come along with the signal. The information form the

10 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
PLC terminal divices is carried by the RF cable that couples it to the line matching unit to the
line

Below is a diagram showing utilization of the frequency band by the PLC

Signals of particular Frequencies are combined into a given frequency band the 4khz band as
shown below

Speech uses 300hz to 2.2Khz

Data uses 2.3khz hz to 3.0Khz

Pilot uses 3.75khz to 4 khz

PILOT S SIGNAL band(3.75 -4)khz

2Khz 3.75Khz for DATA, VOICE, TELEPROTECTION

During power line carrier the RF signal at the destination points under goes frequency
demodulation in order to recover the voice, protection signals , scada data

CARDS ON THE ETL-640 PLC

 04cv telephone
 P4lu SCADA data
 PS DC power supply
 TPS Tele protection

Hybrid

This is the unit that decouples rx and tx signals, both signals are decoupled by the hybrid

Advantages of Power line carriers

11 Training report of Raymond Katamba
Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
1. If say a given phase is out PLC communication remains working since RF signal is picked from
two conductors

2. We can run PLC communication from Mutundwe to Nkonge without signal loss and no need
of repeaters as the case with fiber.

Disadvantages of Power line carriers over Optical fiber

1. Power line carrier communication is limited in band compared to fiber

2. There is a high Signal to noise ratio in power line communication, it’s affected by weather
during rain communication is poor

CHAPTER TWO

2.1 UMUX TECHNOLOGY

UMUX standards for universal multiplexer it is a fiber terminal equipment and we have two
types at UETCL, UMUX 1500 and UMUX 1300

There a number of modules and interfaces on the UMUX these are classified into three;

 Basic interfaces
 Transmission interfaces
 Traffic interfaces

2.2 Basic interfaces

This is made up of the following cards

1. Processor card

For the UMUX 1500 this card is called COBUX and UMUX 1300 it’s called CENCO

2. Power supply card

The purpose of this card is to power up other cards by converting the 48V to the required
voltages for UMUX1500 it’s called POSUM

12 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Transmission interfaces
This is used to carry information from the remote terminal to the required destination the
interface cards are of two types

Electrical interfaces for example

 Lomif

Optical interface cards example

 Tupon
 Synuf

Traffic interfaces
These are user or consumer interfaces that specifically carry information that the client wants
these include

 Voice
 Data
 LAN

Key services that UMUX provides

Data Services

UMUX supports a large number of different applications from power network data systems ,
mobile cellular networks , traffic systems management , to solve this dilemma UMUX provides a
variety of data interfaces example from these interfaces: G.703 , V.11 ,V.24, V.35 and Ethernet

Voice Services

In addition to data and Ethernet services a wide range of specific functions make UMUX also
ideal to provide legacy POTS and ISDN services in dedicated networks besides that it also
supports voice conferencing directly in UMUX it also provides special interfaces for telephone
exchange

13 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
2.4 Fiber optic communication
Apart from microwave, power line carrier this is one of the medium that communication
section uses to support its integrated communication network and also to run a public
infrastructure services to other data and telecommunication companies through leasing out its
fiber network to these different enterprises.

Introduction

Fiber optic communication means sending signals from one location to another in the form of
modulated light guided through hair thin fibers of glass or plastic

Fiber optic communication is based on the principle that a light in a glass medium can carry
more information over long distances that can be carried by copper or coaxial cables optic fiber
has the capability to transmit light signals beyond 100km without amplification and at negligible
transmission losses, interference and higher bandwidth these advantages have driven the world
to use fiber as a communication medium over long distant transmission lines

Operations of the fiber

The operation of the fiber is based on the principle of total internal reflection of light signals.
Light reflects or recfracts depending on the angle at which it strikes the surface. This is the
pricnciple of optic fiber operation. The light waves are guided to the other far end of the fiber
by being reflected with in the core. Controlling the angle at which the light waves are
transmitted makes it possible to control the how effiecienty they are recovered at the other
end of the fiber. The compostion of the cladding glass relative to the glass determines the
fiber’s ability to reflect the light. The difference in the index of refraction of the core and the
cladding causes most of the transmitted light to bounce off the cladding glass and stay with in
the core in this way the fiber acts as a wave guide of the transmitted light.

The design of the fiber

An optic fiber is made of two different types of highly pure , solid glass and fused to form a core
and the cladding with a protective coating around it

Protective glass is applied to the glass fiber as a final stage in its manufacturing to guard it from
damage; this protects the fiber from dusts, and scratches. The protective part is made up of
two layers: a soft inner layer that cushions the fiber and allows the coating to be stripped from

14 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
the glass mechanically and the harder outter layer that protects the fiber during handling,
installation and termination processes

TYPES OF FIBER ON ITS NETWORK USED AT UETCL

OPGW – optical fiber ground wire

Is a fiber that carries both the earthling conductor and optical fiber and is mainly used in
turnkey projects

ADSS – All Dielectric Self Supporting

This is used when there is maintenance on line i.e disaster recovery

SKYWRAP: Used when there is an already existing line with no fiber

UNDER GROUND FIBER: this is laid in the earth underground

Cross section through a fiber

CORE
CLADDING

BUFFER

Optic Fiber

Thin strands of highly transparent glass or plastic that guide light used to transmit
communication signals

15 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Core

This is the center of the fiber where light is transmitted

Cladding

The outside optical layer of the fiber that traps the light in the core and guides it along

Buffer coating

A hard plastic coating on the outside of the fiber that protects the glass form moisture or
physical damage

TERMINATION AND SPLICING OF FIBER

Connector

A none permanent device for connecting two fibers in a none permanent joint or fibers to
equipment.

Splice

A permanent joint between two fibers primary used may be used to connect a fiber to a pig tail
to terminate them

Mechanical splice

A splice where fibers are aligned created by mechanical means. In this case, the fiber ends are
aligned to a common center line , thereby aligning the cores. The cleaned fiber ends are
inserted into a common alignment tube. The ends are then butted together and index matched
to reduce reflections that may occur

Fusion splice

A splice created by fusing two fibers together. This is the most reliable and lowest loss method
for joining two fibers together with an electric arc this causes the fibers to melt and fuse
together.

Fusion splicer

An instrument that splices fibers by fusing them

16 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Fiber performance specifications

Attenuation

The reduction in optical power as it passes along a fiber usually expressed in decibels usually
fibers have an attenuation coefficient that is expressed in dB/km the one we have is 0.22Db/Km
for single mode fiber(SMF) and 0.35-0.36Db/Km for multi-mode fiber (MMF)

Wavelength

The range of signal frequencies or bit rate with in which a fiber optic component link or
network will operate

Decibels

A unit of measurement of optical power that indicates relative power

Dispersion

Pulse spreading caused by modes in multimode fiber (modal dispersion ) the difference in the
speed of light of different wavelengths

Scattering

The change of the direction of light after striking small particles that cause the majority of loss
in optical fibers

2.5 Fiber optic test equipment

Optic power meter

An instrument that measures the optical power from the end of a fiber

Optical source

An instrument that uses a leaser or LED to send an optical signal into a fiber here at
communication work shop we use an optical modem

Optical loss test set

A measurement instrument that includes both an optical power meter and a light source used
for measuring insertion loss of installed cables or individual cables. The combination of meter

17 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
and source either separate instruments or combined is sometimes also called light source and
power meter

Optical time domain reflector (OTDR)

An instrument that uses backscattered light to take a snapshot of an optical fiber which can be
used to measure fiber length , splice loss Fiber attenuation and for fault location in optical fiber
from only one send of the cable

Uses

 Measure fiber length

 Splice loss
 Fiber attenuation
 Fault location

Fiber types

Multimode fiber (MMF)

It has light travelling in many rays called modes it has a larger diameter its core is always 50
microns which supports transmission of multiple rays

Light wavelength: LED sources of wavelengths 850 and 1300 nm

Single Mode Fiber(SMF)

Communication uses only single mode type fiber on its entire optic fiber network and deploys
optical modems in some areas to provide light to the fiber.

Single mode fiber has a much smaller core usually about 8-10 microns so light travels only one
ray

SMF emits from a laser of light wavelength: there two wavelengths that are used 1310 nm and
1550nm

18 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
CHAPTER THREE

3.1 THE hiT 7025 TRANSMISSION DEVICE

This is a high transmission multiplexer that is used in most of the substation that have fiber
network it supports TDM from STM1 to STM16. The hiT7025 is a highly versatile equipment in
terms of its applications covering a complete range of STM1 to an STM16 system, this
equipment supports a large range of interfaces including Ethernet, SDHPDH, layer 2 switching
providing reliable and efficient data support.The hiT 7025 is an optimum solution for all types of
mixed TDM and data traffic

3.2 FMX 2S
The FMX is a multiplexing device that gives access it uses hiT 7025 for its transmission we can
obtain protection, scada and voice traffic from its various interfaces after multiplexing

protection signals : X.21 Interface

scada data : V.24 interface
Voice : two wire

UETCL FIBER NETWORK

v v
MUTUNDWE KAWANDA

KABULASOKE KLA NORTH NAMANVE BUJAGALI

MBARARA MASAKA LUGOGO LUGAZI OWEN/F TORORO

HANNINGTON Communication workshop

19 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Advantages of single mode fiber compared to multimode fiber

 Single mode fiber doesn’t suffer from modal dispersion like multimode fiber this limits
its information transmission capacity making single mode fiber better.
 Because of the high dispersion and attenuation rate of multimode fiber, the quality of
the signal is reduced over long distances

Advantages of fiber over power line carrier communication

 Fiber has unlimited bandwidth so large quantities of data can transmitted through
compared to the PLC its limited in bandwidth
 Fiber is less affected by noise compared to PLC communication that can pick on many RF
signals along its path

3.3 VOIP
With the existing data network that uses ip the data is carried along with voice so this setup
enables us to implement a VOIP network for areas where fiber exists on the infrastructure

In order to establish a VOIP network an IP infrastructure is a prerequisite for this to be

implemented so as to enable carrying data along with the voice

The steps involved in originating a VoIP telephone call are signaling and media channel setup,
digitization of the analog voice signal, encoding, packetization, and transmission as Internet
Protocol (IP) packets over a

20 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
VOIP infrastructure layout

POE MODEM IP-PHONE

VOIP PBX
SWITCH

SWITCH OPTICAL
MODEM

UMUX UMUX
1500 1500

Hannington communication workshop

Advantages of VOIP compared to the traditional telephony

 In the long run VOIP is cheaper for UETCL since it runs private ip network
 Since voice and data are carried on same cable its economical instead of having multiple
cables
 Regulation of calling rights
 Optimum utilization of IP resources
 Users have a mobile profile
 Phone billing and budgeting are easy to implement

21 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 Power supply

The communication section is in charge of installing and maintaining power supplies in the
substations this is called the auxillary supplies

Most of the communication equipment used for the communication, protection and control
operations use dc voltages for their operation. The communication and the control equipment
in substations like the UMUX, Hit , RTU use 48dc voltage whereas the protection relays use
110dc voltage

The 110dc voltage is also used for driving motors used to operate motorized isolators in the
substations, the generators need 12VDC

The Battery Banks

In order to have a reliable communication system there must be a steady power supply there
two sources of power that are used to provide backup in case of mains failure

There are two battery banks in most of the substations these include

1) Battery banks for dc loads (110VDC)

2) Battery banks for dc loads (48VDC)

For all the substations there are protection relays and schemes that are powered by the
110VDC battery banks

Power supply has two types of chargers for the two types of battery banks

48 dc and 110 dc chargers

To prevent the batteries from getting drained they are constantly charged by the battery bank
chargers these charged are constantly powered by the mains if the mains are present.

These batteries are charged by appropriate currents to prevent them from overheating and
they are having more than one battery.

22 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Periodic maintenance is carried out in all substations, these batteries are cleaned, and the
electrolyte levels checked to ensure they are ever at appropriate quantities and if need be they
are refilled.

The voltage across each of the batteries is also measured with multi-meter to verify whether
they are functioning appropriately and to see if they are able to sustain the load in case the
mains are off

4.2 Types of rectifiers

1. Linear rectifiers

This type of rectifier is less common type of charging system because of its poor quality of DC
output

2. Switched mode power supplies

Operation

The SMPS has an AC input, then the first stage is to convert the input to DC. This is
called rectification. A SMPS with a DC input does not require this stage. In some power supplies
(mostly computer ATX power supplies), the rectifier circuit can be configured as a voltage
doubler by the addition of a switch operated either manually or automatically. This feature
permits operation from power sources that are normally at 115 V or at 230 V. The rectifier
produces an unregulated DC voltage which is then sent to a large filter capacitor. The current
drawn from the mains supply by this rectifier circuit occurs in short pulses around the AC
voltage peaks. These pulses have significant high frequency energy which reduces the power
factor. To correct for this, many newer SMPS will use a special PFC circuit to make the input
current follow the sinusoidal shape of the AC input voltage, correcting the power factor.

Flow diagram of charging system

23 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Limitation of battery bank system

Have limited ampere hours so can’t maintain supply for 24hrs on full load

4.3 Standby Generators

Substations all over the have stand by generators installed these are used to provide power in
case the mains go off to the essential loads mainly : protection equipment, communication
equipment and control equipment for monitoring the power parameters and the substation
sockets and lights.

Principle of operation of the generators

The diesel Engine

This is the mechanical part of a geneator. like any other generator the engines have pistons
that are constantly moving . The valves control the movement of the pistons. They do by
regulating the inject nozzle which allows the fuel into the cylinders and release exhaust gases
out of the cylinders. The engine also has filters for oil, air and diesel to ensure that the
combustion ingredients are pure. A battery is also installed to supply the stating 12VDC for the
alternator and the control circuits. The voltage generated by the alternator afterwards chargers
the battery

The alternator

This comprises the electrical circuit for the generator that rotates cutting a magnetic field hence
generating a voltage and current in its windings. The power generated by this is used to supply
stand by power. The governor determines the overall fuel flow into the combustion chamber.
The higher the fuel flow the, the faster the rotor and hence the higher the generated current

24 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Maintenance of power supply

1. Battery Banks maintenance

a) Cleaning the batteries and greasing the battery terminals to eliminate or remove any
corrosion that may occur on the terminals
b) Measure each of the battery cell voltages of each of the batteries
c) If there is any water needed you refill using distilled water with no minerals in it
d) Discharge test: check regularly the ability of the batteries to work when there are mains
failures this is done by switching off mains for atleast two hours and monitoring
batteries to support all the loads
e) Check the performance of the battery chargers

This is to see if the charger can be able to supply both the loads and batteries at the same time
when the batteries have been entirely discharged in case there is prolonged mains failure

Auxiliary supplies

Generators

The generators provide us with the auxiliary supply they are used to supply the essential loads
incase there is no mains supply, these essential loads include

 Rectifiers
 Communication devices
 Control devices
 Protection equipment

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM FOR AUXILLARY SUPPLY

Change over control panel key functions

25 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
  Monitors the status of the condition of the generators
 Detects availability of main supply
 Starts generator automatically in case there no mains
 Switching power loads
 When mains resume and generator is running, it sends command to stop the generator
2. Generator maintenance

Routine maintenance on the set is carried out on the generator sets after 250 running hours
below are some of the key components that are checked

 Radiator Coolant is checked if insufficient its topped up

 Batteries voltages is checked and electrolyte levels monitored
 Air filter is blown to remove dust or replaced
 Diesel filter replaced
 Engine oil changed

Reason for routine maintenance

26 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
To prolong life of equipment

To know when the equipment may be obsolete or need for spares

To have a stable and reliable system that has minimum breakdown

4.4 ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT

1. Fiber termination between communication workshop and Lugogo Human resource

office
2. Extending voice to Kabulasoke , Rugonjo , Nkenda
3. Simulation of optical path from Namanve to Nalubale to be used by protection relays
4. Periodic routine maintenance of 48v battery banks at Namungona substation

During the course of my training I was engaged in the above works of communication
section apart from the lessons that I was offered while in the section

Activity 1:

Fiber termination between communication workshop and Lugogo Human resource

office

In order to extend LAN connection from the to the protection office and HR office at Lugogo
yard we

1. Using cutters and cable strippers we were able to strip both ends of the cable one at
communication works shop and the other at remote side of HR office
2. Removed the outer insulation using cutters
3. Exposed the optical cores and cleaned them with an alcohol solution
4. Strips the core insulation to expose the optical glass
5. Using the high precision clipper we cut the cores at 900
6. Inserted the sleeve into the cores to be used as a support at the joined cores
7. Using a fusion splicer that uses heat from the electrodes we were able to joing the fiber
cable cores to the pig tail connectors and measured the splice loss not more than 0.02%
for a good connection
8. Head the sleeve to shield the joint at which the two cores have been joined
9. Tested the fiber continuity using the Optical Time Domain reflector to establish the
length of the fiber up to the remote point
10. The exercise above 1 to 9 was carried out on all the individual cores of the fiber

27 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Tools used

 OTDR
 Fusion splicer
 Core strippers
 Fusion splicer

Man power used

4 communication section members and my self

Activity 2:

We carried out Extending voice to Kabulasoke , Rugonjo, Nkenda, Mbarara this exercise was
started here at the communication work shop as

The procedure was executed as shown

1. With the management software tool UCST umux configuration software tool on UMUX
1500 we were able to create time slots and different voice channles , we created total
of 4 channels before there was one channel that was in existent
2. In all the above we were implementing compressed telephony by configuring the V.24 ,
LAN ports on the remote side at Kabulasoke using the ETL 600 software
3. After all the above were implemented physical wiring at these various stations and we
later carried out a test to see whether the phones were calling with the right numbers
that were assigned to them in the software
4. The aim of compressed telephony is to reduce on the level of noise in the signal and also
creating more channels

Tools used

 Test phone
 Krone tool
 Cross connection wire
 Laptop computer

Man power

Four communication section members of PLC and voice unit and myself

28 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Activity 3:

During the course of my training we carried out Periodic maintenance of 48V DC

battery banks at Namungona substation

The essence of doing this is to check whether the batteries are performing optimum to support
their loads which are the communication equipment; the procedure below is executed during
the maintenance of battery banks:

Procedure

Discharge test: switch off battery chargers for 2 hours and let the batteries discharge through
the loads

Cleaning the batteries and greasing the battery terminals to remove any corrosion

Measure each of the battery cell voltages of the batteries and the results are tabulated as
below

Cell 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
No.
DC-V 1.25 1.26 1.22 1.24 1.25 1.23 1.22 1.24 1.22 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.24 1.26 1.25 1.26

Cell 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
No.
DC-V 1.26 1.25 1.24 1.26 1.25 1.23 1.22 1.22 1.25 1.26 1.23 1.22 1.22 1.23 1.22 1.25

Cell 33 34 35 36 37 38
No.
DC-V 1.25 1.24 1.25 1.22 1.23 1.26

Electrolyte level is checked if below recommended level and refilled with distilled water

Specific gravity of the electrolyte is measured using the hydrometer and is found 1.26

Measure the terminal voltage of the overall battery system and was found 50.89v dc

29 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Switch on the battery charger and measure the following quantities

 Charging voltage: The measured value was 56.2V

 Current : The value was 15.0A

Tools used

Multi meter

Tool kit

Activity 4:

There was a report from LCC that they had lost 110v dc at Kampala north substation implying
protection was not available to all substation equipment

We reached Kampala north substation and all the protection relays were not powering implying
they had no supply from the battery banks this was as a result of the battery bank charger
being faulty and all the battery banks had all been totally discharged

Corrective maintenance on 110v dc charger battery bank charger was the immediate solution
to this we carried out trouble shooting tests on the charging unit as follows

First we checked the incoming mains that we found were healthy

We checked the fuses and they were all found to be show continuity

We checked the dc voltage output which we found the unit was not having any output since all
the components in the charging unit were found healthy we concluded on the control module
of the charging unit to be having a problem

The immediate solution was to first we switched off all the 110v dc loads and connected
another charger for 110 V dc chargers and after we measured the output from its voltmeter
that was reading 50 volts dc and ammeter was reading 10 amperes

We waited for some time after the batteries had accumulated some charge and we powered on
the loads progressively until all the loads were on as we observed the ammeter readings giving
10Amps and Voltmeter 110 Volts on full load

We made a visual inspection on all the relays in the substation and they were all powered and
having showing a display

30 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
After replacing the charging unit we contacted the Lugogo control center and they were able to
see the relays remotely

Tools used

Power meter

Pliers

Side cutters

Relationship between communication and protection

The prime function of communication as regards to power system protection at UETCL is to

provide a fast, reliable and secure transmission of protection signals to the various protection
equipment for this communication has to provide the bandwidth and channel for the tele
protection commands this relationship can be visualized from the diagram below it provides
protection with various channels for support of protection functions such as teleprotection this
can be achieved under reliable communication infrastructure for the relays to be able to
implement this , with these communication media such as

 Fiber communication
 Power line carrier communication

These provide us with communication path for relays to be able to implement this function

Substation A Substation B

HV - LINE

Protection equipment communication equipment Protection equipment

Tele metering

31 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
Energy meters can be read remotely from protection work shop to some substations by using
the direct connection where optic fiber provides us with the link then umux (universall
multiplexers) provide us with the multiplexing and fiber for transmission and access so the
information is accessed from RS232 interface by the computer / laptop for substations with
fiber network

Remote metering

Communication section provides protection section with the service of the data sim cards that
protection uses to collect meter data from remote modem by local modem dialing up the
remote modem that sends the data in form that the Computer software translates to obtain
metering information

110 dc Voltage supply for protection relays

Communication plays a key role in maintaining the steady power supply to protection relays by
maintaining the battery banks , battery bank chargers as well as the generators that are used to
supply the charger in case the mains are off this ensures that the power system remains
protected all the time

Conclusion

Communication section pays a major role of maintaining an integrated communication network

with all the major company infrastructure in order to support the company mission To dispatch,
transmit quality and reliable bulk power in a viable and efficient manner. To be an efficient and
commercially focused single buyer actor.

I would like to thank the entire team that trained me all the period I was in the section

References

32 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL
The FOA reference guide by Jim Hayes

A.C.E 32 power network communication, user manual release 1.8

www.itu.int

33 Training report of Raymond Katamba

Protection Engineer Trainee
Page
| UETCL