Lecture 5-Capacitance of Transmission Lines

Capacitance of
Transmission line
Lecture 5
Previous classes
• Resistance
• Conductance
• Inductance:
– Single line
– Three phase lines
– Double circuit three phase lines
– Bundled conductors
Today’s lecture: Outline
• Introduction
• Electric field of a long straight conductor
• Potential difference between two conductors of a
group of parallel conductors
• Capacitance of a two wire line
• Capacitance of a three phase line with equilateral
spacing
• Capacitance of a three phase line with
unsymmetrical spacing
• Problems
Introduction
• Capacitance in a transmission line results due to
the potential difference between the conductors.
• It is defined as the charge per unit of potential
difference
• As the flow of line current is associated with
inductance similarly the voltage difference
between two points is associated with
capacitance.
• Inductance is associated with magnetic field and
capacitance is associated with electric field.
Introduction
• The voltage difference between the phase conductors
gives rise to electric field between the conductors .
• The two conductors are just like parallel plates and the
air in between the conductors is dielectric.
• The conductors get charged in the same way as the

parallel plates of a capacitor.
• So this arrangement of conductors gives rise to

capacitance between the conductors.
Introduction
• When an alternating voltage is applied across the transmission line it
draws the leading current even when supplying no load.
• This leading current will be in quadrature with the applied voltage and is
termed as charging current.
• It must be noted that charging current is due to the capacitive effect
between the conductors of the line and does not depend on the load.
• The strength of the charging currents depends on the voltage of
transmission, the capacitance of the line and frequency of the ac supply. It
is given by the expression
• Charging current Ic = 2 x pi x f x C x V
• Where f is the frequency of the supply

• C is the Capacitance of the line
• V is the voltage of the line
Introduction
• This current flows even when the line is open
circuited.
• The voltage drop along the line is affected.
• It also affects the efficiency and power factor

of the line. Stability of the system is also
affected because of this.
Introduction
• Capacitance between two parallel conductors
depends on the size and the spacing between the
conductors.
• Usually the capacitance is neglected for the

transmission lines that are less than 50 miles (80 km)
long.
• However the capacitance becomes significant for

longer lines with higher voltage.
Introduction
• The value of capacitance depends on the configuration of
conductors.
• We will discuss few configurations and the corresponding

capacitance value.
• To evaluate the capacitance between conductors in a

surrounding medium with permittivity ,
– It is necessary to determine the voltage between the
conductors, and the electric field strength of the
surrounding.
Review of Electrostatic laws
The total charge q coulombs (C) over a

closed surface of area A m2 is
expressed by
q =  D.da
A
q =  D.da
A
• D is the uniform electric flux density in

coulomb per m2 over the surface
• da is the elementary strip of area
perpendicular to the surface
• The electric field intensity E in V/m is:
D
E=

• Where ε is the permittivity constant in F/m
• For free space, permittivity constant is
represented by ε0 is equal to 8.854x10-12 F/m
• The potential difference V between two points
a and b, in a field of electric intensity E in V/m
can be found by integrating E along any path
joining the two points.
a
V =  Edl V
b
• The capacitance Cab between the two points is
defined as the charge per unit of potential
difference
qa
Cab =
Vab
Electric Field of a Long Straight
Conductor
• Consider a long, straight cylindrical conductor
placed in uniform medium such as air as shown in
the Figure.
• It has uniform charge along its entire length. It is
isolated from other charges so that the charge is
uniformly distributed around the periphery.
• The flux lines are radial.
The conductor has a radius
of r . The capacitance C is
the ratio of charge q of the
conductor to the impressed
voltage, i.e.,
The charge on the conductor gives rise to
an electric field with radial flux lines where
the total electric flux is equal to the charge
on the conductor.
By Gauss's law, the electric flux density at

a cylinder of radius x when the conductor
has a length of 1 m is
The electric filed intensity is defined
as the ratio of electric flux density
to the permittivity of the medium.
Therefore
The potential difference
between two points P1
and P2 can be found as
P2
V12 =  E  dl
P1
where dl is a differential element tangential to the

integration path between P1 and P2. The path is
irrelevant.
(1)
(1)
Analysis
Analysis shows that:

1.The greater the spacing between the
phases of a transmission line, the lower the
capacitance of the line.
2.Since the phases of a high-voltage
overhead transmission line must be spaced
further apart to ensure proper insulation, a
high-voltage line will have a lower
capacitance than a low-voltage line.
Analysis
1. Since the spacing between lines in buried cables

is very small, shunt capacitance of cables is much
larger than the capacitance of overhead lines.
Cable lines are normally used for short
transmission lines (to minimize capacitance) in
urban areas.
2. The greater the radius of the conductors in a

transmission line, the higher the capacitance of
the line.
Analysis
1. Therefore, bundling increases the capacitance.
2. Good transmission line is a compromise among

the requirements for low series inductance, low
shunt capacitance, and a large enough separation
to provide insulation between the phases.
Analysis
• The effect of capacitance is negligible for power lines
of lengths less than 80 km.
• For longer EHV transmission lines, the capacitance
becomes important.
• In a high voltage cable, close proximity of phase
conductors results in a very large capacitance, of the
order of 20 to 40 times that of overhead transmission
line.
• Shunt capacitance is a source of reactive power.
• The reactive power generation for cables of even
shorter lengths can then become a problem.
Shunt capacitive admittance
The shunt capacitive admittance of a transmission
line depends on both the capacitance of the line and
the frequency of the power system.
Denoting the capacitance per unit length as c, the
shunt admittance per unit length will be
yC = jc = j 2 fc
The total shunt capacitive admittance is
YC = yC d = j 2 fcd
where d is the length of the line.
Shunt capacitive admittance
The corresponding capacitive reactance

is the reciprocal to the admittance:
1 1
ZC = =−j
YC 2 fcd
Discussed so far…
Discussed so far…
The total shunt capacitive admittance is

YC = yC d = j 2 fcd
Capacitance of a single phase two-wire
transmission line
Similarly, the expressions for capacitance of

three-phase lines (and for lines with more than
3 phases) can be derived.
Similarly to the inductance, the capacitance of

the transmission line can be found from tables
supplied by line developers.
Find Can
Need To find Van
(a) (c)
(c) (b) (b) (a)
Vab1
Vab2
Vab3
2
For balanced three phase voltages

Practice
• 5) 3.2
• 6) 3.3

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Capacitance of

• The conductors get charged in the same way as the

• So this arrangement of conductors gives rise to

• Where f is the frequency of the supply

• The voltage drop along the line is affected.

• It also affects the efficiency and power factor

• Usually the capacitance is neglected for the

• However the capacitance becomes significant for

• We will discuss few configurations and the corresponding

• To evaluate the capacitance between conductors in a

The total charge q coulombs (C) over a

• D is the uniform electric flux density in

By Gauss's law, the electric flux density at

where dl is a differential element tangential to the

Analysis shows that:

1. Since the spacing between lines in buried cables

2. The greater the radius of the conductors in a

1. Therefore, bundling increases the capacitance.

2. Good transmission line is a compromise among

The corresponding capacitive reactance

The total shunt capacitive admittance is

Similarly, the expressions for capacitance of

Similarly to the inductance, the capacitance of

(c) (b) (b) (a)

For balanced three phase voltages

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