High Voltage Simulation- Case Study: Integrated Engineering Software

HSP Hochspannungsgeräte GmbH (HSP) has a long history in engineering. Based in Troisdorf, nearby Cologne, Germany, it was founded over 100 years ago as a division of Meirowsky & Co. It was taken over by Dielektra AG, then by Felten & Guilleaume Energietechnik AG but has been an independent company since 1989. HSP specialises in high voltage bushings and capacitors for transformers used in projects around the world including the Three Gorges hydroelectricity project in China. The company combines its long history of specialist know-how with modern production methods that it has adapted to suit specific material requirements. However, it considers that its differentiator is the company's commitment to the extensive test programmes in it runs on all equipment produced in its works. 800kV wall bushing during the 1000kV power-frequency voltage withstand test in the high voltage test lab at HSP Dietmar Jahnel is an electronics engineer at HSP and joined two years ago to work in the design, testing and construction of bushings. Jahnel uses INTEGRATED Engineering Software's ELECTRO modeling software as an essential tool in the design process. "I have used ELECTRO for over ten years now when testing designs and I find it an invaluable tool," said Jahnel. "At HSP I use Electro to aid the design of the next generation of HVDC bushings for high voltage transformers. I find it very easy to handle and also like the fact that I can take models from CAD and import them straight into the program. It makes calculations so much faster and therefore speeds up the whole process." "When you are making a lot of calculations it is essential that it is easy to change any different individual part within those calculations. Using ELECTRO I can make changes section by section and see what effect that has on the overall product. I have also used KELVIN in the past for thermal analysis." Analysis of insulator covered with water droplets HSP have supplied bushings to Siemens (also an INTEGRATED client) in China where it is building the Three Gorges hydroelectric project, the world's most powerful high-voltage direct-current transmission. It is a bipolar line transmitting power from Lufeng, in south western China to Guangzhou in Guangdong province, over 1,400 kilometres away. It will supply five million households in the large urban areas of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Unusually, this 1,400-km transmission line will carry direct current. High-voltage direct-current transmission (HVDCT) is not a new invention but this line will transmit at a record 800,000V, carrying 5,000MW, representing the output of five large power plants. "In other cases I have used Electro to design electrical barriers around the bushing because the customer arranged such a restricted space within the transformer it was too small to fit our bushing," continued Jahnel. The ELECTRO 2D/RS field simulator from INTEGRATED combines the advantages of both the Boundary Element Method (BEM) and Finite Element Method (FEM) field solvers. ELECTRO is used for modeling simulations for applications such as transformers, insulators, bushings, Micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), Power transmission lines and Telecommunication cables, High voltage switchgears and Xerographic process modeling. It calculates electric field strength, force, torque, transmission line parameters and capacitance. The software's powerful parametric solvers allow designers to automatically vary and experiment with geometry, materials and sources. This reduces the tedious, repetitive task of fine-tuning multiple design parameters. The thermal analysis tool KELVIN (2D/RS) displays temperature, heat flux and temperature gradients by using graphs and contour, profile or arrow plots. It is used for modeling electronic packaging, cooling fins, heat sinks, aerospace and automotive components. By combining the electromagnetic power loss calculated by ELECTRO as input for the thermal analysis of KELVIN a complete electromagnetic-thermal solution of a device can be obtained. HSP's main products include transformer and machine bushings, wall bushings and SF6-bushings up to the highest service voltage. Its capacitance graded bushings are epoxy resin impregnated or oil impregnated for all voltages, and are decisive interfaces for the security of high voltage. The majority of the bushings that Jahnel develops are deployed in distribution transformers. "A failure of a transformer bushing can destroy the transformer and would result in widespread power loss to end consumers. As the price of a transformer is over one million EUR it is essential that no problems occur," he comments. High voltage products made by HSP are in use world-wide in industrial and power utility applications as well as in laboratories. All is products are ‘tailor made' and where necessary adapted to suit national standards requirements. This means that testing and modeling each of these standards is an essential part of the product development process. Using the modeling software from INTEGRATED Engineering Software helps to keep these procedures as short as possible. "Electro is an essential design tool for me because I develop parameter or limiting curves which corresponded to the calculated electrical field strength. It simplifies the task for me and ensures that the client gets completely reliable bushings for the job," concludes Jahnel. www.integratedsoft.com www.hspkoeln.de