Parameters affecting the charge distribution along overhead transmission lines’ conductors and their resulting electric field

•New methodology to calculate the charge distributions along the OHTL conductors.•Parameters affecting these charges, such as conductors sag, tower.•Effect of these charges on the calculation of the vicinity electric field.

There are many parameters affecting the distribution of the electric charges along the conductors of the overhead transmission lines and hence their resulting electric field, such parameters as: the conductors sag, the presence of the tower, replacing the sub-conductors of each phase with an equivalent conductor, the presence of the ground wires, the presence of another overhead transmission line (OHTL) circuit, the slope of the ground surface under overhead transmission line (OHTL) and the conductivity, permittivity and thickness of a sandy soil layer over the ground surface under overhead transmission line.This paper presents a new methodology to investigate the effect of these parameters on the electric charge distribution along the conductors of the overhead transmission lines and hence on the calculation of their resulting electric fields.The suggested technique is verified by comparing its results with a measurement by the other. The suggested technique is based on both the charge simulation method (CSM) and the image method (IM).