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Factors Affecting Current Ratings For Underground and Air Cables
Factors Affecting Current Ratings For Underground and Air Cables
taken as reference.
• Thermal resistance for the metal conduit is 0 °C.m/W
Keywords—Cable ampacity, underground cable, IEC standard, • Solar absorption coefficient for the cable sheath (σ) is 0.8
air cables. • Solar heating is ‘ON’
• Time of day is 12.00 AM
I. INTRODUCTION • The season type is summer
T HE current ratings of power cables are primarily affected • All cases are balanced
by the installation conditions, material characteristics and • Load factor is 1
cable design. • Diffusion of solar radiation is ‘OFF’
In this work, a parametric study of the factors that affect the The appendix displays all the details regarding installations
current carrying capacity is shown. All calculations are based and cables used for the parametric study.
on the IEC standard, and this standard consisted of several
parts as shown in [1]-[7]. For buried cables, IEEE standard III. AIR CABLES
835-1994 [8] presents comparable results for the IEC A. Conductor Sizes Effects
standards. For the air cables, the difference between IEC The conductor sizes have been varied for a wide range from
standard and IEEE standard is more noticeable. At the same 50 to 500 mm2. Cables are installed and spaced from a wall on
time, both IEEE standard and IEC standard depend on the a tray in trefoil formation.
Neher-McGrath method [9].
The effects of the following parameters on the current
carrying capacity of air cables are studied: Solar radiation’s
intensity, time of day effects, the surrounding air temperature,
the size of cable, and groups of cables. Similarly, the effects of
the following parameters on the current carrying capacity of
buried cables are studied: The type of conductor (copper or
aluminum), native soil’s thermal resistivity, size of the
conduit, surrounding temperature, size of the cable, dry zone
and bonding type.
This paper aims to focus on the numerical technique for
ampacity computation. All simulations were carried out using
ETAP program to calculate the ampacity.
International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(11) 2016 1422 ISNI:0000000091950263
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:11, 2016
is reduced in the presence of sun heating. Furthermore, it is linearly. Furthermore, it is also noticed that the relation curve
noticed that the surface absorption coefficient for not shaded appears to a line with fixed slope.
installation relies on the material type for the outer sheath of
E. Enclosed in Conduit
the cable.
The current-carrying capacity of the cables installed in the
C. The Time of Day Effects air enclosed inside a conduit is lower compared to those
The position of the sun is a function of the solar deflection, without conduit as shown in Fig. 4.
which is based on the height of the sun is based on the day of
the year, the hour angle of the sun is based on the time of day,
and latitude and longitude. Along with, the time period applied
to locate the position of the sun during the day is set between
(10:00 AM to 2:00 PM) according to IEEE. However, the time
of day has less of an effect on the solar intensity, which means
that the impact on the current carrying capacity is also less (as
presented in Fig. 2). Thus, the impact on the current rating was
observed to be only about 26 Amperes.
Fig. 4 Ampacity ratings verses conductor size for both cables (with
and without conduit)
International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(11) 2016 1423 ISNI:0000000091950263
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:11, 2016
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:11, 2016
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:11, 2016
between the sheath layer and conductors. resistivity for the native soil varied from 0.4 to 4 K.m/W. The
relationship between the ampacity rating and the backfill
450 0.198
Single-point bonded
dimensions is presented in Fig. 16.
400 0.196
350 0.194
300 0.192
250 0.19
200 0.188
Solid bonded
150 0.186
Sheath standing voltage (V/m)
100 0.184
120 mm2 copper conductor
50 0.182
0 0.18
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
V. CONCLUSIONS
One of the most important factors to provide an economic
cost, safe design and functional setup is achieved by
determining the cable ratings. It is imperative to get access to
huge and insightful software tools for the calculation of cable
ratings.
A. Air Cables
In these cables, the surrounding air temperature was found
to have a major impact on the current carrying capacity.
Fig. 14 Ampacity rating verses conductor size (before and after dry
zone)
Additionally, the size of the conductor and material used has
significant influences on the current carrying capacity in
Fig. 14 presents the complex impact on ampacity rating due addition to the sheath bonding arrangement. Direct exposure
to moisture migration. It can be observed that cables with to solar radiation had considerable impact on the current
large sizes have a greater impact on the ampacity ratings. carrying capacity of cables, even those that were enclosed
inside conduits.
H. Varying the Dimensions of the Backfill
B. Buried Cables
In this work, the two dimensions (first and second) of the
backfill were evaluated (as shown in Fig. 15). Again, the size of the conductor and material used had
The first dimension included 1×1.5 M (area=1.5 m2) and the considerable impacts on the ampacity rating in addition to the
second dimension had 1.2×2 M (area=2.4 m2). The thermal sheath bonding arrangement. The ampacity ratings were also
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:11, 2016
APPENDIX
Cable components are required for modelling in ETAP
program. The following cable parameters are taken from the
Olex HV cable catalogue [10].
TABLE II
STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS OF CU 120 MM2 CABLE
Physical Quantity Values (mm2)
Nominal conductor diameter 13.1
Conductor screen thickness 0.55
Fig. 19 Duct bank Installation
Insulation thickness 3.4
Semi-conductive insulation screen thickness 0.8
Copper screen wire thickness 1.35
PVC sheath thickness 2.05
TABLE III
STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS OF CU 500 MM2 CABLE
Physical Quantity Values (mm2)
Nominal conductor diameter 26.5
Conductor screen thickness 0.7
Insulation thickness 3.4
Semi-conductive insulation screen thickness 0.9
Copper screen wire thickness 1.35
PVC sheath thickness 2.55
REFERENCES
[1] Electric Cables – Calculation of the current rating – Part 1: Current
rating equations (100% load factor) and calculation of losses – Section
1: General. IEC Standard 287-1-1 (1994-12).
[2] Electric Cables – Calculation of the current rating – Part 1: Current
rating equations (100% load factor) and calculation of losses – Section
2: Sheath eddy current loss factors for two circuits in flat formation. IEC
Standard 287-1-2 (1993-11).
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World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:11, 2016
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