MEDIUM VOLTAGE SHIELDED CABLE PARAMETER CALCULATOR

The following calculator computes the resistance, inductance, inductive reactance, capacitance, charging current, and surge impedance for medium
voltage shielded power cables. This calculator provides a good estimate based on industry standard calculation methods and cable manufacturing
data. Typical data, when your specific data is not available, is provided in Table-1 through Table-3.

Calculator-1

Known variables:

Cable Data: Length (feet), Conductor Diameter (inches), Cable Insulation Thickness (inches), Insulation Dielectric Constant, and Operating Frequency (Hertz), and
Voltage (kV). When data is not available, use Table-1 through Table-3 for representative values

Cable Installation Detail: Cable Spacing (see figures below) A, B, C, and Correction Factors for Type of Installation (See Table-4)

Conductor Operating Temperature (°C): For cable operation at temperatures other than 20°C, enter expected operating temperature

Cable Data   Approximate Copper Conduct or Properties Table-1  

Input Cable Oper ating Voltage
(kV):  34.5   Conductor Rdc @ 20C     Rac @ 20 approx. 50/60Hz  
Input Cable Length (ft):   420 Size Stranding
  Diameter (In) (ohm/1000ft) (ohm/1000ft)  
Input Conduct or Diameter (in):  0.814    
Input Cable Insulation
thickness (in):   0.345   1/0 19 0.373 0.1042 0.10420  
Input Insulation Dielectric  
Constant:   3.3   19 0.418 0.0827 0.08270
2/0

Input Sheath Thickness (in):  0.2   3/0 7 0.464 0.0656 0.06560  

Calculated Cable Radius (in):  0.952   4/0 19 0.528 0.0520 0.05200  
Input Cable Oper ating
Frequency (Hz): 60   250 19 0.574 0.0440 0.04422  
Charging & Capacitance Calcu lations   350 19 0.679 0.0314 0.03168  
Total Capacitance Calculated:
(uF):  0.03821   500 37 0.814 0.0220 0.02240  
Total Charging Currrent
(Amps):  0.2868   750 61 0.998 0.0147 0.01527  
Charging Vars per Cable
(KVAR):  5.719   1000 61 1.152 0.0110 0.01174  
Reactance & Inductance Calculat ons    
Cable Insulation Thickness T able-
Insulation Type Table-3
Cable Spacing Diagr am see Figur e-1   2    
INSULATION
Cable Spacing A (in):   2  
  TYPE DIELECTRIC CONTSTANT  
Cable Spacing B (in):   2 Voltage % Thickness  
  XLPE 2.3  
Cable Spacing C (in):   4     EPR 3  
Correction Factor Installation
Type Table-4: 1.5   5 100 0.09   PVC 5  
Inductance (mH):   0.07971   5 133 0.09      
Reactance (ohms):   0.03004   8 100 0.115   Correction Factor for Installati on  
Resistance Calculation   8 133 0.14   Table-4  
AC Resistance @ 20C: /1000': 0.02240   15 100 0.175   Air 1  
Conductor Operating
50 Burrial
Temperature (deg. C):    15 133 0.22   1  
AC Resistance @ Oper ating
Steel Conduit
Temperature(ohm):  0.01052   25 100 0.26   1.5  
Concutor X/R ratio:  2.86   25 133 0.32   Al. Conduit 1.2  
Surge Impedance Calculation   35 100 0.345   IMT Conduit 1.5  
Surge Impedance (ohms): 45.68   35 133 0.42   EMT Conduit 1.5  
  PVC Conduit 1.2  
  Tray Steel 1.5  
  Tray Al. 1.2  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 

Calculated Output: Cable Diameter, Total Capacitance (uF), Total Charging Current (Amps), Charging Vars per phase (kVAR), Charging Reactance (Mohm*1000 ft),
Inductance (mH), Reactance (ohms), AC Resistance, X/R ratio, and Surge Impedance (ohms).

Basis of Calculation

Capacitance of Cables, Charging Current, and Charging Reactive Power

The capacitance of a one conductor shielded cable is given by the formula below:

Where:
C = Total capacitance of the cable (microfarads)
SIC = Dielectric constant of the cable insulation (Table-3)
d = Diameter of the conductor (in)
f = System operating frequency (Hz)
Icharge = Charging current (amps)
Icharge = Charging current of the cable
D = Diameter over the insulation (in)
VLL = System operating voltage in (kV)
L = Length of the Cable in Feet
KVARcharge = Single-phase KVAR or charging VARs per cable

Inductance and Reactance of the Cable

The inductance and inductive reactance of three single phase cables is provided by the formulas below. The formulas assume a cable configuration as shown in
the figure above. Additionally, since the inductance is dependent upon its material surrounding, use Table-4 to determine an appropriate "K" factor (multiplier) for
the inductance.

Where:
XL = Conductor inductive reactance (ohms) LC = Cable Inductance (mH)
L = Length of the Cable in Feet A, B, C = Spacing per the figure above (in)
K = Installation correction factor shown in Table-4 d = Diameter of the conductor (in)

Cable Resistance at Operating Temperature

The resistance of the conductor is provided at 20 deg.C in Table-1. When operating at a different temperature, the resistance varies and is given by the following
formula:
 Where:
RAC = AC resistance of the conductor at operating temperature (ohms)
RAC20C = AC resistance of the conductor at 20°C (ohm)
T = operating temperature of the conductor (°C)

Surge Impedance

The surge impedance of the cable can be calculated with the following formula:

Where:
Zo = Surge Impedance of the Cable (ohm)
LC = conductor inductance (mH)
C = total capacitance of the cable (microfarads)