Overhead Contact System Steady State Ampacity Calculations

per AREMA Manual Chapter 33 and IEEE Std. 738

Benjamin Stell 11/12/2007

CONDUCTOR: 300 kcmil hard-drawn copper, grooved contact wire, 30% worn (data per Service Wire)
CONDITIONS: 42 Deg. C ambient, 2 fps wind, mid-day sun, San Francisco, CA

D := .574 Conductor diameter (inches) Resistance-Temperature Coefficients

Tc := 75 Conductor temperature (Deg. C) Kcopper := 0.00382 Hard-drawn copper
Ta := 42 Ambient temperature (Deg. C) Kbronze := 0.00314 Alloy 80 bronze
Vwind := 2 Wind velocity (ft/sec) Kcweld := 0.00381 Copper-copperweld
He := 100 Altitude above sea level (ft.)
R20 := 0.18797 Resistance of new conductor at 20 Deg. C, Ohms/mile
wire_section := 0.70 Wire section after wear, decimal (30% worn = 0.70)
wind_angle := 90 Angle in degrees between conductor and wind direction (90 deg. is perpendicular)
emissivity := 0.50 Conductor emissivity
absorptivity := 0.73 Conductor absorptivity
lat := 37 Degrees latitude of site

Calculate the conductor electrical resistance at the operating temperature

( )
Rop := R20 ⋅ ⎡⎣1 + Tc − 20 ⋅ Kcopper⎤⎦ Rop = 0.2275 Resistance of new wire at op. temp. in Ohms/mile

Rop
Rworn := −5
wire_section ⋅ 5280 Rworn = 6.1543 × 10 Resistance of worn wire at op. temp. in Ohms/ft.

Calculate the air density

Tc + Ta
Tfilm :=
2
Tfilm = 58.5
⎛ .080695
Calculate
− 0.2901 ⋅ 10 ⋅ He⎞⎠ + 0.37 ⋅ 10
air density −5 − 10
⋅ He
2
⎝
ρ := ρ = 0.0662
1 + 0.00367 ⋅ Tfilm

Calculate the air viscosity

μ f := 0.0415 + ⎛⎝ 1.2034 ⋅ 10 ⋅ Tfilm⎞⎠ + ⎛⎝ −1.1442 ⋅ 10

2⎞ ⎛ ⋅ Tfilm ⎞⎠
−4 −7 − 10 3
⋅ Tfilm ⎠ + ⎝ 1.9416 ⋅ 10 μ f = 0.0482

Calculate the thermal conductivity of air

k f := 0.007388 + ⎛⎝ 2.27889 ⋅ 10 ⋅ Tfilm⎞⎠ + ⎛⎝ −1.34328 ⋅ 10

−5 −9 2⎞
⋅ Tfilm ⎠ k f = 0.00872

Calculate the Forced & Natural Convection Heat Losses (Use the larger of the three loss calculations)
Vw := Vwind⋅ 60 ⋅ 60 Convert wind units from ft/second to ft/hour

⎡ ⎛ D ⋅ ρ ⋅ Vw ⎞ ⎤⎥
.52
⎢
qc1 := ⎢1.01 + 0.371 ⎜ ⎟ ⎥ ⋅ k f ⋅ ( Tc − Ta ) qc1 = 9.8488 Forced: applies for low wind speeds
⎣ ⎝ μf ⎠ ⎦
.6
⎛ D ⋅ ρ ⋅ Vw ⎞
qc2 := 0.1695 ⎜ ⎟ ⋅ k f ⋅ ( Tc − Ta ) qc2 = 8.7198 Forced: applies for high wind speeds
⎝ μf ⎠
 (
Qf := if qc1 ≥ qc2 , qc1 , qc2 ) Qf = 9.8488 Largest result of the two forced convection calcs

⎛ π ⎞ ⋅ wind_angle
φ := ⎜ ⎟ φ = 1.5708 Convert to radians (MathCAD trig functions work in radians)
⎝ 180 ⎠
Kangle := 1.194 − cos ( φ) + 0.194 cos ( 2 ⋅ φ) + 0.368 ⋅ sin ( 2 ⋅ φ) Kangle = 1.0000 Wind angle factor

Qfc := Qf ⋅ Kangle Qfc = 9.8488 Forced convection heat loss with wind angle factor applied

.5 .75
qc3 := 0.238 ⋅ ρ ⋅ D ⋅ Tc − Ta
1.25
( ) qc3 = 3.1938 Natural convection heat loss (w/ft. of conductor)

(
qc := if qc3 ≥ Qfc , qc3 , Qfc ) qc = 9.8488 Convective heat loss - use this for heat balance calc.

Calculate the radiated heat loss

⎡⎢⎛ T + 273 ⎞ 4 ⎛ T + 273 ⎞ 4⎤⎥

c a
qr := 0.138 ⋅ D ⋅ emissivity ⋅ ⎢⎜ ⎟ −⎜ ⎟⎥ qr = 1.9092 Watts/ft of conductor
⎣⎝ 100 ⎠ ⎝ 100 ⎠ ⎦
Calculate the solar angles for solar heat gain calcs (IEEE Std. 738 provides 10AM - 2 PM Data Only)

Zc10 := 40.1428 + ( 1.4292 ⋅ lat) + 0.039 ⋅ lat (

) + (−8.9781 ⋅10− 4⋅lat3) + (4.9848 ⋅10− 6⋅lat4)
2

Zc2 := 334.2192 + ( −2.9656 ⋅ lat) + ( 0.0185 ⋅ lat )

2
Zc2 = 249.8185

Zc10 + Zc2
Zc := Zc = 180.0491 Sun azimuth angle (degrees): Use Noon for simplicity
2

Hc1 := −427.2643 + ( 78.43841 ⋅ lat) + −4.7439 ⋅ lat ( 2) + (0.147356 ⋅lat3) + (−0.0025127 ⋅lat4) + (2.2318 ⋅10− 5⋅lat5)
(
Hc := Hc1 − 8.0736 ⋅ 10
−8 ) ⋅lat6 Hc = 75.84884 Sun altitude angle at noon (degrees)

⎛ ⎛ Hc ⋅ π ⎞ π ⎞ ⎞ 180
⎟ ⋅ cos ⎛⎜ Zc ⋅
π East-west line orientation assumed (worst case)
Theta := acos ⎜ cos ⎜ − ⎟⎟ ⋅
⎝ ⎝ 180 ⎠ ⎝ 180 2 ⎠ ⎠ π Theta = 90.012
D
proj_area := Area of one ft. of conductor exposed to sun (sq. ft) proj_area = 0.0478
12

Qs1 := −3.92414 + 5.92762 ⋅ Hc + ⎛⎝ −0.17856 ⋅ Hc

2⎞ ⎛ 3⎞ ⎛ 4⎞
( ) −5
⎠ + ⎝ 0.003223 ⋅ Hc ⎠ + ⎝ −3.3549 ⋅ 10 ⋅ Hc ⎠

Qs := Qs1 + ⎛⎝ 1.80527 ⋅ 10
5⎞ ⎛ ⋅ Hc ⎞⎠
−7 − 10 6
⋅ Hc ⎠ − ⎝ 3.7868 ⋅ 10 Qs = 95.5116 Heat flux for clear atmosphere

⎛ π ⎞ ⋅ proj_area
qs := absorptivity ⋅ Qs ⋅ sin ⎜ Theta ⋅ ⎟ qs = 3.3351 Heat gain in Watts/ft of conductor
⎝ 180 ⎠

Solve the heat balance equation for conductor current

qc = 9.8488
qc + qr − qs
I := qr = 1.9092
Rworn
qs = 3.3351
I = 369.95 RESULT IN AMPERES
−5
Rworn = 6.1543 × 10