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Optimized Cable Sizing – An Economical Approach to Energy Saving with

Reduced Power Loss

Conference Paper · September 2018

DOI: 10.1109/PGSRET.2018.8685987

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 Optimized Cable Sizing – An Economical Approach
to Energy Saving with Reduced Power Loss
Muhammad Waseem Rizwan Khan Muaaz Zakria
Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Engineering & Technology University of Engineering & Technology University of Engineering & Technology
Lahore, Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan
m.waseem@uet.edu.pk rkhan@uet.edu.pk muaaz_venus@hotmail.com

Shayan Jamal Sidra Perveen

Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Computer Engineering
University of Engineering & Technology Comsats Institute of Information
Lahore, Pakistan Technology
shayanjamal94@gmail.com Vehari, Pakistan
sidraperven@gmail.com

Abstract — This paper proposes an improved power cable sizing from lightning strikes, which can cause interruption.
method based on the impact of different weather and Underground transmission is suitable for crowded areas where
environmental factors (WAEF). Moreover, this paper analyzes overhead transmission is difficult to install. It has less faults and
that size of conductor increases almost 2-3 times and losses voltage drops than overhead lines. However, underground
decreases when WAEF are taken into account. This initial cost of transmission through cables is expensive, as the ground needs
increased conductor size is compensated in a year or two since the to be dug out first. Besides, heat dissipation in underground
cost per annum is reduced due to the reduction in losses, while cables is an issue. Hence, it is difficult to use underground
fewer losses also prolong the life of the power cable. To check the cables for voltages higher than 33 kV [2].
effectiveness of the proposed method, Electrical Transient and Since, the cables play a vital role in the power distribution,
Analysis Program (ETAP) simulations, on a cable of 1 kV rating therefore, the selection of the size and type of cable is of utmost
are carried out under very strict conditions, namely cable sizing importance. An improper size or type of cable can have an
based on load flow analysis, without including the four factors adverse effect on the operation of the system. It can increase the
(temperature, thermal resistivity, depth of laying, and soil power dissipation in the cable. It can subject the system to
correction factor) and including these factors. The dominance of
continual failures making it unreliable. To select the right type
and size of cable, the cable’s rated voltage must be significantly
the proposed method over the conventional is validated by
higher than the system voltage. The cable must exhibit the
approximately 8% decrease in voltage drop in the power cable. It
physical strength and longevity required for a particular case.
is expected that this research will be highly beneficial, not only for
The cable must be able to safely conduct the current without
the high voltage cable manufacturers but also for the utility power
overheating itself or the insulation. Voltage drop is usually only
systems.
of importance in a low voltage system [3]. The regulation 5228
of the 16th edition of IEE regulation establishes that the
Keywords — Cable sizing; optimum cable design; weather and ‘voltage drop within the installation does not exceed a value
environmental factors; power losses; grounding and bonding
appropriate for the safe functioning of the associated equipment
arrangements; voltage drop.
in normal service.’ For this purpose, BS 6346: 1997 table can
I. INTRODUCTION be used to find, for a particular cable size, the maximum safe
current and voltage drop per ampere per meter for a cable in
A power system consists of electrical power generation,
free air, cable laid directly under ground or a cable in a duct.
transmission and distribution. The primary function of an
The cross linked polyethylene insulation cable is used for up to
electric power system is to supply and transfer electric power to
33 kV. It has high insulation resistance and constant dielectric
the consumers. The power systems are designed to ensure
constant over all range of frequencies. It is a good weather
reliability at the point of consumption. A power system that
resistant. It has the following advantages.
supplies homes and industry with power for a particular region
is known as the grid which is further divided into three parts.
Generators that supply the power, the transmission system that
transfers power from the generators to the load centers and the
distribution system that supplies power to the nearby consumers
[1].
There are different mechanisms for power transmission
from source to the user-ends. The electric power transmission
occurs through either overhead lines or underground cables.
Each of these two methods of transmission has its own pros and
cons.
Overhead Transmission lines are economical as the
insulation and the conductor material costs are fairly low. They
also have better capability of heat dissipation. However, they
have significant disadvantages. Overhead lines are at a risk Fig. 1. Advantages of polyethylene insulation cable
 Reference [4] described the brief advantages and procedure air and organic matter. For a buried cable, the soil thermal
for the installation of underground transmission. Reference [5] resistivity is assumed 0.9 mC/W. The relationship of the
mentioned the pros and cons, and the basic method to find the dependent of thermal resistivity on density is shown in Fig. 2.
cable size for industries and commercial buildings. Reference An inverse relation exists between the thermal resistivity and
[8] used MATLAB for underground cable sizing. density of a given material. i.e., when density increases then
This paper proposes an improved method for power cable thermal resistivity of that material reduces in the same
sizing. The proposed cable size is suitable for use in the power proportion. The graph shows the thermal resistivity versus
distribution system because it will dissipate less power in the density of three different materials named loam, quart and
cable and more power will be transferred to the user end. organic materials.
Different factors like temperature, thermal resistivity, depth of
underground laying and soil correction factors have been
included in order to achieve the proposed solution.
II. CABLE COMPOSITION
A power system cable is composed of the four main
components. These are described in detail as given below.
A. Conductor
The quality of a conductor is generally used to determine the
cable performance. A good conductor maximizes the current
carrying capacity by minimizing the alternating current effects,
i.e. skin and proximity effects. It also prevents distortion during
the bending operation on the cable. The most commonly used
conductors are Copper and Aluminium.
B. Semiconducting screens
Fig. 2. Relationship between thermal resistivity and density of a material [9]
To ensure a smooth interface between conducting and
insulating area, semiconducting screens are used. They also C. Depth of Laying (C3)
serve the purpose of insulation. These semiconducting screens
The size of cable is affected when the depth of installation is
also isolate high voltage conductor from the earth. These
different. The depth of laying varies for different cables used at
semiconducting screens are made from Carbon paper and
different voltage levels. The standards for depth of laying for
Carbon Lead polymers.
different voltage levels are given in Table 1.
C. Metallic Sheath TABLE 1 Standards for depth based on voltage levels [8]
In case of SCOF cable, these metallic sheaths help retain the
pressure, and for cables such as XLPE, they also prevent the Type of Cable Voltage level (kV) Depth (m)
ingress of moisture into the cables [4]. They are made up of
LT cable 1.1 0.75
Lead, Lead alloy and corrugated Aluminium.
HT cable 11 0.90
D. Other protection
HT cable 33 1.20
These other protections prevent corrosion from damaging
the metal sheath and include PVC and HDPE.
D. Soil Correction Factor (C4)
III. FACTORS AFFECTING CABLE SIZE The size of cable also varies differently with different nature
Following are some derating factors according to the of soil. The nature of soil is not uniform. It may be either wet,
International Standards and cable makers for different damp, dry or very dry etc. A different factor value is included in
installation conditions [5]. the calculation in order to accommodate the nature of soil. The
factor value for each soil type is given in Table 2.
A. Temperature Factor (C1)
TABLE 2 Soil correction factor for different nature of soils [8]
Usually the temperature of a conductor affects the size of the
conductor. When the temperature is high, the voltage drop Nature of soil Factor value
increases, and thus the size of conductor increases. When the
cable is exposed to high temperature, the insulation will split. Saturated soil 1.21
Moreover, after sometime, it will be carbonized. This
phenomenon happens particularly for thermoplastic insulation Wet soil 1.13
type cables. Therefore, temperature factor must be included in
the cable design for its appropriate operation. Dry soil 1.00

B. Thermal Resistivity (C2)

Damp soil 1.05
With the increase of thermal resistivity, the cable size
decreases. Five important constituents that are important in Very dry soil 0.86
determining the thermal resistivity of soil include quartz, water,
 IV. CALCULATION OF VOLTAGE DROP Grids in this region [2]. Real time based modern software
The main factor that is used to calculate the cable size is the named ETAP has been used to carry the different analysis on
voltage drop. The mathematical formula to calculate voltage the system under consideration.
drop is given below. The 220 kV Sahowala Grid is centralized G. The outgoing
Vd
NV = × 1000 (1)
feeders distribute power using distribution transformers of
I× L different KVA ratings [3]. These transformers step down the
Where, voltage from 11 kV to 415 V line to line. Their MVA ratings
Vd = Average Voltage Drop and the rated voltages are given in the Table 3.
I = Current through cable
TABLE 3 Transformer Data [3]
L = Length of cable
LV HV
When the temperature, thermal resistivity, depth of laying and MVA
TF Type kV Rating Current Current
Rating
soil correction factors are included in the equation, it becomes. (A) (A)
Vd × 1000 T-1 Auto 160 220-132 720 419.9
NV = × C1 × C2 × C3 × C4 (2)
I×L T-2 Auto 160 220-132 720 419.9

Where C1, C2, C3, and C4 refers to the following factors. T-3 Auto 160 220-132 720 419.9
C1 = Temperature factor T-4 Power 13 132-11 652 56
C2 = Thermal Resistivity factor
T-5 Power 13 132-11 652 56
C3 = Depth of Laying factor
C4 = Soil Correction factor The different 132 kV outgoing lines data is given in Table 4.
V. MODELLING AND SIMULATION TABLE 4 132 kV Outgoing Lines Data [6]

A. Assumptions Rated Current

132 kV Outgoing Lines MVA Ratings (A)
In this simulation, the following assumptions have been Wazirabad 87.375 373.4
made:
• Conductor is made up of copper Kotli Loharan 46.098 201.6
• Conductor is laid in ground Pasrur 48.365 211.5
• Depth of laying is 0.6m New Sialkot 54.235 237.2
• Normal ambient temperature is 25 ºC
• Thermal Resistivity is 1 ºC/W Sambryal 57.325 250.7

• Number of conductors are 3 Sialkot Pasrur Road 80.777 353.3

• Cable is armored
• Trefoil formation The data of different 11 kV feeders is given in Table 5.
B. Procedure TABLE 5 132 kV Outgoing Lines Data [7]

The flow diagram for finding the appropriate cable size is 11 kV Feeders MVA Ratings Rated Current
given below.
Jorian 1.3 373.4 A

Ugoki 1.28 201.6 A

Sahowala 0.857 211.5 A

Bhopal Wala 1.3 237.2 A

Hazrat Mehboob Zat 1.28 250.7 A

Qazi Chuk 0.857 353.3 A

The single line diagram of system under consideration is given

in figure 4.

Fig. 3. Flow diagram for optimized cable sizing

te.m Suynsder Consideration

C
The system under consideration is an 11kV Feeder of an
actual 220 kV Sahowala Grid Station located near Sialkot,
having six 11 kV feeders, six 132 kV outgoing lines and two
220 kV incoming lines. Practical power systems under studies
are a centralized grid, which feeds power supply to the other Fig. 4. Single line diagram of system under consideration
Case I: Cable size based on load flow current The brief comparison of results is summarized in table 6.
The load flow analysis is shown in Fig. 5. According to the TABLE 6 Comparison of simulation results
load requirements of 115.8 A, in this case, a rough estimation
is done for the cable sizing and a cable of size 500 mm2 has kWh kVARh Voltage
Cases
been selected using the standard catalog. The annual losses are (Annual) (Annual) drop (%)
167000 kWh and 48180 kVARh. The voltage drops in the cable Case I 167000 48180 9.55
are 9.55 %.
Case II 21000 33288 2.11
Case III 8760 27156 1.33

The traditional power cables used in power system are usually

based on load flow current. It can be seen that the voltage drop
has been reduced from 9.55% to 1.33% by taking into account
the cable length, voltage drop, and WAEF. Therefore, the
authenticity of the proposed method has been validated.
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, an improved method for optimal cable sizing
is proposed and validated using real time simulation software
named ETAP. The system under consideration of 220 kV
Sahowala Grid station verifies the proposed method of reducing
power losses and optimizing the system by taking into account
the WAEF. The results demonstrate that the efficient algorithm
Fig. 5. Load Flow Analysis and the weather and environmental factors reduce the voltage
Case II: Cable size without including four factors drop substantially from 9.55% to 1.33%. Less voltage drop
signifies the transfer of more power. The increased initial cost
In this case, if cable is selected by keeping in view the cable
due to larger conductor size can be compensated in a year or
length and voltage drop, then with respect to the voltage drop
two based on reduced power loss. The proposed method can be
formula, the cable size comes out 400mm2 for 115 A flowing
used to design high voltage and utility power system cables.
through the cable. After load flow analysis, according to the
losses report, the annual system losses in the cable are 21000 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
kWh and 33288 kVARh. If industrial unit price is 12 Rs/unit
then annual loss is 3,00,000 Rs/year in this cable only. In this The authors gracefully acknowledge Prescon Inc. Lahore for
case, the voltage drop reduces to 2.11%. providing license for ETAP to Power System Simulation Lab,
UET Lahore.
Case III: Cable size with including four factors
REFERENCES
According to the load requirements of 115A, in this case, if
cable is selected by keeping in view the cable length and voltage [1] G. Turan, “Electric Power Transmission System Engineering”,
drop along with the weather and environmental factors, then Wiley, New York, 1986.
according to the voltage drop formula, the cable size comes out [2] Annual Report, “Pakistan Water and Power Development
1000 mm2. After load flow analysis, the annual system losses Authority”, 2006-2007.
in cable are 8760 kWh and 27156 kVARh. If industrial unit [3] User Manual, Protection and Instrumentation Department, 220
price is 12Rs/unit then annual loss is 1,50,000 Rs/year in this kV Sahowala Grid Station, pp: 20-40.
cable only. However, voltage drop reduces to 1.33%. [4] Victor D. Antoneillo, “Underground Power Grid Consideraions”,
in 47th Minnesota Power Systems Conference (MIPSYCON),
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, 2011, pp. 1-1.
[5] M. Pratap Nair, “An Effective Cable Sizing Procedure Model For
Industrial and Commercial Buildings”, IJECE, Vol. 6, No. 1,
pp.36-36, Feb. 2016.
[6] User Manual, Protection and Instrumentation Department, 220
kV Sahowala Grid Station, pp: 250-264.
[7] User Manual, Protection and Instrumentation Department, 220
kV Sahowala Grid Station, pp: 273-291.
[8] R. Hardic, Aberdare Cables Ltd: “Electric Power Cables-
Whatever Happened to the Factor of Safety”
[9] Gaylon, S. C., and Keith, L. B. (2006). Underground Power
Cable Installations: Soil Thermal Resistivity. Armidale,
Australia. ICT International Publishing.

Fig. 6. Optimized cable sizing with 1.33 % voltage drop

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