Fire Safety Journal 16 (1990) 459-467

Effect of Deposition of Combustible Matter onto

Electric Power Cables
B. F. Gray
School of Chemistry, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia

J. Dewynne
Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

M. Hood
Department of Mathematics, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009,
Australia

G. C. Wake
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Massey University, Palmeston North,
New Zealand
&

R. Weber
Department of Mathematics, ADFA, Canberra, ACT, Australia
(Received 29 January 1990; revised version received 9 April 1990;
accepted 19 April 1990)

ABSTRACT
The thermal insulating and self-heating effect of combustible dust
deposited on electric power cables is discussed. In many practical
situations, such as factories and warehouses, cable runs are exposed to
the deposition of many insulating and combustible dusts over long
periods. Critical thicknesses for these layers are calculated, i.e. the
thicknesses for which cable failure will occur, either due to the onset of
runaway combustion reaction in the dust layer, or even before the onset
of runaway reaction when temperatures can reach the melting point of
PVC insulation.

NOTATION
a Radius of conductor
b O u t e r radius of PVC insulator
459
Fire Safety Journal 0379-7112/91/$03-50 © 1991 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd,
England. Printed in Northern Ireland
460 B. F. Gray et al.

b+h Radius of dust layer (scaled to be unity)

E Activation energy of chemical reaction of the dust
F Integration constant
G Integration constant
I Current
kc Thermal conductivity of copper
ki Thermal conductivity of PVC
k' Defined by eqn (7)
k" Defined by eqn (8)
l Characteristic distance (e.g. outer radius of dust annulus)
O Heat of reaction/unit mass
R Conductor resistance/unit length
R' Universal gas constant
Ta Ambient temperature
x Radial distance from cable centre
Z Pre-exponential rate factor

6 Defined by eqn (10)

E
0 Dimensionless temperature - R' T2a( T - - Ta)
Thermal conductivity of dust layer
P Density of reactive dust
Z Defined by eqn (11)

INTRODUCTION

Electric power cables are used in plant installations according to

selection criteria set out in various national standards, e.g. AS3000 and
AS3008. The bases for selecting and installing the correct size and type
of cable are governed by the current flow, the length of installations
and type of cable insulation to be used. 'Current rating' of cables is
determined by the temperature reached in the conductor under
steady-state operation. This temperature is of course determined by the
rate of heat conduction through the insulator. Cables placed in a
conduit or adjacent to each other on a tray are 'derated', since the heat
generated will be harder to dissipate than that for a single cable. The
geometry of the cable arrangements determines the quantitative value
of the derating. Standard tables are available for this purpose and are
applied to each installation.
A problem not hitherto considered is the collection of combustible
(and, at the same time, thermally insulating) dust on the installations.
 C o m b u s t i b l e matter on electric p o w e r cables 461

This could achieve considerable thickness over long periods and lead to
two possible problems which are intimately related.
Firstly, the layer of dust could ignite if the critical condition were to
be reached. This depends, as we shall see later, on the ambient
temperature, the thickness and configuration of the dust layer, the
electric heating by the current, etc. Secondly, the dust layer, if not
extremely reactive, might cause failure of the cable by overheating,
since the extra insulation of the dust layer is not allowed for in standard
tables, nor is the heat generated by normal decomposition of the dust.
One can thus envisage two extreme types of failure: ignition of the dust
before cable failure, and cable failure before the dust ignites due to its
insulating and thermogenetic properties.

THE PROBLEMS FORMULATED

The most promising formulation with possibility of mathematical

solution is shown in Fig. 1. It is a cable of infinite length inside a conduit
with the annular space between insulator and conduit filled with
combustible dust of uniform density. The cylindrical symmetry of the
problem renders it attractive, as well as the fact that related problems
involving ignition of materials by annular sheet sources of energy
(representing friction between rotating cylinders) have already been
solved. ~'2 It is also well known that the infinite cylinder gives results
which are bounds for finite cylinders, erring on the side of safety.
The steady-state energy conservation equations in the conductor, PVC

support structure

uniform heat source

electrical insulation

combustible material

conduit

Fig. 1. Representation of a cable inside a conduit filled with combustible insulating

material.
462 B.F. Gray et al.

insulator and outer dust annulus take, respectively, the following forms:
d20 1 dO EFR
dx 2 ~---7-~-
x u x + R'T2kc =0 (0<x <a), (1)

d20 1 dO
f -- = 0 (a < x < b ) , (2)
dx 2 xdx
d20 1 dO
dx----
S+ ~ + 6e ° = 0 (b < x < 1), (3)

where 0 is a dimensionless t e m p e r a t u r e rise in the assembly, referred to

ambient t e m p e r a t u r e (0 = 0), x is a dimensionless radial distance from
the centre of the cable and 6 is a dimensionless measure of the heat
production rate by the decomposition a n d / o r oxidation of the dust. A t
the interfaces between the three layers, energy flux and t e m p e r a t u r e
continuity conditions are applied. Analytical solutions of eqns (1)-(3)
are available, and the continuity conditions plus the boundary condition
0 = 0 along with the symmetry condition d 0 / d x = 0 at x = 0 serve to
determine all the integration constants.
The form of the solution in the reactive layer is
2F2Gx F-2
0 = In (4)
6(1 + GxF) 2

where F and G are integration constants.

If 00 is the central (maximum) t e m p e r a t u r e in the assembly,
application of the b o u n d a r y and continuity conditions gives us an exact
parametric relationship b e t w e e n 6 and 0o:
eO° = [(F + k' + 2) + b-V(F - k' - 2)12b v-2
4FZk,, , (5)
2Fe(F - k' - 2)(F + k' + 2)b -F
6 = [(F + k' + 2) + (F + k' - 2)b-F]2' IF[ > [k' + 21 (6)

The constants k' and k" are defined as

EFR
k'= , -~<k'<-0 (7)
2R' T2ki
[ eFR EFR
k" = exp - - In ( b / a )
t 2 R , T2k i 4~ ~-kc/ (8)

Both a and b are scaled with respect to the radius of the annulus of dust
(b + h).
 Combustible matter on electric power cables 463

Oo

cr
~0 . . . . . .

Schematic of the relationship between the heat production rate 6 and the
central temperature 0o.

A typical graph of 6 versus 0 is shown in Fig. 2. This curve would be

calculated for a particular pair of values of k' and k " as well as given
radii for conductor, insulator and dust. It is seen that for 6 < 6= (the
critical value of 6) there are two solutions for the temperature profile.
Of course, for 6 > 6~ there is no steady-state solution for this problem.
The critical values of 6 and 00 are calculated for a given set of
parameters k', k" and cable dimension, and this enables the construc-
tion of a table such as Table 1. Table 1 is calculated for k" = 0-5. Other
values of k" affect 0~r through the formula

0~~= 0~(0-5) - l n ( k " / 0 . 5 ) (9)

with 6= independent of k". The thickness of the layers is expressed in

units of the radius of the dust layer.
To use this table we have to calculate 6 for a given material from the
formula

6 = PQZI2Ee-~/R'r"
~ T2R '
(lo)

Experiments carried out using various dusts in an equicylinder of gauze

of radius 7.5 cm determined the critical ambient temperature for each
(Gray, B. F. unpublished; and Ref. 3). For an equicylinder, di=--2-78.
 TABLE 1
Critical Values of 0; r (First Line) and 6 cr (Second Line) for Various Values of the Parameter k'

h 9b 4b ~b ~b b ~b ~b ~b ~b

k' = 0 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1-2
k"= 1 2.1 2.3 2.7 3.4 4.5 6-6 11 24 92
k'=2 6-4 5.1 4.3 3-7 3.3 2-9 2-6 2.3 2.1
0.17 0-34 0.61 1.1 1.8 3-4 6.9 18 79
k' = 5 13 9.8 7-9 6.3 5.3 4-4 3.6 3.0 2.4
6.0 x 10 - 4 7.5 x 10 3 3.7 x 10 2 0-13 0.39 1-1 3.2 11 63
k' = 10 25 18 14 11 8-7 6-9 5.4 4.0 2-9
1"4 x 10 8 5-3 X 10 . 6 1-9 x 10 4 2.6 x 10 3 2.2 x 10 -2 0-14 0.79 4.7 43
k' = 15 36 26 20 15 12 9.4 7.1 5-2 3.4
2.2 x 10 -13 2.6 x 10 9 7 x 10 -7 4 x 10 -5 1 x 10 3 1.5 x 10 -2 0.18 2-0 29
k' = 2 0 48 34 26 20 16 12 8.9 6-2 4-0
3 - 0 x 1 0 -~s 1 - 1 x l 0 12 2-3x10 9 5.4x10 7 4 - 1 x 1 0 -5 1.6x10 3 3 . 8 x 1 0 .2 0-77 19
k' = 25 59 42 32 25 19 14 11 7-4 4-5
3"7 × 10 23 4"6 X 10 -16 7-0 x 10 12 7.0 X 10 - 9 1.6 x 10-6 1-5 x 10 4 7.8 X 10 . 3 0-30 13
k' = 30 71 50 38 29 23 17 12 8"5 5-0
4-6 x 10 -2s 1.8 X 10 19 2"0 X 10 14 8"6 X 10 T M 6.0 x 10 -8 1.4 x 10 5 1.5 x 10 3 0.11 8.4
k' = 35 82 58 44 34 26 20 14 9"6 5"5
5.4 X ~[0 -33 6"7 x 10 z3 5.8 x 10 17 1.0 x 10 L2 2.2 x 10 -~ 1.2 x 10 ~ 3 x 10 4 4.2 x 10 -2 5-5
k' = 40 66 50 38 29 22 16 11 6-0
2.4 x 10 26 1-6 x 10 -19 1.2 x 10 -14 7.8 x 10 lz 1.1 x 10 7 5-7 x 10 -~ 1-6 x 10 -2 3-5
 C o m b u s t i b l e matter o n electric p o w e r cables 465

For l, Ta and E known we thus have

2.78 - pa____Z12E e_E/R,r~

Z R'T~
12E
= X R--~a2 e-E/RT~

where
pQZ
x= Z
SO
nT a
Z = 2 . 7 8 / - ~ - x e e'R'r~ (11)

enabling effective experimental m e a s u r e m e n t of the group X. E q u a t i o n

(10) thus becomes
xI2Ee-E/R'r~
6 - (12)
R'T
where l and Ta are now appropriate for the configuration in question,
i.e. an annulus at an ambient t e m p e r a t u r e of 30 or 40 °C, for example,
as possible realistic temperatures.
As an example, let us consider bagasse or sawdust, for which
E = 125 k J / m o l and T~r = 470 K for a 7-5-cm-radius equicylinder.
For this material, then, E / R ' - 1 5 0 0 0 K , so eqn (12) gives us, at
criticality,
X(7.5)z15000 exp ( - 15000/470)
2.78 =
(470) 2
giving
X = 5.3 x 1013 K / c m 2
We substitute this figure in eqn (12) and obtain a value of 6 for a given
thickness of dust on the cable; for example, for a dust layer nine times
thicker than the P V C insulation (still only 1-17-cm radius), then
6 = 1.7 × 10 -8. This is considerably less than the critical value for this
case (h = 9b in Table 1) of 0or = 6.0 × 10 -4. We can increase the dust
layer until the calculated value of 6 c o m p u t e d from eqn (12) equals the
critical value of 6 c o m p u t e d from eqns (5) and (6). In this case, this
occurs a r o u n d 15 cm sawdust a r o u n d the cable, an a m o u n t which could
easily occur in practice.
For coal dust, where E / R ' - 5 0 0 0 , similar calculations give X =
3.37 x l 0 s and k' = 1.63. The critical depth of dust in this case, for the
same cable, is of the same o r d e r of magnitude.
466 B. F. Gray et al.

Even in the subcritical cases, however, where neither dust is close to

ignition, we would expect the insulating effect of the dust to cause
melting of the PVC insulation; for example, for the cable carrying a
current of 14 amps with a layer of dust nine times thicker than the PVC,
the temperature at the conductor centre can easily be calculated to be
around 300 °C for an ambient temperature of 20 °C. This assumes a
thermal conductivity for the dust of 5 x 10 -4 W / c m ~K ~ and that of the
PVC to be 1.67 x 10-3W/cm 1 K ~. With no dust, the corresponding
calculation gives a temperature of 36 °C above ambient for this case.
With a dust layer of equal thickness to that of the P V C the temperature
rise is 77 °C.
Clearly, even for ignitable materials, well before ignition takes place,
the insulating effect of the dust will cause the P V C to melt unless very
considerable derating is done.

POSSIBLE S O U R C E S OF E R R O R

A possibly important source is the density of the dust layer. In the

above calculations it is implicitly assumed to be the same as that of the
samples tested for criticality. The density achieved by natural settling
over a period is unknown, but is likely to be less than that used in the
experiments. If it were 10% of this, both X and 6 would be reduced by
this factor.
We do not know how the conductivity of the dust layers depends on
its density, and the above calculation assumes it is independent of
density. The thermal conductivity of air is approximately 1-5 x
10 -5 W / c m ~ K 1, which is somewhat smaller than that for either sawdust
or coal at the packing density used. Thus, we might expect a very
porous layer of dust or still air to make the system even less stable than
calculated above.
A closely related problem, which has not been addressed here, is that
of transient energy deposition in similar circumstances arising from
switching and current surges. It is very likely that supercritical
conditions can be set up in this way also.

CONCLUSIONS

1. Practically likely thicknesses of dust deposited on power cables can

lead to two kinds of failure.
 Combustible matter on electric power cables 467

2. The first kind arises purely from the thermal insulating properties of
the dust; it need not necessarily be combustible. Temperatures high
enough to melt the PVC insulator can easily be attained with normal
currents, largely due to the fact that those dusts most likely have a
thermal conductivity an order of magnitude lower than PVC.
3. The second kind arises when, in addition to being a good thermal
insulator, the dust is combustible. This results in the melting point of
PVC being attained at lower current densities than in the previous
case, due to the extra heat from the combustion reaction.
4. In the case of combustible dusts, it is also possible that a critical
thickness of dust can be exceeded which will lead to runaway
reaction and ignition of the dust layer. For example, for sawdust, at
an ambient (air) temperature of 30°C, a layer 15-cm thick would
lead to runaway reaction if deposited around a cable carrying
14amps. Of course the PVC insulator will also have melted, but
even if this did not lead to short circuit in this case, fire is guaranteed
from self-ignition of the dust.

REFERENCES

1. Gray, B. F. & Wake, G. C., Criticality in the infinite state and cylinder
with surface heat sources. Combustion and Flame, 55 (1984) 23-30.
2. Gomez, A., Wake, G. C. & Gray, B. F., Friction and localised heat
initiation of ignition. Combustion and Flame, 61 (1985), 177-87.
3. Gray, B. F., Griffiths, J. F. & Hasko, S. M., Spontaneous ignition hazards
in stockpiles of cellulosic materials. J. Chem. Tech. Biotech., 34A (1984)
453-63.