Cable sizing for LV motors

Ensure motor feeders sized adequately

1. LV cable voltage drop at starting < 20%
2. LV cable voltage drop when running at full load < 5%
Input Lists
 Power Rating – 70 kW
 Nominal Voltage – 0.415 kV
 Power Factor – 0.85
 Efficiency – 0.88
 Current (Full load Amps) – 167.395A
 Max short circuit current – 40kA
The minimum cross section of LV Voltage cables shall be calculated based on
below methods:
A) current carrying capacity
B) Cable Voltage drop during normal operation
C) Short circuit current capacity

Current Carrying Capacity of the cable

P
I=
√3 × V × pf × Eff
90
=
√3 × 0.415 ×0.85 ×0.88
I = 167.395 A
Derating factor for above ground
k1 Ambient temperature
k2 Grouping factor
FLA
Current carried by the conductor is
k 1× k 2
As per the cable catalogue k1=1
As per the cable catalogue k2=0.96
167.395
¿
1 × 0.96

Current carried by the conductor is 174.369A

Voltage Drop
 Formula: √3 x ((R cos ø + X sin ø)/n) x L x I/V*No of Runs*1000

Voltage DropStarting
Length in (m) = 100
Nominal Voltage (kV) = 0.415
Resistance(R) As per cable catalogue = 0.247
Reactance(X) As per cable catalogue = 0.0734
Full Load Amps (FLA) during starting = 1004.37
N (No of runs in parallel) = 1
cosØStarting POWERFACTOR = 0.3
sinØStarting POWERFACTOR = 0.96

VdropStarting = 10.2286%
Voltage DropRunning
Length in (m) = 100
Nominal Voltage (kV) = 0.415
Resistance(R) As per cable catalogue = 0.247
Reactance(X) As per cable catalogue = 0.0734
Full Load Amps (FLA) during running = 167.395
N (No of runs in parallel) = 1
cosØRunning POWERFACTOR = 0.85
sinØRunning POWERFACTOR = 0.53

VdropRunning = 1.738%

Short Circuit Current Capacity

I sh × √ t
A=
k
Ish = System short circuit current

t = Breaker minimum operating time

k = constant value

According to the cable catalogue the k value will be different

If the conductor is Al k value is 0.96
If the conductor is Cu k value is 143
40 × √0.1
A=
0.96
A =131.76 Sq mm
So, the cable size selected is 150sq mm