CABLE SELECTION

&
SIZING
 Power Cables:

 Power cables are classified in to two types, High, Medium / Low voltage
cables.

 High Voltages (HV cables): 3.3, 6.6, 11,22 & 33 kV System.

 Medium/Low Voltages (MV/LV cables) : 415/240V System.

HV Power Cables:

 Paper Insulated Lead Covered (PILC)

 Poly Vinyl Chloride Insulation (PVC)

 Cross Linked Polyethylene (XLPE)

 The conductor shall be stranded Al. Grade H2 (or) H4 Class 2 as per

IS8130 for normal application in India. The CU. conductors (Class 2) are
used as per requirements.
 MV/LV Power Cables:

 These shall be 1100 volt grade for general purpose PVC/Heat resistant
PVC cables are used.

 Single core cables are used for main DC feeders.

 Copper conductor cables are used for essential services.

HV VOLTAGE CABLE
HV VOLTAGE CABLE
 STANDARDS USED FOR CABLES:

 IS 8130: Conductors

 IS 3975: Armouring

 IS 692: PILC Cables

 IS 1554: PVC Cables

 IS 7098: XLPE Cables

 IS 5831: PVC Compound Type

 IS 3961: PILC Cables

 Insulating Materials:

The insulating materials for cables are classified as

 a) Paper,

 b) Thermosetting Compounds,

 c) Thermoplastic Compound,

 d) Heat resistant inorganic materials such as magnesium.

 Thermosetting Compounds:

 Rubber based (or) synthetic rubber like compounds which are

vulcanized to attain the necessary electrical & physical properties.
 a) Butyl Rubber,

 b) Ethylene Propylene Rubber (EPR),

 c) Cross Linked Polyethylene (XLPE),

 d) Silicon Rubber.

 EPR & XLPE have excellent heat stability,

 poor flame retardance property.

 EPR has very good corona resistance property compared to XLPE.

 Silicon rubber has good electrical properties used in emergencies.

 Thermoplastic Compound:
 Synthetic compounds which have definite melting temperature,
Therefore at higher temperature these compounds will be soften &
become semi liquid.

 a) Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC),

 b) Poly ethylene,

 c) Teflon/ PTFE.

 PVC is highly resistant to moisture; it has high melting point

temperature compared to Polyethylene

 Poly Ethylene has very good melting point & poor corona

 Generally In India we are using PVC, Paper, XLPE, Silicon Rubber

cables.

 EPR cables are not considered because it is costlier than XLPE cables.
 Conductors:

 Aluminium & Copper conductors are generally used.

 The copper conductors shall be untinned, annealed, high

conductivity copper

 Classifications:

 a) Circular (non compacted) Conductors: Class 1,2 & 3

 b) Compacted Circular & all shaped conductors : Class 2

 Class 1: Stipulates solid conductor up to 35Sq.mm

 Class 2:Allows stranded conductor from lowest size of 1Sqmm.

 It is recommended that all conductors should be Class 2 based on the
following considerations.

 Provision of stranded conductors for cable sizes up to 35mm.

 Acceptance of Compacted / Stranded Conductors.

 Better Flexibility for higher sized conductors.

 ARMOUR:

 All power cables shall be armoured type for maximum reliability.

 Armoured cables are recommended in the view of the following considerations.

 Protect against mechanical damage.

 Protection against rodent attacks.

 Flame proof wiring in coal handling plant, fuel handling plant etc.

 The armouring multi core cables shall be the following.

 Galvanised round steel wires.

 Galvanised steel strip.

 For normal Application the armour cables shall comprise of single wire/strip.

 Double steel wire armouring shall be specified for special application like long
vertical runs of cables on bridges, submerissible cables etc..
 Sizing of Power Cables:

 The Power cable sizes shall be selected on the basis of

 a) Current carrying capacity or Thermal ampacity,

 b) Short circuit Rating

 c) Permissible voltage drop.

 Current Carrying Capacity or Thermal Ampacity:

 The cable shall carry the full load current continuously under specified
ambient temperature & other conditions of installation.

 The current carrying capacity shall be worked out on the basis of

 i) Base current ratings

 ii) Rating factors based on site condition.

 Base Current Ratings:

 The base current rating shall be taken from

 PILC cables : As per IS 3961 part-I

 1100V grade PVC cables : As per IS 3961 part-II

 3.3 & 6.6kV PVC cables : As per IS 1554 part-II

 3.3 & 6.6kV XLPE cables : As per IS 7098 part-II

 The base current rating for PVC & XLPE will be based on
normal operating conductor temperature of 70& 90ºC.

 But for PILC cables the normal operating conductor

temperature vary for different types of cables (65-80ºC).

 The Short circuit conductor temperature for PVC & PILC will be
160ºC & for XLPE cables it will be 250ºC.
 Standard Conditions of Installations:

 The current rating are based on the following conditions.

 a) Thermal resistivity of soil : 150ºC cm/w

 b) Ground Temperature : 30ºC

 c) Ambient air temperature : 40ºC

 d) Depth of laying :
1100 Volt grade cable : 750 mm
3.3 - 11 KV cable : 900 mm
 Rating Factors:
 The base current ratings of cables shall be derated / uprated for the
following conditions –

 a) Variations in conditions of installation compared to the standard

conditions mentioned above.

 b) Group running of cables.

 The rating factor for variation in thermal resistivity of soil, Ambient
Ground/Air Temperature, Depth of Laying, Group Derating Factor
should be taken from IS : 3961 (Part I & II).

 Thermal resistivity of Soil :

 The thermal resistivity of soil data for the project site is usually not
available.

 As such, the rating factor may be taken as 1.0, unless data to contrary
is available.

 Ambient Ground/Air Temperature –

 The ambient to be taken for cable sizing shall be 5ºC less than the
maximum ambient temperature of the Project site rounded off to next
higher multiple of 5.

 If no data is available, 40ºC shall be assumed as an average ambient

temperature in air & 30ºC in ground for Indian Conditions.
 Depth of Laying –

 Standard depth of laying shall be adopted in which case the rating

factor will be 1.0.

 To Calculate the Overall derating factor of the multi core cable in air

 Rating factor for the cables ambient temp laid in air

(*)
 Rating factor for group running of cables in air

 To Calculate the Overall derating factor of the multi core cable in

ground

 Rating factor for the cables ambient temp laid in ground

(*)
 Thermal Resistivity of Soil
(*)
 Rating factor for group running of cables in Ground
 Short Circuit rating –

 The cable, if protected by circuit breaker, shall be able to withstand the

fault current of the circuit for the desired fault clearing time.

 The cables protected by circuit breakers shall be rated for short circuit
duty.

 But the cables protected by HRC fuses, Miniature Circuit breakers

(MCBs) or Moulded Case Circuit Breakers (MCCBs) shall not be sized
for short circuit duty.

 The short circuit withstand capacity of cables shall be calculated as per

following
 formula:-
A = Ish x (t)^1/2
K
 Where
 A = Cross Sectional area in Sq.mm
 Ish = Fault current in Amps (rms)
 t = Fault clearing time in seconds
 K = Constant Amps/mm2
 Ish : The maximum fault current of the system shall be taken. The
breaker interrupting current rating need not be taken.

 (t) : The time 't' shall be based on the maximum time taken by the
breaker of the circuit to clear the fault on the operation of primary short
circuit protection.

 The fault clearing time is 0.16 Sec. (Breaker to Motor) & (Breaker to
Trans.)

 The fault clearing time is 0.5 Sec. (Breaker to breaker)

 The fault clearing time is 1.0 Sec. (Trans. to Breaker)

 K: The value of k will be depends upon the type & conductor of the
cable

 The value of K for PVC Al & CU cable will be 75 & 112 Amps/mm2

 The value of K for XLPE Al & CU cable will be 94 & 140 Amps/mm2
 Permissible Voltage Drop:

 The voltage drop in the cable shall be within permissible limits for
satisfactory running & starting of the motor.

V = I (R CosØ + X SinØ)*L/(No of runs)

 V = Voltage drop
 I = Full load current
 L = Length of the Cable in Meters
 Ø = Power Factor (for Motor Starting it will be Ø=0.2)
(for Motor Running it will be Ø=0.8)
 R = Resistance of the Cable.
 X = Reactance of the Cable.

%Drop = (3^(1/2)*V*100)/(kV*1000)
 The voltage drop between PCC and MCC for full load current may be
limited to 2%.

 The voltage drop in cables between PCC/MCC to motor terminals for

full load motor current may be limited to 3%.
 For motor starting the voltage drop may be limited to 15%

 The formulae for Voltage drop for motor starting is

V = 6*I (R CosØ + X SinØ)*L/(No of runs)

%Drop = (3^(1/2)*V*100)/(kV*1000)

 Following code shall be used for designating the cable :

 Constituent Code Letter

 Aluminium conductor A

 Copper conductor C

 XLPE Insulation 2X

 PVC Insulation Y
 Constituent Code Letter

 Metal Screen Ts

 Metal sheath/Moisture Barrier Tx

 Non magnetic round wire armour/string Wa

 Steel Strip armour F

 Non Magnetic Strip Armour Fa

 Double Steel Round wire Armour WW

 Double Steel strip Armour FF

 PVC outer sheath Y

 PE Outer Sheath PE

 Conductive coating/Conductive layer CC

 Control Cables:

 Control cables shall be 1.1kV grade, PVC insulated with stranded,

annealed copper conductors having nominal cross sectional area of
1.5, 2.5, 4, 10, & 16mm Sq.

 Conductor:

 The conductor should be annealed high conductivity copper conductor

with nominal cross sectional area of 1.5, 2.5, 4, 10 & 16 mm Sq.

 Cores:

 The control cables are available in various multi-cores such as 2, 3, 4,

5, 7, 14, 19 & 27 Cores.

 Insulation, Inner & Outer Sheath:

 The Insulation is based on Indian Standard IS 5831

 The insulation should be Extruded PVC Compound type A. The Inner

sheath should be Extruded PVC type-ST-1.The Outer sheath Should
be Extruded black FRLS (Flame Retardant Low Smoke) PVC
Compound type ST-1.
 Armour:

 The material used for armouring is galvanized round steel wires up to

13mm inner sheath diameter or Galvanized steel strips.

 Screening:

 The screening is done to reduce the static noise.

 The screen shall consist of copper or Aluminium mylar tape of 0.04mm

thickness.

 It may consist of a thin tape of the same materials of 0.008mm

thickness laminated to a plastic tape.

 The screening tape shall be provided with round/flat tinned copper

drain wire laid longitudinally in contact with screening tape.

 The drain wire shall have minimum cross section of 0.5mm Sq.
 Types of Cables:

 In control cables most commonly used cables are twisted pair cable,
Heat Resistant PVC cables, Coaxial cables & Fibre Optic cables.

 Application of Control Cables:

 The 2.5mm Sq. copper conductors shall be used for the following
application

 Control of outdoor Circuit Breaker & indoor Switchgear

 Control of Control of HV & LV motors

 Control of transformers viz. coolers & OLTC controls

 Boiler controls like igniter, burner, soot blower, etc.

 Instrument transformer leads (If higher Cross section is not needed)

 Power supply to solenoids, actuators etc.

 The 1.5mm Sq. copper conductors may be used for the following
applications.

 Wiring of field device contacts (flow level/pressure/temperature

switches) to low burden circuits in annunciator relay panels, interlock
relay panels local cabinets etc. if annunciator /control / interlock relays
are electromagnetic type
THANK YOU