Worked example of cable calculation - Electrical Installation Guide

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From Electrical Installation Guide

1 Worked example of cable calculation 2 Calculation using software Ecodial 3 The same calculation using the simplified method recommended in this guide 3.1 Dimensioning circuit C1 3.2 Dimensioning circuit C3 3.3 Dimensioning circuit C7 3.4 Calculation of short-circuit currents for the selection of circuit-breakers Q1, Q3, Q7 (see Fig. G67) 3.5 The protective conductor 3.6 Protection against indirect-contact hazards 3.7 Voltage drop

(see Fig. G65) The installation is supplied through a 630 kVA transformer. The process requires a high degree of supply continuity and part of the installation can be supplied by a 250 kVA standby generator. The global earthing system is TN-S, except for the most critical loads supplied by an isolation transformer with a downstream IT configuration. The single-line diagram is shown in Figure G65 below. The results of a computer study for the circuit from transformer T1 down to the cable C7 is reproduced on Figure G66. This study was carried out with Ecodial software (a Schneider Electric product). This is followed by the same calculations carried out by the simplified method described in this guide.

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Fig. G65: Example of single-line diagram

General network characteristics Earthing system Neutral distributed Voltage (V) Frequency (Hz) Upstream fault level (MVA) Resistance of MV network (m) Reactance of MV network (m) Transformer T1 Rating (kVA) Short-circuit impedance voltage (%) Transformer resistance RT (m) Transformer reactance XT (m) 630 4 3.472 10.64 TN-S No 400 50 500 0.0351 0.351

Number of poles and protected poles Tripping unit Overload trip Ir (A) Short-delay trip Im / Isd (A) Cable C3 Length Maximum load current (A) Type of insulation Ambient temperature (C) Conductor material Single-core or multi-core cable Installation method Phase conductor selected csa (mm )
2

4P4d Micrologic 2.3 510 5100 20 509 PVC 30 Copper Single F 2 x 95

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3-phase short-circuit current Ik3 (kA) Cable C1 Length (m) Maximum load current (A) Type of insulation Ambient temperature (C) Conductor material Single-core or multi-core cable Installation method Number of layers Phase conductor selected csa (mm ) Neutral conductor selected csa (mm2) PE conductor selected csa (mm2) Voltage drop U (%) 3-phase short-circuit current Ik3 (kA) Courant de dfaut phase-terre Id (kA) Circuit-breaker Q1 Load current (A) Type Reference Rated current (A) Number of poles and protected poles Tripping unit Overload trip Ir (A) Short-delay trip Im / Isd (A) Tripping time tm (ms) Switchboard B2 Reference Rated current (A) Circuit breaker Q3 Load current (A) Type Reference Rated current (A)
2

21.54 5 860 PVC 30 Copper Single F 1 2 x 240 2 x 240 1 x 120 0.122 21.5 15.9 860 Compact NS1000N 1000 4P4d Micrologic 5.0 900 9000 50 Linergy 1250 1050 509 Compact NSX630F 630

Neutral conductor selected csa (mm2) PE conductor selected csa (mm2) Cable voltage drop U (%) Total voltage drop U (%) 3-phase short-circuit current Ik3 (kA) 1-phase-to-earth fault current Id (kA) Switchboard B6 Reference Rated current (A) Circuit-breaker Q7 Load current (A) Type Reference Rated current (A) Number of poles and protected poles Tripping unit Overload trip Ir (A) Short-delay trip Im / Isd (A) Cable C7 Length Maximum load current (A) Type of insulation Ambient temperature (C) Conductor material Single-core or multi-core cable Installation method Phase conductor selected csa (mm2) Neutral conductor selected csa (mm2) PE conductor selected csa (mm2) Cable voltage drop U (%) Total voltage drop U (%) 3-phase short-circuit current Ik3 (kA) 1-phase-to-earth fault current Id (kA)

2 x 95 1 x 95 0.53 0.65 19.1 11.5 Linergy 800 750 255 Compact NSX400F 400 3P3d Micrologic 2.3 258 2576 5 255 PVC 30 Copper Single F 1 x 95 1 x 50 0.14 0.79 18.0 10.0

Fig. G66: Partial results of calculation carried out with Ecodial software (Schneider Electric)

Dimensioning circuit C1
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Worked example of cable calculation - Electrical Installation Guide

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The MV/LV 630 kVA transformer has a rated no-load voltage of 420 V. Circuit C1 must be suitable for a current of: per phase Two single-core PVC-insulated copper cables in parallel will be used for each phase.These cables will be laid on cable trays according to method F. Each conductor will therefore carry 433A. Figure G21a indicates that for 3 loaded conductors with PVC isolation, the required c.s.a. is 240mm. The resistance and the inductive reactance, for the two conductors in parallel, and for a length of 5 metres, are: (cable resistance: 22.5 m.mm2/m) X = 0,08 x 5 = 0,4 m (cable reactance: 0.08 m/m)

Dimensioning circuit C3
Circuit C3 supplies two 150kW loads with cos = 0.85, so the total load current is:

Two single-core PVC-insulated copper cables in parallel will be used for each phase. These cables will be laid on cable trays according to method F. Each conductor will therefore carry 255A. Figure G21a indicates that for 3 loaded conductors with PVC isolation, the required c.s.a. is 95mm2. The resistance and the inductive reactance, for the two conductors in parallel, and for a length of 20 metres, are:

Dimensioning circuit C7
Circuit C7 supplies one 150kW load with cos = 0.85, so the total load current is:

One single-core PVC-insulated copper cable will be used for each phase. The cables will be laid on cable trays according to method F. Each conductor will therefore carry 255A. Figure G21a indicates that for 3 loaded conductors with PVC isolation, the required c.s.a. is 95mm2. The resistance and the inductive reactance for a length of 20 metres is: (cable resistance: 22.5 m.mm2/m) (cable reactance: 0.08 m/m)

Calculation of short-circuit currents for the selection of circuit-breakers Q1, Q3, Q7 (see Fig. G67)

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Circuit components Upstream MV network, 500MVA fault level (see Fig. G34) Transformer 630kVA, 4% (see Fig. G35) Cable C1 Sub-total Cable C3 Sub-total Cable C7 Sub-total Fig. G67: Example of short-circuit current evaluation

R (m) 0,035 2.9 0.23 3.16 2.37 5.53 1.18 6.71

X (m) 0,351 10.8 0.4 11.55 1.6 13.15 0.4 13.55

Z (m)

Ikmax (kA)

11.97 14.26 15.12

20.2 17 16

The protective conductor

When using the adiabatic method, the minimum c.s.a. for the protective earth conductor (PE) can be calculated by the formula given in Figure G58: For circuit C1, I = 20.2kA and k = 143. t is the maximum operating time of the MV protection, e.g. 0.5s This gives: A single 120 mm2 conductor is therefore largely sufficient, provided that it also satisfies the requirements for indirect contact protection (i.e. that its impedance is sufficiently low). Generally, for circuits with phase conductor c.s.a. Sph 50 mm2, the PE conductor minimum c.s.a. will be Sph / 2. Then, for circuit C3, the PE conductor will be 95mm2, and for circuit C7, the PE conductor will be 50mm2.

Protection against indirect-contact hazards

For circuit C3 of Figure G65, Figures F41 and F40, or the formula given page F25 may be used for a 3-phase 4-wire circuit. The maximum permitted length of the circuit is given by:

(The value in the denominator 630 x 11 is the maximum current level at which the instantaneous short-circuit magnetic trip of the 630 A circuit-breaker operates). The length of 20 metres is therefore fully protected by instantaneous over-current devices.

Voltage drop
The voltage drop is calculated using the data given in Figure G28, for balanced three-phase circuits, motor power normal service (cos = 0.8). The results are summarized on figure G68:

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C1 c.s.a. U per conductor (V/A/km) see Fig. G28 Load current (A) Length (m) Voltage drop (V) Voltage drop (%) 2 x 240mm 0.21 866 5 0.45 0.11

C3 2 x 95mm 0.42 509 20 2.1 0.53

C7 1 x 95mm 0.42 255 5 0.53 0.13

Fig. G68: Voltage drop introduced by the different cables

The total voltage drop at the end of cable C7 is then: 0.77%.

Retrieved from "http://www.electrical-installation.org/enwiki/Worked_example_of_cable_calculation" Category: Chapter - Sizing and protection of conductors This page was last modified on 13 August 2013, at 13:59.

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