Cable Construction

EHV XLPE Cables

a) Conductor
The XLPE cable has Aluminium or Copper conductor, insulated with super clean
cross
linked polyethylene and then metallic screened with lead alloy sheath (with or
without
additional copper wires) or corrugated aluminium sheath and covered by PVC or
PE for
anti corrosion.
The conductor consists of annealed Copper or hard Aluminium stranded wires. The
form
of conductor is either stranded compacted circular or milliken (segmental
compacted
circular). Stranded compacted circular conductor consists of wires stranded
together
and then compacted. The milliken conductor normally consists of 4 / 5 segments
and is
normally applied for the conductor sizes above 1000 sq mm. Milliken conductors
are
used to prevent the increase of A.C. resistance caused by skin effect and proximity
effect.
Lead Sheath Cable

b) Core Extrusion (Triple Extrusion)

The conductor screen, insulation & insulation screen are extruded
simultaneously in Triple Extrusion Process using single (common) cross-head
employing Vertical Continuous Vulcanizing (VCV) line with Dry Cure Dry Cool
Cross linking Technology. This assures perfect bonding of the semi conducting
layers with insulation in order to eliminate chances of micro void formation.
b-1) Conductor Screen
The conductor screen consists of an extruded layer of semi conducting compound.
The
conductor screen not only eliminates the risk of electrical discharge at the interface
between conductor and insulation but also presents a very smooth interface with
the
insulation to eliminate any localized stress concentration.
b-2) Insulation
The insulation material is extruded cross linked polyethylene and applied over the
conductor screen in a strictly controlled atmospheric conditions. The cross linking
process by dry (nitrogen gas) curing has enabled to protect the electrical
characteristics
from being deteriorated.
b-3) Insulation Screen

The insulation screen is provided over the insulation by extruding the semi
conducting
compound concentrically to minimize the possibility of ionization on the outer
surface of
the dielectric. Extruded semi conducting layer is followed by a semi conducting
nonwoven
water swellable tape.
c) Metallic Screen
The metallic screen consists of corrugated aluminium sheath or lead alloy sheath.
In
case of lead sheath design additional copper wire may be provided if lead alloy
sheath
alone is not sufficient to meet the requirement of earth fault current.
d) Outer Sheath
To protect the metallic sheath from electrochemical or galvanic corrosion, it is
covered
by PVC or PE.
e) Conductive outer layer
A conductive outer layer facilitates testing of the non metallic outer sheath. This
test is
important to ensure the physical integrity of the cable.

WHY XPLE CABLE ?

Thermoplastic power cable (i.e. PVC power cable) ever since its introduction in
low tension distribution network in mid-sixties failed to satisfy utilities and
industrial users because of its many inherent limitations such as low power
rating ,poor emergency overload capacity,poor resistance to surge
currents,thermoplastic nature, comparatively poor insulation resistance, shorter life
with susceptibility to thermal degradation, and though claimed to be moisture
resistant absorbed considerable amount of moisture on long time exposure to lower
the dielectric properties alarmingly.Utilities voiced their grievances in many
forums against thermoplastic cable which they were forced to use because of ban

imposed by the government on use of PILC cable in distribution network due to

high import content of this cable.
M/s Universal Cables Ltd., decided to introduce XPLE cable for medium and low
voltage distribution network to provide utilities and industrial users a cable which
combines the advantages of PILC and PVC cables totally eliminating their
demerits. Total installed cost of this cable is also much lower than that of PILC or
PVC power cable. This cable is totally indigenous as XPLE compound is now
being manufactured by UNIVERSAL CABLES LTD. in their newly installed
modem microprocessor controlled compounding plant.
In fact 1.1 Kv XPLE cable is the most economic solution for low tension power
distribution with high efficiency and total reliability. Utilities and industrial users
will find in this cable a realization of their long elusive dream of an ideal cable for
low tension power distribution system.
ADVANTAGES
Advantages of XPLE cable as compared to thermoplastic (PVC) cable are listed
below:

Higher power rating.

Higher emergency overload rating.
Higher short circuit rating.
Higher insulation resistance (1000 times more than that of PVC).
Higher resistance to moisture (100 times more than that of PVC)
Capacity to withstand localized hot spot temperature (very important for
industrial wiring in steel plant, power stations etc.)
Resistant to chemicals and corrosive gases etc, - hence suitable for installation
in polluted atmosphere.
Resistant to vibration, impact, etc,-no hazard of hot deformation.
Quick method of jointing and termination with simple, non-expensive
accessories.
Better resistance to surge currents.
Longer cable life.

Diff between Earthed & Unearthed cable

In 3phase earthed system, phase to earth voltage is 1.732 times less than phase to
phase
voltage. Therefore voltage stress on cable to armor is 1.732 times less than voltage
stress
between conductor to conductor. Whereas in unearthed system, (if system neutral
is not
grounded) phase to ground voltage can be equal to phase to phase voltage. In such
case the
insulation level of conductor to armor should be equal to insulation level of
conductor to
conductor.
Also can be detailed as:
For cables to be used in solidly earthed systems, the phase-to-armour insulation has
to be rated for U/root(3) only which is the phase-to-ground voltage when the
system-neutral is solidly earthed with no intentional resistance in the neutral
grounding circuit. But in the case of system-neutral being resistance-earthed, then
the phase-to-ground voltage of the two healthy phases rise up when an earth fault
occurs on the third phase. When the system-neutral is high-resistance-earthed or
left unearthed, the phase-to-ground voltage of healthy phases come close to or
attain phase-to-phase values depending on the degree of effectiveness of systemneutral earthing. Therefore the phase-to-armour insulation of cables used in
ungrounded systems could be rated for the full phase-to-phase voltage U instead of
for U/root(3). The cables to be used in solidly earthed systems can have the phaseto-armour insulation rated for U/root(3). The U/Uo rating of the cable indicates the
voltage rating of the core-to-core insulation and the core-to-armour insulation. For
example for a 6.6kV ungrounded system, 6.6kV/6.6kV (UE) class cable has to be
used while 6.6kV/3.8kV (E) class cables are adequate for solidly earthed systems.
The UE-class cable is naturally costlier than the earthed class of cable.
AC RESISTANCE:
If a conductor is carrying high alternating currents, the distribution of current is not
evenly dispersed throughout the cross section of the conductor. This is due to two
independent effects known as skin effect and proximity effect.
SKIN EFFECT FACTOR(ys):

If the conductor is composed of one or more concentric circular elements, then the
centre portion of the conductor will be enveloped by a greater magnetic flux than
those on the outside.
Consequently the self induced back- emf will be greater towards the centre of the
conductor, thus causing the current density to be less at the centre than the
conductor surface. This extra concentration at the surface is known as skin effect,
and results in an increase in the effective resistance of the conductor.
Ys= Xs^4 / ( 192 + Xs^4)
where
Xs^2 = 8 . p . .10-7. ks / Rdct

f = Frequency (Hz)
ks = Factor determined by conductor construction
1 for circular, stranded, compacted and sectored
Rdct =DC resistance at operating temperature t
PROXIMITY EFFECT FACTOR(yp):
The proximity effect also increases the effective resistance and is associated with
the magnetic fields of two conductors which are close together. If each carries a
current in the same direction, the halves of the conductors in close proximity are
cut by more magnetic flux than the remote halves. Consequently the current
distribution is not even throughout the cross-section, a greater proportion being
carried by the remote halves. If the currents are in opposite directions, the halves in
close proximity will carry the greater density of current.
1) For TWO CORE and TWO SINGLE CORE cables:
Yp = Xp^4 / ( 192 + 0.8 Xp^4) * (dc / S)^2* 2.9
Where Xp^2 = 8 . p . .10^-7. kp / Rdct
f = Frequency (Hz)
kp = Factor determined by conductor construction 1 for circular, stranded,
compacted and sectored 0.8 if above conductors are dried and impregnated
dc = Diameter of conductor (mm)

Rdct =DC resistance at operating temperature t.

S = Spacing between conductor centers (mm)

2) For THREE CORE and THREE SINGLE CORE cables:

Yp = Xp^4/ ( 192+0.8 Xp^4) . (dc / S)^2 . [0.312 . (dc / S)2 +1.18 / { Xp^4 /
( 192+0.8 Xp^4)+0.27}]
Where Xp^2 = 8 . p . .10^-7 . kp / Rdct
f = Frequency (Hz)
kp = Factor determined by conductor construction 1 for circular, stranded,
compacted and sectored 0.8 if above conductors are dried and impregnated
dc = Diameter of conductor (mm)
Rdct =DC resistance at operating temperature t.
S = Spacing between conductor centers (mm)
For cables in flat formation, S = (S1 * S2),
where S1, S2 are the distances between conductors.
THUS: AC RESISTANCE at temperature t :
Ract = Rdct [1 + ys + yp]
NOTE: The formulae given apply to both copper and aluminium conductors. see
IEC 60287 for more details.