EHV Cables & Installation

Practices in CESC
 Contents

• General Construction of EHV Cables

• Cross sectional view of EHV Cables
• Functions of different cable components
• Pre Installation Testing
• Installation of EHV cable
• Post Installation Testing
 132 KV
800 sq.mm (Cu)
 132 KV
800 sq.mm Cu XLPE

Phelpe Dodge
 220KV
220 KV
800sq.mm
800 sq.mm(Cu)
(Cu)
IS 7098 Part III-1993 : Crosslinked Polyethylene Insulated Thermoplastic
Sheathed Cables for working voltages from 66 kV up to and including 220 kV

Layers Materials Color Function

Compacted,Circular, Copper To provide path for electric current
Conductor Annealed,Plain Copper flow.

Conductor Screen Extruded Semiconducting Black Reduces radial stress at conductor

Thermosetting Layer periphery

Insulation XLPE (Dry cure) Cream To provide insulation.

Insulation Screen Extruded Semiconducting Black Uniform Radial Stress

Thermosetting Layer

Semi-Conducting Water Carbon Tape Black Void filling between armour

Swellable Tape surface and Insulation Screen

Armour & Copper Plain Round Copper wires Copper Passage of Fault Current
tape binder Mechanical strength and
protection

Non Conducting White Longitudinal water barrier

Water swellable tape

Outer Sheath Poly-Aluminium Laminate Grey Radial water barrier

Extruded Black HDPE Black Mechanical Protection

Conductor – Compacted Circular Annealed Plain Copper
Purpose of using copper as conductor in
EHV cables
Aluminium has the following deficiencies

• Lower electrical and thermal conductivity

• Ratio of Coefficient of Thermal Expansion of Al
vs Cu is 1.35:1
• Thermo-mechanical stresses developed due to
expansion under high cyclic loading conditions is
greater
• Distribution Losses are higher to the 20 to 30%
compared to Cu
Purpose of using circular conductor

• For a given cross section of a conductor,

circular conductor occupies the least
space

• Spacing between conductor strands with

circular periphery is least while forming the
core
 Purpose of using annealed copper
Annealing is the process of heating solid metal to
just below its melting point and cooling it slowly so
that its particles arrange into a defined lattice

Annealing is done to

• Soften & relieve strains in Copper

• Improves flexibility.
• Provides better conductivity
Purpose of using stranded conductors

Improves

• Flexibility
• tensile strength
Un-Stranded Cable
The higher the number
of strands, the higher
M = 1 + 3n (n+1) the flexibility for a given
‘M’ = Number of strands forming core
cross-sectional area.
‘n’ = Number of layers of strands
Purpose of using compacted copper
Due to stranding of
conductors - Space wasted

Compaction provides

 Reduced inter-spacing
between strands
 Space taken by conductor
strands forming the core
as a whole is reduced
Stranded conductors
without compaction A reduction in conductor
size of around 10% can be
achieved by compaction.
 Conductor Semicon Screen

• Conductor screen is applied to avoid direct

contact of insulation layer with the highly stressed
conductor periphery. This screen removes all
tangential stresses and makes the stress purely
radial.
 WHAT IS XLPE ?
MONOMER

POLYMER
POLY
ETHELYNE
XLPE MANUFACTURING PROCESS

ENVIRONMENT REQUIRED
1.Presence of Dicumyl peroxide.
2.18-20 bar pressure.
3.210 deg C Temperature.

• XLPE can hold its property up to 90

Deg C, continuous
•XLPE can hold its property up to 250
Deg C, for few second.
Why XLPE ?
Insulation
Screen
Electric field distribution in a unscreened cable
Insulation
Screen

Voltage stress

Electric field intensity at

a given distance from a
current carrying conductor.

• Voltage Stress = dV / dr
• Unit – volts / mm
Insulation Screen Earthing
 Copper Armour

• Screen Wire
• Path to short circuit fault current

Short circuit rating

E = Factor to allow for heat loss into adjacent components

S = Cross sectional area (sq.mm)
t = Duration of short ckt current (sec)
 Water swellable tapes
• Protection from longitudinal moisture ingress.
• The tape swells and increases in volume forming globules
when comes in contact with water.
• Increase in volume creates a outward pressure which
eliminates the water from the surface of the tape.
•Poly-Aluminium Laminate

Radial water barrier

•Extruded Black HDPE

Mechanical Protection
 Route Survey & Fixation
• Actual cable length
• Involvement of public/traffic
• Road flanks/footpath should be used
• Finalize Joint Positions
• Identify major road crossings
 Permission
• PLAN SUBMISSION : A plan showing route of the cable
forwarded to the Route Authority as per Section 67 of
Electricity Act 2003).
Details of Road Restoration involved – the length, width,
area and nature of road surfaces disturbed

• DEMAND : A demand note is raised by the Route

Authority towards restoration charges

• PAYMENT : Restoration demands are processed centrally

at Poddar Court & payment forwarded by A/C Payee
cheque to respective authorities

• PERMISSION: A written permission is then obtained from

the route authorities and Police
 Trial Hole
Purpose –

• Existing utilities interference to the cable route

• Information on the nature of the ground for excavation

and shuttering
 Trenching
Methods

• Manual Digging – For Katcha / Asphultum

• Vibrator – For Mastic / Asphultum

Trench Dimension 1.37m X 1.20m (132KV)

1.50m X 1.20m (220KV)
Essential checkpoints

• Copy of all permissions and demand payment acknowledgement

• “MEN AT WORK, CESC Limited” Board / Caution notices
• Gaps in trench -- For pedestrian crossover
• Straight trench route -- To promote easy pulling
• Shuttering -- To avoid landslide from edges
• Illumination & Night Watchmen – To protect from theft
• Dewatering System (Pumps) – To keep trench free from water
logging
 Pipe Laying
• Road crossings Types

• Gates of buildings • HDPE (12” and 6”)

• CI (6”)

Excavated During Nights & backfilled by morning

Pipe ends are covered with wire rope inserted

• On Road Crossings – 12” Dia OR 6” Dia X 3

Diameter of Pipe : IS : 1255 – 1983
HDPE Pipes : IS : 4984 – 1995
29.08.09
 Cable Bridge
• Used when waterways
fall on cable route

• Cable Bridge
constructed by Civil (C)

• Cables Laid in 12” Dia

HDPE Pipe with sockets

• General Construction

29.08.09
Practical Problems

• Construction in route
• Obstruction in Pipe

Essential Checkpoints :-

• Seal Pipe ends after

Microtunnelling
• Trial run with ropes

08.08.09
 Soil Thermal Resistivity Test
Temperature drop in per unit thickness for per unit watt
heat flow. Unit – *C.cm / watt

Points to Note

• Pot Condition
• Value of Thermal
Resistivity
• Standard Deviation

08.08.09
Preperations
Drum handling

• Drum Details Note

• A pair of Screw Jacks with
spindle
• Drum Braking Arrangement
• Pulling end preparation by
Stocking

Trench Ready

• Trench free from abrasive

• materials

• Straight rollers
• Corner rollers
• Bamboo guides
08.08.09
Metal Roller - Heavier in weight – slow roll
 Cable laying
• The cable is pulled from the top of the drum
to maintain bending radius (20D).

Types of pull:

Manual – More bends in short lengths

Winch – Few bends & other obstructions in
the route.
08.08.09
Color Taping

PVC Color Taping at ~ 4m distance

in 2 layers to identify phases.

Optical Laying

18 Fibre Armoured Optical Fibre

cable laid in between the trefoil

Trefoiling

Neutralize mutual inductance.

Cables are compacted such that
their axes are equidistant to each
other.

• Trefoil clamps - Inside

Switchgear basement
• Hessian Tape - In other places
(~ 4m apart) 08.08.09
 Side block & Tiling
Side Blocks :– To protect cable from horizontal
drillers of other agencies

• Reinforced Cement Concrete

• Size : (370 X 275 X 75) mm
• Requirement : (2X3 Blocks/m)

Alignment of Side Blocks –

Vertical Placement along both sides

Tiles:– To show presence of cables to other

agencies digging vertically

• Size : Big(762X406)mm Small(482X450)mm

• Requirement : Big-4Tiles/4m Small-5Tiles/2m

Alignment of Tiles – Direction of power flow

08.08.09
 Bentonite
Naturally occurring
Hydrated Aluminum Silicate

• Purpose : Improves thermal rating of the cable

• Method : Mixing Sand & Bentonite (1:1) + Water
• Requirement : 200 Bags Sand & Bentonite each for 500 m

• Chemical Formula

• Types of Bentonite

 Sodium bentonite - Very good adsorbent(Accumulation of

atoms or molecules on the surface of a material)

 Calcium bentonite - Expands when wet, possibly absorbing

several times its dry mass in water
08.08.09
Back Filling
• Overlap Check

Cutting Extra Cable from drum (If any)

• Moisture Test
• Cable end sealing – Heat Shrink Cap
• Back Fill – First with soil, Then with harder particles
• Drum Return

08.08.09
 Once the cable fault is
Serving Test located, the faulty portion
of sheath is roughened
with file and filled with
Mastic, covered with
‘Rulle Tape’. Serving test
is again conducted

10KV DC for 1 min

with 0.001 mA leakage
current 08.08.09