Yuleba name and the

locations of Roma, Surat,

Miles and Chinchilla

Thermal sand is widely used throught
the power industry to improve
underground electrical cable
performance.

An electrical cable primarily made up of
two elements the conductor and the
insulator, the limiting factor on a power
cable capacity is the temperature that
the insulation can withstand and the
more power or current that is flowing
through the conductor the more heat is
generated by the cable.


Different insulation materials are
available PVC is rated to 60 deg C and
XLPE a cross linked poly ethylene is
rated at 90 deg C meaning that for
the same size conductor the current
carry capacity of the cable can be
increased by as much as

Other insulating materials based on
ceramic materials are used in special
applications but these types of
insulations are very expensive and
reach the point where there cost is
the same as the conductor meaning it
easier and cheaper to increase the
size of the conductor.


Its widely recognised that a cable will
preform differently depending on
where and how the cable is installed.
Burying the cable in the ground
increases the cable capacity, the
ground act as a heat sink taking heat
away from the insulation and reducing
the cable temperature. Thermal sand
is a way of increasing this thermal
heat transfer.



Thermal sand is now widely used
when installing underground cables.
The thermal sand is rated or tested to
provide a known heat transfer
efficiency. The cable and the thermal
sand are installed so that the thermal
sand is in direct contact with the
cable.
The thermal sands high heat transfer
efficiency ensures the heat generated
by the cable is transfered from the
cable through the thermal sand to the
surounding earth.


Thermal sand is specified to a thermal
resisitivity which is measured in deg K
m/W or C-cm/W and typically the
thermal sand may need to meet a
required standard for example
thermal resistivity shall be less than
or equal to 0.9 K m/W



The thermal sand becomes the
connection between the cable and the
general mass of the earth.All the heat
generated by an underground power
cable must be dissipated through the
soil. This is quantified by the soil
thermal resistivity (or thermal rho,
C-cm/W), which can vary from 30 to
500C-cm/W.
Electrical engineers understand the
performance of the cable quite well,
but to most, the soil behavior is a
mystery, usually handled by using a
thermal backfill with a supposedly
safe thermal rho.The ability of the
surrounding soil to transfer the heat
determines whether an operating
cable remains cool or overheats.
Improving the external thermal
environment and accurately defining
the soil and backfill thermal rho
commonly results in a 10% to 15%
increase in cable ampacity, with 30%
improvements noted in some
cases.Compacted granular backfills
can have good thermal properties.

Since most of the heat conduction is
through the soil mineral particles and
their contacts, one must ensure a
high-density soil mixture to maximize
these contacts. A well-graded sand to
fine gravel can be a good thermal
backfill when compacted to its
maximum density as determined by a
laboratory standard Proctor test
(ASTM D698).


The total cost of a compacted backfill
must include material and
transportation costs, as well as
installation labor and quality-
assurance costs. Yuleba Minerals
makes a thermal sand which has been
used for projects in and around Roma,
Chinchilla and the Surat basin.

The one often-neglected factor about
compacted backfills is the need for
quality assurance during installation.
If the gradation of the backfill is not
correct (sieve analysis ASTM D422),
or it is not at the optimum moisture
content (ASTM D698), or not enough
compaction effort is applied, or the
backfill lifts are too thick, then the
maximum density will not be achieved
and the thermal capability degraded.

Gas Power projects in the Surat basin
have been the catalyst for Yuleba
Minerals developing and testing a
thermal sand for use in underground
cable installation.


For further information please visit
http://www.yulebaminerals.com.au/