High-Voltage Cables

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

4. CABLE INSULATION
CHARACTERISTICS
4.1 Breakdown Stress
The breakdown strength of the cable
dielectric is greatly influenced by the time
span during which the voltage is applied.
The breakdown stress of impregnated
paper reaches a value of about 50 MV /m
if the stress duration is a fraction of a
second, but drops to less than 20MV/m
for durations of 50-100 h.
Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

Therefore,
short-term
values
of
breakdown stresses have to exceed
the
long-term operating stress by a
suitable safety margin.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

4.2 Dielectric Loss

The losses occurring in a Cable dielectric
include leakage loss and hysteresis loss.
The former occurs since the cable
insulation has a finite volume resistivity.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

It therefore draws a leakage current, however

small, under both DC and AC voltages.
The additional dielectric loss under AC is that
caused by the hysteresis involved in the
process of dielectric polarization.
The total dielectric loss under AC is
expressed by the loss angle = 90 - d,
where d is the dielectric power-factor angle.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

The dielectric loss = CV2 tan, where

C is the capacitance to neutral per meter
and V is the phase voltage.
For paper-oil cables tan lies between
0.002 and 0.003, but this
value
increases rapidly with
temperature
above 80C in oil-filled cables.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

In low-voltage cables this loss is

negligible, but it is very appreciable in
cables rated at 275 kV and above.
For instance, in a 400 kV oil-filled cable,
the dielectric losses reach about
80% of the three-phase conductor
losses.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

Tan depends on the temperature and

the type of cable insulation.
A minimum value for the loss factor
occurs at about 40-80C.
This
characteristic results from the
combined effects of temperature on both
the resistivity of paper and the viscosity of
oil.
For cable insulation, the loss factor
increases with applied electric stress.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

If the insulation contains gas voids, the

rate of increase of the loss factor with
applied voltage becomes rather high
above the onset level for ionization of
these gas voids.
This is evident in the case of solid-type
cables, much more than those with
pressurized insulation.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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4.3 Internal Partial Discharges

In extruded insulation small cavities or
voids exist along with impurities as a result
of the manufacturing process.
Breakdown of the gas occurs regularly in
the AC cycle and randomly on DC, giving
discharges known as partial discharges.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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These erode the surrounding solid

insulation and can cause breakdown.
In extruded insulation the erosion is
often in the form of a propagation
channel and discharge paths take the
general shape of trees.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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In paper-oil cables the working AC

stress is made considerably below
the inception stress for discharges.
With extruded polyethylene cables
the working stress is made low,
typically an average value of about
3kV/mm, to avoid discharges and
"treeing."

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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5. CABLE CONSTANTS
5.1 Conductor Resistance
With DC, the Current gets uniformly
distributed over the conductor crosssection.
With AC, however, the currents own
magnetic field effectively drives it toward
the skin of the conductor.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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This "skin effect" causes the AC

resistance of a conductor to exceed its
DC resistance.
AT 50 Hz, for-example, the increase in
resistance is 2.5% and 7.5% for
conductor diameters of 2.5 and 3.8 cm,
respectively.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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The effect is much more significant at higher

frequencies.
A similar effect is that of neighboring conductors
carrying AC currents, known as the "proximity
effect."
The skin effect is evidently lower for tubular
conductors than for solid cylindrical conductors;
it is therefore a favored design for conductors in
EHV cables.
The duct inside the tubular conductor is very
useful for cooling in oil-filled cables (Fig. 12.3).
Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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Skin effect:
On d.c the current density is uniformly
throughout the cross section of the
conductor. This is not true on a.c.
Consider a solid conductor that made up
of a number of concentric cylinders, each
carrying a position of alternating current,
each cylinder will setup its own alternating
flux.
The outermost cylinder will be cut by the
external fluxes of the other cylinders only.
Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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A cylinder nearer the center will be cut

by the internal and external fluxes of the
cylinders outside it and the external
fluxes of the cylinders inside it.
Thus the inner cylinders have a higher
inductance and reactance than the outer
cylinder and this causes most of the
current to flow in the outer cylinder.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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It causes the resistance of the solid

conductor to be greater on a.c than on
d.c. since inductive reactance is directly
proportional to frequency.
The skin effect is much greater at high
frequency than at 50 Hz.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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Stranding the conductor reduces the skin

effect because due to skin effect more current
flows in the outer region so that the current
flowing in the shaded portion of the conductor
is less than (x 2/ r 2) I amp.
The internal inductance is slightly less than
0.08 mH / mile at 50 Hz and much less at
higher frequency.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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5.2 Cable Capacitance

Consider the cross-section of a single-core cable
with a metallic sheath (Fig. 12.3a).
The capacitance per unit length of such a cable can
easily be shown to have the value

q 2 0 r
C
V log R
e
r
Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

109 r
C
F/m
R
18 ln
r
23

where r is the conductor radius, R the

inner radius of the sheath, 0 the
permittivity of free space, and r the
relative permittivity of the cable
insulation.
The determination of capacitance is
important for determining the cable
charging current.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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As the charging current flows in the cable

conductor, a severe decrease in the value
of load current transmittable (derating)
occurs if the thermal rating is not to be
exceeded: in the higher voltage range,
lengths of the order of 30 km create a
need for drastic derating.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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A further current reduction is caused by

the appreciable magnitude of dielectric
losses at higher voltages.
When the charging current becomes
equal to the rated current, the cable
length is termed critical.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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A 345 kV cable with approximately 25.3

mm thickness of insulation and a relative
permittivity of 3.5 has a critical length of
42 km; the corresponding MVAr
requirement is about 10.6 MVAr per km.
For three-core belted cables, accurate
calculation of the capacitance per phase
is very difficult.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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It is much easier to determine it by

bridge measurements.
There
are capacitances between
conductors and a capacitance of each
conductor to the sheath.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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5.3 Cable Inductance

Compared to overhead lines, the cable
inductance is much smaller, and its
accurate calculation is much more
difficult.
It is usually determined by bridge
measurements.
The inductance per phase of a cable is
decided by the magnetic flux linkage,
which depends on:
Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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1. The amount of screening afforded by

the metal sheaths
2. The presence of armoring and whether
or not it is ferrous
3. The proximity of the cable to other
conductors and ferrous objects

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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Inductance of a concentric cable

Each conductor carry I amp in opposite direction
R outer conductor radius, r internal conductor radius, m
Consider an elementary cylinder of radius x m and radial
thickness dx m

R
x
.

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R
L = flux linkage / amp 2 *10 l log e
r
7

R
0.741 log10
r

mH/mile

The inductance due to the fluxes setup inside

the conductors themselves is ignored.
There is no magnetic field setup outside the
outer conductor because the mmf`s due to the
two conductor are equal and opposite in this
region.
Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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The above expression can not easily be

applied to the single core, lead sheathed
cable because of the difficulty in determining
the correct value of the upper limit (R).
The inductance of such a cable depends on:
The amount of magnetic screening afforded
by the lead sheath, radius and thickness of
the lead sheath
The amount of armoring and its material
The proximity of the cable to other conductor

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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Internal inductance:

Consider the solid conductor assuming

uniform current distribution.
Throughout the cross section of the
conductor, then the current flowing in the
inner shaded portion is x2 / r2 I amp
This current sets up the flux in the elementary
cylinder shown

0 Ix l
d
dx Wb
2
2 r
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This flux does not link with the whole

conductor, but only with x 2 / r 2 of it
total flux linkage =

0 I l r 3

x dx Wb
4
2 r 0
1 * 10-7 I l Wb
2
L 1 * 10-7 l H
2
Independent of conductor radius L 0.08 mH/mile

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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Insulation resistance of a single core cable

Consider a length of l cm of a cable, resistivity of
insulation = .cm., distances in cm
The resistance of the cylindrical element in the
radial direction =
dx

ohm
2 xl
The total insulation resistance between the core
and the lead sheath:
R1

dx

2 l r x

log e
ohm
2l
r
Rin 1/l

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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6. ELECTRIC FIELDS IN CABLE INSULATION

The electric field intensity in single-core

coaxial cables can be calculated.
Its maximum value occurs at the surface
of the inner conductor and is

Emax

V
R
r log e
r

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

(12.9)

37

where V is the applied voltage, r the conductor

radius, and R the inner radius of the sheath.
The stress, which is a maximum at the surface
of the conductor, is further increased by the
effects of conductor stranding by an amount
dependent on the strand diameter, but in the
range 15-25%.
This increase is overcome by the use of taped
screens of paper or carbon-black paper, or, in
the case of extruded cables, an extruded
screen of semi conducting plastic.
Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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Thus, for a given sheath size, the

maximum electric stress varies with the
conductor size and has a minimum value
when r = R/2.718
In practice such a ratio is far from
economical.
However, an enlarged conductor diameter
for the same net cross-section is achieved
with tubular conductors.
This is a suitable design for oil-filled cables
(Fig. 12.3).

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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In three-core cables with unscreened

cores, the electric fields have tangential
components at some points.
The field distributions in such cases are
evaluated by measurements on models
or by numerical computations.

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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The big difference between the

maximum and average fields (i.e., Emax
and Eav) in any cable means that the
insulation is being inefficiently utilized;
the inner parts are much more highly
stressed than those near the sheath
(Fig. 12.6).
Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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Some suggestions have been made for

reducing the ratio Emax / Eav.
One is to use multilayer insulation, the outer
layer having a lower value of r.
Another suggestion is to subdivide the
cable's
homogeneous
insulation
by
intermediate metallic sheaths to be
energized at suitable fractions of the cable
voltage.
Both suggestions have been faced with
numerous practical difficulties in both
manufacture and
operation.
Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy
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109 r
0.0388
C

F / mile
R
R
18 log e
log e
r
r

R
V Ex log e
r

R
R
x log e
r
The dielectric stress will be a maximum when x=r
and a minimum when x=R
Emax

V
R
r log e
r

Emin

Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

V
R
R log e
r
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To obtain the smallest value of Emax for a cable

of given overall size, consider R fixed and r
variable.
The denominator of Emax must be a maximum =
A
V
E

A=r(loge R loge r)
max
R
r log e

dA
1
R
r ( ) log e .1 0 for max
dr
r
r
R
log e 1, R 2.718 r the optimum radius of conductor
r

r is the optimumProfessor
radius
ofElmorshedy
conductor.
Ahdab

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