Calculation of The Cross-Sectional Areas of Circuit Live Conductors and Cables

Electrical Installation Lecture No.4 Dr.
Mohammed Tawfeeq AL-Zuhairi
Calculation of the
Cross-sectional Areas of Circuit Live
Conductors and Cables
 Voltages
All specifications, design and calculations should use 230/400V
voltage figures when the supply comes directly from the main.
However if the supply comes from consumer local substation then
240/415 V figure is used.
The factors that influence the current rating of any cable are:
1. The design current – the cable must carry the full load current;
2. The type of cable – PVC, XLPE,, copper conductors or
aluminium conductors;
3. The installed conditions – clipped to a surface or installed with
other cables in a trucking;
4. The surrounding temperature – cable resistance increases as
temperature increases and insulation may melt if the
temperature is too high;
5. The type of protection – for how long will the cable have to carry
a fault current?
 Allowable Voltage drops in the cables:
Regulation states that the drop in voltage from the supply terminals to
the fixed current-using equipment must not exceed 3% for lighting
circuits and 5% for other uses of the mains voltage. That is, a maximum
of 6.9 V for lighting circuits and 11.5 V for other uses on a 230 V
installation.
To determine the minimum conductor cross-sectional area of the live

conductors of a particular circuit that can be tolerated the designer must:
(a) Determine the method of installation according to the standard table

(3-4).
(b) Establish what is the expected ambient temperature (ta ⁰C). This
gives the relevant value of Ca (or K1).
1
Electrical Installation Lecture No.4 Dr.Mohammed Tawfeeq AL-Zuhairi
(c) Decide whether the circuit is to be run singly or be bunched or

grouped with other circuits and, how many other circuits. The decision
taken gives the relevant value of Cg (or K2).
(d ) Decide whether the circuit is likely to be totally surrounded by

thermally insulating material . If this is to be the case, Ci (or K3) is taken
to be 0.5.
(e) Determine the design current (Ib) of the circuit.
(f) Choose the type and nominal current rating (In) of the associated
overcurrent protective device. For all cases In must be equal to or
greater than Ib.
Establish whether it is intended the overcurrent protective device is to

give:
(i) overload protection only, or
(ii) short circuit protection only, or
(iii) overload and short circuit protection.
The intended function of the overcurrent protective device not only

determines
whether Ib or In is used as the basis for calculating the minimum cross
sectional area of the live conductors but also influences the value of Ca
that is to be used in the calculations.
(g) Establish the maximum voltage drop that can be tolerated.
(h) Estimate the route length of the circuit.
The general method for the determination of the minimum conductor

cross sectional areas that can be tolerated now described does not
apply to cables installed in enclosed trenches. These are considered
later. The general method is as follows:
The cable rating, denoted It , may be determined as follows:
First calculate the current It where:
2
Ca = the ambient or surrounding temperature correction factor,

.
Cg = the grouping correction factor.
.
C d (or Cc) = the 0.725 correction factor to be applied when semi-
enclosed
fuses protect the circuit
C i = the correction factor to be used when cables are enclosed in
thermal insulation.
EXAMPLE 1: A 3 - core, copper conductor belted type XLPE cable

has a cross sectional area of 240 mm2. If four cables of this type are laid
together on a perforated cable tray at 40 ⁰C ambient temperature, find
the derating factor and the new current carrying capacity of the cable.
Solution:
 Determine the method of installation from Table (3-4) (Lecture

No.3). E
 Determine the current carrying capacity of the 240 mm2 XLPE
cable from Table ( 3-12) for installation method E , this gives :
I = 564 A at 30 ⁰C .
 Determine the grouping factor for four cables from Table (3-17) for
method of installation E with number of trays =1 and number of
cables = 4 Cg = 0.79.
 Determine the correction factor for the difference in temperature
(ambient temp .-40 ⁰C) from Table (3-18) Ca = 0.91 .
 Calculate the correction factor :
C = Ca .Cg = 0.91 x 0.79 = 0.718
= Derating factor
Hence the new current carrying capacity of the cable will be:
It = 564 x C = 564 x 0.718 = 405 A

3
EXAMPLE 2 : A circuit is to be installed using 3x 2.5 mm2 (twin and

earth) 70°C PVC cable, it is 32 metres long and protected by a BS 88
fuse. The load to be supplied is a 4.2 kW hot water cylinder; the circuit is
to be installed in minitrunking containing one other circuit at an ambient
temperature of 35°C. Maximum permissible volt drop is 7 V. Calculate
the minimum cable that may be used.
Solution
Design current
Protective device
nearest protective device rating is 20 amperes.
In the example, the cable is installed in plastic trunking. From Table 3- 4

Installation methods, B1 and B2 matches the example. The cable is
installed in trunking which will contain one other circuit. Correction factor
for grouping (Cg or K2 ) is required from Table( 3-13). It can be seen that
for two circuits in one enclosure a factor of 0.8 must be used.
The ambient temperature is 35°C. A correction factor for ambient

temperature (Ca ) from Table (3-18) must be used. PVC cable at 35 ,
Ca factor of 0.94.
Using these factors, it is now possible to calculate the minimum size
conductors required for this circuit.
 This is the minimum value of current that the cable must be able to
carry. From Table (3-5) columns 4 and 5, it can be seen that a
4mm2 cable has an It (current carrying capacity) of 30 amperes.
4
 A cable with 4mm2 live conductors will carry the current in these
conditions without overheating, but will it comply with the voltage
drop requirements?
From Table (3-23) columns 1 and 3, it can be seen that 4 mm2 cable has
a voltage drop of 9.56 (mV/A/m) or millivolts × loadcurrent × length of
circuit. As the value is in millivolts, it must be converted to volts by
dividing by 1000. The circuit length is 32 metres and the load current is
18.26 amperes.
The voltage drop in this cable will be 6.42 V which is acceptable as

the maximum permissible for the circuit is 7 V.

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Electrical Installation Lecture No.4 Dr.

Mohammed Tawfeeq AL-Zuhairi

 Allowable Voltage drops in the cables:

To determine the minimum conductor cross-sectional area of the live

(a) Determine the method of installation according to the standard table

(c) Decide whether the circuit is to be run singly or be bunched or

(d ) Decide whether the circuit is likely to be totally surrounded by

(e) Determine the design current (Ib) of the circuit.

Establish whether it is intended the overcurrent protective device is to

The intended function of the overcurrent protective device not only

(g) Establish the maximum voltage drop that can be tolerated.

(h) Estimate the route length of the circuit.

The general method for the determination of the minimum conductor

The cable rating, denoted It , may be determined as follows:

First calculate the current It where:

Ca = the ambient or surrounding temperature correction factor,

EXAMPLE 1: A 3 - core, copper conductor belted type XLPE cable

 Determine the method of installation from Table (3-4) (Lecture

C = Ca .Cg = 0.91 x 0.79 = 0.718

It = 564 x C = 564 x 0.718 = 405 A

EXAMPLE 2 : A circuit is to be installed using 3x 2.5 mm2 (twin and

nearest protective device rating is 20 amperes.

In the example, the cable is installed in plastic trunking. From Table 3- 4

The ambient temperature is 35°C. A correction factor for ambient

The voltage drop in this cable will be 6.42 V which is acceptable as

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