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The effects of sand and pipes on the temperature distributions of the

underground cable The effects of sand and pipes on the temperature
distributions of the underground cable

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DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/518/4/042012

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The effects of sand and pipes on the temperature distributions of the

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2nd International Conference on Sustainable Engineering Techniques (ICSET 2019) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 518 (2019) 042012 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/518/4/042012

The effects of sand and pipes on the temperature distributions

of the underground cable

Ibtisam A. Al-Baldawi 1*, Sahar R. Alsakini 1, Mohammed S. Abed 1

1
Electromechanical engineering, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq.
*
Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: With the proliferation of underground systems and technologies, the investigation of
thermal fields in the soil has become a subject of great attention in the emerging technology of
buried structures. In this work, the heat transfer mechanisms in underground cable installations
have presented. This paper considers a system of the underground cable of 12/20 (24) kV
single core cable with a copper conductor and XLPE insulation, located in three models were
designated for the experiment, a cable was located in (sand, PVC pipe, and an aluminum pipe).
Furthermore, its reviews the results were obtained from a laboratory model where a wooden
box was used, and the cable was placed inside the box by burying the cable in three different
designs and using the soil used in Iraq and obtained a good results and comparisons were made
at each model.

Keywords: Underground cable, Depth of laying, Aluminum pipe, PVC pipe.

1. Introduction
Thermal phenomena shall be considered when designing the underground electricity network. Because
of the cable insulation meltdown occurrence, the permissible operating temperature must not exceed
(90 oC). So, the cable engineers design the underground cable system in such a way that the conductor
temperaturedoes not exceed the optimum operating temperature of cable (65 oC) [1].
The underground power cable system may operate at the maximum possible current of the
conductor; Heat dispersion from the hot conductor to the surrounding soil plays the main role in the
performance evaluation of the underground cable. The current carrying capacity (ampacity) essentially
can be depended on the temperature of the conductor; when the current carrying capacity too high, the
cable becalms overheat [2]. In [3] presented the thermal analysis of underground power cable when
the cable directly buried in the bank or situated in a PVC pipe in the bank. Experimental investigation
of the thermal behavior of a 15 KV-XLPE underground power cable under different loadings directly
situated in sand presented in [4]. For electrical engineering, the measurement of conductor temperature
of the cable is related to the temperature obtained by using sensor or thermocouple. Therefore, the
studies from [5] to [10] used the sensor and thermocouple in the practical measurements of the
temperature of cable surface, insulation, armor, etc.
Based on the performed literature survey, it may be concluded that many different methods have
implemented to assess the thermal field of underground power cables. The associated physics is
complex involving the moisture migration, thermal, and electrical processes. Therefore, still, the
developments of alternative methods to analyze and assess the heat dissipation processes from the
underground power cables to their external environment are necessary.

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
2nd International Conference on Sustainable Engineering Techniques (ICSET 2019) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 518 (2019) 042012 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/518/4/042012

2. Model construction
This study presents a wooden box as shown in Figure (1) which was used, and the cable was placed
inside the box by burying the cable in three different models were designated for the experiment:
❖ Cable is located in the sand (model 1).
❖ Cable is located in a PVC pipe surrounded by sand (model 2).
❖ Cable is located in an aluminum pipe surrounded by sand (model 3).
The cable configuration of all the above-remarked models was chosen to be a flat formation.

Figure 1. The wooden box: (a) the actual scene; (b) diagram (in cm).

Figure 2. The underground power cable laying conditions: (a) model 1; (b): model 2&3. (All
dimensions in cm).

3. Materials
The list of equipment and materials used in this experiment are listed as follows:
a. Wooden box.
b. 12/20 (24) kV XLPE insulated single core cable with copper conductor.
This study performsa thermal analysis of 12/20 (24) kV XLPE insulated singlecorecable with a copper
conductor as shown in Figure (3). The Cable characteristics are shown in table (1).

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2nd International Conference on Sustainable Engineering Techniques (ICSET 2019) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 518 (2019) 042012 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/518/4/042012

Figure 3. Illustrates the construction of the cable: 1- Stranded copper conductor. 2- Inner semi-
conductive layer. 3- XLPE insulation. 4- Outer semi-conductive layer. 5- Semi-conductive tape. 6-
Copper wire screen. 7- Polyester tape. 8- PVC outer sheath.

Table 1. Cable characteristics

Characteristic Value Unit

long of cable used 1 m

Cross-section area of copper conductor 50 mm2
Overall diameter of cable 26.5 mm
Conductor DC resistance at 20 oC 0.387 Ω/km
Operating inductance 0.64 mh/km
Operating capacity 0.17 µf/km
o
Permissible operating temperature 90 C
Current carrying capacity in the ground 233 A

c. Thermocouple type (k)

In this study, three thermocouple types (k) have been used to measure temperature. These
thermocouples were installed in direct contact with the uppermost for (conductor, XLPE insulation,
and in the PVC outersheath). The representation of the location for each thermocouple is shown in
Figure 4.

Figure 4. The location for each thermocouple in the cable: (a): diagram; (b) the actual scene.

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2nd International Conference on Sustainable Engineering Techniques (ICSET 2019) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 518 (2019) 042012 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/518/4/042012

d. UNI-T Thermometer: A thermometer was used to display the readings of each thermocouple.
e. MEGGER DDA-6001: In thisstudy, DDA-6001 (MEGGER) was used to supply the cable with
thecurrent required to test it in all threemodels [11].
f. Soil and sand: in this study, it was used fine sand free from gravel and rock.
g. Aluminum pipe.
h. PVC pipe.
i. Concrete block.
j. Warning Tape.
k. Electrical tape.

4. Choice of installation design

a. Cable is located in the sand (model 1).
The study considers a system of 12/20 (24) kV XLPE insulated single core cable with a copper
conductor. The burial depth of the cable measured from the reference level (80 cm below the ground).
In this model, the cable direct buried in sand as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. The cable directly buried in the sand.

b. Cable is located in a PVC pipe surrounded by sand (model 2).

In this model, the cable inside a plastic tube (PVC) has a diameter of (110 mm) and a thickness of wall
(2.7 mm) and buried in the sand. Due to the stiffness and light weight of the cable, the PVC pipe was
filled with wood to force the cable to stay at the bottom of the pipe. The pipe hole was closed on both
sides using foam as shown in Figure 6.

4
2nd International Conference on Sustainable Engineering Techniques (ICSET 2019) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 518 (2019) 042012 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/518/4/042012

Figure 6. The cable inside a plastic pipe (PVC) pipe surrounded by sand.

c. Cable is located in an aluminum pipe surrounded by sand (model 3).

In this model, the cable inside the aluminum pipewith a diameter of (110 mm) and a wall thickness of
(2.5 mm) and buried in the sand. Because of the stiffness and the light weight of the
cable,aluminumpipe was filled with wood to force the cable to stay at the bottom of the pipe. The pipe
hole was closed on both sides using foamas shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. The cable inside the aluminum pipe surrounded by sand.

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2nd International Conference on Sustainable Engineering Techniques (ICSET 2019) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 518 (2019) 042012 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/518/4/042012

5. Experimental Scheme:
The experiment schedule is given in Table (2).

Table 2. Experiment scheme

Model Environment Test time (h) Test current (A)
1 Direct buried in the sand 5 200
2 PVC pipe 5 200
3 Aluminum pipe 5 200

Each experiment started without current being loaded at a steady temperature condition, and it is worth
mentioning that the process of thermal dispersion from the conductor to the outer shell of the cable
was recorded every (1) hour by using the thermometer.

6. Results
a. Results obtained when the cable directly buried in the sand (model 1).

Table 3. The results obtained from (model 1) in each region of the cable

Time Conductor XLPE Insulation PVC outer sheath

(h) (oC) (oC) (oC)
0 36.2 36.1 36.2
1 57.5 48.4 45.2
2 62.2 53 49.6
3 65.1 55.5 52.3
4 66.6 57.2 53.9
5 67.1 57.5 54.1

80
Temperature (oC)

70
60
50
Conductor
40
30 XLPE Insulation
20 PVC outer sheath
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (h)

Figure 8. Variations of temperature obtained from (model 1).

Figure 8 presents the variation of temperatures with the increase in time when the cable direct buried
in the sand.

b. Results obtained when the cable inside a PVC pipe surrounded by sand (model 2).

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2nd International Conference on Sustainable Engineering Techniques (ICSET 2019) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 518 (2019) 042012 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/518/4/042012

Table 4. The results obtained from (model 2) in each region of the cable

Time Conductor XLPE Insulation PVC outer sheath

(h) (oC) (oC) (oC)
0 35.8 35.5 35.3
1 67.4 56.5 53
2 74 63.3 59.5
3 76.6 65.8 61.7
4 77.8 67 62.4
5 78.6 67.6 62.9

90
Temperature (oC)

80
70
60
Conductor
50
40 XLPE Insulation
30 PVC outer sheath
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (h)

Figure 9. Variations of temperature obtained from (model 2).

Figure (9) presents the variation of temperatures with the increase in time when the cable laid in a
PVC pipe.
c. Results obtained when the cable inside an aluminum pipe surrounded by sand (model 3).

Table 5. The results obtained from (model 3) in each region of the cable

Time Conductor XLPE Insulation PVC outer sheath

(h) (oC) (oC) (oC)
0 36.1 35.9 36
1 63.6 55.5 52.9
2 70.4 61.3 58.5
3 71.9 63 60.3
4 73 64.1 61.1
5 73.7 64.4 61.6

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2nd International Conference on Sustainable Engineering Techniques (ICSET 2019) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 518 (2019) 042012 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/518/4/042012

Temperature (oC) 80
70
60 Conductor
50
XLPE Insulation
40
30 PVC outer sheath
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (h)

Figure 10. Variations of temperature obtained from (model 3).

Figure 10 presents the variation of temperatures with the increase in time when the cable laid in an
aluminum pipe.

7. Discussion and Comparison

Tables (3, 4 and 5) compare the temperature difference for results of the three models. Because of the
mutual heating effect, it can be seen that:
a. From the results obtained the conductor temperature in the model (1) are lower than models (2
and 3), and the differences amount to about (11.5oC) for cable located in a PVC pipe and
about (6.6 oC) for cable located in an aluminum pipe.
b. From the results obtained in the model (3) it was found the conductor temperature can be
decreased as compared with a model (2), and the difference amounts to about (4.9oC).
As shown in the table below illustrates the comparison in conductor temperature in each model after
(5) hours.

Table 6. The final value of conductor temperature after (5) hours

Model Time Burial depth Current Conductor

(h) (cm) (A) (oC)
1 5 80 200 67.1
2 5 80 200 78.6
3 5 80 200 73.7

8. Conclusions
This study presents thatthe heat transfers mechanisms in underground cable installations. Its considers
a system of 12/20 kV XLPEinsulated single core cable with a copper conductor, located in three
models was designated for the experiment,Cable located in (sand, PVC pipe,and an aluminum pipe).In
addition to, this study has confirmed if an aluminum pipe can be givena better cooling as compared
with a PVC pipe. Performed model studies produced the following conclusions:
a. The lowest conductor temperature in the study was noticed when the cable directly buried in
the sand.
b. The main finding of the study was a lower conductor temperature when the cable inside an
aluminum pipe compared to the PVC pipe.

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 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Engineering Techniques (ICSET 2019) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 518 (2019) 042012 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/518/4/042012

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