APAR INDUSTRIES LTD.

Introduction to
Covered
Conductors
PRESENTED BY MANISH PATEL
 APAR AT A GLANCE Turnover (Rs. 8000 Cr) over USD 1 Billion
Speciality Oils Conductors Cables
• Largest Indian player in the • Amongst the top 3 conductor
Power Transformer segment, manufacturer in the world.. With • Manufacturer of widest range of
especially in EHV segment a Presence in over 100 countries cables in the world
(220 KV to 765KV)
• Vertically integrated producer of • Electron Beam Irradiation facility
• Successful manufacturing & Aluminium Rod, Alum Alloys (1.5 MeV, 2.5 MeV & 3.0 MeV)
distribution tie-ups in South including 8000 series Rods
Africa, Australia & Turkey • Electrical Cables
Products • Complete range of ACSR and
• Exports of Transformer Oils AAAC up to 1200 KV • Light Duty Cables (LDC) & Wires
and White Oils to over 65
countries • Leader in High Temperature • Elastomer & E-Beam Cables
conductors
• License agreement with ENI to • Fiber Optic Cables
manufacture world famous • Catenary & Contact Wires
AGIP lubricants • Specialty Cables & Services
• OPGW
Umbergaon & Khatalwada
Rabale, Silvassa &
Silvassa, Athola & Jharsaguda Annual Capacity
Hamriyah
Plant Locations Total Capacity 450,000 KL
Total Capacity over 200,000 MT 30,000 MT Aluminum &
10,000 MT Copper
02

The Fact
PROBLEM AT HAND
Fire Hazards
 Challenges
• Conductor clashing leading to
outages
for Utilities with
• Conductor slashing due to corrosion Bare Conductors
• Outages due to temporary tree
contact
• Corrosion at joints
• Wide Right of Way ( ROW )
• Electromagnetic field effect on
electronic surveillance
• Safety ( Road /Rail/River crossings
etc .)
• Emergency Restoration System
• Smaller Spans resulting in increased no. of poles
• Cracks on outer surface of ABC Challenges with
• Loose Contact / Local Heating / Sheath AB Cable
Discontinuity
• Copper metallic screen damage
• Burnt outer sheath due to animal bites
• Dislodged straight through joints
 COVERED Conductor
Construction

Covered conductors consist of a conductor

insulated by a covering made of insulating
material(s) as protection against accidental
contacts with other covered conductors and with Semiconducting Layer :
grounded parts such as tree branches, etc.  Reduces stress, transforms strands into a single uniform
cylinder
 Extend service life of the covered conductor

Inner Insulating Layer –XLPE Insulation

 More flexible
 High impulse strength: protect from phase-to-phase and
phase-to-ground contact
 Crosslinking properties helps in retain its strength and shape
even when heated

Outer Insulation Layer – XLPE insulation with UV and Track

resistant Properties
 Abrasion and Impact Resistant; Stress-Crack Resistant
 Provides effective UV and best track resistance
Why Water tight
Conductor ? If water seeps into a non water tight Covered
Conductor through an open
end or by any means, water that entered into the
CC will travel to the sag point and will remain
there.

As water will not evaporate out due to the

covering, it will eventually corrode the conductor
and cause an early conductor break.

Longitudinally Water Tight conductor will not allow

water to penetrate inside the conductor.
Importance
of Semiconducting conductor screen &
Anti-tracking outer covering

Uniform stress
Circular Strand Trapezoidal distribution
Electrical Stress Strand Electrical with Surface tracking
semiconducting & polymer
Stress
layer Erosion due to
High Voltage
 Solution for Snow loading
on the lines
• Snow loading is a common phenomenon on bare power
lines and due to which the line got tripped and due to weight
of snow on cold conductor, it eventually snaps
• With the installation of Covered Conductor
a. Power remains live as insulation prevents any shorting in
cross arms or conductor due to snow.
b. Since power remains there at operating temperature it
prevents the excess of snow loading at conductor and
prevents snapping.
c. Life of conductor increases significantly
d. Minimal maintenance required
e. Power reliability 24/7
 Applicable
Standards for
Covered Conductors
(CC) System
CENELEC THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR
ELECTRO TECHNICAL STANDARDIZATION HAS
RECENTLY ISSUED THREE STANDARDS FOR
COVERED CONDUCTORS FOR OVERHEAD LINES
AND THE RELATED ACCESSORIES FOR RATED
VOLTAGES ABOVE 1 KV AC AND NOT EXCEEDING
36 KV AC

• S S - E N 5 0 3 9 7 - 1 - PA R T 1 : C O V E R E D C O N D U C T O R S
• S S - E N 5 0 3 9 7 - 2 - PA R T 2 : A C C E S S O R I E S .
• S S - E N 5 0 3 9 7 - 3 - PA R T 3 : I N S TA L L AT I O N O F M V C C
Type Test requirement as per
EN 50397-1: 2006
 Maintenance
NO Additional Maintenance Required for
Covered Conductors
• Occasional Tree Cutting for maintaining the ROW (CC) System

• Tree Falling OR Branch Touching – Line will not Trip if

Phase to Phase get shorted , but Line should be
switched off during next inspection & tree can be cut
/removed

• In the event of Conductor Snapping , use Mid Span

Joints OR Tension Clamps to Join the two end of
Covered conductor after stripping the insulation
Jacket .
 • On the HVDS systems where
lines right up to consumer’s
small single phase transformers
of Covered Conductor

are run at medium voltage.

• On the Rural Distribution Lines

specially which passes through
Applications

forest areas

• In urban areas on the towers

which are near to high rise
residential or commercial
establishments
 • Ideal and safer solution for
installations over RIVER / LAKE /
RAILWAY / ROAD CROSSINGS and
of Covered Conductor

in polluted areas.

• Can be used as Jumpers from

LV/MV distribution lines to
Applications

transformer

• In Costal areas or polluted areas,

conductor corrosion is prevented
because of covering. Therefore no
adverse increase in power loss over
a period of time
 ADVANTAGES
of Covered Conductors
• No Interruptions by contact of tree branches or creepers.
• The clearing of the lane from growing trees is more seldom.
Branches or trees can be cut and moved away under live working
conditions.
• No faults due to clashing of phase conductors during wind and
stormy conditions.
• Phase to Phase conductor distance can be reduced which can
reduce the tower related costs.
 ADVANTAGES
of Covered Conductors
• Protect big birds and animals : Peacocks, Flamingos, elephants etc, Ideal for
installation in forest areas and bird sanctuaries.
• Better reliability under bad weather conditions like heavy snow fall, windy or stormy
conditions.
• Reduce power interruptions and outages: thus increasing the power distribution
network reliability.
• WIDTH OF RIGHT OF WAY CAN BE REDUCED.
 ADVANTAGES
of Covered Conductors
• Lower operation and maintenance cost. Lower total cost of ownership over the life cycle
compared to underground cables or Aerial Bunched cables.
• Cheaper in Life cycle cost to underground cables and ABC cables : Especially in difficult
terrain and in densely populated areas. The pole span of ABC cables are short, as the full
cable weight has to be carried by a single messenger conductor whereas each covered
conductor is self-supporting and can have pole spans of 50 to 70 meters.
• Reduced right of way : Since covered conductors need less phase to phase clearance, it
allows for. This also enables to build a higher voltage level line in the same corridor of an
old bare overhead line using covered conductors.
Covered
Conductor
Accessories
R E F E R N C E S TA N D A R D :
E N 5 0 3 9 7 - PA R T 2

• Proper Accessories as per EN

50397 – Part 2 a Must
• Qualification of accessories
with MV CC is a necessity
• Any “Jugad” can collapse the
system
Tension Clamps
Alignment Ties
Insulation Piercing
Connectors
Insulation Piercing
Connectors
ARC PROTECTION
ARRANGMENTS
 Additional test on MVCC
Leakage current Test
The below Yellow mark indicate the result of Leakage current as per SS EN 50397 : 2006, the Test Voltage will
be 0.7U & Test procedure as per SS EN 50397:2006
Used Multimeter to measure the reading on below arrangement. .

11 kV CC 22 kV CC 33 kV CC
Test
Voltage Insulation Thickness Insulation Thickness Insulation Thickness
Inner XLPE : 1.2 mm Inner XLPE : 1.32 Inner XLPE : 2.43 mm
Outer XLPE : 1.1 mm Outer XLPE :1.1 mm Outer XLPE : 1.2 mm
(mA) (mA) (mA)
2 0.025 0.01 0.022
3 0.037 0.031
5 0.064 0.03 0.051
6.5 0.09
7.7 0.105
10 0.15
11 0.131 0.2 0.119
15.4 0.237 0.172
19 0.224
20 0.32
22 0.52
23.1 0.266
 Tree Branch contact

Energized at 12 kV

Observations

• No arcing

• No damage to the covered conductor

• No damage to the tree branch

Testing Test of simulated clashing of conductors
80Min Testing No Arcing and Damage to Covered Conductors
Conductor Clashing Simulating Animal
 In House Testing Facilities Available
(NABL Accredited Lab)

HV Test SetUP Tensile Testing Machine

Xenon Weathering Test

Track Resistance Test SetUP
Resistivity Test Setup/ Hot Air Ovens chamber
Chemical Testing SetUP CR meter & Stand

Spark Test SetUP Carbon Black Test SetUP Adhesion Test Setup/ Slippage Test Setup
Relevance of MVCC Experience in Indian Condition
• MVCC without type testing from CPRI/ERDA and relevant field experience is dangerous to install,
as it will not serve the desired life span and also not safe for Human /Wild life.

• In India the pollution level is very high which attracts the pollutants to stay over conductor outer
surface and allows the current to track . In all the grades of MVCC anti tracking in must in India .

• Since MVCC is going to stay in network for 30++ Years , High ampacity conductors like AL59 ACS
needs to be taken into consideration to cater the future load demand .

• Ground Clearance is compromised due to Urbanization, improvement/elevation of roads, illegal

acquirement by hutments/shops/houses. There are several temporary/unplanned arrangements
(Jugad) on T/L during maintenance.

• Indian Utilities are constrained to provide limited shut down Re-conductoring of bare lines with
MVCC is fast and easy without much changes in existing lines except few line hardware's

• MVCC can be used as Jumpers in Sub Station to minimize the wildlife accidents

• MVCC ensures the 24/7 power reliability to consumers and bring down the line losses
considerably

• MVCC works perfectly under bad weather condition like high wind , heavy rains , snow , storms
etc
Snapshots of Challenges During MVCC Project Work
Working in Sea/Ocean Coconut Grooves - Kerala Forest Areas

Highly Congested & MVCC 66KV Installations Below EHV Lines

Illegal Colonies

31
MVCC – MarketMVCC
Presence
Approval in
Hand: MVCC Approval In-
• TSECL process:
• APDCL • MePDCL
• MSEDCL • N-E Region
• MPMKVVCL
• TSSPDCL
• KSEB
• PGVCL
• GUVNL
• HPSEBL
• BESCOM MVCC Approval in
• MESCOM Hand (Exports):
• PSEB • South America
• UJVNL • North America
• DNHPDCL
• GED
• Africa
• CSPDCL • Myanmar
• DHBVN • Australia
• BSES Rajadhani
• BSES Yamuna Power
• TPDDL
• Power Dept. Sikkim
 Prominent
installations

BESCOM
 Prominent
installations

APDCL –Assam
 Prominent
installations

TSSPDCL –Telangana
 Prominent
installations

MPMKVVCL –Bhopal
 Prominent
installations

KSEB –Kerala 66KV

 Prominent
installations

Tata Projects –Poolwadi Wind Farm –

TN
 Prominent
installations

PGVCL- Mangrol
 Prominent
installations

MSEDCL- Wasim near Akola

 Prominent
installations

Torrent
Wind power evacuation 33KV 100sqmm –

Bhavnagar
 MANISH PATEL
General Manager –Business Development,
Apar Industries Ltd (Uniflex Cables
Thank You
)

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CONTACT US [email protected]

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