LAB MANUAL: POWER DISTRIBUTION & UTILIZATION (EE-315)

EXPERIMENT # 01

EXPERIMENT NO.01
TYPES OF CABLES
Study of different types of cables and their sizes and selection of cable for a given load

BACKGROUND THEORY:
A power cable is an assembly of one or more electrical conductors, usually held together
with an overall sheath. The assembly is used for transmission of electrical power. Electrical
power distributed either by overhead system or by underground cables. The underground
cables has several advantages such as
Less liable to damage through storm or lighting
Low maintenance cost
Less chances of fault
Smaller voltage drop and better general appearances
However their major drawback is that they have greater installation cost and introduce
insulation problem at high voltages as compared with the equivalent overhead system. For
this reason underground cables are employed where it is impracticable to use overhead lines.
Such location may be quickly populated areas where municipal authorities prohibit overhead
lines for reasons of safety ,or around plants and substations or where maintenance condition
do not permit to use overhead lines.

BASIC PARTS OF A CABLE:

A power cable has two basic parts:
Conductors
Insulation

CONDUCTOR:
Usually stranded Copper (Cu) or Aluminium (Al) conductors are used in a power cable.
Copper is denser and heavier, but more conductive than Aluminium. Electrically equivalent
Aluminium conductors have a cross-sectional area approximately 1.6 times larger than
copper, but are half the weight (which may save on material cost).

INSULATION:
Each conductor is provided with suitable thickness of insulation, the thickness of the layer
depending upon the voltage to be withstood by the cable. The commonly used material for
the insulation are impregnated paper, varnish cambric or rubber mineral compound.

MAIN PARTS OF A CABLE:

A power cable has following main parts:
Conductors
Insulation
Filling
Sheath
Armour
Over Sheath

CONDUCTORS:
A cable may have one or more than one core depending upon the type of service for which it
is intended. For instance the 3-conductor cable shown in figure 1-1 is used for 3-phase
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, WAH ENGINEERING COLLEGE, WAH CANTT

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LAB MANUAL: POWER DISTRIBUTION & UTILIZATION (EE-315)

EXPERIMENT # 01

service. The conductor is made up of tinned copper or aluminium and is usually stranded in
order to provide flexibility to the cable.

Figure 1-1: Construction of a Cable

INSULATION:
Each conductor is provided with suitable thickness of insulation, the thickness of the layer
depending upon the voltage to be withstood by the cable. The commonly used material for
the insulation are impregnated paper, varnish cambric or rubber mineral compound.

SHEATH:
In order to protect the cable from moisture, gases or other damaging liquids (acids or alkalies)
in the soil and atmosphere, a metallic sheath of lead or aluminium is provided over the
insulation.

ARMOURING:
Armouring is provided which consists of one or two layers of galvanized steel wire or steel
tape. Its purposes is to protect the cable from mechanical injury while lying it and during the
course of handling. Armouring may not be done in the case of some cables.

COMPARISON OF INSULATING MATERIALS:

A comparison of common insulating materials is as follows:
Material

PVC

PE

XLPE

Advantages
o Cheap
o Durable
o Widely available

Disadvantages
o
o
o
o

Highest dielectric losses

Melts at high temperatures
Contains halogens
Not suitable for MV / HV
cables

o Lowest dielectric losses

o High initial dielectric
strength

o Highly sensitive to water

treeing
o Material breaks down at high
temperatures

o Low dielectric losses

o Improved material
properties at high
temperatures
o Does not melt but thermal
expansion occurs

o Medium sensitivity to water

treeing (although some XLPE
polymers are water-tree
resistant)

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, WAH ENGINEERING COLLEGE, WAH CANTT

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LAB MANUAL: POWER DISTRIBUTION & UTILIZATION (EE-315)

Paper /
Oil

o Low-Medium dielectric
losses
o Not harmed by DC testing
o Known history of reliability

CLASSIFICATION

EXPERIMENT # 01

o
o
o
o
o

High weight
High cost
Requires hydraulic pressure
Difficult to repair
Degrades with moisture

OF CABLES:

Cables for services may be classified into two ways according to (I) the type of insulating
material (II) the voltage for which they are manufactured. However later methods of
classification is generally preffered , according to which cables can be divided into following
groups:
Low-Tension (L.T.) Cables------upto 1000V
High-Tension (H.T.) Cables------upto 11,000V
Super-Tension (S.T.) Cables------from 22kV upto 66kV
Extra High-Tension (E.H.T.) Cables------from 33kV to 66kV
Extra Super Voltage Cables------beyond 132kV
A cable may have one or more core depending upon type of service for which it is intended.
It may be:
Single Core Cable
Three Core Cable
1
3 core Cable
2
4 core Cable

SINGLE CORE CABLES:

Single core cable consists of one circular core of tinned stranded copper insulated by the
impregnated layers of paper. The insulation is surrounded by the lead sheath which prevents
the entry of moisture into inner parts. In order to protect the lead sheath from corrosion. The
principal advantage of single core cables are simple construction and availability of larger
copper section.

Figure 1-2: Construction of a Single Core Cable

THREE CORE CABLES:

Underground cables are generally required to deliver 3-pahse power. For this purpose either
three-core cable or * three single core cables may be used. For voltages upto 66kV, 3-core
cable is preferred due to economic reasons. However for voltages beyond 66kV, 3-core
cables become too large and unwieldy therefore single core cables are used.

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, WAH ENGINEERING COLLEGE, WAH CANTT

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