YULEBA NAME AND THE

LOCATIONS OF ROMA, SURAT,

MILES AND CHINCHILLA
MENTIONED

Thermal sand is widely used throught the power industry to

improve underground electrical cable performance. An
electrical cable primarily made up of two elements the
conductor and the insulator, the limiting factor on a power
cable capacity is the temperature that the insulation can
withstand and the more power or current that is flowing
through the conductor the more heat is generated by the
cable.

Different insulation materials are available PVC is rated to 60

deg C and XLPE a cross linked poly ethylene is rated at 90
deg C meaning that for the same size conductor the current
carry capacity of the cable can be increased by as much as

Other insulating materials based on ceramic materials are

used in special applications but these types of insulations
are very expensive and reach the point where there cost is
the same as the conductor meaning it easier and cheaper to
increase the size of the conductor.

Its widely recognised that a cable will preform differently

depending on where and how the cable is installed.

Burying the cable in the ground increases the cable capacity,

the ground act as a heat sink taking heat away from the
insulation and reducing the cable temperature. Thermal sand
is a way of increasing this thermal heat transfer.

Thermal sand is now widely used when installing

underground cables. The thermal sand is rated or tested to
provide a known heat transfer efficiency.

The cable and the thermal sand are installed so that the
thermal sand is in direct contact with the cable. The thermal
sands high heat transfer efficiency ensures the heat
generated by the cable is transfered from the cable through
the thermal sand to the surounding earth.

Thermal sand is specified to a thermal resisitivity which is

measured in deg K m/W or C-cm/W and typically the thermal
sand may need to meet a required standard for example
thermal resistivity shall be less than or equal to 0.9 K m/W

The thermal sand becomes the connection between the cable

and the general mass of the earth.All the heat generated by
an underground power cable must be dissipated through the
soil. This is quantified by the soil thermal resistivity (or
thermal rho, C-cm/W), which can vary from 30 to 500Ccm/W. Electrical engineers understand the performance of
the cable quite well, but to most, the soil behavior is a
mystery, usually handled by using a thermal backfill with a
supposedly safe thermal rho.

The ability of the surrounding soil to transfer the heat

determines whether an operating cable remains cool or
overheats. Improving the external thermal environment and
accurately defining the soil and backfill thermal rho
commonly results in a 10% to 15% increase in cable
ampacity, with 30% improvements noted in some cases.

Compacted granular backfills can have good thermal

properties. Since most of the heat conduction is through the
soil mineral particles and their contacts, one must ensure a
high-density soil mixture to maximize these contacts. A wellgraded sand to fine gravel can be a good thermal backfill
when compacted to its maximum density as determined by a
laboratory standard Proctor test (ASTM D698).

The total cost of a compacted backfill must include material

and transportation costs, as well as installation labor and
quality-assurance costs. Yuleba Minerals makes a thermal
sand which has been used for projects in and around Roma,
Chinchilla and the Surat basin.

The one often-neglected factor about compacted backfills is

the need for quality assurance during installation. If the
gradation of the backfill is not correct (sieve analysis ASTM
D422), or it is not at the optimum moisture content (ASTM
D698), or not enough compaction effort is applied, or the
backfill lifts are too thick, then the maximum density will not
be achieved and the thermal capability degraded.

Gas Power projects in the Surat basin have been the catalyst
for Yuleba Minerals developing and testing a thermal sand for
use in underground cable installation.

To know more information, visit us

http://www.yulebaminerals.com.au/