INSULATED WIRE AND CABLE

Ir)
o Extra high voltage XLPE cables
&J-i s. N. Parwal*

N
1 lntrodllctioll - Deformation resistance EHV power cables (66 kV and above)
- Flexibility are generally manllfactul'ed in single
With the incrcas ing power dell1i1nds in - Im pact resistance corc instcad ef Lhree core construetion,
cities lll'ban areas and industrial ccn-
J - Low illtrinsic agcing because, for such cables, the sizc ef
tres, the use of EHV underground - Ease of handling conductor is large and the insulation
cables is rapidly gaining grou nd. The - Ease of installation and jointing thickness is great, thereby maki ng the
oi l fi lled power cable, were used exten- - QuiCk jointing and restoratie n ef th ree eore cable diameters tOO large.
sively umi! 1970. Associated with these service This will also restllt in a loss of Ilex-
eables were the inherent problems of - Sim ple and reliable aceessories ibility and limit the length during
ll1aintenance, oil leakagc and par- - Small number of joints mamifactlll'e und increase the number
ticularl y the risk of fire due to the - Minimum ma_intenance service of joints per route km. The heav ier
prescnce of large flll10UIlt S cf c il in lhe - Free from fire and e ther risks three core cables will also cause all-
installation. These problems have been Lang life. round handling and tra nsport pro-
overcome with the technologieal blems.
dcvelopment of extruded solid syn-
thetic dielew 'ic for EHV power cables. 4 EHV XLPE cable
Cross Linked Polyethylene (XLPE) cOllstructioll
is now weil established as a "cplace-
ment fb l" conventiOl1H\ paper cables in 3 EH V cable design In the design and eonstruction of solid
medium, high and extra high vOltages. dieleetrie insulated cables, the basic
The follow ing facta rs are considered
XLPE insulated cables up to 275 kV coneept for all cables of 6.6 kV and
for the design of EHV XLPE cables:
hove been in service in many count ries above remains the same. The cable
- System voltagc
fü r Qver a decade. Experimental essemially consists of the following
- Maximum fault level
lengths of 500 kV cable havc been pro- - Load to bc earried elements (fig. I):
duced ami are unde!" evaluation. - Elcctrical stress
XLPE insulated EHV eables are 4. 1 Conductor
- AC breakdown stress
considered toduy us the most reliable - Impulse breakdown stress The eonductor is made out (Jf drawn
and prefen ed choiee for seeondary - Basic im pulse level ul1ncaled copper 01' aluminium wil'e,
transmission of power duc to theil' - Instullation condition and is stranded and eircularl y com-
lcchnical and economic advan tages. - Expeeted li fe of eable. pacted with clean and smooth finish,
2 Advantages of XLPE cablcs
XLPE eables have the fo llowing
superior Lcchnical characteristics: EfiV XLPE mbles vs oil flllet! c(lbles
- High dieleeu'ie strength
- Low diclcctric losses Propcrties UnilS XLPE Oil filled
cables cables
- Higher thermal tolerance dudng
- co ntinuous operati on Diclcctric constant 2.3 3.5
- short time overload DieleClric power faclor 5x 10" 4.5xlO-3
- short ci rc uit Volumc rcsislivity (m in) Ohm .cm. tx10'6 Ix 10'4
.t 27 'e
COnlinuolls condliClor
ICmpCnllUrC (max) 'e 90 85
.. s. N. PlIrwul is u univcrsity grnduutc in clcc- Shorl time overload
trieft! eJlgineerilig. studied further COf>t IICCQulll- temperalure (max) 'e 130 t05
ing, having over 20 YC<lI'S extensive experience in Shorl circuit tCmpCrltlurc (max) 'e 250 200
plnnning, produc~ion , engineering, design. Rcsistance 10:
teMins. quality contro l, tcchnology dcvelop- a) Water absorpt ion Excellent Poor
UlCnt , projcct planning, diversification, modcr-
b) Flame propagation Pair Poor
nisation, cost control and mallagcmcnl with
lcading cllblc cOlllp.lnics in Il1<1ia producillg LV c) Abrasion Exccllent POOr
und HV power cablc$, r~ H V enbles. FRLS and d) Chemicol Excellem Fair
FS cables, com rol. signalling und inSt ru lllcnlll- c) Partial dischnrgc Poor Excell ent
lion cables ami wires. ovcl'head bare conuuclors, Electrical parameters
AAAC Ilnd Aß cllblcs, winding wiI'cS alld Strips. a) CUI'I'ellt I'a ling (%) 108 tOO
Prcsclltly he is wQrking 118 Ch icf Gene r"l b) Silori eireuit rating (%) 140 100
Manager in charge of Marketing ami Prod\lcl c) Diclcctric losses (%) 9 100
Developmelll o[ The Premier Cable Co. LId.,
Kcrn l" ,

212 WIRE 40 (t990) 2

 5 Manul'acturing technology
1:=___ 2 For cables with even greater voltage
stresses) improved materials, better
3
.5 produclion techniques and greater eare
during the entire produetion proeess
are essential. Even though the basic
6 raw material for XLPE insulation re-
7 lnains the sa me, namely low density
8 polyethylene, a higher degree of purity
and improved extrusion characteristics
9 of material are extremely essential for
• E HV eables. Simi larl y, the semi-con-
ductive shield materials should be of a
higher stabiJity to give a smooth sur-
face finis h, whieh is firml y bonded
wi th the insulation. 6 0th the insulation
und semi-conductive materials should
be totally free from metallic and other
Hg. J. Stl'llclIll'e 0/ flil FHV XLPE cabfe foreign panicles,
I ConductOI' 6 Coppcr wire SCrCcn The mate rial hand ling and feeding
2 COllductor scrccn 7 ßi nder wpc system should be such that there is nO
3 Inslilation 8 Plastic/mctal laminated tape possibi lity of eontamination, All the
4 In sulation SCI'een 9 Outer sheath
5 Swellablc water blocking tape materials used shall be dried to the op-
timum level just beto re feeding to the
extruders,
T he size is decided based on the eltt'- v ided ove r th e extruded layer to give It is weil known that XLPE eables
rent carrying capacity und the required bedding to the metallic part of nmnufactlll'ed by the conventional
load, scrccn. sleam Curing process contain a large
number of miel'O-voids up to about 20
4,2 Conduetot' sereen - Metallic screen consisting of non- microns in diameter and have a
magnetic metal in the form of tape moisture eontem of 2000 to 3000 ppm.
An extruded scmi-eonducting cOIn- 0 1' wire. XLPE eables made by dry eudng and
pound is applied directly over the eo n- For the mechani cal protection of the dry eooling pl'Oeesses eontai n a greatly
ductol' to providc a Sl1100th surface und eable under special cireumstanees, reduecd number of micro-voids of
to climinate electl'ical stress cancen- non-magnetie armour is provided, smaller size find the moisture COntent is
tI'atian . The electrical funeti ons of the below 100 ppm ,
metall ic sereen with 0 1' without ar-
4,3 Insulation mOur are to provide
The eable pl'Odueed usi ng the Com-
Instllution is made Out 01' an extruded - a path for d icleetr ic c harging und pletely Dry Cu ring and Cooling
sllper clean XLPE compound, The leakage currents (CDCC) proeess has the fOllowing
thickness of insulation is deeided based special features:
on the pcrmissible electrical stress at - as areturn conductor fol' caJ'lh
the conductor surfacc, as below: fault eurrents, - Insulatian free from micl'o-voids
- Smooth fini Sh of semi-conductive
screens
- Fi rm bind ing between the semi-eon-
Ratcd voltage Nominnl thickncss Permi ssible electrical ductive alld inslIlation irucrfaces
of cahle of insu talion stress at ConduClur - Ncgligible W"ter conte nt
(kV) (111m) surface (kV/mm) - Homogeneous insulation
- High impulse aod AC breakdown
66 I t - 12 4 - 5 strength
11 0 16 - t7 5- 6
132 18 - 20 6- 7
- High opemting electrical stress
220 24 - 26 7- 9 - Long life and good service
reliabi li ty,

The dry eured and dry eooled XLPE

4.4 Insulalion sc reen 4,5 Outer sheath "able is fun her protected from the in-
gress of moisturc by applying a
The insulation sCl'een consiS1S of two An extruded PVC oute r sheath is pro- swellable water blocking tape under
pal'ts: vidcd aver the metallic screen/annour the metallic sereen and a longitudinal
- Non-metallic semi-conducting com- 101' overall proteetio n of th e cable, A composite plastic/metal laminate tape
pound extrudcd directly over the in- graphite coating on the outer sheath with overl ap bclow the outer sheath,
sulation and full y bondcd. A laye r of enables the cable to be tcsted after in- This tape is seam-sealed and bonded
semi-conducting tabric tape is pro- stallati on for any danwge to the sheath , with thc jackel.

WJRE 40 (1990) 2 213

INSULATED WIRE AND CA BLE

of the cable is rapid and leads ultimat-

cly to premature cable faHures.
wat e r t ank Metals consist only out of cry,tal-
lincs and can provide the perfec! wate1'-
.....•
-;:'
proofing. Whilc an extrudcd metal
sheath has been used in the past as the
moistu l'e barrier, its cost and installa-
Compressed air tion difficuities have diminished its use
o and populal'ity.
..,o Recently rhe use of thin meral/plastic
o M

'" lami nates have been inlroduced in

~
test cab l e place of the metallic sheath to prevent
8+--------<".-;.:"'~-"'~-':~-":'-::-"':~"'::~:.--~.:-.,I].:~;"'":~""" /' the ingress of moisturc. Thc laminute
tapes are provided longitudinally wi th
g;
.
~ -....;.:;:-:_'i_:;.j.:;:.::;, y

approx . 350 mm
an overlap and the seam is sealed
direetl y under the jacket. The applica-
tion of nluminium/plaSlic laminate tape
in combination with swellable nOIl-
WQven water blocking tape, under the
metall ie Screen, protects the cable
from radial and longitudinal entry of
l11oisture.
Fig. 2. uraer riglullc.ss feSI
8 Water tightness test
A test set up to check the water
tighlncss, based On Europeml practicc,
6 Dcvclopmcnts of EHV XLPE 7 Watcl'pl'ooting was developed as shown in rig. 2.
cables A samplc of 6 In cuble is subjected
Whcn cables are laid directl y into the to a bending test and the cable is then
The CDCC manufacturing technology ground, it is likely that moisture may eut into lengths of 3 m cach. The water
has been used since 1982, by an im- defuse into the cable through thc tightness test is carried out on these:
partant Indian cable producer, and a plastic sheath , 01' water may enter due - A 10 mm wide ring is cut in the mid-
phused programme of developmcnt 01' to dumuge of the outer sheath. The die of each sampie so tllat the semi-
cables over 33 kV wus taken up. The plas tic material consists of hydro-car- conduCl ive insulation screen i s seen,
fol!owing cables were produccd and bon crystals and amo rpholls parts and - SampIes are placed in a sealed water
teslcd cxtcnSivcly in our ülctory and at water can pass through amorphous tank so that the stripped part of
independant test hauses. purts by the principle of osmosis. Thu, cable is inside the tank . Water is
- 66 kV I Core 240 l1un 2 AI XLPE the plastic sheath does not have a mlcd and the pressure of 0.13 bar
Cable in 1984 perfect water impervious effect, and mai ntained,
- 66 kV I Core 630 mm 2 AI XLPE will allow the ingress of moisture into Each sampie is then subjected to the
Cable in 1985 the cable. following:
- 110 kV I Core 400 mm2 Cu XLPE Walcr is always a deteriorating factol' - 24 h at ambient temperature without
Cable in 1987 for any electrical insulation systeIn. current,
- 132 kV I Core 630 Illm 2 AI XLPE For EHV XLPE cables it is more so - 10 consecutive thermal cycles of 8 h
Cable in 1988 becHuse the electrical stresses develop' each havi ng 4 h heating per iod by
The test results 01' these cables have ed are much lligher than in the medillln passing the current in the conductor
met the stringent specific3lion rC- 01' high voltage cables. und maintaining at 100 oe
quircmcnls. Thc ptescnee of water and an elee- temperature followed by 4 h cooling
The 110 kV and 132 kV XLPE tricHI fi eld may cause the formation of period.
cablcs were made with and without «water lrces» in the insulation. Gnee No water leakage can be observe"
w(l terproofing construclion. the trees (Ire formed, the deterioration from both ends. •

214 W IR E 40 (1990) 2
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