Paper accepted for presentation at the 2011 IEEE Trondheim PowerTech

Sheath Voltage Calculations in Long Medium Voltage Power Cables

K. V. Gouramanis, Member, IEEE, Ch. G. Kaloudas, Student Member, IEEE, T. A. Papadopoulos, Member, IEEE, G. K. Papagiannis, Senior Member, IEEE, K. Stasinos, Non-Member, IEEE
difficult to be predefined and must be calculated for each specific cable arrangement. In its initial form, IEEE Std. 575 suggested the application of approximate equations in order to calculate the induced voltages and currents at cable sheaths. In the new revised form IEEE Std. 575-1988 [6] suggests that the induced voltages must be calculated for each case using proper simulations. According to [6] sheath voltages must not exceed 65-90 V throughout the whole length of the cables under normal operating conditions. On the other hand, according to the IEEE Std. 80-2000 [7] the maximum sheath voltage at the cable ends should not exceed 50 V. Therefore, it is clear that, although there are general guidelines concerning the sheath configuration depending on the cable length, each installation must be individually examined, especially in cases with long cable lengths. In this paper the induced voltages and currents at the cable sheaths are investigated under various cable arrangements and operating characteristics. The cable arrangement under configuration is a real one used for the interconnection of a 38 MW wind park to the MV/HV substation of the Greek mainland transmission grid. Several cable arrangements have been investigated, such as grounding of the cable sheaths through various groundingresistances and the application of sheath crossbonding at various positions, in order to reduce the sheath induced voltages. These arrangements have been examined for steady-state operation of the cable system and during short-circuits. The Alternative Transients Program Electromagnetic Transients Program (ATP/EMTP) [8] has been used for the calculation, while cable arrangements are simulated using cable models with lumped parameters in the time domain. II. MODELING OF MV CABLES The cable installation examined has a total length of 18360 m, connecting the wind park of Arachneo in Greece with the local 20kV/150kV substation of the Public Power Corporation (PPC), as shown in Fig. 1. The wind park has 19 double fed induction generators, 2 MW each, with the corresponding step-up transformers and connection cables. A group of nine medium voltage (MV) single core cables type A2XSY/12/20KV, 630mm2 is installed in an underground arrangement of triple 3-phase circuits S1, S2 and S3 with the cables in trefoil formation in each circuit, as shown in Fig. 2. The cable ditch has a total depth of 1.4 m. Each cable consists

AbstractThis paper investigates the operation of single core underground medium voltage cables connected in parallel. The examination is based on an existing power cable arrangement connecting a 38 MW wind farm with the transmission grid. The cable arrangement consists of nine single core cables connected in parallel to form a triple 3-phase system. Several connection scenarios such as the earthing of the cable sheaths at one or both ends and the application of sheath cross-bondings are examined. Various simulation parameters are also investigated such as the grounding resistance of the cable sheaths and the number of the cable sheath transpositions. The respective voltages and currents induced on the cable sheaths are calculated under steady-state and short circuit conditions. Index TermsATP/EMTP, cross-bonding, sheath currents, underground power cables.

I. INTRODUCTION HE research interest on single core power cables is increasing over the last years, due to their continuous use in many Medium Voltage (MV) and High Voltage (HV) installations. Typical cases where the utilization of underground single core cables has met significant growth are the wind farms. In a wind farm underground MV power cables are used both in the internal electric grid and for the connection to the transmission grid. The deployment of single-core cables over long distances has renewed the interest on research fields, such as the induced voltages and currents on the cable sheaths for various operational conditions. The simulation of MV cables including different cable sheath configurations has been examined in the literature [1] - [5]. Several configurations have been proposed, resulting in varying sheath voltage profiles. In the most common configuration, usually applied in cables with small lengths, the cable sheaths are grounded at one or at both cable ends in order to reduce the sheath voltages. In cases of cables with longer lengths, the proposed configuration is the crossbonding of cable sheaths. Using cross-bonding, sheaths are properly transposed, thus the sheath induced voltages are minimized. The number of the sheath cross-bondings is
K.V. Gouramanis, Ch. G. Kaloudas, T. A. Papadopoulos, G. K. Papagiannis are with Power Systems Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki GR-54124, Greece (corresponding author G.K. Papagiannis: grigoris@eng.auth.gr, telephone: +30 2310 996388, fax: +30 2310 996302, P.O. Box 486). K. Stasinos is with the Rokas Renewables C. Rokas Group, Halandri, Athens, Greece (e-mail: KStasino@rokasgroup.gr).

978-1-4244-8417-1/11/$26.00 2011

of an aluminum core with XLPE insulation and copper sheath with PVC outer insulation, as shown in Fig.3. The cable geometrical and electric data are shown in Table I.

Fig. 1. System under study.

TABLE I DATA OF EACH SINGLE CORE CABLE Core radius, r1 0.015 m Main insulation radius, r2 0.0223 m Sheath radius, r3 0.02255 m Outer insulation radius, r4 0.02505 m Core resistivity 3.7566 x 10-8 .m Sheath resistivity 2.19 x 10-8 .m Inner insulator, r 2.3 Outer insulator, r 6 All relative permeability, r 1.0 Cable length is measured starting from a zero value at the cable connection point to the PPC substation side and retains a 18360 m value at the corresponding point at the wind park side. The use of cable equivalents with lumped parameters (Pi-equivalents) for simulation of the cable arrangement has been chosen for the cases under consideration instead of the JMarti frequency domain or the time domain Bergeron model. There are certain drawbacks on the use of the JMarti frequency domain (FD) model for cable arrangements [9] ] [10]. Due to this fact, combined with the complexity of the application, the JMarti model for the case of the mutually coupled nine cable cores and nine cable sheaths was not chosen for the simulation. Furthermore, all calculations of the cable arrangements are conducted solely for steady-state conditions at power frequency, since the transient behavior is not examined. Thus, the use of the lumped parameter equivalents is adequate and this model is preferred in respect to the Bergeron time domain model. The validation of the model used in the simulations is accomplished also with the comparison of the results to the corresponding by relative references [2], [11], which showed a very good agreement. III. STEADY-STATE CALCULATIONS For the steady-state calculation the worst case scenario corresponding to the maximum power flow from the wind park to the electric grid is assumed. Two 3-phase symmetrical voltage sources connected at the terminals of the cascaded Pi-equivalent cable model represent 20 kV busbars of the wind farms and of the PPC substation, as shown in Fig. 4. The voltage source data are calculated according to the results of a load flow study, using the NEPLAN software [12] for the maximum power flow conditions. Simulations have been conducted and the voltage distribution along the cable sheaths has been calculated using the ATP/EMTP [8] software. The examined cable arrangements are: Arrangement a, with cable sheaths grounded at one end, Arrangement b, with cable sheaths grounded at both ends, Arrangement c, with sheath cross-bonding at two or five points combined with sheath grounding at both cable ends

Fig. 2. Configuration of 9 underground single core cables in three trefoil formations.

Fig. 3. MV single core cable used for the interconnection of the wind park with the substation.

The cable parameters have been calculated using the CABLE CONSTANTS/PARAMETERS supporting routine of the ATP/EMTP [8] taking into account the topology of the configuration, the skin effect and the influence of earth. In order to simulate the 18360 m long cable arrangement, Pi-equivalents with lumped parameters were implemented. Each Pi-equivalent represents 306 m of cable length and therefore the whole cable is simulated using 60 cascaded Pi-equivalents.

Arrangement d, where cable sheaths are grounded at intermediate points along the cable length. In all cases the use of different grounding resistances has been also examined. All the above cable arrangements are shown in Fig. 5, for one of the three 3-phase cable systems. For each configuration and examined case the induced voltages and currents at the cable sheaths are calculated.

grounded at both ends the induced currents become relatively high, reaching up to 90 A for grounding resistance equal to 1 Ohm, thus causing increased cable losses. The application of cross-bonding significantly reduces the induced sheath voltage to a maximum of 120 V for 2 cross-bondings and 60 V for 5 cross-bondings, respectively, as shown in Figs 8 and 9. Voltages at the cable terminals are also small, below 50 V in accordance to [7]. The respective induced sheath currents are minimized and are in all cases below 10 A, thus reducing the respective cable losses.

Fig. 4. Steady-state simulation model. Fig. 6. Induced voltage at the cable sheaths. Sheaths are grounded only at one end (PPC side) using different grounding resistances.

Fig. 7. Induced voltage at cable sheaths. Sheaths are grounded at both ends using different grounding resistances.

Fig. 5. Examined cable arrangements.

Figs. 6 9 illustrate the voltage distribution at the cable sheaths for each of the examined arrangements. It is shown, that in the cases of cable sheath grounding either at one or at both ends, without cross-bonding, the induced voltages at the cable sheaths can be significant, especially at the cable terminals, depending on the value of the grounding resistances. Typical values for grounding resistances at 1 Ohm or 2 Ohm have been examined, since such low grounding resistances are common in substations. For higher values of grounding resistances the voltage at the cable ends can reach very high values. Furthermore, when cable sheaths are

Fig. 8. Induced voltage at sheaths. Cable sheaths are grounded at both ends using different grounding resistances and sheaths are cross-bonded at two points (every 6120 m).

In cases where cross-bonding is used, the value of the grounding resistance has minor effects on the induced sheath voltages, compared to the non cross-bonded case, especially at the cable terminals. These are the points with the higher risk for human safety, since they are accessible by the technical personnel.

Fig. 9. Induced voltage at sheaths. Cable sheaths are grounded at both ends using different grounding resistances and sheaths are cross-bonded at five points (every 3060 m).

Fig. 10 illustrates the voltage profiles at the cable sheaths, when sheaths are grounded at both ends with a 2 Ohm grounding resistance and also at 12 equidistant points along the cable length (every 1530 m), using different grounding resistances. It is shown that unless a very low grounding resistance, for example 2 Ohm or less, is achieved at all intermediate grounding points the sheath voltage is high. However, to attain such values for the grounding resistances along the cable routing is not at all easy. Furthermore, this arrangement also causes higher sheath currents in respect to the cross-bonding case, due to the high number of internal loops formed by the numerous grounding points. The sheath current has been calculated equal to 35 A for the case of 2 Ohm grounding resistances.

Fig. 11. Induced voltage at the sheaths when the cable sheaths are grounded at both ends with 2 Ohm grounding resistances, for cable systems consisting of 3, 6 and 9 cables.

IV. SHORT CIRCUIT CALCULATIONS The cable model is also used in order to calculate the cable sheath voltages during 3-phase and single phase short-circuits (SC). As the worst case scenario, a 3-phase or single phase to ground fault in the PPC or the wind park busbars has been considered. The SC currents in the cable cores have been simulated using proper current sources equal to the expected SC current, as calculated according to the IEC 60909 [13]. A 3-phase SC at the grid side is simulated using a current source representing the total fault current at the wind farm busbar, connected at the wind farm side of the cable and all phases short circuited at the grid side cable end. For the simulation of a single-phase short circuit, a current source is connected at the faulted cable phase. In this case, the other two phases are assumed to be open-circuited at both ends. The simulation model used is illustrated in Fig. 12.

Fig. 10. Induced voltage at sheaths. Cable sheaths are grounded at both ends using grounding resistances equal to 2 Ohm and at 12 points along the cable with varying grounding resistances.

Finally, the influence of the number of cables in the arrangement is investigated. The system under study comprises a group of nine single core cables. Modeling of the cable system with only 3 or 6 cables results in significant differences in the calculated voltages, compared to those of the full cable system model. Fig. 11 shows the different voltage profiles along the cable sheaths for sheaths grounded at both ends with 2 Ohm grounding resistance. Cable systems consisting of 3, 6 and 9 cables are examined. The voltages induced by the adjacent cables, due to the system asymmetries result in higher sheath voltages with increasing cable system complexity.

Fig. 12. Simulation model used for a short-circuit at the grid side.

A. Three-phase Short Circuits All results calculated for the 3-phase symmetrical SC are quite similar in form to the corresponding derived from the steady-state analysis. The grounding of cable sheaths at one or at both ends does not sufficiently reduce the induced sheath voltage when dealing with long cable lengths. Furthermore, the grounding at both cable ends leads to significant currents at the cable sheaths. The application of two or five cross-bondings for the examined 18360 m long cable

arrangement reduces the sheath voltage to a maximum of 500 V and 300 V respectively, as shown in Figs. 13 and 14. In Fig. 14, the maximum sheath voltage for the case of cross-bonding at 5 points seems to depend significantly on the value of the grounding resistance, due mainly to the high currents that flow in the sheaths during the short-circuit.

Fig. 15. Induced voltage at sheaths for a 3-phase short circuit when sheath cross-bonding and SVLs are used.

Fig. 13. Induced voltage at cable sheaths. Cable sheaths grounded at both ends and cross-bonded at two points (every 6120 m). 3-Phase Short Circuit at the Wind Park side.

B. Single-phase Short Circuits Similar calculations have been conducted for single-phase short circuits, as determined by [13]. Simulation results show that when single-phase SCs occur, the cross-bonding of the cable sheaths does not affect the induced voltage. This is expected since during a single-phase SC the 3-phase cables do not carry symmetrical fault currents. Therefore, the transposition applied to the sheaths does not eliminate the induced voltage as it is not equally induced from the three phases. Fig. 16 illustrates the sheath voltage profile corresponding to phase a and b of a 3-phase cable system. The single phase short circuit occurs in phase a. In the examined cable arrangement sheaths are grounded at both ends with a 2 Ohm grounding resistance, while five cross-bondings are applied. The voltage profile shows that the voltage at both sheaths is equally significant, since the cross-bonding does not help in the mitigation of the sheath induced voltages.

Fig. 14. Induced voltage at sheaths. Cable sheaths grounded at both ends and cross-bonded at five points (every 3060 m). 3-Phase Short Circuit at the Wind Park side.

In order to further reduce the induced voltage additional measures such as Sheath Voltage Limiters (SVLs) must be used [14]. The SVLs are non linear devices connected between the sheaths and earth, usually installed at the points of the sheath cross-bonding. Under normal operating conditions, the SVLs behave as an open circuit. When the sheath voltage increases over the rated SVL voltage, the SVL grounds the sheath at the installation point to reduce the overvoltage. Since in this analysis the transient behavior of the short circuit and the SVLs is not examined, the SVLs when energized are treated as grounding points with specified grounding resistances. Fig. 15 shows the sheath voltage for the case of five SVLs connected at the five sheath cross-bonding points. The respective sheath voltage profile of the arrangement without the SVLs is shown in Fig. 14. In Fig. 15, the voltage profiles represent different combinations of grounding resistances, where Rearth,ext corresponds to the grounding resistance at the cable ends and Rearth,int to the grounding resistance at the SVLs. As shown, the voltage is reduced to a maximum of 300V depending on the value of the grounding resistances.

Fig. 16. Induced voltage at sheaths. Cable sheaths are grounded at both ends with 2 Ohm grounding resistances and cross-bonded at five points. Single-phase a SC at the Wind Park side .

On the contrary, the installation of SVLs at certain points of the cable routing, practically at the points of the sheath cross-bondings, has shown that the induced voltage at the cable sheaths is reduced. Fig. 17 shows the induced voltage in the case of a single-phase short-circuit at the wind farm side. The induced voltage is reduced due to the five SVLs that are connected at the cable sheaths. Additionally, sheaths are grounded with different grounding resistances at both ends. The voltage, depending on the grounding resistances, is lower than 280 V in all cases. The respective voltage induced when only cross-bondings are applied has been calculated equal to 600 V at the cable ends.

6 "International Conference on Renewable Energies and Power Quality (ICREPQ'07)", Sevilla 28,29 and 30 Mach 2007 N. Drossos G. Kyritsis D. Tsanakas S. Papathanassiou, "Examination Of Alternative Formations For 150 KV Cables - Possibilities And Advantages From The Use Of Trefoil Formation," in Proc. MedPower 2004, Nov. 2004, Lemessos. IEEE Guide for the Application of Sheath-Bonding Methods for Single-Conductor Cables and the Calculation of Induced Voltages and Currents in Cable Sheaths, ANSI/IEEE Std 575-1 988. IEEE Guide for Safety in AC Substation Grounding, 80-2000, 01May-2000. H. W. Dommel, EMTP Theory Book, Bonnevile Power Administratio n, Portland, OR, 1982. L. Marti, "Simulation of Transients in Underground Cables with Frequency Dependent Modal Transformation Matrices," IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 3, no. 3, pp.1099-1110, Jul. 1988. L. Marti, "Simulation of Electromagnetic Transients in Underground Cables using the EMTP," in Proc. 2nd IEE International Conf. on Advances in Power System Control, Operating and Management, Hong Kong, Dec. 1993. R. Benato, A. Paolucci, EHV AC Undergrounding Electrical Power: Performance and Planning, Springer-Verlang, London, 2010. NEPLAN Users Guide V5 Tutorial. IEC 60909-0, Short-circuit currents in 3-phase a.c. systems Part 0: Calculation of currents, IEC First edition 2001-07. B. Parmigiani, D. Quaggia, E. Elli, S. Franchina, "Zinc Oxide Sheath Voltage Limiter For HV and EHV Power Cable: Field Experience and Laboratory Tests," IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. PWRD1, No. 1, January 1986.

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[6] [7] [8] Fig. 17. Induced voltage at the cable sheaths in the case of a single-phase SC when cross-bondings and SVLs are used. [9] [10]

V. CONCLUSIONS The problems that may occur in parallel MV single core cables with long lengths have been examined in this paper. It is shown that significant voltages can be induced at the cable sheaths if specific measures are not taken. The calculation of the cable sheath voltages has been conducted using the ATP/EMTP software. A real cable arrangement has been investigated in order to determine the effects of various parameters on the induced sheath voltages under steady-state and short-circuit conditions. It is shown that the sheath induced voltage at cables with significant length can be reduced only by applying both sheath cross-bonding and grounding at the cable ends combined with small grounding resistances. Grounding resistances greatly affect the induced voltages and therefore small grounding resistances at least at the cable terminations at the substations is crucial in order to reduce the sheath voltage at the cable ends. The number and the location of the sheath cross-bonding points depend on the cable length and configuration and must be calculated for each case individually. The application of sheath grounding only at the cable ends, besides of the induced sheath voltages results also in high sheath currents that increase the cable losses. The application of sheath cross-bonding is not adequate in cases of three-phase and singe-phase short circuits. In order to reduce the sheath voltages the use of SVLs at the points of cross-bonding is necessary. In both cases of three-phase and single-phase short-circuits, it is shown that SLVs can reduce the induced voltages considerably. In the case of single-phase short-circuits the cross-bonding of the sheaths does not affect the induced voltage due to the asymmetrical fault currents in the 3-phase cable system. VI. REFERENCES
[1] [2] [3] Nasser D. Tleis, Power Systems Modeling and Fault Analysis, Published by Elsevier Ltd, 2008, pp 140-186. C. Adamson, H. Taha, L. M. Wedepohl, "Comparative Steady State Performance of Crossbonded Cable Systems", Proc. IEE, vol. 115, no. 8, pp. 1147-1155, Aug. 1968. E. H. Ball, E. Occhini, G. Luoni, "Sheath Overvoltages in HighVoltage Cables Resulting from Special Sheath-Bonding Connections," IEEE Trans. on Power Apparatus and Systems, vol. PAS-84, no. 10, pp. 974988, Oct. 1965. J.R. Riba Ruiz, Antoni Garcia, X. Alabern Morera, "Circulating sheath currents in flat formation underground power lines," in Proc. [11] [12] [13] [14]

VII. BIOGRAPHIES
Kostas Gouramanis was born in Athens, Greece, on September 22, 1979. He received his diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 2003, and his Ph.D. degree from the same university in 2007. He is currently working as a consultant in the areas of industrial electrical installations, electrical energy saving, and renewable energy sources. His research interests are in the fields of power electronics, power quality and renewable energy sources. Christos G. Kaloudas was born in Xanthi, Greece, on May 4, 1983. He received his Dipl. Eng. Degree from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in 2006. Since 2006 he is a postgraduate student at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His special interests are power system modeling and computation of electromagnetic transients. Theofilos A. Papadopoulos was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, on March 10, 1980. He received his Dipl. Eng. Degree and Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in 2003 and 2008, respectively. He is currently a researcher at the Power Systems Laboratory of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. His special interests are power system modeling, powerline communications and computation of electromagnetic transients. Mr. Papadopoulos has received the Basil Papadias Award for the best student paper, presented at the IEEE PowerTech 07 Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland. Grigoris K. Papagiannis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, on September 23, 1956. He received his Dipl. Eng. Degree and his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in 1979 and 1998 respectively. He is currently Associate Professor at the Power Systems Laboratory of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. His special interests are power system modeling, computation of electromagnetic transients, distributed generation, powerline communications and smart grids. Kostantinos Stasinos received his Dipl. Eng. Degree from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in 2003. Since 2005 he is Electrical Works Coordinator in the

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7 RES Engineering & Construction Dept of the ROKAS-IBERDROLA Renewables S.A.