Cable Vault Heating Assessment Study

J. Magalhaes, S. Greer
Altran Corporation
G. Eng, G. Murray
Consolidated Edison of New York
Abstract
The Con Edison of New York electric distribution networks have operated reliable for years in
underground conduits and vaults. Multiple cable failures in these structures, however, can seriously
degrade the reliability of the system. This is especially true during summer heat 0waves where the ambient
temperatures and electric loads are at their highest. Con-Edison has recently opened its Cable and Splice
Center for Excellence to predict and prevent these cable failures. The center has constructed a full size
cable-vault and conduit system where actual field conditions can be simulated. Test cases are being run to
examine various ambient and line current conditions that can contribute to a cable failure. Experimental
results from one early version of a simulated vault have been benchmarked against an ANSYS finite
element thermal-electric model. This benchmarking demonstrated the reliability of the ANSYS modeling
techniques. As a result, the analytical method can now be used to examine a variety of simulated cable
vault configurations as well as an endless variation of cable vaults in the field. This paper will illustrate the
analytical methods used and demonstrate correlation with the simulation model.

Introduction
A series of experiments were conducted by Con-Edison using an insulated plywood vault. The objective
was to have a better understanding of the vault temperature variation under different ambient temperatures
and different applied electric currents. Figure 1 shows the vault prior to the installation of the cables and the
thermocouples and Figure 2 represents the main vault dimensions. Two cables were placed near the bottom
of the vault along the longitudinal direction as shown in the picture of Figure 3. One of the cable adapters
had a boot and the other didnt. Thermocouples were attached to the cable adapters, as shown in the
previous pictures, and were also placed in various locations in the vault to measure the temperature.

Figure 1. CON-EDISON Experimental Vault prior to cable installation.

PLYWOOD
INSULATION
3' 6"
(inside)

4'
(inside)

15' 6"
(inside)

4'
(outside)
16'
(outside)

Figure 2. CON-EDISON Vault Dimensions.

4' 5"
(outside)

Figure 3. Instrumented cables in the experimental vault.

Procedure
The problem is separated into two parts: a thermal electric model (using the ANSYS/Mechanical code), as
shown in Figure 4, to calculate the temperature of the cable for a given current; and a thermal flow model
(using ANSYS/Flotran), as represented in Figure 5, to calculate the temperature distribution inside the box
due to the cable heating. Since the two problems are coupled and iterative algorithm, as summarized in
Figure 6, is implemented. An initial guess for the cable temperature is used to determine the temperatures
inside the box and the thermal film coefficient between the cable and the air using ANSYS/Flotran. This
coefficient is used to determine the cable temperature for a given current using the ANSYS/Mechanical
module. The resulting cable temperature is compared against the initial guess. The iterations are carried
until convergence has been achieved.

Figure 4. 3-D representation of the thermal-electric axi-symmetric model

Figure 5. CON-EDISON Simulated Vault.

Input

Output

Initial guess:
Outside Air Temperature
Conductivity

Cable Temperature

ANSYS/Flotran
(thermal - flow model)

Current
Resistance

ANSYS/Mechanical
(thermal - electric model)

Inside Air Temperature

Thermal Film Coeffcient

Cable Temperature

Figure 6. Simulation process for a coupled thermal-electric-flow problem.

Analysis
The following simplifications in the thermal-flow model were made:
a)

A two-dimensional model was defined since the difference in the temperature measured at
different points of the connector is not larger than 5 oC.

b) A vertical plane of symmetry along the connector direction was defined (by considering only
half of the vault since the difference between the temperatures measured around the conductor
with boot and the conductor without boot were not significant.
Table 1 summarizes the material properties defined for the different materials. Figure 5 shows the twodimensional half-symmetry geometric model with parametric dimensions used to calculate the temperature
distribution inside the vault.
Table 1. Thermal Properties Values Used
Specific Heat***
(BTU/lb-F)

Conductivity
(BTU/hr-ft-oF)

Density ***
(lb/ft3)

Plywood* [1]

0.67

0.085

40

Box Insulation **

0.0116 **

Air @ 86 F [1]

0.24

0.01531

0.0727

Cable Insulating Material [1]

0.144****

Cable (copper) [1]

0.0915

223

559

Assumed identical to pine.

**

Based on Con-Edison Drawing:

***

Note that for steady state solutions these properties are not necessary.

**** Based on average value of

1
1
=
BTU.in/hr-ft2-oF=0.0116 BTU/hr-ft-oF.
R 7.2

1
1
=
W/cm-oC=0.144 BTU/hr-ft-oF
R 400

Analysis Results & Discussion

Several simulations corresponding to different testing conditions were made. The results reported here
correspond to test case with a 90oC conductor temperature at 30oC ambient. Figure 7 and 8 show the
temperature distribution in degrees Rankine in the vault and around the conductor, respectively. The air
flow generated is shown in Figure 9.
Table 2 compares the simulation results with those measured in the experiment. The agreement between the
numerical and test values is reasonable.
Table 2. Comparison between measured and calculated temperatures
Temperature (oC)

Location

Ambient

Cable Surface
*

Experimental

Numerical

Top Left

63.3

60.8

Top Right

63.7

Middle Left

63.7

59.6

Middle Right

63.6

Bottom Left

57.9

50.0

Bottom Right

58.0

86.4

83.8**

Since the model is symmetric these temperatures are identical to those in the row above.
(Note that the experimental results confirm the symmetry simplification)

** Calculated as a temperature average between the node on the surface and the
node immediately next to it, to account for thermocouple positioning

Figure 7. Temperature distribution in the box (oR).

Figure 8. Temperature Distribution around the cable (oR).

Figure 9. Flow velocities (in/s) inside the box.

Conclusion
Results compared against test data show that the iterative algorithm described is successfully used to
determine the temperature distribution caused by electric cables inside vault. This model is extremely
useful to predictive tool to power distribution utilities that can face failures due to overheating of cable
vaults

References
1.

Heat Transfer, 2nd Edition, Alan J. Chapman, The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1967.

2.

Heat Transfer, A. Mills, Irwin, Boston, 1992.

3.

Table 15.1.3 in Mark's Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers, 10th Edition, E. Avalone and T.
Baumeister III, McGraw Hill

4.

Con-Edison Simulated Vault Drawing, KRG 7-16-01

5.

ANSYS/FLOTRAN and ANSYS/Mechanical computer program.

6.

Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning, McQuiston, Parker and Spitler, John Wiley & Sons, 5th
Edition, 2000.

7.

ASHRAE Handbook, Fundamentals Volume, 1989.