Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Interview Question of
Underground Cable
1.What do you mean by underground cable and where is it used ?
Ans : The cable buried in ground for transmission and distribution of electrical power is
known as underground cable. These are used in large cities and other densely populated
areas where overhead construction in such area is practically impossible.
2. What are the advantages of used cables for transmission of electrical power as
compared to overhead lines ?
1. Being exposed to atmosphere cables are free from the interruptions of supply
caused by lightning or thunderstorm or birds or other severe weather conditions.
2. It reduces accident due to breaking of conductors.
3. Maintenance cost is low.
4. It does not spoil the beauty of the cities.
5. These are very much useful in densely populated areas.
Ans : When a there phase, four core cable is used as a distributor it is known as L.T.
mains and when a single phase two core cable is used as a distributor it is known as L.T.
submains.
4. What are the different types of cables used in transmission & distribution system ?
Ans : (a) For low & medium voltage lines P.V.C cables are used. (b) For high voltage lines
XLPS and PILC cables are used. (c) For extra high voltage lines XLPE, oil filled, gas filled
and gas pressure or compression cables are used.
5. What are the classifications of the underground cables according to the voltage
range ?
Ans :
6. What are the full names of PVC, PILCSWA, PILCDSTA & S, XLPE and MIND
cables ?
P.I.L.C.S.W.A. cable – Paper Insulated Lead Covered Steel Wire Armoured cable.
P.I.L.C.D.S.T.A. cable – Paper Insulated Lead Covered Double Steel Tape Armoured cable.
Ans : The essential of an underground cable are the conductor, the insulation, the
screening, the sheathing, the bedding, the protection and the serving.
8. Why are stranded conductors used in the cable of sizes above 16 sq mm. ?
Ans : Stranded conductors are used to increase the surface area of the conductor and
also to make the cable flexible and more workable.
9. What are the advantages of circular and sector shaped conductor in cable ?
Ans : The interstices between the cores and overall diameter are reduced.
10. What do you mean by the terms ‘the nominal cross section’, ‘the actual cross
section’ and ‘the equivalent cross section’ of the spiraled stranded conductors of a
cable ?
Ans : The normal cross section is the area of the cross section of one conductor in a
plane perpendicular to its length multiplied by the number of conductors.
The actual cross section is the area of the oblique cross section of a conductor produced
by cutting the stranded conductor by a plane perpendicular to the core of the cable
multiplied by the number of conductors, which is also greater than the nominal cross
section.
The equivalent cross section is the cross section of a solid conductor of the same length
as the cable and having the same resistance at the same temperature, which is less than
the nominal cross section because of the incase in resistance due to spiraling.
Ans : P.V.C. Impregnated paper, Vulcanized rubber, Varnished cambric are used in L.T.
cables while Impregnated paper, Cambric, XLPE are used in H.T. cables.
Ans : Belt paper is an oil impregnated paper, the principal insulating part of the cable,
which is essentially composed of cellulosed fibres felted to from a mechanically strong
sheet.
Ans : Lead, Lead alloy and Aluminium are generally used for metallic sheath.
Ans : Bedding means a layer of compounded jute or hessian applied over the lead
sheath.
16. Why is a layer of bedding provided over metallic sheath in underground cable ?
Ans : To protect the metallic sheath against the corrosion and from mechanical injury
from the armouring.
Ans : Armouring is provided to protect the cable against mechanical damages caused by
direct blows, abrasion, pink-axeing, vibration and longitudinal stresses or any accidental
digging. If there is no chance of mechanical damages whatsoever the nuarmoured
cables can be used.
20. What are the merits and demerits of (a) Double steel tape armour & (b) Single
wire armour ?
21. What type of armour will you expect in a single core 11 kV cable ?
Ans : Hard drawn aluminium wire armour is found.
22. Why can wire armoured cables take bends of shorter radius than tape armoured
ones ?
Ans : Wire armoured cables can take bends of shorter radius due to higher longitudinal
strength of wire armouring than that of tape armouring.
23. What arethe applications of single steel tape, double steel tape, singal wire
armoured ones ?
Ans : Single steel tape armouring:Single steel tape armouring is used principally for
parkway cables, cables suspended on a messenger or clamped at intervals in shaft and
tunnel installation or cables buried directly underground where a mechanical outer
protection is required but longitudinal are not involved.
Double steel tape armouring: Double steel tape armouring is used particularly for low
tension cables installed indoors or aerially outdoors or directly buried underground
where a good protection against crushing or penetration by sharp bodies is required and
not likely to be subjected to tensile stresses.
Single wire armouring: Single wire armouring is used in cables where the armouring is
subjected to have longitudinal strength such as for cables pulled into duct, used for river
crossing, laid in marshy ground or in colliery districts where soil subsidence may occur,
vertical cable runs and for cables hung on brackets along side railways or tunnels etc.
Double wire armouring: Double wire armouring is used chiefty for vertical run of large
size cables as in a mine shaft, submarine or dredger where easy handling and greater
flexibility for the same conductivity with high longitudinal strength is required.
(b) Railway crossing – The cables should be laid under railway tracks in reinforced spun
concrete or steel pipes placed at right angles to the track and at such depth as may be
specified by the railway authorities but not less than 1 metre measured from the
bottom of sleepers to the top of the pipe and the pipe should extend to a minimum
distance of 3 metres from the centre of the outer most track on either side.
(c) Crossing of water mains – A minimum clearance of 0.3 metre should be given
between the power cable and water mains.
a) To test ground fault or short circuit fault a meggar of 500 or 1000 volts is used. Before
starting the testing procedures it is to be ensured that the far end of the cable is open
and free from earth connection. In case of testing ground fault the ‘L’ terminal of the
meggar is touched with each conductor of the cable by rotation and the ‘E’ terminal is
permanently connected with a good earth lead. After rotation the meggar handle when
the meggar indicates zero reading it means the respective conductor is earthed.
b) In case of testing short circuit fault the two terminals of the meggar are touched with
two conductors of the cable. After rotating the meggar handle when the meggar
indicates zero reading it means the two conductors are short circuited. The same
procedures are adopted for other conductors.
c) To test open circuit fault the three conductors are short circuited at one end. The two
meggar terminals are touched with two conductors of the cables at a time. After
rotating meggar handle when the meggar indicates zero reading it means the
conductors are continuous, but when the meggar indicates infinity reading it reading it
means there is an open circuit in the conductor.
How is the rating of a cable affected by the proximity of other cable in same trench ?
A horizontal spacing is desirable in order to reduce the effect of mutual heating. In case
they close or touch one another the effect of mutual heating increases and accordingly,
the current carrying capacity of cable decreases sufficiently.
Direct laying is applied in open soil. Draw in the system is applied in congested areas and
for underground railway crossing etc. were frequent excavation is inconvenient. The
solid system is not used is not used nowadays. Laying on brackets, racks and clears is
used inside the building, factories, substation, power station & tunnels etc.
1. Both ends of the cable should be protected from moisture by means of plumbed
lead caps in case of PILC cables and sealed plastic caps in case of PVC and XLPE
cables.
2. The cable drum should be stored on well drained, hard-packed soil or preferably
having a concrete surface which will not cause the drum to sink and so lead to
flange rot and extreme difficulties in moving the drums.
3. The cable should be protected from direct rays of the sun.
4. All cable drums should be stored leaving sufficient space between them for air
circulation.
5. During storage the drum should be rolled to an angle of 90° once every three
months.
6. The cable drums must stand on battens placed directly under flanges. The drums
should not be stored on the flat i.e. with flanges horizontal.
Intermittent load
If the cable is switched on and off periodically, so that the time between switching ‘off’ ,
and then ‘On’ is not sufficient to cool the conductor to the ambient temperature during
the rest period, then such load is called intermittent load.
short time load
When the conductor is allowed to cool down to ambient temperature after the load
period then this load is called as short time load.
cyclic loading
In variable nature of loading conditions if the peak loads on supply cables are of cyclic
nature occurring at fixed periods over a well defined time, it is known as cyclic loading.
Cyclic loadings are commonly experienced in industry as for cycle of 8 hours on & 16
hours off or a cycle of 16 hours on & 8 hours off load. For calculating the permissible
current rating of a cable in an industry peak cyclic loading is considered from the load
curve.
The space feature of the XLPE insulation is that long molecular chains of polyethylene
are cross linked to each other by means of a process similar to vulcanisation of rubber
and thus forming a three dimensional network structure with strong bond. Pure
polyethylene is a thermoplastic material i.e. it becomes soft and plastic on heating and
hard on cooling. Pure polyethylene is converted into thermosetting XLPE i.e. it sets
permanently when heated. By cross linking process the polyethylene insulation of the
cable is made thermally stable and also the melting point is greatly increased. So XLPE
insulated cable has better resistivity to thermal deformation for its higher thermal
tolerance property. Due to excellent thermal properties the current carrying capacity of
XLPE cable is higher than that of conventional cable. XLPE insulation has higher dielectric
strength compared to other conventional dielectrics used for cables resulting low
dielectric loss.
XLPE cable is made suitable for high voltage and extra high voltage application puto 132
kV. This cable can be used for long cable routes in high voltage transmission where the
dielectric losses play a major role. This cable can easily be hadled due to lighter in
weight than any other high voltage cable. As there is no case of oil migration from
insulation it can be installed for inclined or vertical runs without any hesitation. XLPE
insulation is highly resistant to moisture for which no special precaution is needed at the
time of jointing & termination. The joining of XLPE cable needs less time than that of any
other conventional cable of similar grade. These cables can safely be used on any
vibrating layouts like bridges. These cable have the better resistance to salinity of water
in the ground, chemicals, oils and corrosive furnes. These are free from fire risk. These
cables are not prone to failure due to ageing characteristics and have longer life.
The space feature of the XLPE insulation is that long molecular chains of polyethylene
are cross linked to each other by means of a process similar to vulcanisation of rubber
and thus forming a three dimensional network structure with strong bond. Pure
polyethylene is a thermoplastic material i.e. it becomes soft and plastic on heating and
hard on cooling. Pure polyethylene is converted into thermosetting XLPE i.e. it sets
permanently when heated. By cross linking process the polyethylene insulation of the
cable is made thermally stable and also the melting point is greatly increased. So XLPE
insulated cable has better resistivity to thermal deformation for its higher thermal
tolerance property. Due to excellent thermal properties the current carrying capacity of
XLPE cable is higher than that of conventional cable. XLPE insulation has higher dielectric
strength compared to other conventional dielectrics used for cables resulting low
dielectric loss.
XLPE cable is made suitable for high voltage and extra high voltage application puto 132
kV. This cable can be used for long cable routes in high voltage transmission where the
dielectric losses play a major role. This cable can easily be hadled due to lighter in
weight than any other high voltage cable. As there is no case of oil migration from
insulation it can be installed for inclined or vertical runs without any hesitation. XLPE
insulation is highly resistant to moisture for which no special precaution is needed at the
time of jointing & termination. The joining of XLPE cable needs less time than that of any
other conventional cable of similar grade. These cables can safely be used on any
vibrating layouts like bridges. These cable have the better resistance to salinity of water
in the ground, chemicals, oils and corrosive furnes. These are free from fire risk. These
cables are not prone to failure due to ageing characteristics and have longer life.