F E A T U R E A R T I C L E

Assessment of Station Cable

Condition Using Wireless
Telemetry and Diagnostic Tests
Key Words: Arc resistant metal clad, heat stress, temperature rise, ground loops

I
n today’s competitive electricity environment, it is essen-
tial that the condition of major electrical equipment be
understood. Some pieces of equipment that are often
overlooked are the main power output cables. When was the
last time you looked at the main output cables and asked
yourself, “I wonder what condition those cables are in?” Per-
haps the cables are hidden from everyday view, such as inside
switchgear cubicles or inside raceways. Nevertheless, cables
must be treated like all other major components of the out-
put power system; they must be taken care of and monitored
from time to time. Particular attention to the cables should
be given when switchgear is replaced or modified to ensure
that proper ventilation and temperature rises inside the cable
compartments have not changed or have not exceeded appli-
cable standards. Overheating of cables is the “silent killer”
since there will likely be no warning before they actually fail.
However, physical observation of the cables and/or termina-
tions can definitely help in determining if further investiga-
tion, testing or monitoring is required.
Discovery of Failure
A cable failure between newly installed 15 kV arc resistant
metal clad switchgear and the main output transformer oc-
curred at one of Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG’s) gener-
ating stations.
The cables were retained from the previous switchgear,
given their age and service conditions. These cross-linked
polyethylene (XLPE) insulated cables were 15 years old, 15
kV, 750 kCM (380 mm2) copper conductor, 4.5 mm (0.175
in) insulation, extruded semiconducting insulation and con-
ductor shields with a concentric wire neutral and PVC
jacket. Field investigation revealed that the cable failure oc-
curred at the transformer end at the heat shrunk stress relief
termination. The cable adjacent to the failed cable was also
badly damaged. Replacement of the cables necessitated
opening of the arc-resistant metal-clad switchgear cubicle.
The cables inside this compartment showed signs of heat
stress. The major initial indicator of overheating was that the
S. Bomben
Ontario Power Generation Inc.
H.G. Sedding and S. Rizzetto
Kinectrics Inc.
Cables must be treated like all other
major components of the electrical
power generation system.
mastic, used in the termination kits, had flowed out of all of
the cable terminations in this compartment (see Fig. 1).
Taking Cable Samples
A decision was made to replace only the failed cables,
since we did not know the extent of the heat exposure on
the rest of the cables, and lost generation was a major issue.
Various sections of the failed cables were cut up and sent for
forensic evaluation at the Kinectrics laboratory to deter-
mine the temperatures the cables had endured, the reason
for mastic flow, and what effect this might have on the re-
maining life.
The following sections of cable were removed from the
failed phase and the adjacent damaged cable:
● Metal clad end of faulted cable, including termination
● Transformer end of faulted cable (failed portion already re-
moved)
● Transformer end of second cable
● Cable damaged by, and adjacent to, failed cable
● From failed cable, a mid-span sample from floor below
metal clad
● From failed cable, a sample cut from below the switchgear
cubicle.

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Forensic Evaluation
The cable insulation under the termination from the
metal clad was dark brown, indicating that it had been ex-
posed to overheating for some time. About 15 cm (6 in) of
cable jacket, concentric neutral wires, and insulation
shield were also removed from the other ends of the cable
samples. The insulation showed slight discoloration,
again indicative of overheating. Additional evidence of
overheating was the observation of indentations of the
concentric neutral wires into the insulation shield and
XLPE insulation.
The stress control tubing, a key component of the termi-
nation, had lost some of its flexibility and had become brittle
where it was in contact with the insulation shield of the ca-
Figure 1. Mastic flow from terminations on cables from switchgear
ble. The filler used to eliminate voids at the semicon/insula- G5/6.
tion/stress control tube interface had become black and
brittle. The filler is usually yellow and flexible. The red
heat-shrunk tubing over the termination close to the concen-
tric neutral wire connection had partially melted (see Fig. 2).
To get an indication of the temperatures experienced by
the insulation during operation, samples were removed
from the cables for differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
tests. These tests showed that the cables in the metal clad
cubicle were running at maximum temperatures of at least
115 °C, while the maximum temperatures at the trans-
former end were between 55 °C and 90 °C [1]. The normal
operating temperature for this type of cable should not ex-
ceed 90 °C.

What Are the Temperature Rise Limits that

We are Expecting in the Cable Compartment?
In the switchgear specification, one of the standards that
had to be adhered to was the Canadian Standards Associa-
tion C22.2 No. 31. Table II of this standard lays out what
the maximum permissible temperature rises are for differ-
ent areas of the switchgear. In this particular case, applica-
ble standards dictated the maximum recorded temperature
in two areas:
1. Air surrounding the cables. This gives us an indication
of what temperature the termination was exposed to and for
how long.
2. Bus connections to cables. This gives us an indication
of how hot the bolted connection between the cable and the
bus is. The cable conductor temperature can then be ex-
trapolated from this information. The XLPE insulation
would then be exposed to whatever temperature the con-
ductor has reached.
The standard stipulates that the maximum rise for the air
surrounding the cables is 15 °C. For example, if the thermo-
couple reading for the air surrounding the cables is 60 °C
and the ambient air is 25 °C, then the rise is 60−25 = 35 °C.
35 °C exceeds the maximum of 15 °C by 20 °C. It is there-
fore clear that in this case the switchgear would not meet the
specification and remedial action would need to be taken.
Figure 2. Inside the heat shrunk tubing. Portions of the tube have actu-
ally melted to the concentric neutral wires.
Similarly, the bus connections to the cables has a specified
rise of 45 °C.
Why is the Cable in Compartment
Overheating?
Further consideration of the problem with internal
switchgear specialists, as well as discussions with the
switchgear manufacturer, unveiled three potential sources of
extraneous heat:
● Inadvertent formation of ground loops in the switchgear
cubicle resulting in induced current heating of the cables.
● Reduced ventilation due to the arcproofing requirements of
the cubicle design.
● The location of the switchgear in the station exposes the cu-
bicles to significant solar radiation.
The third potential source was considered secondary be-
cause the new switchgear was located in exactly the same po-
sition as before. Efforts were now focused on assessing the
condition of the remaining cables and the contribution of the

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 heat sources identified above and how to alleviate the source
of this heat.

Cable Testing and Temperature Monitoring

Figure 3. Temperature transmitter antenna (bottom) and the molds
(top) to attach the temperature element to the bolt head during fabrica-
tion of the system. Battery not shown.
Condition assessment of the cables using diagnostic tests
such as partial discharge (PD) and dissipation factor (DF)
measurements were performed on all of the 15 kV circuits in
the new metal clad switchgear (G3/4, G5/6) [2]. For compar-
ison purposes, these tests were also done on the original
switchgear on G7/8. In order to investigate the effect of the
switchgear design, a wireless temperature monitoring sys-
tem was quickly incorporated to enable measurements of the
temperature of the high voltage components of the
switchgear.
Figure 3 illustrates the device used. Essentially, the system
consists of four components:
1. A temperature measurement/encoding device inte-
grated into a standard bolt
2. A radio frequency (RF) transmitter and antenna.
3. A battery power supply.
4. A receiver/decoding device.
All these components had a working maximum temperature
of 125°C.
An installation of the devices is illustrated in Fig. 4. The
output from the receiver/decoder is connected to a notebook
computer to facilitate data storage and archiving. Conven-
tional thermocouples were used to provide temperature data
on the grounded components. A total of six wireless temper-
ature monitoring bolts and 34 thermocouples were installed
in two of the three metal clad installations (G3/4, G5/6). In
this way, not only could the effect of the inadvertent ground
loop be quantified, but also the remedial actions performed
on the cubicle by the manufacturer could be assessed.

Cable Condition Assessment

The test program consisted of PD, capacitance (C) and DF
Figure 4. Installed temperature monitoring bolts on the cable lug and
measurements up to 13.8 kV ac. Low frequency dielectric
bus connections. spectroscopy was also utilized; however, the results are not
reported here. Further, for brevity, only the results for two
switchgear assemblies are reported; one of which was the
Table I. Capacitance and Dissipation Factor Measurements at 8kV, G5/6. new metal clad (G5/6) and the original (G7/8).
Cable C(nF) @ 8 kV DF (%) @ 8 kV Partial discharge measurements were made using the stan-
R – RX1 3.299 0.0581 dard Ontario Hydro set up consisting of a 375 pF capacitive
R – RX1 3.248 0.0519 coupler, 60 Hz filter and 100 MHz bandwidth oscilloscope.
R – BX2 7.932 0.0363 Capacitance and dissipation factor were recorded (un-
R – BX2 7.889 0.0374 grounded specimen) using a Multi-Amp Model (CB605)
W – WX1 5.663 0.0445 current comparator bridge. No PD was recorded on any of
W – WX1 5.687 0.0458 the cables on either G5/6 or G7/8 up to 13.8 kV. Conse-
W – RX2 3.412 0.0511 quently, the cables and their terminations were deemed free
W – RX2 3.560 0.0535 of significant voids under the ambient conditions prevailing
B – BX1 7.441 0.0502
during these tests, i.e., room temperature.
B – BX1 7.569 0.0484
The results of C and DF tests are illustrated in Tables I
and II for units G5/6 and G7/8 respectively. Values of C and
B – WX2 5.442 0.0352
DF at 2 kV and 13.8 kV were also recorded, but are not part
B – WX2 5.380 0.0457
of this article.

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 Overall, the DF’s measured are within acceptable limits, mately 25 MW while units 5 and 6 were at 29 MW during
e.g., AEIC CS5-94 specifies a limit of 0.1% for type testing this snapshot.
of new XLPE insulation. However, closer inspection of Ta- Transmitter ID 48 and 20 are measuring the temperature
bles I and II shows that the absolute DF values of the G5/6 ca- on the bus connections to the cable. The permissible temper-
bles are higher than the corresponding G7/8 cables. About ature rise is 45 °C for this connection. For G3/4, with an am-
1.5 m of the G5/6 cables on each phase are contained in the bient temperature outside the cubicle of 28.2°C (from Table
switchgear cubicle, which is experiencing overheating. The
measured DF averages the total length of cable. If the DF of Table II. Capacitance and Dissipation Factor Measurements at 8 kV, G7/8.
the cable sections operating at normal ambient temperature Cable C(nF) @ 8 kV DF (%) @ 8 kV
is assumed to be similar to that of the average of G7/8 R – RY1 4.330 0.0323
(0.0308%), the true DF of the overheated lengths can be cal- R – RY1 4.310 0.0348
culated for the bulk dielectric. The estimated values of DF at R – BY2 6.393 0.0301
8 kV, assuming a length of 1.5 m (4.9 ft), are recorded in Ta- R – BY2 6.435 0.0276
ble III. W – WY1 5.134 0.0269
Inspection of Table III shows that the dissipation factor W – WY1 5.160 0.0294
values in the majority of the overheated sections of cable are W – RY2 4.312 0.0359
above the AEIC limit for new cable. These elevated values of W – RY2 4.262 0.0336
dissipation factor may, during operation, be contributing to B – BY1 6.434 0.0316
dielectric heating, thus further elevating the operating tem-
B – BY1 6.401 0.0272
perature of the cable. The question now was, How hot were
B – WY2 5.062 0.0324
the cables actually getting?
B – WY2 5.048 0.0288

Switchgear Temperatures
Temperature profiles at different locations inside the ca-
ble compartment as well as various components inside of the
compartment were necessary. Temperature transmitters
were used to enable temperature recording of the current
carrying components in the switchgear cubicle. Temperature
measurements on the grounded components were accom-
plished using conventional thermocouples connected to a
commercial datalogger.
When the switchgear manufacturer was presented with
the forensic evaluation, they immediately started working
on the solution to the problem. Remedial action that would
eliminate this overheating, was proposed by the manufac-
turer and accepted by OPG. The remedial action consisted of
cutting out the ground loops created in the structure sup-
porting the cables entering the compartment from the floor,
thus eliminating the extra heat from the circulating currents.
Figure 5 shows the support structure.
The repair was to occur on G5/6 only in an effort to mini-
mize outage time if the solution was not complete. This also
allowed OPG to compare a remedial compartment with an
original new compartment. Over a period of several months,
thousands of data points were recorded using the two tem-
perature collecting techniques. The data collection began in
the spring, and ended just after the hot summer months. The
results from the wireless transmitters are summarized in Ta-
bles III and IV for G3/4 and G5/6, respectively. Table V con-
tains the thermocouple data.
These tables provide a comparison of temperatures in
both cable compartments on the same day at the same time
stamp when all four units had been operating at the most ef-
ficient turbine output for a sufficient period of time to allow
for temperature stabilization. Units 3 and 4 were at approxi- Figure 5. Cable support structure. Cables are grounded at this end only.

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 Table III. Calculated Dissipation Factor Values Table VI. Comparison of Thermocouple Data Between G3/4 and G5/6 – LHS /
for Overheated Cable Lengths at 8 kV, G5/6. RHS (left- or right-hand side of switchgear compartment).
Cable Cable Length M (ft) Calculated DF (%) Temp. (°C) Temp. (°C)
T/C Location
G3/4 G5/6
R – RX1 11.6 (38) 0.21
Ground bus, bottom 56.4 33.7
R – RX1 11.6 (38) 0.16
Cable #3, jacket 67.8 51.4
R – BX2 26.8 (93.8) 0.10
Cable #4, jacket 68.0 50.9
R – BX2 26.8 (93.8) 0.12
Bolt, lower LHS 59.1 39.7
W – WX1 19.5 (63.9) 0.18
Bolt, lower RHS 56.8 36.1
W – WX1 19.5 (63.9) 0.19 Bolt, gd. Bus, 2’ up 66.4 39.3
W – RX2 12.2 (40) 0.16 Bolt, upper RHS 56.2 45.7
W – RX2 12.2 (40) 0.18 Bolt, upper LHS 70.3 45.7
B – BX1 27.1 (88.9) 0.35 Cable #5, jacket 69.7 50.4
B – BX1 27.1 (88.9) 0.32 Cable #6, jacket 66.2 48.2
B – WX2 19.8 (64.9) 0.06 Cable #11, jacket 67.9 51.4
B – WX2 19.8 (64.9) 0.20 Cable #10, jacket 74.1 53.5
Bus supp’t, LHS, 6’ 77.7 59.2
Bus supp’t, RHS 6’ 56.8 48.7
Table IV. Temperatures of Current-Carrying Components, G3/4.
Bus supp’t. RHS, 2’ 55.5 48.6
Transmitter ID Temperature (°C)
48 80 Back of cubicle, 4’ 67.2 61.1
49 80 Exterior, front 28.2 23.5
50 88

medial action plan has been implemented until the

Table V. Temperatures of Current-Carrying Components, G5/6.
Transmitter ID Temperature (°C)
20 57
18 63.5
35 60.5
V), the temperature rise is 80-28.2=51.8 °C, which exceeds
the permissible temperature rise. Now G5/6, which had the
ground loops removed, shows a temperature rise of
57-23.5=33.5 °C, which is within the permissible tempera-
ture rise. Therefore, for the bus connections to cables for
G5/6, the temperature rise is now within the applicable stan-
dard we specified.
The air surrounding the cables is a different story. From
Table V, we see that the temperature rise inside the cable
compartment for G3/4 is 67.2-28.2=39 °C and for G5/6 we
have 61.1-23.5=37.6 °C. Neither temperature rise is within
the specified 15 °C, as per the specification. More remedial
action will be required to resolve this issue.
The data demonstrates that switchgear G5/6 is running
cooler although with higher loading than switchgear G3/4.
This finding has been confirmed from a more detailed analy-
sis of all of the data gathered to date. Consequently, to en-
sure continued reliable operation, without premature cable
insulation ageing, the field modification program performed
on G5/6 switchgear will be applied to G3/4. An ongoing re-
switchgear temperature profiles are within the specifications
discussed in this article.
Conclusions
Following the premature in-service failure of a 15 kV,
XLPE insulated cable in a hydraulic generating station, a
program was devised to:
● Determine the root cause of failure.
● Assess the condition of the remaining cables in the station.
● Ensure that the field modifications proposed to rectify the
problem were effective.
The underlying mechanism driving the failure was found
to be overheating of the cable sheath as a result of the inad-
vertent formation of ground loops in the cable support
structure, and hence circulating currents. Physicochemical
tests of cable sections recovered from the failed circuit
showed that the cable had experienced temperatures in ex-
cess of 115 °C.
Electrical diagnostic testing of the affected cable circuits
indicated that the majority of the cable length was unaf-
fected by the overheating. However, the portion of the cable
within the switchgear cubicle may have undergone some
ageing as evidenced by higher dielectric loss values.
On-line temperature measurements, including those
on the current-carrying components using wireless te-
lemetry, confirmed that one of the sources of the high
temperatures was the ground structure in the cubicle.
Further, these measurements, in conjunction with data

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obtained from thermocouples on the grounded struc-
tures, demonstrated the efficacy of the remedial action
proposed by the manufacturer.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank John Densley for discus-
sions on this article.
Stefano Bomben is an Electrical Engineer Spe-
cialist at Ontario Power Generation (formerly
Ontario Hydro). He received his Bachelors of
Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from
the University of Windsor in 1991. Upon
graduation he took employment with Ontario
Hydro at the Sir Adam Beck generating and
one year later went to work at the head office
of Ontario Hydro for the Hydraulic Plant Equipment Electrical
Department. For the past 10 years he has been working on the
maintenance, repair, and overhauls of hydro generators,
switchgear, and transformers. Stefano currently works at the
head office of Ontario Power Generation in the Electrical
Equipment & Systems—Field Services group responsible for
the condition monitoring and maintenance of hydro genera-
tors, transformers, and switchgear. Stefano is a registered Pro-
fessional Engineer in the province of Ontario and an active
member of the IEEE. Stefano can be reached at Ontario Power
Generation, 700 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X6,
telephone: +1 416 592 7428, fax: +1 416 592 7225, e-mail:
Stefano.Bomben@OPG.com.
Howard Sedding is a Principal Research Engi-
neer in the Transmission and Distribution
Technologies Department at Kinectrics Inc.
He has worked on problems associated with
the performance, condition monitoring, and
testing of dielectric materials used in power
apparatus for about 20 years and has three pat-
July/August 2002 — Vol. 18, No. 4
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ents and numerous publications in these fields. His principal
contributions have been in condition monitoring of rotating
machines, partial discharge, and diagnostic testing of cables
and transformers. He has a B.Sc. in electrical and electronic
engineering from Strathclyde University and an M.Sc. in crys-
tallography from London University. His doctorate work was
on surface flashover mechanisms of mica and epoxy/mica
composites. Dr. Sedding is active in several IEEE, IEC, and
CIGRE working groups in the areas of insulating materials,
rotating machines, and high-voltage test methods. Dr.
Sedding is a chartered engineer and a member of the Institu-
tion of Electrical Engineers.
Silvano Rizzetto is currently a Senior Technol-
ogist in the Transmission Systems, Asset Man-
agement and Condition Assessment Practice at
Kinectrics, Inc. During the past twenty years,
he has been involved in dielectric insulation
testing, diagnostic instrumentation, and
high-frequency partial discharge measure-
ment techniques. He has worked in the design
and development of instrumentation and diagnostic tech-
niques, which include the XIPD (x-ray induced partial dis-
charge detection) system and wide-band analog fiber-optic
systems for the measurement of partial discharge. Silvano is
currently involved in developing real-time partial discharge
monitoring systems and real-time dynamic feeder rating sys-
tems for the utility industry.
References
1. OHT Report: 7500-014-199-RA-0001-R00, March 22, 1999, R.J.
Densley.
2. OHT Report: 7500-014-199-RA-0001-R00, May 15, 1999, H.G.
Sedding.
29