Scribd
Upload
74 views5 pages

Lab Session 2 Power Cable: Objective

This lab session covers power cables. The objectives are to inspect the parts of dissected cables and measure cable sizes. Cables have several parts including cores made of copper or aluminum conductors, insulation, a metallic sheath, bedding, armoring, and serving. Cable size is measured using SWG or AWG, which relate the cross-sectional area to a gauge number. Students will observe cable samples, identify features, measure diameters and cross-sectional areas, and answer questions about conductor materials, cable types, and their applications.

Uploaded by

Hermain Fayyaz Karim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
74 views5 pages

Lab Session 2 Power Cable: Objective

This lab session covers power cables. The objectives are to inspect the parts of dissected cables and measure cable sizes. Cables have several parts including cores made of copper or aluminum conductors, insulation, a metallic sheath, bedding, armoring, and serving. Cable size is measured using SWG or AWG, which relate the cross-sectional area to a gauge number. Students will observe cable samples, identify features, measure diameters and cross-sectional areas, and answer questions about conductor materials, cable types, and their applications.

Uploaded by

Hermain Fayyaz Karim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Electrical Power Distribution & Utilization Lab Session 02

NED University of Engineering and Technology Department of Electrical Engineering

LAB SESSION 2

Power Cable
OBJECTIVE
Inspect the parts of a dissected cable and measure the size of the cable.

APPARATUS
 Dissected Cables
 SWG

THEORY
A cable is defined as an assembly of conductors and insulators used for the transfer of power in
densely populated urban areas. Cables are mostly laid under the ground in order not to disturb
the land beauty and to avoid using the land for power transmission purposes. A cable is has
following parts;

Figure 2.1: Parts of cables

Core
All cables either have a central core (conductor) or a number of cores made of strands of Copper
or Aluminum conductors having highest conductivity. Conductors are stranded in order to reduce
the skin effect.

Insulation
It is provided to insulate the conductors from each other and from the outside periphery. The
common insulating materials are Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) and Polyethylene.

Metallic Sheath
Electrical Power Distribution & Utilization Lab Session 02
NED University of Engineering and Technology Department of Electrical Engineering

Metallic Sheath protects the cable against the entry of moisture. It is made of lead, some alloy of
lead or Aluminum

Bedding
In order to protect the metallic sheath from injury, bedding is wound over it. It consists of paper
tape compounded with a fibrous material.

Armoring
It consists of one or two layers of galvanized steel wires or two layers of steel tape, to avoid the
mechanical injury. Armoring provides mechanical strength to the cable.

Serving
A layer of fibrous material, used to protect the armoring.

Figure 2.2 Cross Sectional View of Cable

Table 2.1 Properties of Cu and Al


Copper Aluminum
S.
Properties Hard Hard
No Annealed Annealed
Drawn Drawn
Resistivity at 20◦C
1 1.72 1.78 to 1.8 2.8 2.3
(ohm-m × 10-8)
Temperature coefficient of
2 0.00393 0.00393 0.00403 0.00403
electrical resistance at 20◦C
Coefficient of linear
3 17.0 x 10-6 17.0 x 10-6 23.0 x 10-6 23.0 x 10-6
expansion per unit per ◦C
Thermal conductivity
4 384 384 209.4 209.4
W/mK
5 Density kg/m3 8.89 x 10-3 8.89 x 10-3 2.71 x 10-3 2.71 x 10-3
6 Specific heat kJ/kg K 0.394 0.394 0.904 0.904
Electrical Power Distribution & Utilization Lab Session 02
NED University of Engineering and Technology Department of Electrical Engineering

Measuring Units
The cross-sectional area (csa) of each gauge is an important factor for determining its current-
carrying capacity. CSA can be indirectly measured by SWG or AWG as discussed below.

SWG

British Standard Wire Gauge is a set of wire sizes


given by BS 3737:1964, and is generally abbreviated to
SWG.(from 7/0 to 50). It is also known as: Imperial
Wire Gauge or British Standard Gauge. SWG non
famous but still used as a measure of thickness in guitar
strings and some electrical wire. Cross sectional area in
square millimetres is now the more usual in practice.
Refer Fig.2.3 Figure 2.3 SWG vs AWG

AWG
American wire gauge (AWG), also known as the Brown & Sharpe wire gauge, is a logarithmic
stepped standardized wire gauge system used since 1857 predominantly in North America for the
diameters of round, solid, nonferrous, electrically conducting wire. Dimensions of the wires are
given in ASTM standard B 258. Refer Table 2.2

Table 2.2 SWG to AWG Conversion Table


Electrical Power Distribution & Utilization Lab Session 02
NED University of Engineering and Technology Department of Electrical Engineering

PROCEDURE
 Practical demonstration/inspection of different dissected cables for their parts.
 Measuring diameter and size of a cable via SWG;
N=No. of strands in n-layers=1+3n(1+n)
D=Overall Dia. of a stranded cond.=(1+2n)d
where , d=dia. of each strand (SWG to mm)
 Nomenclature of cables;
129mm2, 4C 37/1.83mm, XLPE/PVC/SWA/PVC

OBSERVATIONS

You are given different samples of a dissected cables of unknown cross section. Find out the
following information about each of them.

Diameter
Cross Sectional
Sample No. of No. of of a
Area A=π(d/2)2 Nomenclature
No. Cores Strands strand
(mm2)
(m)

RESULTS/INTERPRETATIONS
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

TASKS
1. What do you observe in different samples. List down details of each sample (with sketch /
capture).
2. Give short answers to the following questions:
i. What will be the difference in size of Cu & Al conductor for same installation? (refer
Table 2.1)
ii. Why do we use ACSR conductors for transmission not in distribution?
Electrical Power Distribution & Utilization Lab Session 02
NED University of Engineering and Technology Department of Electrical Engineering

iii. Mostly Aluminum is used in transmission system as a conductor, why not Cu as a


conductor?
iv. Differentiate between 7/44,7/29 and 3/29 w.r.t sizes and applications?

You might also like