High Voltage Energy Cables Go Underground – How to Improve Installation Efficiency Gerard Plumettaz, Jouni Heinonen Plumettaz Holding SA, Bex, Switzerland +41-244630630 · [email protected] relatively short cable sections, at high installation cost. To increase installation distances additional pushing and continuous improvements on lubrication have enhanced the installation performances over the last years. However cable pulling with a rope requires manpower at both ends, i.e. on winch side and on drum side of the duct. Further said process is less performing when compared to installation lengths achieved with the new process described hereafter at lower cost. Abstract A new method to install high voltage cables up to 225 kV using water under pressure has already been successfully tested and applied in France in recent years. The method enables the installation of continuous sections of power cables in one step into a duct up to 3.5 km long. Pressurized water and a pushing device are used. Unlike pulling the installation process takes place from one end of the duct only, therefore reducing manpower and avoiding coordination hazards. Installation time is halved when compared to pulling, hence cost saving. When using this new method the pulling forces required for reaching distances beyond those achieved with traditional installation methods, like winching, are far lower than pulling forces generally met with said traditional methods. This offers increased safety for both personnel and cable. 2. High voltage cable installation methods 2.1 Direct burying method Generally, direct burying of power cables has been the preferred technology. The method is nothing else than opening a trench between two points manually or mechanically and installing the cable in the trench. Also, in many countries the cable is placed in pre-laid channels or culverts, which are subsequently filled with sand and covered with a lid, providing additional protection to the cable. Direct burying has been used due to its low direct cost and lack of alternative technologies available. The method is time consuming, creating a lot of disturbance to the neighbourhood and requires a lot of manpower, which is costly in many countries. Due to these drawbacks the method is gradually being replaced by alternative methods described hereafter. This method, named “Watucab” (WAter TUbe CAble), provides the means to remarkable overall project cost savings and increased cable reliability . Keywords: Watucab, high voltage cables; duct; push-pull; pulling; jetting; floating; 1. Introduction Mainly for urban areas, or to cope with unfavorable climate conditions, there is a growing trend to get high voltage energy cables underground. The main reason behind this new installation method is of social and economical nature. Indeed traditional direct burial of power cable, requiring the opening of long trenches, 500 m to 1 km long, along busy streets imposes long lasting disturbance of several weeks or even months to urban traffic and to resident businesses and inhabitants, hereinafter named “the neighborhood” during construction work. Cost is an other reason. Compared with the cable direct burial method, the adoption of ducts offers the benefit of a drastically reduced duration of the disturbance to the neighborhood like difficult or impossible access. This, because the duct burial procedure can be implemented step by step i.e. in short trenches of approx. 100 m. Once the duct is in place the trench is closed, the surface rehabilitated for traffic. Such procedure is not conceivable for direct buried cable as too many splices would be required. Further, connecting a duct is easy, splicing a power cable is a delicate, time-consuming and costly operation. Furthermore, a duct provides for an additional protection to the power cable. It also enables an upgrading of the cable connection, as ducted cables can be removed and replaced by one of larger power capacity without need to reopen a trench. 2.2 Pulling method Installing cables in pre-laid ducts is getting more and more popular. Even though material cost might in some cases be higher than those for direct burying, cable installation in ducts offers long term benefits, as the cable can be replaced at the later stage without disturbing the neighbourhood. The duct offers also an additional protection to the cable again improving its reliability. The ducts used for cable installation are typically made of either HDPE or PVC. Also PE corrugated dual wall ducts, offering good radial rigidity once installed underground and good flexibility combined with low weight thus facilitating their installation are mainly adopted for medium voltage distribution cables (see figure 1). The main issue is how do we get the heavy high voltage cable into the duct efficiently? Pulling the cable with a rope is an established method, but the installation length is limited to International Wire & Cable Symposium Figure 1. PE dual wall duct 169 Proceedings of the 58th IWCS/IICIT sector. Worldwide adopted is the jetting method, especially for the installation of optical cable, where air is used as propelling fluid. In some countries, like Hungary, Denmark, Sweden and France, water is used as the propelling fluid, this method is commonly known as cable floating. One could wonder why the jetting method was never used for energy cable installation? This is due to the fact that the amount of air needed to install large cables in large ducts exceeds the capacity (volume flow) of field compressors available on the market. Thanks to the much higher viscosity of water compared to that of air the volume flow for floating is much less. Furthermore, the Archimedes uplift of the water acting on the cable makes the lengths reached by floating generally longer compared to jetting by air. For all ducted systems preparation is the same: the ducts segments are laid in a trench and joined together before the cable installation. The trench is typically opened and closed in sections, thus reducing additional or exhaustive disturbances to the neighbourhood and traffic. In the same time the jointing chambers are built. After completion of the duct route between each jointing chamber, including filling the trench, rehabilitating for traffic the actual cable placement can start. A thin steel wire or P-line is blown trough the duct. Typically a stronger rope or winch-line is then pulled trough the duct. The winch-line is then connected to the cable end and the cable is pulled with winch. Quite often also lubricant is used to reduce the friction between the cable and the duct. The method requires operators on both ends of the duct to operate the winch and the cable drum. The installation lengths achieved by this method are limited by friction and the number of curves and the undulation. The method is typically used for distances up to 1 km. The method is presented in figure 2. The system to float the cable is shown in figure 4. The cable is fed into the pre-installed duct with a cable pusher, typically driven by caterpillars or belts. Immediately after the cable pusher a water inlet chamber attached to the duct. The role of the water is, next to providing uplift to the cable, to reduce and stabilise by cooling the friction between cable and duct, thus enabling to reach greater lengths. Quite often a small amount of environment friendly additive is introduced in the water to reduce the friction. Another benefit provided by this system when compared to the cable pull or the cable push-pull methods is that the floating method is a one step process, avoiding steps like P-line and winch-line installation. Also control of the whole process is done from one side only, i.e. the drum side. This remarkably reduces the required manpower and it also makes it easier to control the cable feeding process. For installations in ducts having an outer diameter of up to 60 mm the floating method has been used successfully for the insertion of single phase power cables 240 mm2 of up to 20 kV over 2 km in a 50/42 mm HDPE duct in one step (see figure 5). This method is not applicable for floating in ducts of over 60 mm outer diameter due to excessive water consumption, causing water logistics problems. Figure 2. Pulling method 2.3 Push-pull method To increase the installation length achieved with pulling, in particular in the projects where the cable has to pass several curves, the idea to push the cable simultaneously with pulling was introduced years ago. At first sight the method is equivalent to the pulling method. Indeed preparation and equipment are the same, except for a pusher placed between cable drum and duct inlet. Typically the pusher is a two or three belt caterpillar synchronised with the cable winch located at the other end of the duct. Also in this case lubricant is generally used to reduce the friction between the cable and the duct. The system is shown in figure 3. Figure 4. Floating method Figure 3. Push-pull method When compared to cable pulling the push-pull method has the advantage of achieving longer lengths. For underground high voltage cable installation, the distance between splices must be maximised in order to minimise the cost. Therefore any improvement in cable installation length performance is very welcome. 2.4 Floating method Cable installation by using fluids that propel the cable has been widely used for more than 20 years in the telecommunications International Wire & Cable Symposium Figure 5. Floating of a single phase cable 170 Proceedings of the 58th IWCS/IICIT 2.5 Watucab method 3.1 Reference cables The patented Watucab method [1] is combining the benefits of the push-pull and the floating methods. According to this method a cable is fed into the pre-installed duct via a water inlet chamber attached to said duct. A watertight pig [2] is attached to the end of the cable. Pressurized water is fed into the duct via the water inlet chamber, the pressure difference over the watertight pig exerting a mechanical thrust, resulting in a pulling force at the cable foremost end. In addition to this pulling force a pushing force is exerted on the cable by means of a mechanical pusher located between cable drum and water inlet chamber. Similar to floating the cable is subjected to Archimedes uplift and friction can be reduced by environmental friendly additives in the water. The method is shown in the figure 6. Two reference cables are considered. Their respective characteristics are shown on Table 1. These cables are currently available and have been successfully installed with the new Watucab method [3]. The associated ducts are commonly used and fulfill conditions according to (1) and (2) Cable # Voltage [kV] Conductor [mm2] Screen 1 2 225 63 1200 Al 630 Al Al Al Cable # Outer dia Dc [mm] Lin. weight [N/ m] Stiffness [N/ m2] 1 2 109 66 111 43 6000 1800 Cable # Max pull allowed [N] Duct ID Diduct [mm] Ampl/ Period [mm] / [m] 1 2 48000 25200 192 102 200 / 28 125 / 17.5 Table 1. Reference cables Figure 6. Watucab method 3.2 Reference duct route Due to the presence of a watertight pig, the water flow is limited to the amount that travels with the cable, facilitating the water logistics, also for ducts of over 60 mm outer diameter. The Watucab method offers several important benefits when compared to other high voltage cable installation methods: 1) longer installation lengths in one step hence fewer splices, even along heavily tortuous duct routes 2) one step process, no need for P-line or winch-line 3) control of the whole process from drum side only reducing need for manpower and hazards inherent to communication or coordination 4) cable integrity better insured by drastically lower tensile and radial forces. As a result the Watucab method is much faster, less costly and safer for cable, duct and environment. The method has been tested and used several times in France with good performance and the cable lengths of 3 to 4 km have been reached in one step. The reference duct route is intended to simulate typical urban route conditions. It follows a horizontal plane and has 90° bends with 10 m radius are evenly spread along the RDR i.e. every 150 m, the undulation defined by Amplitude A and Period T is determined according to (2). (see figure 7) 3. Maximum distances by method In this chapter the maximum distances achieved, using the traditional pulling and push-pull method and the new watucab method are compared using two reference cables and ducts over reference duct route (RDR). The choice of duct which is specific for each reference cable fulfills the generally applied rule regarding the minimum ratio between cable outer diameter Dc and the duct inner diameter Diduct [1] . Also, as sections of buried ducts between bends are never perfectly straight it is assumed that they are continuously undulating. The chosen undulation period (T) and amplitude (A) match with field observation, T being a multiple of the duct outer diameter Doduct and A being equal to Doduct[2] Diduct / Dc ≥ 1.5 T = 140 x Doduct [m] A = Doduct [mm] International Wire & Cable Symposium Figure 7. Reference duct route (RDR) 3.3 Performances analysis The installation performances achieved over the RDR are obtained from calculations based on the theory of cable installation in ducts [4]. The results obtained from said calculations are closely matching with field experience worldwide and can therefore be considered as highly reliable. The performances achieved with each above mentioned installation method are calculated with the same RDR parameters as described in para. 3.2. Four different values for the coefficient of friction m between reference duct inner wall and cable jacket are considered: Mu = 0.1, 0.125; 0.15 & 0.2. Performances achieved per method are described on Table 2. (1) (2) 171 Proceedings of the 58th IWCS/IICIT 3.3.1 General observations 3.3.2 Forces exerted on the cable 3.3.2.1 Pulling force: From table 2 and 3 the performances achieved using the Pulling , Push-pull and Watucab method, one will note the significant performance increase of 35 to 60% brought by the push-pull method, respectively 87 to 95% by the Watucab method when compared to conventional pulling . The coefficient of friction Mu has a similar impact on all above mentioned installation methods. This means that lubrication remains a key element Mu = 0.2 Push-pull 40.00% 60.00% Watucab 93.87% 100.00% For the above described performance comparison, the pushing forces Fs [N] is identical for the Push-pull and Watucab method. our case i.e.10000 [N] for cable 1 and 2. see table 5 From table 4 below one notes the considerably lower pulling forces exerted on cable 1 and 2 when compared to the pulling force applied with the pulling or push-pull method. This contributes to enhance the service reliability of the cable Table 2. Relative length increase per method having a direct impact on the installation length, from Table 2 one can note that, for 0.1 < Mu < 0.2, the installation length is more or less inversely proportional to the coefficient of friction Mu. Cable # 1 2 Pulling 1500 1500 Mu = 0.1 Push-pull 2100 2400 Watucab 2850 3000 Cable # 1 2 Pulling 1200 1200 Mu = 0.125 Push-pull 1650 1950 Watucab 2250 2400 Cable # 1 2 Pulling 1001 1007 Mu = 0.15 Push-pull 1350 1650 Watucab 1950 1950 Pulling 750 750 Mu = 0.2 Push-pull 1050 1200 Watucab 1454 1500 Cable # 1 2 cable# 1 2 F / Fadm Pulling 0.00% 0.00% The pushing force Fs [N] applied in our case is 10000 [N]. This corresponds to the push exerted by available pushing mechanism which is common for both methods, i.e. Push-pull and Watucab. This value satisfies the cable manufacturer requirements. 48000 25200 48000 25200 17370 6120 36.19% 24.29% Table 4. Pulling forces comparison cable# 1 2 0 0 10000 10000 10000 10000 Fs Watucab/ Fs Push-pull Cable # 1 2 3.3.2.2 Pushing forces: [N] Watucab 94.81% 93.64% Where P is the water pressure [N/mm2] and Sduct is the duct inner cross area [mm2] Watucab (F) Mu = 0.15 Push-pull 34.87% 63.85% F = P x Sduct [N] Fs Watucab Pulling 0.00% 0.00% With Watucab the pulling forces F correspond to the force exerted by the water tight pig. They are equal to [N] Cable # 1 2 Scond = 1200 resp 630 [mm2] Push-pull (Fadm) Watucab 87.50% 100.00% σadm = 40 [N/mm2] Fs Push-pull Pulling 0.00% 0.00% Watucab 90.00% 100.00% [N] Cable # 1 2 Mu = 0.125 Push-pull 37.50% 62.50% Where: σadm is the max admissible tensile load on the conductor given by the cable manufacturer and S is the cable conductor metallic cross section [mm2]. For reference cables 1 and 2 Pulling (Fadm) Mu = 0.1 Push-pull 40.00% 60.00% F = Fadm = σadm x Scond [N] Fs Pulling Pulling 0.00% 0.00% Cable # 1 2 The pulling force F [N] needed for achieving the installation lengths shown on figure 2 are identical for the pull and pushpull methods and correspond to the maximum allowable pulling forces Fadm applicable for cable 1 & 2. These forces F are equal to: 100% 100% Table 5. Pushing forces comparison Table 3. Performance per method, installation length International Wire & Cable Symposium 172 Proceedings of the 58th IWCS/IICIT This buried duct route, made of 160/152 mm PVC includes a total of fourteen 90° bends and 3 siphons evenly spread over 976 m. This represents a cumulated angular deflection of 1620°. This is more severe than most urban duct routes. 4. Cost comparison of methods Although it is very difficult to compare the methods in specific countries in real monetary terms we have made an analysis of the cost factors based on man-hours and number of splice chambers required for the construction of a typical 21 km long underground power line cases. Manpower needed for duct placement and cable drum logistic is not taken into account here as it remains more or less equivalent with all installation methods analyzed here . The results are shown in table 5. For validation purpose 1 km of 90 kV, 1000 mm² Al, with ext. diameter 82 mm, 68 N/m has been successfully placed in the above described test circuit. Furthermore said cable has been placed and removed several times (for tests and demonstration purpose) To remove the cable the Watucab process is reversed i.e. water is injected from the opposite duct end after having pivoted the pig in order to make it act on the cable extremity as a pusher instead of a puller. The pusher is also reversed and becomes a puller. In this way the cable is removed from the duct and recoiled on the drum at a very low load. This demonstrates that Watucab is a reversible process allowing for an efficient upgrading of power-lines as the removed cable can be replaced by an other with larger capacity. Installation forces exerted on the cable : 6000 N for pulling respectively 7000 N for pushing. 5.2 Projects / field experience 5.2.1 Floating method Numerous customers’ projects have been accomplished and successfully achieved for low and medium voltage applications i.e. up to 25 kV networks. For instance:. lighting of highway interchanges, power distribution in dense urban areas, and special industrial application such power transmission in tunnels and water shafts. Table 5. Cost factor in cable installation methods In the Neuchâtel region, Switzerland (see Figure 9), floating in one step over a 2.7 km route, 3 x 12/20 kV, 125 mm2 Cu, linear weight 14 N/m, ext. diameter 34.5 mm, linear weight 23 N/m. Duct used: 3 x HDPE diameter 48/42 mm , wall mounted (water shaft). The numbers shown on table 5, based on recent experience, clearly indicate the importance of the savings obtained by the reduction of the quantity of joint chambers i.e., 60% when compared with pulling and 37% when compared with push-pull. The cost savings for labor is also significant i.e. 54% of the amount of man-days needed 5. Examples of tests and achievements using Floating and Watucab 5.1 Validation A dedicated test circuit has been built in France as described on figure 8. Figure 9 : Neuchâtel 5.2.2 Watucab method Over the last 4 years seven high voltage projects have been successfully carried out in France. The aim of the projects was to replace overhead power line sections heavily exposed to storms or, in urban areas, to meet new requirements for urban planning. To this day more than 100 km of single phase cable of 63 to 225 kV have been installed using the Watucab method. Section lengths range from 1.6 to 3.3 km. Two typical projects are: Figure 8 : trial circuit In Normandy, France (see Figure 10), installation over a 6.1 km long route, 3 x 90 kV, 630 mm2 Al single phase cable, ext. diameter 72 mm, linear weight 49 N/m. Duct used: 3 x HDPE International Wire & Cable Symposium 173 Proceedings of the 58th IWCS/IICIT 5) Faster and less costly installation 6) reversible process allowing network upgrade diameter 160/132 mm. Average section length 2.03 km, longest section: 2.3 km The high voltage cables are installed in increasing amounts under ground for several reasons. The main drivers are better protection of the cable against weather hazards and public acceptance than for aerial cables. The main limiting factor for underground cables has been the higher installation cost than for aerial cable networks. Watucab offers an efficient solution to install high voltage cable under ground at lower cost compared to any other underground cable installation method. The system has proved to be viable and offering important benefits to the cable companies, installers and the end customers 7. Acknowledgements Special thanks to Willem Griffioen for his precious support and advice during the preparation of this paper. 8. References [1] EP 1456923. “Method for Installing a High or Medium Voltage Power Cable in the Ground.” Plumettaz SA [2] EP 1518307 « Pig for installing a cable in a conduit » Plumettaz SA [3] M. Le STUM & Al., “Report on the Use of Extruded Cables on the French Grid”.Chap. 4 B1-204, CIGRE 2006, www.cigre.org [4] W. Griffioen, «Installation of Cables in Ducts”, Plumettaz SA Bex (CH) (1993) ISBN 9072125 37 1 Figure 10 : Normandy In Brittany, France (see Figure 11), installation over a 19 km long route, 3 x 63 kV, 800 mm2 Al single phase cable, ext diameter 68 mm, linear weight 51 N/m. Duct used: 3 x HDPE 125/102 mm The average section length is 3.17 km, longest section: 3.31 km.. The Authors Gerard Plumettaz received a MS degree in mechanical engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, in 1970 with an emphasis on machine tool techniques. Joined his family business, Plumettaz SA, Bex, Switzerland, in 1971 and became instrumental in product design, development and marketing. Initial task was to design and develop winching concepts for military tank retrieval. Here specialized winching techniques led to the design of underground placement methods. Until 2009, CEO of Plumettaz SA. Today Chairman of Plumettaz Holding SA, he is continuing to be active in the pursuit of advanced methods in underground placement technology. Jouni Heinonen holds a MS degree in mechanical engineering from the Tampere University of Technology, in Finland. He began his career in 1986 as Product manager at Falcon Chemicals in Finland and then joined Nokia Cable Machinery in Finland as Product Development Engineer. In 1988 he joined Nokia-Maillefer Oy as Product Development Manager and moved to Switzerland to join NokiaMaillefer SA, initially as Project leader to finally become Managing Director in 1996. From 1998 he held the role of Executive VP of Business Group Plastics of Nextrom and became CEO of Nextrom Holding SA from 1999. From 2005 to 2008, he held the role of CEO of Gurit Holding AG. Today, he is acting as CEO of Plumettaz Holding SA in Switzerland, a leading manufacturer of cable laying equipment. Figure 11 : Brittany 6. Conclusions A new method for installation of high voltage energy cables in pre-installed ducts has been developed and successfully applied. The method is applicable for ducts with an outer diameter superior to 60 mm. The main benefits gained from this innovation are 1) longer installation lengths in one step saving expensive joints 2) one step process 3) process control from drum side only enabling easy visual communication between active parties thus avoiding hazards 4) Increased protection of cable integrity International Wire & Cable Symposium 174 Proceedings of the 58th IWCS/IICIT
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