SWA plus separate cpc

While on a site last week, I noted 25mm2 4-core swa cables being installed on a ladder and for some reason, each one had a 10mm2 separate copper cpc cable tied to the swa. The furthest run is about 50m from a DB where the EFLI is 0.1 ohms.

Just as an academic exercise, I set about trying to establish the current division between the wire armour and the separate 10mm2 copper cpc using the formulae in the IET Design Guide. Factoring in the usual temperature increases, 70 for phase in the swa, 60 for the wire armour and 30 for the separate cpc, the expected impedance was 0.25 ohms with a fault current (using 230) of 1140A dividing to 672A in the wire armour and 826A in the separate cpc.

Data used; R1 at 20C = 0.73mohms, R2a at 20C = 2.1mohms and R2p at 20C  = 1.83mohms. Likely there is no real merit in the pedantic adjustment for temperature, but hey!

If someone felt sufficiently bored and had an old fag packet, would they be kind enough to check my results? Strangely, if one reduces the separate cpc to 2.5mm2 the fault current is 936A dividing to 244A in the wire armour and 727A in the 2.5mm2 separate cpc. That is counter intuitive but perhaps expresses a limitation on the formulae or, much more likely, a limitation on my understanding!

  • I have a copy of a previous EIDG book and I calculated the total loop impedance at C (Zef) using the formula

    where 

    r=0.0815 ohms

    and 

    x=0.0597 ohms

    Zef=0.1 ohms

    Ief=2500 Amps

    How does this compare to the latest edition of the book? Is there a significant difference?

  • Based on the previous calculations that do not apply PD IEC/TR 504801, the final result is marginally higher, which is more conservative. I will adhere to this method because the empirical measurements correspond to the calculations performed using the prior method. So why change This method I have applied repeatedly when the actual measurements have matched  the calculations.? 

  • Your lack of response implies that you concede to my argument. Furthermore, as I have demonstrated in my calculations, the addition I use is optimal and does not require any alteration. What is the rationale behind proposing a new standard, other than generating revenue from book sales? It seems that the bureaucrats are meddling with the matter without justification.

  • Your lack of response implies that you concede to my argument.

    NONSENSE ... being unable to access the site since you posted does not indicate an agreement! This Forum is not an "answer on demand" service, but a public forum !

    will adhere to this method because the empirical measurements correspond to the calculations performed using the prior method.

    That is your prerogative.

    So why change

    As you will have gathered, some research was carried out, that provided a new empirical formula. It's not magic, but engineering.

    What is the rationale behind proposing a new standard, other than generating revenue from book sales?

    PD IEC/TR 50480:2011 is not a new standard. The IET would otherwise be criticised for not keeping up-to-date with standards. In addition, other publications (as referenced by others earlier in this thread) were already available with the (at the time) newer method, backed up by research.

    There's also the issue of precedence of standards vs guidance.

    It seems that the bureaucrats are meddling with the matter without justification.

    Really? Sweat smile

  • Hi Graham. You have mentioned PD IEC/TR 50480:2011, which is a technical report that introduces a new method of calculation and this technical report is not a standard, but a document that offers information and guidance. I would like to know why this technical report has not been developed into a standard yet? How widely is this technical report recognized and applied by the electrical engineering community? Is this technical report still being reviewed or revised by the relevant technical committees? If PD IEC/TR 50480:2011 becomes a standard, would it would most likely belong to the IEC 60364 series ?

  • I would like to know why this technical report has not been developed into a standard yet?

    It is a standard - but of the informative type rather than normative.

    The answer to the question (which I guess should be rephrased as "why is it not published as an international standard with a simply IEC number, and BS designation in the UK), is that it provides a methodology rather than a set of requirements for electrical installations.

    There are different types of standards.

  • How widely is this technical report recognized and applied by the electrical engineering community?

    I understand it's used by developers of calculation packages.

    However, it's a difficult question to answer, since even though SWA is commonly used, my understanding is that calculations for it are not really part of Level 3 courses any more, because the mathematics of complex numbers and phasor calculations are seen as more than "Level 3" these days (although this has not always been the case - I did complex numbers as part of O-level mathematics in the 1980s).

    So, if it's not taught, who's using it?

    I believe that is changing, though, at least with one of the C&G EV courses, hence the inclusion of the method in the 5th Edition EV CoP.

  • And as we discussed above the experimental evidence for some of  it is a bit thin - much being based on tests on two sizes of cable that are to be polite, both in the 'large' category,  It is not so clear if the empirical fitted  formulae can be safely extrapolated to cover say 4mm SWA. So it is better that it is informative data rather than binding. It might be more solid if there was EM modelling that matched the observations, or experimental results over a larger (and probably unfeasible to gather) range of armour and side cable sizes.

    Also when trying to make universal  rules It is not helped by the multitude of ways that steels made to the same specs may  not be identical - steel simply made to the same nominal approximate chemical composition and a given mechanical spec can have an electrical  resistivity anywhere in a range of perhaps 2:1, depending on crystalline re-alignment that occurs during the drawing process while steels made to a given electrical spec are far better in that regard, but may be much more variable in magnetic properties and mechanical performance

    And to use wires drawn from transformer grade  steels, with both well defined electrical and magnetic properties would make the cables more expensive to make than it would be to have copper armour instead...

    .So SWA makers aim for a given DC resistance, and the magnetic properties vary.

    No free lunch ;-)

    Mike.

    .

  • I would like to know why this technical report has not been developed into a standard yet?

    It is a standard - but of the informative type rather than normative.

    For the avoidance of doubt:

  • Is this technical report still being reviewed or revised by the relevant technical committees? If PD IEC/TR 50480:2011 becomes a standard, would it would most likely belong to the IEC 60364 series ?

    JPEL/64 have responsibility for this publication in the UK, although it is unlikely to become part of BS 7671 as discussed in a previous post.