Electricalunits

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 ?

Ans : The advantages of the underground cable are as follows :-

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.

3. When is a cable termed as L.T. mains and L.T. submains ?

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 :

1. Low tension cables – (1) 250-440 volts (2) 650-1100 volts.

2. High tension cables – (1) upto 3.3 kV. (2) up to 6.6 kV (3) up to 11 kV.
3. Super tension cables – (1)66 kV. (2) 132 kV.
4. Extra super voltage power cables – above 132 kV.

6. What are the full names of PVC, PILCSWA, PILCDSTA & S, XLPE and MIND
cables ?

Ans : P.V.C. cable – Poly Vinyl Chloride insulated cable.

P.I.L.C. cable – Paper Insulated Covered cable.

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.

XLPE cable – Cross Linked Polyethylene Insulated cable.

M.I.N.D. cable – Mass Impregnated Non Draining cable.

7. What are the essential elements of an underground 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.

11. What are the insulating materials used in underground cable ?

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.

12. What do you mean by the belt paper insulation ?

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.

13. What is the purpose of metallic sheath in underground cable ?

Ans : To protect the insulation against ingress of moisture.

14. what materials are generally used for metallic sheath ?

Ans : Lead, Lead alloy and Aluminium are generally used for metallic sheath.

15. What do you mean by bedding of a cable ?

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.

17. What do you mean by the armouring of a cable ?

Ans : Armouring of a cable means the provision of layers of galvanized or ungalvanised

steel wires or steel wires or steel tapes over the bedding.

18. Why is armouring provided in cable ? Under what operating conditions

unarmoured cables are used ?

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.

19. What are the different types of armouring used in cable ?

Ans : The different types of armouring are as follows :

(a) Galvanised or ungalvanised steel tape, (b) Galvanised round steel wire, (c) Galvanised
flat steel strip and (d) Hare drawn aluminium wire armour.

20. What are the merits and demerits of (a) Double steel tape armour & (b) Single
wire armour ?

Ans : (a)Double steel tape armour –

Merits : It is gives a good protection against impact, mechanical damage and any
penetration of sharp bodies.
Demerits : It is inflexible. It has grater loss rather than wire armour.
(b) Single wire armour –
Merits : It is higher longitudinal strength, more flexibility and greater electrical
conductivity with minimum loss rather than steel tape armour. It can be easily handled
with short bend.
Demerits : Mechanical protection is poor rather than steel tape 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.

What can be the causes of

damage to PVC cables and
paper insulated cables?
In case of PVC cables the mechanical damage during excavation or by any other means
may other means may cause a breaking of conductor or a short circuit between
conductors of different phases or a short circuit between the conductor and earth. In
case of PILC cables, a puncture of the lead sheath during excavation or by any vibration
or by any chemical action of corrosive compounds of soil may cause an ingress of
moisture resulting damage to the insulation and consequent short circuits. Defective
conductors having uneven size and broken strand of conductors excessive drainage of
impregnated oil due to the crack in lead shealth or improper end seals and deterioration
of oil compound due to heating caused by dielectric losses or overload or poor heat
dissipation or exposure to external heat source can be the causes of damage to the
cable.

What precaution should be

taken while taken a cable
through trenches in the
following locations (a) Road
crossing, (b) Railway
crossing & (c) Crossing of
water mains ?
(a) Road crossing – steel or spun reinforced concrete pipes should be used to carry the
cable at minimum depth of 1.00 metre because of their high resistance to mechanical
damage from traffic vibrations. The pipe should cross the road on the skew to reduce
the angle of bend as the cable enters and leaves the road crossing.

(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.

What is called “Barrier

joint” of cable ?
Barrier joint is a very compact special type of screened joint and so constructed that
each joint is itself a barrier to the flow of compound from the joint or the migration of
compound from a high to a low level. In this type of joint, no liquid oil compound is
used. The insulation consists of a hand applied paper tapes impregnated and coated
with styrene which on being heated slowly polymerizes into a hard solid mass and forms
a complete barrier. “Barrier joint” is also known as Styrene joint. This method is
specially useful for high voltage 3-core cable as the joint is mechanically rigid and
displacement of the cores can not occur.

What is called “Heat

shrinkable joint” of cable?
Heat shrinkable joint is such a type of cable joint made of glass fiber or cast iron housing
where thermally shrinkable PVC tubes or polyethylene (PE) tubes are used as a sleeve to
insulate cable joints, shield open conductors and also to seal connectors. Heat
shrinkable tubes serve as cable coverings slipped over bare conductors. The internal
diameter of these tubes is so chosen that after free shrinkage at 130°C to 180°C
temperature on exposure to the stream of hot air, or the flame of a burner rapidly
moved along the tube the internal diameter of the tube becomes 10% to 20% smaller
than the external diameter of the cable conductor to be insulated. So this tube on
heating tightly envelops the joint leaving no free space inside. The length of the tubes
should be selected considering 10% to 15% linear shrinkage. This type of joint is mainly
used in high voltage PILC cables.

What are the procedures to be

adopted for determining the
types of cable faults ?
The following procedures are to be adopted for determining the types of cable faults
whether it is a phase to phase fault, a phase to ground fault or an open circuit fault-

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.

What is proximity effect ?

Proximity effect means the interaction of magnetic fields associated with adjacent
current carrying conductors parallel to each other causing a further redistribution of the
current which likewise increases the ohmic d.c. the resistance of the conductor.
Proximity effect increases with the conductor diameter and becomes maximum when
the cables are practically in contact. Therefore, a correction is mainly necessary for L.T.
cables of large cross section. Again this effect can also become important under the
certain condition of cable installation. When cables are laid parallel to metal beams,
walls etc as frequently happens in buildings or ships this effect increases the apparent
impedance of these cables appreciably. Ultimately proximity effect exerts influence on
the current carrying capacity of the cables.

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.

What is soil thermal

resistivity ?
Soil thermal resistivity is defined as “the difference in degrees centigrade between
opposite faces of a centimeters cube of soil caused by the transference of one watt of
heat and is expressed in thermal ohm/cm or °C cm/watt. When the cables are buried in
the ground the heat transmitted through the cables passes into the surrounding soil.
The ground surface above the cable is a plain isothermal of the ambient temperature so
that all the heat generated is ultimately transmitted to the ground surface which
remains at a constant temperature. In general, soils having a higher percentage of
moisture will have a lower thermal resistivity and consequently the best heat dissipating
qualities, whereas porous or well-drained soils have a higher thermal resistivity. Soil
resistivity varies over a period of 12 months. Lower resistivity occurs in the rainy season
when the moisture content is high and ground temperature low and the converse
occurs in the summer. In water logged area the soil thermal resistivity will tend to be
reduced.
Soils vary enormously in their thermal resistivity from as low as g = 30°C cm/watt in
certain water logged soils to a very unfavorable ground which may approach g = 400 °C
cm/watt. The current rating of the cable should then be based on the highest value of
soil thermal resistivity observed. Therefore, soil thermal resistivity should be an
essential preliminary to the determination of the correct current for a given cable

What are the methods of cable

laying ?
There are five different methods of laying cables e.g. (a) Laying direct in ground, (b)
Drawing in ducts, (c) Laying on racks in air, (d) Laying on racks inside a cable tunnel and
(e) Laying along buildings or structures.

what are the applications of different systems of cable laying?

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.

what special cares are to be

taken for storage of cable
drum ?
For storing of a cable drum visual inspection should be made to detect any damage
suffered during transport. Manufacturer’s seals on both ends of the cable should be
inspected by removing the battens partially. The condition of armoring, serving,
sheathing of the upper layers and the projecting end of the cable should be inspected
for any signs of scoring, scratches, dents, mechanical injuries or leakage of impregnation
oils.
It the above visual inspection proves satisfactory the following special cares should be
taken –

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.

What are the load conditions

of an underground cable ?
The load conditions are (a) Normal continuous load, (b) Intermittent load, (c) Short time
load and (d) Cyclic load.

Normal continuous load

By normal continuous load, it is meant that the given load current will be flowing
continuously through cables.

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.

What do you mean by thermal

resistance of a single core
cable ?
The thermal resistance depends on the geometry of the cable and the thermal
resistance ‘K’ of the insulate. For a single core cable the thermal resistance between the
conductor of radius ‘r’ and sheath of overall radius ‘R’ is proportional to the thermal
resistivity “K” and thickness of the cable insulates, and inversely proportional to the
surface area of the sheath. It can be expressed as Rth = K/2π 〖log〗e R/r °C/watt . For a 1
cm length of cable (i.e. thermal ohms/cm).

What do you mean by the term

“Dielectric losses” ?
The dielectric loss is a power loss which occurs in the paper insulation (dielectric) of a
cable as a result of the electric field developed due to the leakage current and the
reversal of current in case of a.c. supply. This loss increases with temperature. It has a
direct bearing on the operation of a cable. A specific cable has a definite heat dissipating
ability at its operating temperature. Therefore, any increase in dielectric loss will result
in a decrease in load carrying ability. Dielectric losses are usually negligible for cables
operating upto 33 kV.

What is the procedure of

reducing the sheath losses in
sheaths of the three single
core cables in a 3-phase
system ?
The sheath losses, which is proportional to the conductor losses, can be reduced by cross
bonding the sheaths of the sheaths of the three single core cables. Since the three
sheath voltages are 120° apart therefore in cross bonded cables the net sheath voltage
will be zero when the single core cables are placed at the vertices of an equilateral
triangle. Practically, in many cases the symmetry of the cable arrangement becomes
impossible. In that case, the three voltages in series will not be quite balanced and some
residual voltage will appear which no doubt results in the relatively small amount of
sheath losses. In order to completely eliminate the sheath losses, the sheath voltages
are balanced by transposing by transposing the cables as in case of overhead lines along
with cross bonding.

What do you mean by the term

“Sheath losses” ?
The sheath loss of a cable is a power loss occurs in the lead sheath as a result of the
induced e.m.f. produced by the flux linkage with the lead sheath. When single core
paper insulated lead covered and served power cables are used on a.c. system the
presence of a lead sheath around each insulated conductor has an important effect on
the electrical characteristics and current rating of the cable. If the lead sheaths are
bonded together or earthed a voltage will be induced in the open circuited sheaths by
transformer action between the conductors and the sheaths, the value of which
depends on the flux interlinked with the lead sheaths and increases with the increase in
the interaxial spacing of the cables. The induced sheath voltages are short circuited
through the bonding resulting a flow of current along the sheath and thus dissipating
energy as heat through the cable serving and surrounding earth or air. The eddy
currents are also generated in the lead sheaths due to the lack of perfect symmetry in
the lead sheath circuit relative to the magnetic field. Therefore the heating losses which
occur in the lead sheaths are of two types e.g. (a) sheath circuit loss for bonded sheaths
only and (b) sheath eddy loss. The sheath eddy loss is generally very small compared
with the sheath circuit loss and can be neglected in many cases.

What do you mean by MIND

cable and where is it used ?
MIND cable means Mass Impregnated Non-Draining type cable. In paper insulated cable
the impregnating oil compound has a tendency to drain or migrate when laid on step
slopes. Such migration of impregnating compound makes the paper insulation dry at the
upper portion which creates voids and initiates ionization. Moreover accumulated
compound at the lower portion creates pressure on the metal sheath and may cause its
damage. To overcome this difficulty, the paper insulated cables are impregnated with a
non-draining resin base compound containing petroleum jelly or microcrystalline waxes.
These MIND cables are available for all voltages up to and including 33 kV. These cables
are suitable for vertical run particularly on hills or in mines.

What do you mean by XLPE

cable and what are its
advantages over conventional
cables ?
XLPE cable means cross linked polyethylene insulated aluminium conductor armoured
cable. In XLPE cable stranded aluminium conductor is first screened in the form of a
semi conducting extrusion which provides a smooth conductor surface and prevents
formation of cavities at the surface of the conductor when the cable is subjected to
bending. The screened conductor is insulated with extruded XLPE compound. The
insulation is further screened with layer of nonmetallic semiconducting material and
over that a non magnetic metallic screen in the form of copper or aluminium tape is
applied. In case of multicore cables cores are laid together with suitable filler in the
interstices and wrapped with PVC tapes or extruded PVC. For mechanical protection non
magnetic aluminium wire/ strip/tape armour for single core cables and steel wire
armour for multicore cables are provided over the inner sheath. A layer of PVC/PE is
extruded as outer sheath usually in back colour to prevent ingress of moisture.

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.

What do you mean by XLPE

cable and what are its
advantages over conventional
cables ?
XLPE cable means cross linked polyethylene insulated aluminium conductor armoured
cable. In XLPE cable stranded aluminium conductor is first screened in the form of a
semi conducting extrusion which provides a smooth conductor surface and prevents
formation of cavities at the surface of the conductor when the cable is subjected to
bending. The screened conductor is insulated with extruded XLPE compound. The
insulation is further screened with layer of nonmetallic semiconducting material and
over that a non magnetic metallic screen in the form of copper or aluminium tape is
applied. In case of multicore cables cores are laid together with suitable filler in the
interstices and wrapped with PVC tapes or extruded PVC. For mechanical protection non
magnetic aluminium wire/ strip/tape armour for single core cables and steel wire
armour for multicore cables are provided over the inner sheath. A layer of PVC/PE is
extruded as outer sheath usually in back colour to prevent ingress of moisture.

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.

What are varnished cambric

insulated cables ?
The Varnished Cambric cables are made in single and multi core designs either with
fibrous braiding and flame proof or fire resistant finish or with the metallic or
nonmetallic sheath with or without further protective covering. Varnished cambric is
not sufficiently moisture resistant to be used in a wet environment without a
continuous metallic covering and is suitable for operating temperatures from 70°C to
80°C. The dielectric loss of varnished cambric insulation is higher than of impregnated
paper insulation. These cables are ideally suitable in hot and dry used such as in steel
plant, foundries, rolling mills, furnaces, metallurgical plants and industrial substations.
These are also suitable for the transmission of high voltage power over short distances.