Eliminating the effect of hot spots on underground power cables using cool pavements

Abstract

It is well known that hot spots limit the ampacities of underground power cables. There are many commonly applied methods to control the thermal environment in hot spots of underground power cables. However, applications of cool pavements for this specific purpose would be a novelty in the field of power cable engineering. This paper considers the use of different cool pavements in combination with thermally stable bedding and/or pure quartz sand for mitigating or eliminating the thermal effect of an actual hot spot on the ampacities of a 110 kV cable line and a group of four 35 kV three-core cables installed in Belgrade, the Republic of Serbia. In the hot spot, the 110 kV cable line is installed in parallel with the group of 35 kV cables and crosses a district heating pipeline. All distances between these underground installations are lower than the recommended ones, and the 110 kV and 35 kV cables are laid at depths greater than required. The mutual thermal effects between the underground installations in the hot spot are simulated using FEM-based models for different environmental conditions. An experimental background is also provided. In comparison with the corresponding base cases, it has been found that the ampacities of the 110 kV cable line and group of 35 kV cables can be increased up to 25.1% and 60.9% in summer, and up to 62.8% and 170% in winter, respectively.