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parralel power cables

Hi:

I have a question about paralleling cables. I know the U.S. NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE states parrallel cables must all be the same length. however in practice it is not always practical to have them all exactly the same. what is an acceptable allowance on the difference?

the situation I have is 12 parrallel cables per phase 12.5 kv 2410 amps

3 phase 60 cycle. 36 cables total, 12 per conduit. quanity of six, six inch ridgid galvenized conduits. 2 A, 2 B , 2 C cables in each conduit. With a 330 foot length will a difference in length of 6 feet in cables of the same phase cause an unacceptable inbalance of current??

I am not an enginer, but an electrican. I have seen people spend an extra 50 or more hours in a situation like this to get the cables all the exact length. Is this nessasary?? From what I read and calculate, using the impedance of the cables at 2410 amps/12 = 200.8 amps per conductor. effective impedance of 500 MCM cable in steel conduit shortest 330 ft. long = .02854 effective impedance of 500 MCM cable in steel conduit longest 336 ft. long = .02906 the rest of the cables are all between this in proportional lenghts 300' 8",

301' 16" 302'4", ect due to the difference in length of the bends in conduit.

the formula I have found is

I long cable = I total x Z short cable/(Z long cable + Z short cable) I short cable = I total x Z long cable/(Z long cable + Z short cable) The shortest cable would carry a current of 202.6 amps the longet acurrent of 199 amps Is this the correct way to figure the current inbalance???

I understand all cables must be the same insulaton type, conductor type, same type of conduit ect. If you assume equal temperatures, you will be conservative in the current split. That is, you will calculate more current in the shorter conductor than will actually be the case. The shorter conductors will carry more current because the resistance and inductance will be less. With higher temperature, the resistance will increase, reducing the difference between the short and long conductors.

Reply to
Dave
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There should be an engineer that designed that job. Find him or her and have he or she give you the answer. If he says they all have to be the exact same length then ask for chapter and verse. It dosen't sound well engineered to me. The length can vary but duct configuration, fill arounf the duct ( dirt, sand, concrete etc.) and the loading cycle are things that need to be considered. He's using 12 cables at 200 amps each when he could have use 6 rated at 400. Six phase conductors in one conduit have to be derated to 80 % of of that with 3 conductors. If he does want the cables to be the exact same length then start what ever paperwork you have to get more money for the job.

Reply to
B J Conner

No accecptable difference. Here is what you are really saying: "I am too lazy to measure 36 cables the same length". The Code is there for a reason. Being lazy is no excuse!!!

Reply to
Brian

It would be a well designed duct bank if every conduit it it were exactly the same length. In reality they are always different by 5 or

6' ( could be more). So would you measure the longest run and cut all cables to that length? You might have to put loops in the cables that were to long ( tricky with 15 kV cable). Ypu could cut to the shortest length and use a cable streacher on the shroter ones. Cables that are different by a few feet in a run of 360 will stabalize and operate fine for ever if they are designed correctly. The cable in the group that will cary the highest percentage of the load can be identifed and evaluated. If it's going to operate at 110% of it's rated load then the cables may fail one after another. Brain may be lazy but he may be doing the work of an even lazier engineer. If the route is not the same for each cable then the engineer needs to verify on the drawing ( of somewhere ) that he has evaluated the situation and it is acceptabel. If not he needs to desing the duct bank, vaults and nmination sections of the gear such that each cable can be cut the same length with 1/16". If the engineer doesn't say whats good then the inspector may want them to be within 1/32", something that may be impossible. So the real question is what is the "Same".

Reply to
BJ Conner

I will refer you to a situation. We had 4-500 kcmil per phase in cable tray about 26 feet in total length. The cables were in a flat configuration with

4 A-phase cables, 4-B Phase cables, 4-C-phase cables. The individual A and B phase and B and C phase cables that were next to each other carried about 350 amperes. The outside cables for A-phase and C phase carried about 30 amperes. This was on the Alaska's north slope in about 1982 on the Houston pad. Word got around and engineers from all over the slope came by to look at the readings. They simply could not believe their eyes. They all agreed that it was an inductance problem where the adjacent cables had lower inductance and therefore carried most of the current. The Code now requires that parallel cables in cable trays be bundled to prevent this. Now on the exact same length for parallel cables - I have often wondered about this. I know for a fact that most electricians do not cut the cables to the exact length but cut them for the convenience of installation and for looks. I have done this myself on occasion. We are supposed to cut the same amount from each set of parallel conductors for each phase, but we seldom do. I have not seen or read any literature about how this effects the current carrying of the conductors. I am sure it is not as bad as the situation that I previously described.
Reply to
Gerald Newton

Seems to me that it would be better to bundle conductors in groups of 3 or 4 (if neutral is carried) and then parallel the three phase "feeders."

Each feeder would with be twisted (random) or have the conductors quasi-randomly transposed.

This would cancel out most inductive coupling effects and make the current division in reverse proportion to length.

In the original post, if each feeder were in its own conduit, one feeder being a few percent longer than other would reduce its current by only a few percent.

Reply to
John Gilmer

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