Electrical: Module 3: Lecture Notes1 [Link] 3b.
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A.C. Supplies
Cables
Perhaps the best starting point from which to study the process of design, and in particular the cables we shall be using to
distribute the supply throughout the installation, is the 'General Application Table' included within the Guidance Notes to
the Regulations (IEE On-Site Guide, 1992, p83).
Type Uses Additional Precautions
(if any)
PVC or rubber-insulated non-sheathed In conduits, cable ducting or trunking,
but not underground
Light circular PVC-insulated and sheathed (i) General indoor use other than imbedding Additional protection where exposed to severe mechanical stresses
(ii) Underground in conduit or pipes
Flat PVC-insulated and sheathed (i) General indoor use Additional protection where exposed to severe mechanical stresses
(ii) On exterior surface walls boundary walls etc.
(ii) Overhead wiring between buildings
(iv) Underground in conduits or pipes
Mineral-insulated General With overall PVC covering where exposed to weather or risk of
corrosion, or where installed underground or in concrete ducts
PVC-insulated and armoured General With overall PVC covering where exposed to weather or risk of
corrosion, or where installed underground or in concrete ducts
Paper-insulated General (i) With armouring where exposed to severe mechanical stress or
where installed underground
(ii) With serving where installed in concrete ducts
Well the information is concise, but hardly informative. So before we start, let’s look at the physical limitations and
applications of the equipment we are to use.
As we saw in Module 2, part 5 - any cabling system consists of three essential components:
1. The metallic conductor which provides the electrical conducting path (a conductor with its insulation, but without
mechanical protection is known as the 'core' of the cable).
2. The insulation, often called the 'dielectric' which prevents direct and dangerous contact between the energised
conductors and other objects.
3. The external protection, preventing the ingress of moisture, mechanical damage, chemical and electro-chemical
attack, fire or any other influences which are harmful to the cable itself.
Conductors
The material used must have
Low Resistance
Good Durability
Good Handling Properties
Reasonable Cost
The material with the lowest resistance is silver (1.63 m -cm) but that most commonly used is copper (1.75 mW-cm) by
virtue of its cost and general suitability for installation.
Tinned copper and plain copper conductors can operate successfully at temperatures up to about 150oC. Above this
temperature it is advisable to use silver-plated or nickel-plated copper conductors.
Aluminium (2.83 m -cm) is used in special situations because of its low cost and lightness. It is not suitable for normal or
general applications due to difficulties in jointing (points of high resistance are formed due to chemical action). It is not
recommended in the smaller conductor sizes [not generally available below 16 mm2] and the need to use special
compression tools to terminate the larger cables results in many major users, local authorities, health authorities, etc.,
specifying only copper within their installations. The principal users therefore of aluminium conductors are the Electricity
Companies.
Conductors need to have:
An adequate cross sectional area for the designed current flow,
adequate physical strength,
adequate flexibility
(Cables are used for fixed installations, flexible cables and flexible cords are used in those parts of the installation which are
not fixed - A flexible cord is a flexible cable in which the cross sectional area of the conductor does not exceed 4 mm2).
Conductors may be solid:
In small cables where the diameter of the conductor affords reasonable flexibility in installation, and in larger cables
where flexibility is not required in either installation or use.
Or stranded:
In larger cables where a solid conductor would be unacceptable or in cases where flexibility is required.
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Solid conductors are normally circular, whilst Stranded conductors may be
The shaped conductors are designed to reduce the space between the cores in a multi-core cable thereby eliminating or
reducing the packing or additional insulation which would otherwise be required.
Conductors are specified by their nominal cross sectional area but may be formed from a number of strands (BS 6360).
The current carrying capacity of the conductor and therefore its use, depends upon the cross sectional area thus:
Classification Area Conductor Type Current-carrying Typical
(mm2) Number capacity (A) uses
& Diam (Typical)
of wires (mm)
Cables for Fixed Installations 1.0 1/1/13 Solid 11 Lighting
(Circular-conductors) 1.5 1/1.38 Solid 14 Lighting
2.5 1/1.78 Solid 18 General Power
4.0 7/.085 Stranded 24 General Power
6.0 7/1.04 Stranded 31 Cookers
10.0 7/1.35 Stranded 42 Showers
16.0 7.1.70 Stranded 56 Sub-mains
Flexible Cords 0.5 16/0.20 Stranded 3 Lighting
0.75 24/0.20 Stranded 6 Appliances
1.0 32/0.20 Stranded 10 Appliances
1.5 30/0.25 Stranded 15 Electric Fires
Insulation
The material used for insulation must have:
high resistivity (good insulating properties)
good durability
adequate strength
satisfactory flexibility
reasonable cost,
and of course the safe working voltage depends upon the electrical characteristics of the insulation and on it thickness,
and its life depends upon maximum operating temperature. The principal types of insulation are:
a. Air; conductors suspended or supported at intervals
b. Polyvinyl Chloride Compound (PVC)
c. Heat Resisting PVC
d. Cross linked Polyethylene (XLPE)
e. Paper
f. Ethylene Propylene Rubber (EP rubber)
g. Silicon Rubber
h. Fluorocarbon Polymers
i. Mineral Insulation (MI, MIMS, MICS)
The useful life that can be obtained from a cable depends very much on the conditions under which it is used and its
temperature of operation.
a. Air
The dielectric strength of air is 3 MV/m, but this depends upon the degree of atmospheric pollution and humidity. In terms
of cost, since conductors using air as an insulation have to be supported or suspended at intervals, the cost of the
supports can be considerable but generally much less than other forms of insulation at the same power and voltage levels.
Acceptable in working voltages up to 2 MV but this depends upon the degree of pollution and humidity.
In terms of disadvantage any system which uses air as an insulation medium must ensure that either the conductors are
totally enclosed or rendered inaccessible to prevent risk of fire or shock.
b. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
The conventional PVC, which has been used as an insulation on a large proportion of cables, is suitable for continuous
operation at 70oC. The current ratings given within the IEE Wiring Regulations are based upon an ambient temperature of
30oC but correction factors are given for ambient temperatures of operation up to 65oC, thus at ambient temperatures
above 65oC it is necessary to consider materials with better heat resistance.
Allied to durability, the life of PVC is considerably in excess of 30 years and being resistant to chemicals, oils grease and to
a certain extent to sunlight, with a self-quenching property in fires*, PVC is an obvious choice as the 'all-round' insulation
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material.
In strength, PVC has good strength and resistance to abrasion at normal working temperatures but it softens, and its
insulation resistance falls, at higher temperatures - and it becomes brittle at lower temperatures.
The working voltage for normal installations is 600/1000 volt rating but of course higher voltage ratings are available where
necessary.
* Standard PVC compounds are self-extinguishing when the source of ignition is removed, but the material will continue to
burn when subjected to fire from adjacent burning material. In addition toxic and corrosive gases are produced.
c. Heat Resisting PVC
This involves the use of special plasticisers and stabilising agents in the PVC which enable it to operate continuously at
85oC. In installations where it is possible to guard against plastic flow and where low values of insulation resistance can be
tolerated, these compounds are suitable for operation and temperatures up to 105oC for periods not exceeding 5 years.
Nevertheless it is still basically PVC so it will become soft and easily deformed at high temperature, e.g. Under fault
conditions. It also becomes stiff at temperatures near 0oC. Accordingly Heat Resisting PVC is used mainly for the internal
wiring of apparatus such as fluorescent fittings and domestic appliances.
d. Cross-linked Polyethylene (XLPE)
Despite its excellent electrical properties the use of polyethylene has been limited by an upper operational temperature of
about 70oC due to its thermoplasticity. By cross-linking, this constraint is removed and the working temperature is
increased to 90oC. This type of insulation is often favoured for sub-main installations where the increased temperature
rating offers a higher current capacity than the equivalent core-size in PVC. In addition, compared to conventional PVC,
this type of insulation minimises the amount of smoke and corrosive gas production in the event of fire.
e. Paper
A strong durable insulation - now largely replaced with PVC or XLPE which are cleaner - paper insulated cables use oil
impregnated paper which is enclosed in a lead or lead alloy sheath to prevent leaching and which needs careful sealing to
prevent the ingress of moisture.
The costs for this method of insulation are relatively low but what increases the overall cost dramatically is the need to
protect the soft lead sheath from mechanical damage which may then require an additional metal overall sheath or steel
wire armour. The cable is suited to extremely heavy duty use in fixed service and supply distribution cables.
For normal installations the cables are available with a working voltage range from 600/1000 volt grade, but in fact in higher
voltage ranges this method of insulation becomes more attractive as the cost of considerable thicknesses of other types of
insulating materials becomes prohibitive.
Maximum ambient temperature: 75oC.
Disadvantages: Cable jointing is an expensive process due to the need to prevent moisture penetration and usually
requires the use of bitumen filled joint boxes. In addition vertical cable sections may require pressurisation to prevent the
draining of the oil impregnation.
f. Ethylene Propylene Rubber (EPR)
Insulation compounds based on EPR and meeting the requirements of BS 6899 are suitable for continuous operation at
90oC and remain flexible down to minus 50oC. They are used as insulation for cables intended for hot situations, e.g. Boiler
rooms and heated ceilings. EP rubber has now largely replaced Butyl Rubber as the major high temperature rubber
insulation material.
g. Silicon Rubber
Silicon rubber is another synthetic rubber with good insulation properties and it can be operated continuously at
temperatures up to 150oC whilst remaining flexible at temperatures down to about minus 50oC. It is considerable more
expensive that EP rubber and is therefore only suitable in situations where its high temperature properties are required
such as final connections to tungsten, tungsten halogen and high pressure discharge lamp-holders.
h. Fluorocarbon Polymers
There are a number of materials under this category (for example, PTFE [Polytetrafluor Ethylene], FEP [Fluorinated
Ethylene Propylene], ETFE [Ethylene Tetrafluor Ethylene], and these are substantially more expensive that the organic
materials listed above but have excellent resistance to oils, solvents and practically all chemical reagents.
PTFE Operating range minus 75oC to 260*/150oC
* These operating temperatures are based upon the relatively short life associated with aerospace use. For longer life the
lower maximum temperature should be used. The dimensions of PTFE cables are generally smaller that those used with
PVC or similar cables and copper plated ** conductors are generally used to withstand the processing and operating
conditions.
** A thin coating of tin on each wire serves as a barrier to prevent chemical interaction between certain constituents of the
insulation and the copper. Tinned copper conductors have a slightly higher electrical resistance than plain copper wires.
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i. Mineral Insulation
The beginning of Mineral Insulated cable can be traced back to the late 19th Century when a Swiss engineer, Arnold Borel,
first proposed a cable constructed from inorganic materials completely enclosed in a metallic sheath, patenting this
invention in 1896. His intention was to construct a cable that would operate at high temperatures, even in fire, and at the
same time would be resistant to severe mechanical stress. The idea lay dormant until 1934, when a French Company
devised a commercially viable product and began to manufacture the cable at Clichy under the trade name 'Pyrotenax'.
The mineral insulation - Magnesium Oxide - is therefore used in connection with a special cable - Mineral Insulated Copper
Sheathed (MICS), [Otherwise known as MICC - Mineral Insulated Copper Clad or Covered, or MIMS - Mineral Insulated
Metal Sheathed]. These cables have a conductor or conductors which are surrounded and held in place by a highly
compressed magnesium oxide powder which acts as the insulating material.
The magnesium oxide itself being held in place by a copper sheath. The magnesium oxide insulation has a very high
resistance but absorbs water from the atmosphere (hydroscopic). Special jointing techniques are therefore necessary to
terminate the cable correctly to prevent the ingress of moisture which will short-out the cable. These 'moisture-proof- seals
take the form of a small hollow pot or seal which is first screwed onto the end of the cable and then filled with a 'puttylike'
material.
The insulation will withstand considerable temperature in fires, but even in normal use, because of the ease with which the
construction is able to dissipate heat, MICC cables can therefore be run at higher temperatures than other types of cable.
Maximum ambient temperature is determined by the particular sealing material being used, but is typically within the range
100-145oC. The cables are highly resistant to impact damage but if the outer metal [generally copper although aluminium is
available] is punctured then insulation values will seriously fall. Where the cable is exposed to the atmosphere it is
available with an outer layer of PVC [usually orange since this is the standard colour for electrical services, although other
colours are available].
The cables are normally available with the following number of conductors:
and the I.E.E. Wiring Regulations gives current ratings and voltage losses for both the 600 V light duty range and the 1000
V duty range.
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