Model a Pipe Cable

In this tutorial, we will describe the steps needed to model a pipe cable. Pipe type cables are normally used
as submarine cables. They are constructed in such a manner that the three phases are inside a pipe, usually
made of steel.

The modelling for these type of cables in PowerFactory is similar to the single core cables described in the
tutorial Cable Parameters, which we recommend you to follow before continuing with this tutorial.

1 Import Project

Click on the icon , to import and activate the project for this exercise. The system voltage is 132 kV and it
consists of an external grid feeding a load of 40 MW through a line element of 50 km.

2 Pipe Type Cable

The line in the project has no type assigned. We will define the cable to have a structure consisting of the
following objects:
• Line Element - already defined (ElmLne)
• Cable System Type (TypCabsys)

• Multicore cable type (TypCabmult) selected as a pipe type cable

Create the structure using the following procedure:

• Double click on the line element in the single line diagram.

• Click on the select arrow ( ) in the Type field and choose New Project Type . . . → Cable Definition
(TypCabys).
• Rename the cable definition as “Pipe system”.
• Double click on the cell corresponding to the Cable Type of Circuit 1, a window pointing to the Equipment
Type Library will open.

• Click on the New Object icon and select Multicore/Pipe Cable Type (TypCabmult) as the Object. Click
OK.
• Change the name of the new object to “Three core XLPE 132 kV” and set the Rated Voltage to 132 kV.
• Set the Cable to Pipe-type.
CABLE PARAMETERS

• Deactivate the Armour and Serving layers by unchecking the corresponding Exists check-boxes. (later in
the exercise we will represent these layers using the pipe, on a separate tab).

• Input the parameters using the datasheet values provided in this table:

Description Thickness Material

Conductor 15.2 mm Copper
Conductor Screen 1 mm Extruded semi-conducting compound
Insulation 17.0 mm XLPE compound
Insulation Screen 1.0 mm Extruded semi-conducting compound
Metallic Sheath 2.9 mm Lead
Inner Jacket 2.9 mm Semi-conduction polyethylene
Core Outer Diameter 30.4 mm -

Table 2.1: Datasheet values for a three-core XLPE 132 kV 630 mm2 cable

Once the object has been configured the dialog should appear as shown in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: Parameters for Pipe Single Core Cable Type

We will now define the pipe of the cable using the information shown in table 2.2.

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CABLE PARAMETERS

Description Thickness Material

Bedding 2.0 mm Polypropylene strings
Armour 7.0 mm Galvanised steel wires
Serving 4.0 mm Single layer of polypropylene strings
Pipe Outer Diameter 207 mm -

Table 2.2: Datasheet values for the pipe of a three-core XLPE 132 kV 630 mm2 cable

• Go to the Pipe definition tab in the TypCabmult.

• Input 7.0 mm for the Thickness of the pipe, corresponding to the “Armour” and 6.0 mm for the Insulation
Thickness, corresponding to the “Bedding” plus “Serving” layers. The outer radius to be entered as
0.1035 m based on the provided outer diameter of 207 mm.
• Set the Resistivity to 13.8 µOhm*cm.

• For the material characteristics enter a relative permeability equal to 1 and a relative permittivity of the
filling and insulation both equal to 2.3.
• The dialog should appear as shown in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: Parameters of the Pipe

• Finally we will define the geometrical conductor coordinates on the Conductor coordinates tab.
• First enter the polar coordinates (Magnitude / Angle) for each phase. In order to calculate these values,
we must first know the cable radius per phase. This can be calculated by summing the thickness of each
layer earlier defined on the general tab. In this case a radius of “40 mm” can be calculated. For a trefoil
arrangement, it can be proven that the distance from the centre of the trefoil arrangement to the centre
of each single core cable is as follows:

2𝑟𝑖
𝑅𝑖 = √ (1)
3

Where 𝑟𝑖 is the radius of the Single Core Cable.

Rev.4 3
CABLE PARAMETERS

Figure 2.3: Ri and ri layout definition

• Enter the following values in the Polar Coordinates of cores field:

Magnitude 1 Magnitude 2 Magnitude 3 Angle 1 Angle 2 Angle 3

0.0462 0.0462 0.0462 90 210 330

Table 2.3: Polar coordinates

• The dialog should appear as shown in Figure 2.4.

Figure 2.4: Parameters of the Pipe

• The multicore cable type has now been fully parameterised. Click OK once to return to the selection
browser and once more to return to the TypCabsys dialog.
• On the Circuit Position tab, set the Distance from ground (i.e. the depth) to 0.4 m.

Rev.4 4
CABLE PARAMETERS

• On the the General tab select the Reduced check box and then press the Calculate button. This will
output the electrical values of our new cable. Un-check the Reduced button and press Calculate again.

• Analyse the impedance and admittance matrices of the cable system. As well as the output window, the
matrices can also be found on many of the other pages of the TypCabsys object.

Note: The Reduced option effectively considers the sheaths and armour (pipe) of the cable, to be perfectly
bonded to each other and to ground, facilitating the calculation of reduced element admittance and
impedance matrices.

We can compare our result matrices with the data provided by the cable vendor. This is illustrated in table 2.4:

Parameter Vendor Data PowerFactory Data

Cable Resistance 0.0283 Ohm/km 0.0346 Ohm/km
Cable Reactance 0.0913 Ohm/km 0.0947 Ohm/km
Cable Capacitance 60.63274 uS/km 60.89382 uS/km

Table 2.4: Pipe parameters for the positive sequence (reduced)

We can see that the reactance and capacitance values are consistent with the vendor data. However, for
the resistance value there is a difference. On closer inspection of the manufacturer data the reason for this
becomes clear. The figure is a 𝑅𝐷𝐶 value determined at 20°𝐶 whereas the PowerFactory figure is an AC
figure. If we look again at the dialog shown in figure 2.1, we can see that the DC figure for the conductor used
by PowerFactory, does indeed closely match the vendor data.

3 Additional PowerFactory Documentation

There is additional information available, depending on what you are looking for; the following documents
can be accessed either directly from PowerFactory or from the DIgSILENT download area ([Link]
[Link]/en/[Link]).

• Tutorials: step by step description of several tasks in PowerFactory. Help → Tutorial. . .

• Examples: the window PowerFactory Examples provides a list of application examples of PowerFac-
tory calculation functions. Every example comes with an explanatory document. Additionally, videos
demostrate the software handling and its functionalities. File → Examples. . .
• User Manual: all the functions, objects and settings of PowerFactory are described in the User Manual.
Pressing the key F1 while working with PowerFactory will lead directly to the related topic inside the User
Manual. Help → User Manual
• Technical References: description of the models implemented in PowerFactory for the different power
systems components. Help → Technical References
• What’s New: document and video provided with every annual release. Help → What’s New

• Release Notes: for all new versions and updates of the program Release Notes are provided, which
document the implemented changes. Help → Release Notes
• Knowledge base: a database of information, based on an FAQ format, available for any users (whether
registered or not) in [Link]
• Scripting References: description and examples of DPL and Python commands. Help → Scripting
References

Rev.4 5
CABLE PARAMETERS

• Additional Packages: documents with additional description and /or examples of the PowerFactory
Interfaces. Help → Additional Packages

Apart from the mentioned documentation, DIgSILENT provides Direct Technical Support, where PowerFac-
tory experts offer direct assistance to registered users with valid guarantee/maintenance. The Support Centre
is located on the website [Link]