Sheath Loss Factor for Cross-Bonded Cable Systems With Unknown Minor Section Lengths – Field Verification of the IEC Standard

The IEC Standard 60287-1-1 contains the formulae for the calculation of the sheath and armor loss factors of a 3-phase cable system. Sheath circulating current losses are computed for single-, multiple-, or cross-bonded systems. This paper deals with cross-bonded cable systems. For unequal minor section lengths, the standard gives a formula allowing calculation of the circulating current losses when the lengths of the minor sections are known. The origin of this formula is not documented; hence, this paper gives its derivation. When the lengths of the minor sections are not known, the standard suggests using a factor of 0.004, which multiplies the circulating current loss factor computed for a multi-point bonded system. In this paper, the cable sheath circulating loss factor was found using different methods with the aim of checking the applicability of the 0.004 multiplier to practical cable systems with differences in the length of minor sections and system voltage. Three different cable systems are studied; the first is a 132 kV circuit with known lengths of minor and major sections. The second circuit is a 220 kV system where the lengths of minor sections are unknown and the third is a 220 kV real system with known, highly irregular section lengths. The calculated values of sheath circulating current loss factor, applying the formulas from the IEC 60287-1-1, were compared to the values calculated based on practical measurements of sheath induced voltages and currents. The effect of taking the measured and IEC values on the continuous current rating (ampacity) is also presented for the first two circuits and the comparison of the unknown and known section lengths for the third circuit is offered.