Danijela Palmgren, SLOKO Cigre, Kranjska Gora, May 2009

The Experience of using Distributed

Temperature Sensing (DTS) in XLPE
Power Cables
ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 1

Content

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 2

System description

Measurements

Calculations

Summary

System description

Al-conductor

Two 132 kV cable circuits in parallel

Conductor screen

Approx. 2.6 km cable route

XLPE Insulation

Fibre in Metallic Tube (FIMT) integrated

into the copper wire screen

Each FIMT contains multimode fibres

External fibre optic cable (FOC)

attached to the power cable for
additional temperature control

DTS system (DTS 800 M8)

Temperature measurements on two

independent loops

Insulation screen
Copper wire screen with
2 integrated FIMTs
Al-laminate
PE-Oversheath

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 3

System description

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 4

Content

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 5

System description

Measurements

Calculations

Summary

20
08
-1
101
20
08
-1
103
20
08
-1
105
20
08
-1
107
20
08
-1
109
20
08
-1
111
20
08
-1
113
20
08
-1
115
20
08
-1
117
20
08
-1
119
20
08
-1
121
20
08
-1
123
20
08
-1
125
20
08
-1
127
20
08
-1
129
20
08
-1
201
20
08
-1
203
20
08
-1
205
20
08
-1
207
20
08
-1
209
20
08
-1
211
20
08
-1
213

Soil Temperature ['C]

Soil temperature
12

10

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 6

1m depth
2m depth
3m depth

Load current
1200

1000

Current [A]

800

600

400

200

0
1

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 7

w. 45

w. 46

w. 47

w. 48

w. 49

4963

w. 50

60

1200

50

1000

40

800

30

600

20

400

10

200

0
1
25
2008-11-17

0
49
73
97
2008-11-20

121
145
169
2008-11-23

FIMT

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 8

193
217
241
2008-11-26

265
289
313
2008-11-29

External FO

337
361
385
2008-12-02

409
433
2008-12-05

Current

Both the FIMT and the external optical cable give a good reflection of the cyclic
loading and the general temperature trend

But with the external optical cable the response to load variations is somewhat
delayed and the accuracy of the temperature measurent is somewhat lower

Current [A]

Screen Temperature ['C]

Channel 1 (FIMT) versus Channel 2 (FOC)

Channel 1 (FIMT) versus Channel 2 (FOC) (cont)

70

Steel Pipe
Duct

60

Duct

Screen Temperature ['C]

Duct
50

40

30

20

10

0
1

115 229 343 457 571 685 799 913 1027 1141 1255 1369 1483 1597 1711 1825 1939 2053 2167 2281 2395 2509 2623 2737 2851 2965

Fibre length [m]

Ch 1 2008-12-12 00:10:32

Ch2 2008-12-11 23:56:20

Temperature differences between Channel 1 and Channel 2 are:

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 9

Few degrees for sections with direct buried cables

Up to 15 C for cables in PVC ducts

Up to 20 C for cables in steel pipes

Content

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 10

System description

Measurements

Calculations

Summary

Input data for the calculations

The calculations were performed for:

Direct buried cables (49 % of the route)

Cables installed in PVC ducts (47 % of the route)

Detailed calculations were performed for the period between 01-12-2008

and 11-12-2008

Calculations were performed according to Electra 87

Calculations performed for the sections without other heat sources in the
vicinity

Soil temperature and load current based on the performed

measurements

Soil thermal resistivity initially assumed to be 1 Km/W, but the

calculations indicated a much lower value, i.e. 0.55 Km/W

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 11

Calculation results Direct buried cables

40

Screen Temperature ['C]

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
12008-12-01 492008-12-0297 2008-12-03
1452008-12-041932008-12-05
2412008-12-062892008-12-07
3372008-12-083852008-12-094332008-12-10
4812008-12-11
529

DTS

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 12

Calculation

Calculation results Cables in air filled PVC ducts

60

Screen Temperature ['C]

50

40

30

20

10

0
1 2008-12-0149 2008-12-0297 2008-12-03
1452008-12-04
193 2008-12-05
2412008-12-06
2892008-12-07
3372008-12-08
3852008-12-09
4332008-12-10
481 2008-12-11
529

DTS

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 13

Calculation

Calculation results Cables in water filled PVC

ducts
45

40

Screen Temperature ['C]

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
1 2008-12-0149 2008-12-0297 2008-12-03
1452008-12-04
193 2008-12-05
2412008-12-06
2892008-12-07
3372008-12-083852008-12-09
4332008-12-10
481 2008-12-11
529

DTS

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 14

Calculation

Content

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 15

System description

Measurements

Calculations

Summary

Summary
FIMT

External fibre optic cable

Quick response

Delayed response

Satisfactory reflection of the load changes and the

cyclic load behavior

The load changes and the cyclic load behavior are

smoothened but the general temperature trend is

Risk for damage or increased attenuation during power

cable manufacturing

Increased manufacturing cost

The maximum length limited by the power cable drum

length (might mean additional joints)

Once installed not influenced by the cable surrounding /

installation conditions

Reparation / replacement of fibres not possible (without

disrupting the power cable)

ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 16

satisfactory.

Better attenuation since not affected by the power cable

manufacturing process

Low cost/risk approach

Lower losses due to jointing since longer lengths (fewer

joint) can be used

Greatly influenced by the cable surrounding (for example

not a good solution for cables in air) and installation
conditions (such as duct and steel pipes)

Reparation / replacement of the fibre optic cable does

not disrupt the power cable

 ABB Group
July 10, 2009 | Slide 17