The 5th International Power Engineering and Optimization Conference (PEOCO2011), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia : 6-7 June
2011
Ampacity Simulation of Various Underground
Cable Installation Systems
Z. Aida Abu Zarim
Abstract: In Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB)
Malaysia, there were four different types of medium
voltage underground cable installation systems that
been practice. That are directly buried underground,
cable laid inside ductbank, cable laid inside cable trench
and cable laid inside tunnel. In this study the ampacity
(current carrying capacity) of each installation were
studied.
Index TermsAmpacity, underground cable, duct
bank, CymCap
I. INTRODUCTION
Ampacity is short form for current carrying
capacity. The term is defined as the maximum
amount of current a cable can carry under the
prevailing conditions of use without sustaining
immediate or progressive deterioration. The
prevailing conditions of use include environmental
and time consideration [1]
There are several sources of heat in a cable, such as:
Conductor losses,
Dielectric loss in the insulation,
Sheath losses,
Armor losses
The heat sources result in a temperature rise in the
cable, must flow outward through the various
materials that have varying thermal resistance to the
flow of that heat. These thermal resistances include
the cable insulation, sheath, jackets, surrounding soil,
and finally to ambient earth. In order to avoid
damage to the cable, the temperature rise must not
exceed those maximum allowable operating
temperatures that the cable components can endure.
This work was supported in part by Tenaga Nasional Berhad
978-1-4577-0354-6/11/$26.00
978-1-4577-0353-9/11/$26.002011
2011IEEE
IEEE
Z. Aida Abu Zarim is with TNB Research, Kajang, Selangor,
Malaysia (e-mail: zairulaida.azarim@tnbr.com.my).
Furthermore the temperatures rise is also greatly
dependent on heat dissipation as well. It is the careful
balancing of temperature rise to acceptable levels and
the ability to dissipate the heat that determines the
cable ampacity [2].
The derating factors are the major factors affecting
cable ampacity calculations. The current carrying
capacity (or ampacity) of a cable depends on many of
the installation properties and conditions. The
parameters or the derating factors influencing the
cable ampacity are [3]:
Soil thermal resistivity (oC.m/W)
Depth of cable laying
Bonding types
Solar radiation
Ambient temperatures
Cable size / Type
Soil dry out
Geometry of installation
Physical properties
Ventilation
Wind velocity
In these studies, the cable ampacity calculation
commercial software, CymCAP was used to calculate
the cable ampacity for each type of installation. This
software is based on analytical methods given by J.H
Neher and M.H McGrath. The Neher/McGrath is also
a basis for the international standard adopted by the
IEC and published in Publication Number 287.
II. DIFFERENT TYPE OF UNDERGROUND
CABLE INSTALLATION
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There were four types of installation systems that
were studied in this study that are:
1. Cable directly buried underground
2. Cable laid inside ductbank
3. Cable laid inside cable trench
4. Cable laid inside tunnel

A. Cable Directly Buried Underground

Majority cables in Malaysia are directly buried 1.5 m 

depth in the ground as shown in Figure 1. This type Figure 2: Drawing of the Ductbank (9 ducts)
of installation is usually prone to third party digging
which will lead to breakdown. C. Cable Laid inside Cable Trench

This type of installation is also used in the place

where no-dig policies were imposed. Cable trench
is consisting of long shallow rectangular-shaped
excavation, where the walls, bottom and cover are
made of concrete. The trench is filled with a
thermally good material i.e. sand as shown in Figure
3.

Figure 1: Cable laid directly buried underground

B. Cable Laid inside Ductbank

This type of installation is used in the place where

no-dig policies were imposed. Ductbank is consists
of series of ducts (e.g. PE pipes) which is surrounded
with concrete as shown in Figure 2. The cables are
inserted through the ducts from one end to the other
end. Usually in every 200 meter there will be a
manhole. A manhole is the top opening to an
underground utility vault used to house an access
point for making joints or performing maintenance on
underground. It is protected by a manhole cover to
prevent accidental or unauthorized access to the
manhole [4].

Figure 3: Cable Trench
D. Cable Laid inside Tunnel
This type of installation is widely used in Japan. The
cables can be laid down on a floor, hanging from
supports clamped on a wall, installed in ladder racks
or in cable trays as shown in Figure 4.

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 IV. SIMULATION RESULTS

The simulation results of the ampacity for each cable

as shown below:

Cable on air (as reference): 445 A

Cable directly buried underground: 266 A
Cable laid inside ductbank: 247 A
Cable laid inside cable trench: 262 A
Cable laid inside tunnel: 244 A

Based on the results, cable directly buried

underground gives higher ampacity compare to other
types of installation. However ampacity is not the
Figure 4: Cable laid in cable trays inside tunnel
only factor to consider in making a decision, other
factor such as cost of installation, installation and
III. SIMULATION PARAMETERS
maintenance practices and other accessories should
be considered too. The comparisons on the
Cable Type:
mentioned factors are tabled in Table 1.
Three core/11kV/XLPE/240mm2/Aluminum
(Figure 5)
Number of circuits: 4 circuits
Ambient temperature 30oC
Soil thermal resistivity : 1.2oC.m/W
Concrete thermal resistivity : 1.0oC.m/W
Type of ducts / pipe [ductbank] : PVC Class
B
Number of ducts / pipes [ductbank] : 9 pipes
Depth of the installation : 0.5m
Duct size : 6 inch (~150mm) diameter
The bonding arrangement is two point
bonding
Spacing between cables : 230mm
Limiting factors is the maximum operating
temperature of XLPE, which is 90 oC

Table 1: Comparison between Direct Buried,

Ductbank, Cable Trench and Tunnel

V. DISCUSSIONS

From the comparison shown in Table 1 above, it can

be concluded that direct buried is the best option
since it give the highest ampacity, and the cost is less
compare to ductbank, trench and tunnel. However the
option to choose it will depends on the local authority
requirement.

Figure 5: Cable Construction

424
This comparison was made to help Engineer to
decide which type of installation was suitable to be
chosen. However this comparison is only taking a
few criteria and rough calculation on the cost. More
detail comparison need to be made before making
any decision.

VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors gratefully acknowledge the

contributions of Dr Ir Ahmad Basri Abd Ghani and
Tashia Marie A/p Anthony for their work on the
original version of this document.





[1] Tom A. Short; Electric Power Distribution Handbook, 2003,

Chapter 3, pg 125,
[2] Zairul Aida A.Z, A. Basri A.G, Tiong S.K, The
Measurement and Temperature Profile of Cable Insulation
Failure due to Loose Connection at the Cable Termination,
ISEIM Conference 2008
[3] J. Desnet, D. Putman, G. Vanalme, R Belmans, D.
Vandommelen; Thermal Analysis of Parallel Underground
Energy Cables. CIRED 2005
[4] Zairul Aida, Tashia Marie and Akmal Zyti; Modeling and
Simulation of Cable Ampacity and EMF for the Design of
TNB Cable Ductbank and Manholes, Final Report, TNBR

VII. BIOGRAPHIES

 
    
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