Heat Dissipation in Variable Underground Power Cable Beddings: Experiences from a Real Scale Field Experiment

To prevent accelerated thermal aging or insulation faults in cable systems due to overheating, the current carrying capacity is usually limited by specific conductor temperatures. As the heat produced during the operation of underground cables has to be dissipated to the environment, the actual current carrying capacity of a power cable system is primarily dependent on the thermal properties of the surrounding porous bedding material and soil. To investigate the heat dissipation processes around buried power cables of real scale and with realistic electric loading, a field experiment consisting of a main field with various cable configurations, laid in four different bedding materials, and a side field with additional cable trenches for thermally enhanced bedding materials and protection pipe systems was planned and constructed. The experimental results present the strong influences of the different bedding materials on the maximum cable ampacity. Alongside the importance of the basic thermal properties, the influence of the bedding’s hydraulic properties, especially on the drying and rewetting effects, were observed. Furthermore, an increase in ampacity between 25% and 35% was determined for a cable system in a duct filled with an artificial grouting material compared to a common air-filled ducted system.