Cable Sizing and Effects of Cable Length on

Dynamic Performance of Induction Motor

Mukesh Kumar Kirar (IEEE Member) Ganga Aginhotri (IEEE Member)
Electrical Engineering Department Electrical Engineering Department
MANIT, Bhopal MANIT, Bhopal
Bhopal, India Bhopal, India
mukeshkhaironiya@ gmail.com ganga1949@ gmail.com

Abstract This paper presents cable sizing procedure and effect the extent of a voltage drop problem [2, 16-18]. The study is
of the cable length on induction motor dynamic performance. performed with the help of ETAP software.
Motor and cable selection, to accommodate competing motor
starting requirements, are the classical challenges facing EPC Factors affecting motor starting include impedance of
contractors and motor designers during the planning and power distribution systems, the motor terminal voltage, inertia
designing stages of new Industrial facilities. The cable size & of the motor and the load [1]. System impedance has impact on
length has impact on both starting current and motor terminal both starting current and motor terminal voltage. Its impact on
voltage. Its impact on the voltage is much greater than that on the voltage is much greater than on the current. The starting
the current. Various length of feeder cable is selected for case current using across-line starting is only slightly different when
study. The induction motor performance during DOL starting the impedance of the circuit is changed, but the voltage drop on
with various length of cable is investigated with the help of ETAP the cable changes significantly [3].
software.
II. STEPS FOR CABLE SIZING
Keywords- cable sizing; induction motor starting; cable
The size of the cable depends on various factors such as
ampacity; Electrical Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP);
load current, allowable voltage drop, length of the cable
I. INTRODUCTION required, cable laying and installation, environmental condition
etc. Following steps are to be followed to calculate proper
The most widely recognized and studied effect of motor techno-economical cable size for a consumer.
starting is the voltage dip that is experienced throughout an
industrial power system as the direct online result of starting Step-1: Cross Sectional Area Calculation Based on Short
large motors. In order for the load to be accelerated, the motor Circuit Withstand Capacity
must generate greater torque than the load requirement [2]. The cross sectional area of a cable should not be less than
Motor operating performance is depends on cable size in terms the value determined by the following formula.
of voltage drop on cable [3]. Selection of the size and type of
the cable depends on type of load and environment operating 
 
condition. The size of the cable is selected based on the 
following considerations. Where,
Short circuits withstand capacity (SC Ampacity). S= Nominal cross sectional area of the conductor in
Effective current carrying capacity (Thermal mm
Ampacity).
Voltage drop during steady state o1perating conditions I = Value of fault current in Amperes.
and motor start-up. t =Fault clearing time in seconds (This is generally
Short circuit withstand capacity is to be checked for HT cables taken as 0.2 seconds for motor & transformer
and for LT incomer feeders only. For LT breaker controlled feeders,0.6 seconds for plant feeders, 1.0 seconds
motor feeders, the cable impedance reduces short circuit for incoming feeder.)
current considerably, hence, short circuit withstand capacity is K=Factor taking account of the resistivity,
not required to be checked for the rated fault level of the LT temperature co-efficient, heat capacity of the
motors. conductor material, initial and final temperature.
DOL motor starting analysis is performed to investigate Value of `K (as per BS 7671) shall be taken as
induction motor performance with various length of feeder 94 for XLPE insulated Aluminium Cables , 143
cable [19, 9]. The motor starting study can expose and identify for XLPE insulated copper cables and 76 for PVC
insulated Aluminium cables.
If the value of S is a non-standard size than conductor of
978-1-4673-0766-6/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE the next higher standard cross section area may be selected.
Short circuit duration for cables must be commensurate with I = Load current of the electrical consumer (in Amp)
the tripping time of the protective devices associated with the
feeder. kW = Output kW (name plate) rating of the load

Step-2: Effective Current Carrying Capacity (Thermal V = Line to line voltage in case of 3- AC/ Line to
Ampacity) phase in case of 1- AC

The current carrying capacity of a cable corresponds to the pf = power factor

maximum current that it can carry under specified conditions = Efficiency (1) of the equipment at rated load.
without the conductors exceeding the permissible limit of
steady state temperature for the type of insulation concerned Select the cable size from the Derated current rating chart.
[19]. Derating factor or correction factor (C) must be applied Compare the cable size as per short circuit (step-I) and
where the installation conditions differ from those for which according to load Current (step-3).Select the higher cable size.
values of current carrying capacity are defined. Derating Step-4: Verification of cable size according to permissible
factors cording to Indian Standard [19-20] generally considered voltage drop during steady state operating conditions
are as follows: & motor start up.
In Ground Installation (direct burial) For three phase circuits % Voltage drop can be computed
       using the formula

Where,    
  

 = Rating factor for variation in Ground
temperature. Where,
 = Rating factor for Grouping of cables. Vd = Voltage drop in percentage

 = Rating factor for Depth of laying. = Power factor angle as considered to calculate I.

 = Rating factor for Thermal resistivity of soil. I = Line current in Amps

Above Ground Installation V = System voltage in volts

     Rac= AC conductor resistance at maximum rated conductor

temperature in ohms per km. (70 deg C for PVC, 90
Where, deg C for XLPE)
 = Rating factor for variation in Ambient air X =Reactance in ohms per km at rated frequency.
temperature. L =Cable length in km.
 = Rating factor for Grouping of cables. N =Number of Runs (for star-delta feeder, minimum no.
Values of different derating factors for calculating C is of runs is 2).
selected as per manufacturer catalogues. The value of C thus Check the calculated voltage drop, for the selected cable as
calculated is multiplied by the cable continuous current per step-3, if voltage drop is higher than the permissible value
obtained from the standard tables [20] gives the derated current , then calculate voltage drop with next higher cable size until
carrying capacity of cable. In case cables are laid partially in the condition is satisfied.
air and ground, take the lowest derating factor for calculation.
Derated current rating chart for each size of cable after III. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
multiplying the cable ampacity with the applicable derating An online diagram of a power distribution system of a large
factor C is given in appendix. Oil Storage Terminal (OST) is shown in Fig. 1. The OST has
Step-3: Cable Size Selection According To Load Current Grid connectivity with public power company (PPC) at two
points. PPC power is available at 66 kV voltage level through
Load current is calculated for a consumer using following utility ties 1 and 2. Grid transformers TR-301 and TR-302 step
formulas down the voltage from the 66 kV to the 6.9 kV level and
For 3- load connected to Switchgear SG-201A and SG-201B through cable
 respectively.
  
 The Switchgear SG-401A, SG-401B and Motor Control
Center (MCC) MCC-401, MCC-402 are supplied through
For 1- load transformers TR-401 and TR-402 of 6.6/0.415 kV. Emergency
load is connected to MCC-401&402 and SG-402A & 402B
 panel. When the plant becomes isolated, due to a utility service
   outage generator will supply power to emergency load.

Where,
Emergency Power is generated at 6.6kV and supplied to load
through generator transformer TR-405 of 6.6/0.415kV. Full load ampere of the PM-026A is 179A, so the selected
The case study is executed for 0.415kV motor control cable full load ampacity must be greater than motor rated
center (MCC-402) in Oil Storage Terminal (OST) power current. Derated ampacity of cables are give in appendix table.
distribution system. The fire water pump PM-026B motor rated The cable selected is 185mm2 with 186.4A derated ampacity.
at 110kW is connected to MCC-402 as shown in SLD fig. 1. The cable parameter is shown in table-II.
Motor starting analysis is done when the entire load supplied
by the gene-set is already in operation. The rated capacity of IV. MOTOR STARTING ANALYSIS
the generator is 5MVA and the total load connected is It is apparent that depending on the factor of concern in any
approximate 4 MVA. The induction motor data is given in specific motor starting situation, the voltage drop, detailed
Table-I voltage profile and the motor torque and acceleration time
analysis study may be required [3-5]. System factors that affect
motor starting include:
Capacity of the generator;
Motor terminal voltage.
Impedance of power distribution systems;
Electrical design parameters of the motor;
Acceleration of the motor and its load (motor
characteristics)
The purpose of motor starting is to investigate the voltage
dip that is experienced throughout an industrial power system
as the direct result of starting large motors and the motor
performance under various system operating condition. The
available accelerating torque drops appreciably as the voltage
at the motor terminal dips to a lower value, thus extending the
starting interval and affecting (sometimes adversely) overall
motor starting performance [14-16].

TABLE III. LOAD FLOW RESULTS

Fig.1 Single line diagram (SLD) of OST
Bus ID Nominal kV Operating

TABLE I. INDUCTION MOTOR DATA kV (in %)

kW 110 EPCC-401 0.415 97.1

MCC-401 0.415 96.6
kV 0.415
MCC-402 0.415 96.1
Full Load Current 179
PMCC-402A 0.415 96
LRC in % of full load current 600
PMCC-402B 0.415 96
P.F. 0.88
SG-403 0.415 96.1
Strarting P.F. 0.25
PM-026B 0.415 93.8
LRT in % of full load torque 98.7
Max. Torque in % of full load torque 199
Load flow results in normal operating condition are shown
X/R 11.1 in table-III. The motor terminal voltage in normal operating
H 0.92 condition with cable length off 150m is shown in table. Motor
dynamic performance with various length of the cable is shown
in table-IV. As the cable length increases motor starting current
TABLE II. ALUMINIUM CONDUCTOR CABLE DATA
decreases and motor terminal voltage dip increases. Decrement
Max. Voltage Drop Starting: 15% in the current is less as compare to motor terminal voltage.
Max. Voltage Drop Running: 5% Motor starting time is also increases with the increase in the
Conductor Temperature: 90c length of the cable. Figure 2-10 shows the variation in motor
Ground Temperature in C: 30c
Single Or Multi Core: Multi Core
dynamic performance with change in cable length. The case
Resistance ( /Km @ 90 C) 0.211 study is performed for 185mm2 cable size, 50M, 100M and
Reactance (/Km 0.072 150M cable length and the other parameter of the cable remain
Adjusted Cable Ampacity in Amp. 186.4 same.
Cable Size 185mm2
TABLE IV. MOTOR STARTING RESULTS WITH VARIOUS LENGTH OF CABLE
Cable Voltage Motor Motor Motor
length in at MCC- terminal starting acceleration
Meter 402 voltage In current in time
In % of % of % of
nominal nominal rated
Voltage Voltage current
50 90 88 563 8.0
100 90.5 85 546 10.36
150 92 82 530 15.24

Fig. 6 Motor starting current and slip variation with 100 M cable

Fig.2 Motor and Load torques during motor starting with 150M cable

Fig. 7 Motor terminal voltage variation with 100 M cable

Fig. 3 Motor starting current and slip variation with 150 M cable

Fig. 8 Motor starting current and slip variation with 50 M cable

Fig. 4 Motor terminal voltage variation with 150 M cable

Fig.9 Motor and Load torques during motor starting with 50M cable

Fig.5 Motor and Load torques during motor starting with 100M cable
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 Appendix

Col 4: Ampacities have been taken from Table 61& 61A OMAN Cable Catalogue.
Col 5, Col 6, Col 7 Col 8: Derating factors have been taken from Table 68,69,70,71 OMAN Cable Catalogue.

TABLE- Derated Cable Ampecity Calculation

0.6/1 kV, LOW VOLTAGE XLPE INSULATED ARMORED CABLES LAID IN UNDERGROUND
COPPER CABLE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cable No of Voltage Ampacity Derating Derating Derating Derating Total Corrected
Size conductors Grade in Ground Factor for Factor for Factor for Factor for Derating Ampacity
(mm2) (kV) for 35oC variation Thermal 1M depth grouping of Factor (Col 4 x
Ambient in resistivity cable upto 8 (Col 5 x Col 9 )
Temp. Ground of soil 1.2 Cables laid Col 6 x (A)
(A) temp. for mC/W 150mm apart Col 7 x
30 C Col 8 )

2.5 3C/4C 0.6/1 36 1.03 1.0 0.95 0.64 0.63 22.5

4 3C/4C 0.6/1 47 1.03 1.0 0.95 0.64 0.63 29.4

0.6/1 kV, LOW VOLTAGE XLPE INSULATED ARMORED CABLES LAID IN GROUND
MULTI CORE ALUMINIUM CABLE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cable No of Voltage Ampacity Derating Derating Derating Derating Total Corrected
Size conductors Grade in Ground Factor for Factor for Factor for Factor for Derating Ampacity
(mm2) (kV) for 35oC variation Thermal 1M depth grouping of Factor (Col 4 x
Ambient in resistivity cable upto 8 (Col 5 x Col 9 )
Temp. Ground of soil 1.2 Cables laid Col 6 x (A)
(A) temperat mC/W 150mm apart Col 7 x
ure for 30 Col 8 )
C

6 3C/4C 0.6/0 43 1.03 1.0 0.95 0.64 0.63 26.9

10 3C/4C 0.6/1 57 1.03 1.0 0.95 0.64 0.63 35.7
16 3C/4C 0.6/1 78 1.03 1.0 0.95 0.64 0.63 48.8
25 3C/4C 0.6/1 100 1.03 1.0 0.95 0.64 0.63 62.6
35 3C/4C 0.6/1 120 1.03 1.0 0.95 0.64 0.63 75.1
50 3C/4C 0.6/1 142 1.03 1.0 0.95 0.64 0.63 88.9
70 3C/4C 0.6/1 175 1.03 1.0 0.93 0.64 0.61 107.3
95 3C/4C 0.6/1 210 1.03 1.0 0.93 0.64 0.61 128.7
120 3C/4C 0.6/1 239 1.03 1.0 0.93 0.64 0.61 146.5
150 3C/4C 0.6/1 267 1.03 1.0 0.93 0.64 0.61 163.7
185 3C/4C 0.6/1 304 1.03 1.0 0.93 0.64 0.61 186.4
240 3C/4C 0.6/1 352 1.03 1.0 0.93 0.64 0.61 215.8
300 3C/4C 0.6/1 396 1.03 1.0 0.93 0.64 0.61 242.8