Power Cable Courses

KEMA Academy

Course Power Cables

Description
It was our objective to give this course the status of a standard work and we believe that we have been successful. All relevant matters, which involve power cables, from start to finish, are dealt with. The textbook is also a valuable reference book.

Program Design parameters

The theory behind the design of power cables, and especially its practical consequences, are discussed. Subjects like electrical field, field enhancement, capacitance, losses, interfaces, etc. are all discussed. This is important for understanding the next subjects.

Materials
The most common insulation materials for cables are paper and extruded materials. The properties of these materials are dealt with in more detail. The influence that the properties of these materials have on how cables function, and later also degrade, is also discussed.

For whom
The course has been developed for everybody who has to deal with power cables in the course of their daily work. It is recommended that the participants have at least a Bachelor of Engineering degree. The course is given in both English and Dutch and the coursework is in English.

Types of cable
Since their introduction more than a century ago, power cables of different designs have been used. We discuss the most important types of cable that are currently used in relation to the different voltage levels.

Cable manufacture
We take a look inside a factory. How is a cable made and what are the consequences of this manufacturing process for the use of the cable?

Cable joints and terminations

Cables always have a beginning and an end, and in order to terminate them or connect them properly to a continuing cable, joints and terminations are essential. Many different types are used and you probably already have a great deal of (practical) experience with them, but accessories require special attention. In this part of the course, we deal in detail with this subject and all the techniques in use will be reviewed.

Cable installation
The installation method as well as the location of a power cable in the power grid determines a great deal of its behaviour. In view of the long lifespan of cables, further study of the installation and everything that is related to this, such as special locations, an excessive voltage, connections, load, crossbonding, etc., is called for.

Ageing
The ageing mechanisms, which are applicable to cables, the physical phenomena and the influence of the surroundings and temperature, will be dealt with. The causes of degradation will be dealt with in detail. Testing cables during production The various types of tests, the background of these tests and the standards, which are currently in use, are discussed.

Testing cables while they are in use

This chapter deals, in particular, with diagnostics, as well as destructive and nondestructive testing methods, their value and their correct use. Tracing faults is also dealt with in this chapter.

Asset management
It would be better to call this cable management. The relationship between technology and economy is made here: how can we make optimal use of the cable network at the lowest possible costs?

Special subjects
We offer you the possibility of including your own wishes. You can indicate these in advance. Our default choices are: failure analysis, behaviour of cables under fire conditions, termite attacks and safety aspects.

Course Power Cable Ampacity

Description
The course has been developed for asset managers, asset engineers, grid designers and network operators who have to answer questions like: Which cable diameter do I need for which capacity?, Can this cable be loaded a bit higher?, How to check the current rating of this existing cable circuit? , et cetera. The topic of the ampacity - the current carrying capacity - of power cables will be dealt with intensively in this course, addressing the theories behind the topic, available standards and dynamic rating systems but also measurement techniques, methods to deal with thermal bottlenecks and tabulated current ratings will be discussed. The course program given below will show you the contents that can be expected in the course. The interdependency between cable type cable environment losses magnetic fields sheath bonding and thermal bottlenecks will play a central role throughout the course. This interdependence, as well as the applicability of standardized calculation methods and related topics (e.g. temperature measurements and remaining life) will thoroughly be discussed in this course.

Program Standards and guidelines

The available standards for stationary and dynamic rating calculations will be introduced and discussed. The theoretical background of these standards will be presented and the applicability of the standards will be illustrated. An example case will be calculated fully in order to show what assumptions play important roles in the calculations.

Stationary approach
Even with a stationary approach, the calculation of the current rating of a cable can be quite complex. There are also easy techniques available to do this calculation, as e.g. tabulated current ratings. Examples will be given to show the applicability of the tabulated current ratings and points of attention will be highlighted and clarified.

Dynamic approach
We all know that everything changes in time. Commonly, the actual loading of power cables normally is variable over a day. Also, seasonal changes are to be expected influencing the current rating possibilities. Besides this, also faults may happen in a network, resulting in sudden increases of the cable loading. All these changing conditions can be taken into account with a dynamic calculation approach. This approach is introduced in the course, showing both the capabilities and difficulties that are faced. A practical example of application of dynamic techniques to model a power cable is formed by dynamic rating systems, which will be introduced and discussed in the course.

Influence of the surroundings

It will be shown that the current rating of power cables is heavily dependent on the cable environment. Therefore, the soil in which a power cable is buried, or the work of art in which it is installed - whether it is a HDD or a dyke crossing, a crossing cable or a tunnel installation is a very important issue in cable ampacity considerations. In the course, both the behavior of the soil and the behavior of thermal bottlenecks will be discussed intensively. The current rating in relation to the remaining lifespan and magnetic fields The cable loading has an effect on the remaining life of power cables. What is this effect? How to take it into account? These questions will be discussed during the course. Also the magnetic fields above a power cable circuit a topic receiving an increasing amount of attention will be discussed and related to the cable ampacity. Because these three topics, ampacity, magnetic fields and remaining lifetime, are so intensively coupled, all three topics will be discussed in this course.

For whom
The course is intended for people with at least a bachelor degree. Knowledge of high voltage power cables is essential. he KEMA course Power Cables is recommended as a good preparation, although it is not compulsory to have followed this course. The course is given in both the English and Dutch language. All course material is in English.

Recommendations
The course will end with a presentation on the possibilities to influence the power cable ampacity in each stage of a cables life cycle. For existing cables, other choices can be made than for new to be designed cables; you deal differently with cables designed in-house compared to cables brought in a design and construct project. Therefore, recommendations will be made in all of these situations, in order to ensure that the cable ampacity is further optimized as a result of this course.

Course Remaining Life of MV Cables

Description
The course has been developed for all administrators of power cable networks who get asked the question, how much longer are my cables going to last? The explanation of the course given below will show you what you can expect from the course. The remaining lifespan of a cable and the accompanying accessories can often be surprisingly well determined, but in some cases it is surprisingly difficult to determine. The objective of this course is to provide insight into this phenomenon and to teach the participants the methodology for determining the remaining lifespan or, in other words, the extent of degradation and the chance of failures, as accurately and with as little knowledge and resources as possible. Furthermore, the participants will be taught whether and when resources such as diagnostics or laboratory analyses are effective. This course focusses on the medium-voltage class of power cables, but its methodology and many of the techniques can very well be applied for high-voltage cables too. This follow-up course repeats a number of relevant components of the three-day general cable course given by KEMA, but it uses this information as a starting point to study, in particular, the subject of remaining lifespan in depth.

Program Cable types and accessories

A short summary will be given of the medium voltage cables and cable components, which are commonly used.

Types of faults
Common faults are summarized, often with examples. For example, the penetration of moisture in oil joints the degradation of resinfilled joints, carbonisation in earthing joints, water tree growth in XLPE cables and the dehydration of paper in GPLK.

Ageing processes
Many types of faults come down to a number of generally known ageing processes, such as partial discharges, electrical tree formation, water trees, etc., where the degradation is concerned. These processes will be dealt with in detail, because they have a large influence on the lifespan.

Diagnostic methods
A number of ageing processes can be made visible using diagnostic methods. Partial discharges can be measured and localized with off-line and on-line measurement techniques. Water tree formation can be visualized using dielectric spectroscopy, etc. These diagnostic test methods, as well as others, will be discussed and especially their value for determining the remaining lifespan will be explained.

Determining the remaining lifespan

First, a method for mapping out the remaining lifespan of a cable connection (so cable, terminations and joints) will be presented. The participants will see that information that is needed to determine the remaining lifespan in detail is often missing, but it will also be shown that it is not always really necessary to obtain this information, which is difficult to come by. Particularly if it appears that the remaining lifespan is more than sufficient based on what is already known. If, however, additional information is required, then it is explained in this chapter how this information can be obtained.

Exercises for determining the remaining lifespan For whom

The course is intended for people with at least a bachelor degree. Knowledge of medium-voltage cables is essential. The KEMA Power Cables course is a good and recommended preparation, although it is not absolutely necessary to have followed that course before following this one. The course is given in both the English and Dutch language. All course material is in English. In order to ensure that the participants become familiar enough with the subject, time has been put aside for a number of exercises, in which the structured approach to determine the remaining life of complete cable connections is dealt with in detail.

Course Maintenance of High Voltage Power Cables

Program Different types of maintenance
A short summary will be given of the usual types of maintenance used around the world and the possibilities and impossibilities of these for all voltage levels based on recent CIGRE technical publications.

Description
This course has been developed for network owners involved in the asset management of high voltage power cables. The course will swirl you around the important main topic of maintenance. Remaining life estimation methods will also be introduced in the course. In the course, both practical examples and theoretical approaches will be used and at the end of the course you will be able to answer questions like what cable maintenance actions are required? and how to choose a proper maintenance strategy?, as well as: how to estimate the remaining life of this HV cable?.

Different maintenance strategies

All known maintenance strategies will be dealt with. Each strategy will be discussed in detail and will be illustrated with examples. We will discuss the proper selection of a maintenance strategy, including the effect on costs and returns.

Current maintenance practice

We will discuss the maintenance actions on high voltage power cables, taking into account international practice. Practical examples will be shown and discussed and the applicability and effectiveness of the maintenance actions will be a major topic.

The recent Cigre work

A lot of work has been carried out by Cigre to professionalize the maintenance practice. This has resulted in the creation of new guidelines. The background of these guidelines will be covered, as well as the objectives and the expected results.

For whom
The course is intended for people with at least a bachelor degree. Knowledge of high voltage power cables is essential. The KEMA course Power Cables is recommended as a good preparation, although it is not compulsory to have followed this course. The course is given in both the English and Dutch language. All course material is in English.

Maintenance in order to prevent faults

In order to prevent faults, you will first have to understand the various failure mechanisms, which are dependent on the construction of the cable, the materials and the voltage level. Next, we will discuss the diagnosis of these failure mechanisms and we will describe the detection methods. Finally, we will list the possible actions which can be taken and their effect.

Practical examples of effective maintenance

Using a number of practical examples, we will illustrate possibilities to carry out effective maintenance. There will be time vailable to discuss your own methods and to place them within the framework of effective maintenance.

Recommendations for safe maintenance

Focusing on a certain type of cable, a certain voltage level and/or a specific property of (a part of) a cable network, we will formulate recommendations for a thorough approach towards effective and safe maintenance, say, for relatively old networks, networks placed under high loads and specific types of soil, as well as for a companys vision of the future, etc.

Remaining life estimation

Although not the main part of this course, remaining life estimation often is a very important topic regarding aged high voltage power cables. As the topic is strongly related to maintenance, the topic will be discussed in the course, showing possible methodologies to estimate the remaining life and discussing the recent international work on this topic.

Conclusions and closing

The course will be concluded with recommendations and conclusions regarding the maintenance and remaining life estimation methodology of high voltage power cables. During the dinner, the course can informally be closed with the exchange of ideas.

General information concerning the cable courses

Registration form
For the following items we refer to the registration form: > course dates and costs cable courses > registration and cancellation > payment conditions > accommodation / hotel reservation. The course may be cancelled if there are too few participants. You will be informed as to whether the course will be held two weeks in advance. Travel costs and hotel costs are not included. After enrolment KEMA will send you an invoice for the costs of the course and the exact program.

KEMA
KEMAs mission is very clear and focussed: we wish to help the energy markets throughout the world obtain and sustain tangible advantages over the competition and achieve a high return on investments in technology. We achieve our mission with the

Location and Course material

Location: Congress Centre Elektrum, Klingelbeekseweg 45 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. A textbook, PowerPoint presentations and videos are used during the course. We deliver the textbook and the handout of the presentations.

help of an integrated team of material experts who, with their innovative ideas and in-depth knowledge of our clients industrial sectors - but also of the technology, which can act as a driving force for further development continually realize remarkable

Cables courses on location

If enough participants from one company or region apply for a cable course, we also provide the possibility to give the cable courses on location, anywhere around the world. For more information, please contact the KEMA Academy.

results for our clients. In the field of Cable Technology, KEMA worldwide supplies technical consultancy

advises for industry, governments and energy companies on matters concerning cables.

Further information KEMA Academy Mrs. Tonie Hoegen T +31 26 3 56 22 85 F +31 26 4 46 17 26 E tonie.hoegen@kema.com
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