Publications Repository - Gdańsk University of Technology

Power cables are usually buried in the soil, which results in their relatively high current-carrying capacity. However, there are cases in which the starting/final section of a cable line runs along a pole of an overhead power line. Power cables can be directly exposed to solar radiation then, and this negatively influences their current-carrying capacity as well as estimated life of the cables’ insulation. An analysis of thermal phenomena in PVC-insulated low-voltage power cables, exposed to solar radiation, is conducted in the paper. Current-carrying capacity of an example cable system, for various placements of the cables, is evaluated. The analysis has shown that solar radiation may significantly reduce current-carrying capacity of PVC-insulated cables. A possible method of protection of cables against solar radiation, and its effectiveness, is presented. To investigate the mentioned thermal phenomena, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used.

Authors

• prof. dr hab. inż. Stanisław Czapp link open in new tab ,
• dr inż. Seweryn Szultka link open in new tab ,
• Adam Tomaszewski,
• Agata Szultka link open in new tab