Thermal behaviour of medium-voltage underground cables under high-load operating conditions

The dynamic management of electric power distribution lines has become a topic of great interest at preset Knowledge of the ampacity of cables is fundamental to carrying out dynamic management. In this study, t ampacity of buried cables in different soil resistivities and depths was calculated. A small-scale model was bu in the laboratory to simulate the operating conditions of a buried cable. With the experimental results, a n merical model based on the finite element method was validated to evaluate the ampacities calculated by t% standards. A comparison was made between the ampacities calculated from the IEC 60287-1 and UNE 2114: standards and those obtained from the simulated model. In addition, a comparison was made regarding t steady-state temperatures obtained at each calculated ampacity. The results obtained from the simulated moc design show that the ampacity calculation method of the IEC 60287-1 standard where drying-out of the SI occurs is the most accurate, and has the least risk of exceeding the maximum permissible cable temperature