Price and purchase of High Voltage Aluminum Cable + Cheap sale
In comparing the aluminum conductor and the copper conductor cable, the copper was always a better conductor but what about the high voltage power transmission used in underground, can it beat the copper? Which one will be the winner? In this article we will discuss this matter
The electrification of the world is being facilitated in large part by the installation of electricity cables buried underground
Copper’s high conductivity would seem to make it the material of choice for the conductor, therefore it’s not surprising that it is
On the other hand, this is not always the case
When a thorough life cycle analysis (LCA) is performed, the experience gained from France’s transmission grid has demonstrated that aluminum may on occasion prove to be the preferable choice
When deciding on a conductor for an underground cable system, there are a lot of different factors that need to be taken into consideration
Considerations pertaining to electricity, thermal design, methods of installation, mechanical tensions, and so on are some examples of these
Not only the cost of the cable’s initial purchase but also the total cost of maintaining and running the cable over the length of its lifetime, is a crucial consideration
At the early stage of cable design, environmental impact is another issue that is becoming an increasingly essential consideration
ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE
Because of their high conductivity, copper (Cu) and aluminum (Al) are the only two metals that are utilized in the production of underground cables
Silver is the best metal for conducting electricity, despite popular belief to the contrary
Unpredictably, gold comes in at the third spot, right after copper, with aluminum coming in at the fourth spot
Copper has an electrical conductivity that is significantly higher than that of aluminum by a factor of 1
64
However, it is over three times heavier and has a significantly higher price tag
Copper prices are subject to significant swings; yet, there have been periods in this century when the price of copper was five times higher than the price of aluminum
Because of these considerations, a conductor made of aluminum must be larger in order to carry the same amount of current as one made of copper
Despite this, the aluminum cable can be purchased at a lower cost and is easier to work with than copper cable
A few modifications are available, such as enamelled copper wiring (CUE) or oxidized aluminum wires
EXPERIENCE WORKING ON THE GRID IN FRANCE
It is interesting to keep track of how each conductor performs in comparison to the others
One illustration shows that a 2500 sqmm Al cable has a rating that is very near to the same as a 2000 sqmm Cu cable
The conductor accounts for the majority of the energy that is lost in an underground cable due to losses
The typical cumulative losses suffered by cables after installation in France, expressed as a function of the current rating of the cables
The curves terminate at the steady-state permitted current rating, which is associated with the highest temperature that the insulation material can withstand (for XLPE, which stands for cross-linked polyethylene, this temperature is 90 degrees Celsius)
The magnitude is equal to 30 Watts per meter of cable
The French transmission system operator, Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE), has produced statistics showing that underground cable systems operate more than 95% of the time at a current rating that is lower than 60% of their maximum rating
These statistics can be found in the article “Transmission System Statistics
” This indicates that the losses are often a significant amount lower than their highest potential worth
The remaining 5% of the running time corresponds with the peak values and conditions that are the most restrictive, such as when there is a particularly harsh winter and a significant amount of electrical heating is used
The conclusion that can be drawn from this is that the operating circumstances of an underground cable are typically those that result in “acceptable” losses
This is an extremely important consideration, given that power losses account for the vast majority of the environmental effect caused by the cable
If the cable is run at a point that is closer to its full capacity, then the environmental imprint will be larger, and the cost to operate the cable would be higher
ECONOMICAL DESIGN OF WIRE AND CABLE CONDUCTORS
When building a cable system, the goal is to keep the current rating within the parameters set by the thermal behavior of the system
In every possible mode of operation, the cable is constructed so that its temperature will never rise above the insulating layer’s threshold for safe operation
The majority of the time, the design engineer will choose the size of the conductor that satisfies the required operating temperature while maintaining a margin of safety within a broad range of standardized sizes
Up until very recently, it was thought that this technique provided the best return on investment (ROI)
On the other hand, the actual cost of the energy losses contributes to the total cost of a power link on a worldwide scale
It’s possible that a larger conductor, while initially more expensive to buy, will generate lower losses than the conductor that was built for thermal efficiency
As a result, it has the potential to become substantially more cost-effective after a few decades have passed
The cost of losses goes down when there is less electrical resistance, while the investment costs go up as the conductor size increases
Both of these tendencies, when combined, produce curves in the shape of a U, which correspond to the ideal conductor size
In the given scenario, a conductor with 1600 square millimeters of aluminum is the most cost-efficient option for transmitting 700 amperes over a period of 50 years
However, 630 square millimeters of aluminum would have been chosen if the thermal design had been more stringent
This optimization isn’t just concerned with financial matters, either
The reduced amount of waste produced is also beneficial in terms of the impact on the environment
The benefits can include a reduced danger of thermal aging, a decreased risk of thermal runaway owing to uncontrolled soil drying, a wider safety margin to manage load peaks or unexpected hot patches, margins for overloads, and a variety of other advantages
In addition, reduced losses contribute to the mitigation of global warming
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS IN STORE FOR VERY LARGE ALUMINUM CONDUCTORS
Some manufacturers are now offering new solutions with aluminum conductors of 3000sqmm or 4000sqmm, pushing the present limits of copper conductors
While the maximum standardised cross-sections of conductors have moved from 1600 to 2500sqmm within the past few years, the maximum standardised cross-sections of conductors have moved from 1600 to 2500sqmm
Research has been conducted out to investigate the level of interest in these enormous components in terms of their performance, installation, economics, and the impact they have on the environment
They demonstrate that, for a given current rating, a cable with a very big conductor made of aluminum creates less energy losses than a cable with a smaller conductor made of copper that is comprised of either one or two sections
Despite the higher cost of installation, significant savings may be possible due to the reduced initial investment cost of the aluminum cables that were produced as a result
After then, design engineers are tasked with striking a balance between the desirable overall cost and a variety of other constraints
These include an increase in the amount of civil works required, conductors that are more rigid and have a lower strength to resist pulling during installation, an increased size of drums or a lower delivery length on site, which results in shorter sections and an increase in the number of cable joints
A greater conductor diameter necessitates using accessories that are of a larger size as well
The fact that there is currently no expertise in terms of the qualification of such enormous cable systems is maybe the most significant barrier that must be overcome
In order to meet the demands of this obstacle, manufacturers and utilities will need to work together
At the conductor diameters employed today, however, there is a large amount of actual experience indicating quite clearly that aluminum constitutes an important alternative to copper
This evidence comes in the form of clear evidence
