Better cable crossing calculations

The preview of the cable crossing module has now been improved with 'tails' that clearly show which cables or heat sources are crossing each other. Please note that the preview is not an exact 3D representation, but more of an illustration.

Example Calculations

In order to present the improvements on the reporting, we have done a simple simulation of the above cable arrangement, with the crossing angle fixed at 90°. The trefoil cable system had a temperature limit of 65 °C, while the flat spaced cable system had a fixed current of 520 A.

Temperature limited systems

For the trefoil system, which is a temperature limited system, the report does now clearly list the possible current rating without crossing Ic_isolated, the reduction factor applied on the permissible current rating F_red and the current rating derated by the crossing I_c.

The following table shows the results from three different simulations:

• The first simulation is the crossing simulation with a fixed temperature limit of 65 °C. It gives us the temperatures and losses at the crossing. The temperatures at the crossing are the highest along the cable route and are a limiting factor for your cable design.
• The second simulation is an isolated simulation of only the trefoil system, with the same current as the first simulation. This gives us the temperatures and losses away from the cable crossing. These losses are the most relevant considering that the cable route is generally much longer than the small part of it that is heated up by the crossing systems.
• The third simulation is an isolated simulation of only the trefoil system, with the same temperature limit as the first simulation. It shows the possible ampacity if the crossing system should be turned-off or decommissioned.

Current defined systems

For the flat spaced system, which is a current defined system, the report does now clearly list the temperatures at the crossing as well as away from the crossing. The temperature rise by crossing heat sources Δθ_0x is also clearly indicated. The following figure shows the example of the conductor temperature θ_c

The following table shows the results from three more simulations:

• The fourth simulation is the crossing simulation with a fixed current of 520 A. It gives us the temperatures and losses at the crossing. The temperatures at the crossing are the highest along the cable route and are a limiting factor for your cable design.
• The fifth simulation is an isolated simulation of only the flat spaced system, with the same current as the first simulation. This gives us the temperatures and losses away from the cable crossing. These losses are the most relevant considering that the cable route is generally much longer than the small part of it that is heated up by the crossing systems.
• The sixth simulation is an isolated simulation of only the flat spced system, with the temperature limit set to the value of the first simulation. It shows the possible ampacity if the crossing system should be turned-off or decommissioned.

What else?

All losses of cable crossing simulations are now reported at the crossing. Note that the losses in this report are the maximum losses at the crossing.

And of course you can model and calculate crossing of multiple systems, each of them using different cables and load and even add backfills and ducts to your arrangements.

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