Notes 10: Conductor sizing & an example

10.0 Conductor sizing

Since it is impractical to manufacture an
infinite number of wire gauges, standards
have been adopted for an orderly and simple
arrangement of such sizes.
The American Wire Gauge (AWG sizes
conductors, ranging from a minimum of no.
!" to a ma#imum of no. !$" (which is the
same as %""""& for solid (single wire type
conductors. The smaller the gauge number,
the larger the conductor diameter.
'or conductor sizes above !$", sizes are
given in ()( (thousands of circular mil or
*ust cmils.
+
What is a cmil, A cmil is a unit of measure
for area and corresponds to the area of a
circle having a diameter of + mil, where
+ mil-+"
./
inches.
The area of such a circle is 0r
1
- 0(d$1
1
, or
0(+"
./
$1
1
-2.34!#+"
.2
inches
1
+ 5mil-+ inch.
+ cmil-(+ mil
1
and so corresponds to a
conductor having diameter of + mil-+"
./
in.
+"""5cmil-(+""" mils
1
and so corresponds
to a conductor having diameter of +"""
mils-+ in.
To determine diameter of conductor in
inches, ta5e s6uare root of cmils and then
divide by +"
/
7
8iameter in inches- 3
10
cmils
.
1
Stranded conductors (multiple strands of
wire for distribution purposes usually range
from a minimum of no. 9 to a ma#imum of
+,""",""" cmil.
:t is 6uite common to specify conductors in
terms of the size (or gauge, the strands, and
the layers. 'or e#ample, !$" 9$+ indicates
AWG size """", with 9 strands and + layer.
The table below shows conductor sizes
commonly used in distribution systems.
/

10.1 Example
!
8etermine the phase impedance matri# ;<
abc
=
and the se6uence impedance matri# ;<
"+1
= in
>$mile for the /.phase pole configuration
shown in 'ig. +. The phase and neutral
conductors are 14",""" all.aluminum.

1." ft
1." ft
1." ft c
a
14." ft
!." ft
".4 ft
n
b
'ig. +
'rom the table of conductor data, we see
that for 14",""" cmil AA conductor, the
diameter is ".492 inches, the G(? is "."+2+
ft, and the resistance is ".!+>$mile.
'rom e6s. (/@,!" of Aotes @, we have7
4

'

+ +

+ +
f r
j f R Z
i
i ii

ln
2
1
6786 . 7
1
ln 1213 . 0 001!8836 . 0
"

'

+ + +
f D
j f Z
ij
ij

ln
2
1
6786 . 7
1
ln 1213 . 0 001!8836 . 0
"
With f-9" and B-+"", these e6uations are7

'

+ + #301 . 7
1
ln 1213 . 0 0#!3016 . 0
"
i
i ii
r
j R Z

'

+ + #301 . 7
1
ln 1213 . 0 0#!3016 . 0
"
ij
ij
D
j Z
So we need to compute the self terms for the
four conductors (which will all be the same
since they all have the same G(?. We also
need to compute the mutuals, which will be
the harder part because we need to obtain a
mutual for each pairwise combination. This
is ! things ta5en 1 at a time, which is
!C$1C(!.1C-9.
So we have 9 calculations to ma5e.
'irst, lets do the self term, since it is easiest.
!6 . 1 !0!3 . 0
#301 . 7
0171 . 0
1
ln 1213 . 0 0#!3016 . 0 1 . 0
#301 . 7
1
ln 1213 . 0 0#!3016 . 0
"
j
j
r
j R Z
i
i ii
+

'

+ + +

'

+ +
To get the mutuals, we need to determine
the distance between conductors.
a to b7 s6rt(!
1
D1
1
-!.!21+
9
7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0
#301 . 7
721 .
1
ln 1213 . 0 0#!3016 . 0
"
j
j Z
ab
+

'

+ +
a to c7 1D1-!
7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0
#301 . 7

1
ln 1213 . 0 0#!3016 . 0
"
j
j Z
ac
+

'

+ +
a to n7 s6rt(!
1
D9
1
-2.1+++
7230 . 0 0#!3 . 0
#301 . 7
2111 . 7
1
ln 1213 . 0 0#!3016 . 0
"
j
j Z
an
+

'

+ +
b to c7 s6rt(!
1
D1
1
-!.!21+. Same as a to b.
b to n7 1D1-!. Same as a to c.
c to n7 s6rt(!
1
D1
1
-!.!21+. Same as a to b.
Therefore, the primitive impedance matri# is
1
1
1
1
]
1

+ + + +
+ + + +
+ + + +
+ + + +

!6 . 1 !0!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0 7230 . 0 0#!3 . 0

7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 !6 . 1 !0!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0
7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 !6 . 1 !0!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0
7230 . 0 0#!3 . 0 7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 !6 . 1 !0!3 . 0
"
j j j j
j j j j
j j j j
j j j j
Z
prim
The abc matri# is then found by Eron
reduction based on the formula we
developed7
[ ] [ ] [ ][ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
abc abc np nn pn pp abc
V I Z Z Z Z V +
,
_

" " " "
1
where we define7
[ ] [ ][ ] [ ]
np nn pn pp abc
Z Z Z Z Z
" " " "
1

:n our problem, the necessary matrices are7
2
[ ]
1
1
1
]
1

+ + +
+ + +
+ + +

!6 . 1 !0!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0

7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 !6 . 1 !0!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0
7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 !6 . 1 !0!3 . 0
"
j j j
j j j
j j j
Z
pp
[ ]
1
1
1
]
1

+
+
+

7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0
7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0
7230 . 0 0#!3 . 0
"
j
j
j
Z
pn
[ ] [ ] j0.6129 - 0.2126 j Z
nn
+

1
1
!6 . 1 !0!3 . 0
"
[ ] [ ] 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0 7230 . 0 0#!3 . 0
"
j j j Z
np
+ + +
Flugging in to get <
abc
, we obtain
[ ] [ ][ ] [ ]
[ ]
1
1
1
]
1

+ + +

1
1
1
]
1

+
+
+

1
1
1
]
1

+ + +
+ + +
+ + +

j1.0565 + 0.5418 j0.3743 + 0.1333 j0.4235 + 0.1256
j0.3743 + 0.1333 j1.0429 + 0.5448 j0.4038 + 0.1269
0.4235 j + 0.1256 j0.4038 + 0.1269 j1.1123 + 0.5300
j j j
j0.6129 - 0.2126
j
j
j
j j j
j j j
j j j
Z Z Z Z Z
np nn pn pp abc
7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0 7230 . 0 0#!3 . 0
$
7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0
7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0
7230 . 0 0#!3 . 0
!6 . 1 !0!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0
7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 !6 . 1 !0!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0
7#! . 0 0#!3 . 0 7810 . 0 0#!3 . 0 !6 . 1 !0!3 . 0
" " " "
1
We will refer to <
abc
as the phase impedance
matri#. Aote carefully that the self terms are
all different, and there are three different
mutual terms. This is because of the
difference in their positions relative to each
other and relative to the neutral conductor
and the fact that there is no transposition.
Gowever, the matri# is symmetric, i.e., what
3
the a phase sees loo5ing at b.phase is the
same that b.phase sees loo5ing at a.phase.
Aow letHs compute the se6uence matri# <
"+1
.
This is given by <
"+1
-A
.+
<
abc
A, which is
!
j1.0565 + 0.5418 j0.3743 + 0.1333 j0.4235 + 0.1256
j0.3743 + 0.1333 j1.0429 + 0.5448 j0.4038 + 0.1269
0.4235 j + 0.1256 j0.4038 + 0.1269 j1.1123 + 0.5300
!
Z
1
1
1
]
1

1
012
where
1
1
1
]
1

2
2
1
1
1 1 1
a a
a a !
and
1
1
1
]
1

a a
a a !
2
2 1
1
1
1 1 1
3
1
resulting in

1
1
1
]
1

j0.6700 + 0.4103 j0.0052 - 0.0072 - j0.0327 + 0.0164 -

j0.0054 - 0.0078 j0.6700 + 0.4103 j0.0352 + 0.0029
j0.0352 + 0.0029 j0.0327 + 0.0164 - j1.8716 + 0.7960
Z
012
)learly the se6uence networ5s are not
decoupled. :mportant point to be made here
is that, because se6uence networ5s are not
decoupled, they offer no real advantage over
the abc networ5 in terms of analysis.
10.2 %&o p'ase and single p'ase lines
@
:f one is given a single phase or two phase
configuration, with or without neutrals, then
one may apply the same procedure as for the
/.phase configuration, i.e.,
+. 8etermine resistance per mile and G(?
of each conductor.
1. 8etermine distance between conductors.
/. )ompute primitive impedance matri#
using e6s. (/@,!" of notes @ with
appropriate value of resistivity B.
!. Ferform Eron reduction to eliminate the
presence of the neutral and thus obtain the
phase impedance matri#.
Aotes7
The primitive impedance matri# of step /
will be s6uare with dimension e6ual to the
+"
number of conductors that you have in the
configuration.
The phase impedance matri# of step ! will
be s6uare with dimension e6ual to the
number of phase conductors that you have
in the configuration.
So a single phase configuration, with
neutral, will result in a 1#1 primitive
impedance matri# and a +#+ phase
impedance matri#.
:f by chance a single or two.phase
configuration e#tends from a three phase
configuration without changing the positions
of the remaining conductors, then one may
*ust pull out the appropriate elements from
the /#/ phase impedance matri#
corresponding to the / phase configuration.
'or e#ample, if
1
1
1
]
1

cc cb ca
bb bb ba
ac ab aa
abc
Z Z Z
Z Z Z
Z Z Z
Z
++
is the phase impedance matri# for the /
phase configuration, if we run a 1.phase
lateral using phases a I c without changing
the a I c phase I the neutral position, then
1
1
1
]
1

cc ca
ac aa
abc
Z Z
Z Z
Z
0
0 0 0
0
Ji5ewise, if we run a single phase lateral
using phase b with without changing the
phase b position relative to the neutral, then
1
1
1
]
1

0 0 0
0 0
0 0 0
bb abc
Z Z
:f positions do change, then non." elements
of above matrices will need to be
recomputed. Gowever, we will be able to
use /#/ matrices for any line configuration.
+1