CHAPTER 13

Auxiliary Cables (Pilot and Telephone)

The term auxiliary refers to cables associated with power distribution and transmission
systems used for control, protection, signalling and speech, and data transmission
purposes. Such systems are mainly operated by the electricity transmission and
distribution companies but similar applications occur in many industrial systems.
STANDARDS
The total range of cable types used throughout the world is vast. It may be illustrated,
however, by the cables for public supply systems in the UK, which are covered by
the Electricity Association Technical Specification (EATS) 09-6, 'Auxiliary multicore
and multipair cables'. This standard includes three types of thermoplastic insulated
cable:
(a) PVC insulated multicore cables;
(b) polyethylene insulated multipair cables;
(c) PVC insulated, light current, multipair control cables.
It also defines the general operating conditions for the power systems with which the
above cables are associated. Cables to EATS 09-6 are required to withstand induced
voltages caused by surges on the adjacent power system. This is achieved by varying the
insulation thicknesses and/or the design of armour, according to the design level of
surge. Three levels of disturbing conditions are catered for, defined by the induced
voltage which would be anticipated between conductor and earth on an unprotected
circuit: not exceeding 5 kV, 5-15 kV, and above 15 kV.
The screening factor of the armour is designed to reduce the induced voltage on the
conductors to that appropriate to the thickness of insulation. Three standard armour
designs are used to cater for the majority of power system installations. However,
instances may occur where, due to exceptional lengths of parallel routes and/or fault
current levels, special designs are necessary. All the cables meet the requirements of
BS 4066: Part 1: 1980, 'Tests on electric cables under fire conditions', but in some cases
cables with reduced flame propagation characteristics are required (chapter 6).
251
252 Electric Cables Handbook
For i ndust ri al appl i cat i ons t he st andar d cables descri bed f or fixed i nst al l at i ons in
chapt er 11 are general l y used, e.g. PVC i nsul at ed wire a r mour e d cables to BS 6346: 1989
and, f or ships and oil installations, el ast omeri c i nsul at ed cables t o I EC 92-3.
PVC I NSULATED MULTI CORE CABLES
These cables are al most the same as the PVC i nsul at ed and sheat hed SWA cables t o
BS 6346 descri bed in chapt er 11. The differences are t hat onl y one size, 2.5 mm 2, is used
and, to pr ovi de bet t er flexibility in t ermi nal boxes, t he c onduc t or is of st r anded f or m.
The st andar d r ange of core number s is mor e limited, namel y 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 19, 27 and 37
cores. Cor e i dent i fi cat i on is by means of bl ack number s on whi t e i nsul at i on t hr oughout .
In some cases t he galvanised steel wire a r mour is coat ed wi t h a wa t e r pr oof
compound, commonl y based on bi t umen, t o i nhi bi t penet r at i on of wat er al ong t he
ar mour wire interstices. Cor r espondi ng t o t ransmi ssi on cabl e pract i ce, when it is
necessary t o check t he i nt egri t y of t he over sheat h by d.c. tests, a graphi t e coat i ng can be
appl i ed t o t he surface of the oversheat h.
PVC mul t i core cables to EATS 09- 6 are used to connect subst at i ons and power
st at i ons f or t he r emot e oper at i on of, f or exampl e, t ap changer s and f or pr ot ect i on
circuits associ at ed with t r ansf or mer s, swi t chgear etc. The cabl e capaci t ance is of t en of
i mpor t ance to t he circuit design and t he nomi nal equi val ent st ar capaci t ance is
440 nF/ km.
The vol t age desi gnat i on is 600/ 1000V and t he cores will wi t hst and an i nduced
vol t age up to 5 kV.
P OLYETHYLENE I NSULATED MULTI PAI R CABLES
I nt ended largely t o provi de circuits f or speech and dat a t ransmi ssi on, as well as f or
feeder pr ot ect i on, these cables are essentially t el ecommuni cat i on cables.
Co ns t r uc t i o n
The cores consi st of a single pl ai n copper wire 0. 8mm in di amet er i nsul at ed wi t h
pol yet hyl ene (t ype 03 of BS 6234: 1987). Ther e are t wo thicknesses of i nsul at i on whi ch
are dependent on the ant i ci pat ed i nduced vol t age, 0. 5mm f or 5 kV and 0. 8mm f or
hi gher voltages. The cores are twisted i nt o pai rs whi ch are t hen laid up in combi nat i ons
of 4, 7, 19, 37 and 61.
All cables, except t he f our - pai r ar r angement , have t hree of t he pai rs desi gnat ed as
bei ng capabl e of oper at i on as carri er f r equency circuits. Pai r and cabl i ng l ay l engt hs are
chosen so as t o minimise coi nci dence and hence crosst al k. Car r i er pairs are pl aced in
the i nner most l ayer and are separ at ed by audi o pai rs t o mi ni mi se mut ual coupl i ng. The
cores are identified by the use of col our ed i nsul at i on wi t h t he pairs ar r anged in a
specified scheme. The assembled pai rs are cont ai ned by a pl ast i c bi nder t ape f ol l owed
by an i nner sheat h of black pol yet hyl ene (t ype 03C of BS 6234: 1987) and t hen a r mour
and a PVC out er sheath.
Auxiliary Cables (Pilot and Telephone) 253
A r m o u r
Thr ee st andar ds of ar mour are specified to pr ovi de di fferi ng screeni ng f act or s
cor r espondi ng t o t hree levels of di st urbi ng el ect r omagnet i c field i nt ensi t y f r om adj acent
power circuits. They are gr aded by i nduced vol t age level as quot ed previ ousl y.
Fo r i nduced voltages up to 5 kV t he a r mour consists of s t andar d t hi ckness gal vani sed
steel wire SWA t o BS 6346. For the range 5- 15 kV t he a r mour is similar but t he wire is
of heavi er gauge. For vol t age levels whi ch woul d ot herwi se exceed 15 kV an i mpr oved
screeni ng f act or is pr ovi ded by the use of a single l ayer of al umi ni um wi re ar mour . The
wire is in condi t i on H6 8 to BS2627: 1970.
Because of t he susceptibility of al umi ni um t o cor r osi on in t he presence of moi st ur e,
coat i ng of t he al umi ni um wire a r mour wi t h a wa t e r pr oof c ompound is mandat or y.
When specified by t he pur chaser f or SWA cables, and in all cases f or al umi ni um wire
ar mour , an i ncreased t hi ckness of out er sheat h is requi red. Thi s is t o be gr aphi t e coat ed
t o enabl e d.c. electrical tests on sheat h i nt egri t y t o be car r i ed out .
F i l l i n g b e t w e e n c o r e s
To cat er f or wet si t uat i ons where wat er ingress t o the cabl e cores ma y be a hazar d, wi t h
consequent di srupt i on of t ransmi ssi on charact eri st i cs, t he cor e interstices ma y be filled
with an appr opr i at e compound dur i ng l ayi ng-up. The c ompound is f or mul at ed t o have
low mobi l i t y in t he oper at i ng t emper at ur e r ange of t he cabl e and t o be compat i bl e wi t h
the i nsul at i on and sheat h materials. Al t hough also chosen t o have mi ni mum effect on
the t ransmi ssi on charact eri st i cs, it does cause some modi f i cat i on rel at i ve t o t hose of
unfilled cables. Consequent l y different val ues of pr i mar y t r ansmi ssi on charact eri st i cs
are appl i cabl e in the test requi rement s. A wat er penet r at i on test is also specified t o
check t he effectiveness of the filling in pr event i ng l ongi t udi nal t r ansmi ssi on of wat er.
PVC I NSULATED MULTI PAI R LI GHT CURRENT CONT ROL CABLES
Al t hough of similar const r uct i on t o the pol yet hyl ene i nsul at ed cables in t he pr evi ous
section, these cables are not i nt ended f or t el ecommuni cat i on and t her ef or e no
t ransmi ssi on charact eri st i c measur ement s are requi red. They are desi gned pr i mar i l y
f or use where an i ndependent t wo-wi re ci rcui t is needed f or cont r ol , i ndi cat i on and al ar m
equi pment associ at ed wi t h swi t chgear and similar power appar at us. Fo r such circuits t he
wor ki ng vol t age does not nor mal l y exceed 150 V d.c. or 1 l 0 V a.c., wi t h cur r ent s l ower
t han t he t her mal rat i ng of t he conduct or . The vol t age desi gnat i on is 100V.
Most of t he cable is installed i ndoor s and it is not ar mour ed. However , t o cat er f or
ot her si t uat i ons an SWA versi on is pr ovi ded whi ch will wi t hst and i nduced vol t ages up
to 5 kV.
The st andar d conduct or size is a single wire of pl ai n anneal ed copper t o BS 6360
(class 1), 0. 8mm in di amet er.
Pai r number s are st andardi sed as 2, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 100 and 200.
A har d grade general pur pose PVC c ompound (t ype 2 of BS 6746) is used f or t he
i nsul at i on and, in view of the electrical dut y, a thickness of 0.3 mm is requi red, t hus
enabl i ng cable di mensi ons t o be achi eved whi ch are appr opr i at e t o t he equi pment wi t h
which t he cables are used.
254 Electric Cables Handbook
Two cores are twisted together to form pairs, except in the case of the two-pair cable
which is laid up in quad formation. The twisted pairs are then laid up in layers to give
the appropriate total number. Core and pair identification is by self-coloured
insulation, two different colours identifying a pair in accordance with a specified
colour scheme following conventional telephone cable practice. Plastic binder tapes are
applied over the laid-up pairs.
The non-armoured cable is sheathed with a black general purpose PVC compound
type TM 1 or type 6 in accordance with BS6746. A rip-cord may be inserted
longitudinally between the outer binder tape and the sheath to facilitate sheath removal.
In the case of the armoured cable, the inner sheath (bedding) is the same as the sheath
on non-armoured cable. Over this is applied standard galvanised steel SWA,
appropriate to the diameter of the cable, followed by a black PVC sheath (type
TM 1 to BS 6746).