Cable injection technology
Cable injection technology
(OP)
Hi guys:
I am working at a power company ,Recently there is a company who claimed by injecting a silicone-based fluid to the crosslinked polyethylene?XLPE?cables?15-25kV? can guarantee extended the life of XLPE cables to at least 20 years.
?1?Is there anybody has experience about this treatment and is true or not it can extended the life of XLPE cables to at least 20 years?
?2?Are there any risks about this treatment?
thanks
I am working at a power company ,Recently there is a company who claimed by injecting a silicone-based fluid to the crosslinked polyethylene?XLPE?cables?15-25kV? can guarantee extended the life of XLPE cables to at least 20 years.
?1?Is there anybody has experience about this treatment and is true or not it can extended the life of XLPE cables to at least 20 years?
?2?Are there any risks about this treatment?
thanks






RE: Cable injection technology
RE: Cable injection technology
The upshot was that the "fluid" never really penetrated much beyond about 1-1/2 feet from the pressure connector. Some of them also theorized that the high pressure process that was supposed to force this fluid into the cable may have caused voids and micro-cracks in the insulation, actually hastening the failure. They found out it became a really common occurrrance that the cable failed 5-6 feet away from the injection point. That's actually what got me talking to them. The workers just started tearing up my driveway at one spot about 5-6 feet from the transformer vault. I asked them how they knew where the fault was, they pointed to the engineer and he filled me in on the story. He knew by experience where the cable would have failed and he was right! As he put it, the whole program was basically a scam.
Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework Read FAQ731-376
RE: Cable injection technology
We were contemplating buying this (Cablecure) recently, and the only thing we heard about it was "success" stories from the sales rep. I knew it sounded too good to be true.
We've been installing EPR insulated cables (133%) for ten years now, as XLPE has a much shorter lifetime ([per former AEIC board member), and have had no failures of these cables.
RE: Cable injection technology
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I researched this in the early 90's for a project in Saudi Arabia, but did not recommend it for economic reasons (cable in conduit, so replacement was more economic). I have no direct experience with the product - I just know it has been around for quite a while.
RE: Cable injection technology
Davidbeach,
The original XLPE cables were not strand filled and had problems with water treeing. I'm not sure of the life span, but almost any life extension pays for itself since most of these installations are direct buried.
RE: Cable injection technology
Two caveats:
Injection only mitigates water tree problems.
Injection can not correct electrical tree problems. Water trees do not fail cable. They spawn electrical tree which cause the cable to fail. The best way to find electrical tree is to perform a power frequency PD diagnostic stress test to locate and remove them. You may want to consider a PD diagnostic stress test to clean out the electrical tree before injection. Given enough time and the right system conditions, electrical trees will go to failure with or without injection. Injection typically accelerates electrical tree growth and the failures typically occur in the first few months after injection. (IEEE Insulation Research 2006 June/July)
Concentric wire neutral corrosion:
Injecting a cable can mitigate water tree problems and warranty the insulation of URD cable but, it can not slow the corrosion of your unjacketed cable. What is the value of a warranty if the cable will not have a concentric neutral in a few years? (IEEE ICC Cable Reliability Discussion Group Minutes Spring 2006)
Benjamin Lanz
Vice Chair of IEEE 400
Sr. Application Engineer
IMCORP- Power Cable Reliability Consultants
RE: Cable injection technology
RE: Cable injection technology
I guess from your handle that you are either an employee or salesman for Novinium products. It is a common courtesy to disclose such information when recommending your own products.
Ben,
Interesting comments as usual.
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I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy it...
RE: Cable injection technology
Mr. Lanz's statement that water trees do not cause cables to fail, electrical trees cause cable to fail, is a bit like a tobacco company still suggesting that smoking does not cause death, heart disease or lung cancer cause death. While the proximate cause of the failure is indeed electrical trees, water trees are the root cause. There is absolutely no evidence in any peer reviewed work which even suggests that partial discharges can be detected in water trees. Electrical trees in insulation do proceed each failure, but they are exceedingly rare (because they are so short lived) except where they are induced by testing of the sort promoted by Mr. Lanz. The second suggestion regarding neutral corrosion is a bit misleading too. See http://www
The bottom line to the kingstone question is that silicone injection has over 20 years of sucessful commercilization on a massive scale and while there are certainly cases where the technology might not be appropriate it has a proven track record of great success.
RE: Cable injection technology
Best case I had was in 1994 - 1964 vintage XLPE, 2 mile shot. Cable lasted another 10 years without failing but was ultimately replaced as the backup cable failed four times (1974 vintage black EPR). Worked with Mr. Bertini on that particular project and was pleased with the result.