832031.2 15kV EPR Jacketed Drain Wire Shielded Underground Power Cable

Click here for a PDF of this Material Standard

1. Scope

1.1 Description

This material standard covers the technical requirements for 15kV rated jacketed drain wire shielded underground power cable. The cable shall consist of one ethylene propylene rubber (EPR) insulated central conductor with helically applied copper drain wire shield conductors over the insulation shield, a mylar separator over the drain wires and an overall jacket of black, linear low density polyethylene.

1.2 Unacceptable Material

The use of water swellable powder, water swellable tape or a combination of both shall be unacceptable in this cable. Cable containing this material shall be rejected and returned to the Supplier at the Supplier's expense.

1.3 Material ID Number

This material standard applies to the following District Material ID Number:

10009771000 kcmil aluminum 61 strand 15kV EPR cable

1.4 Applications

The cable shall be suitable for use in three-phase applications on the District’s 60 hertz 12470 Grd Y/7200 volt primary underground distribution systems.

1.5 Service Environment & Operating Requirements

1.5.1 The cable shall be suitable for aerial, direct burial and conduit installations in wet and dry locations with maximum normal conductor operating temperatures to 105 °C in accordance with ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013. The cable shall be suitable for a minimum installation temperature of -40 °C.

1.5.2 The cable shall be designed and constructed such that it will operate satisfactorily at emergency overload conductor operating temperatures to 140 °C and short circuit conductor operating temperatures to 250 °C as defined by ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013.

1.6 Plant Inspections

1.6.1 Observation of the cable manufacturing, including inspection and testing, by the District’s representative, shall be at the option of the District. When requested by the District, the Manufacturer shall notify the District’s purchasing department of production and test schedules at least 2 weeks prior to the start of cable production. Travel shall be at the District’s expense.

1.6.2 The District’s representative shall have right of access to the manufacturing plant. The purpose of such access is to perform a plant audit that shall include but not be limited to verification that the Manufacturer’s process controls are documented, effective, and in use during cable production, and for plant inspection for cleanliness and quality control.

1.7 Language

All information communicated to the District shall be in the English language and shall be in customary English units, e.g., feet, inches, pounds. Metric units and/or other languages are not acceptable.

2. Reference Standards

Reference is made in this material standard to the following standards, the latest editions, amendments, and supplements of which shall apply, unless otherwise stated in this material standard or in associated purchasing documents:

AEIC CS8-13 Specification for Extruded Dielectric Shielded Power Cables Rated 5 Through 46kV
ASTM Standards As referenced
ANSI/ICEA S-94-649-2013Standard for Concentric Neutral Cables Rated 5,000 - 46,000 Volts
ICEA T-31-610 Guide for Conducting a Sealed Water Penetration Resistance Test for Sealed Conductor
ISO-9002 Quality Systems - Model for Quality Assurance in Production, Installation and Servicing
NEMA WC 26-2008 Binational Wire and Cable Packaging Standard

3. Definition of Terms

The following definitions pertain to this material standard:

AEIC Association of Edison Illuminating Companies
ANSI American National Standards Institute
ASQC American Society for Quality Control
ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials
CTR Manufacturer’s Certified Test Report
CV Continuous vulcanization
EC Extra-Clean
ICEA Insulated Cable Engineers Association
ISO International Organization for Standardization
Mil(s) One thousandth of an inch
Triple-Tandem Extrusion A process in which the conductor shield is applied in one extrusion head and then the insulation and insulation shield are applied in a second extrusion head a short distance away
True-Triple Extrusion A process in which the conductor shield, insulation and insulation shield are applied in one extrusion head

4. Manufacturing Method

4.1 Extrusion

4.1.1 The conductor shield, insulation, and insulation shield shall be applied in a triple extrusion process. A true-triple extrusion process is preferred. A triple-tandem extrusion process may be acceptable.

4.1.2 All changes or alterations to the critical process parameters of the extrusion line shall be logged in the production log.

4.2 Curing

EPR cable may be steam cured or dry cured.

5. Construction

The cable furnished under this material standard shall consistently comply with all of the applicable test requirements specified in Section 8. of this material standard.

5.1 Central Conductor

The central conductor shall be uncoated aluminum 1350, in accordance with ASTM B230, stranded as specified in Section 5.1.1 of this material standard. Aluminum rod from which the conductor is drawn shall be free of defects and corrosion, cleaned of oil and contaminants, and purged of cleaning solvents prior to the drawing process. The use of lubricant during the drawing process is acceptable. The conductor surface shall be smooth.

5.1.1 Stranded Conductor

Stranded aluminum conductor shall be either hard-drawn (1350-H19) or 3/4 hard-drawn (1350-H16 or 1350-H26), Class B concentric lay, compressed 3-percent, in accordance with ASTM B230, B231 and B609. The number of strands per conductor shall be 61 for central conductor size 1000 kcmil. Compact stranded conductor is not acceptable; bids offered for this type of cable will be considered nonresponsive.

5.1.2 Strand-Block

Stranded conductor shall contain a strand-block material in the interstices of the conductor in accordance with ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Part 2.2. The strand-block material shall be flexible, stable and compatible with the cable components and commonly used cable accessories which may come in contact with the compound. The outer surface of the conductor shall be clean and free of strand-block material.

5.2 Conductor Shield

The conductor shield shall meet the applicable requirements of ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Part 3, and AEIC CS8-13, Section 3.0, with the exception that a semiconducting tape between the conductor and the extruded conductor shield material is unacceptable.

5.3 Insulation

5.3.1 The insulation shall be EPR Class III thermosetting type (for discharge-free designs) meeting the applicable requirements of ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Part 4, and AEIC CS8-13, Section 4.0.

5.3.2 The nominal thickness of the insulation shall be 175 mils as specified for the 100-percent insulation level for 15kV cable in sizes 2 AWG - 1000 kcmil in ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Table 8-1. The tolerance limits for the over-insulation cable diameter shall be as specified in ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Appendix C.

5.4 Insulation Shield

5.4.1 The insulation shield shall be extruded directly over the insulation.

5.4.2 The insulation shield shall meet the applicable requirements of ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Part 5, and AEIC CS8-13, Section 5.0.

5.4.3 The insulation shield shall be legibly identified as semiconducting by surface printing; indent printing is unacceptable for labeling the insulation shield layer.

5.4.4 The insulation shield shall strip freely and cleanly from the underlying insulation using standard stripping tools. Any conductive material left after stripping shall be easily removable by light rubbing with a cloth impregnated with American Polywater type HP or equivalent cable cleaning solvent. The removability of the insulation shield shall meet the applicable requirements of ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013 and AEIC CS8-13, Section 5.4.

5.5 Metallic Drain Wire Shielding

A concentric serving of uncoated copper drain wires shall be applied over the extruded semi-conducting insulation shield layer in accordance with ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Parts 6.1 and 6.3. There shall be equal spacing between drain wires.

5.6 Separator Under Jacket

The copper drain wire shielding shall be covered with a non-hygroscopic mylar separator tape applied with an overlap of at least 10-percent of its width prior to application of the overall jacket.

5.7 Nonconducting Jacket

5.7.1 The overall outer jacket shall be of a black nonconducting compound suitable for exposure to sunlight.

5.7.2 The jacket shall be an overlaying type.

5.7.3 The jacket shall meet the applicable requirements of ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Part 7.

6. Cable Identification

6.1 The center strand of stranded conductor cable shall be indent printed with the Manufacturer’s name and year of manufacture at regular intervals with no more than 12 inches between repetitions in accordance with ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Part 8.2.3.

6.2 The outer surface of the jacket of each cable shall be durably and legibly marked throughout its length in accordance with ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Part 8.2.1. Identification marking shall be of the indent-printing type with the indentation highlighted with white or silver colored ink. The depth of the indentation shall be a minimum of 1 mil and a maximum of 15-percent of the jacket thickness.

6.3 Sequential footage numbers shall be clearly printed throughout the cable length at 2 foot intervals in accordance with ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Part 8.2.4. Sequential footage numbers shall not be repeated on any single order. Sequential footage numbers shall be of the indent-printing type with the indentation highlighted with white or silver colored ink. The depth of the indentation shall be a minimum of 1 mil and a maximum of 15-percent of the jacket thickness.

6.4 The outer surface of the jacket of each cable shall be marked with three, continuous, longitudinal, highly visible opaque red stripes spaced 120° apart. The stripes shall be extruded into the jacket. The minimum dimensions of the stripes shall be 0.188 inches wide by 5 mils deep. In accordance with ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, Part 8.2.1.1 the extruded stripe depth into the jacket shall not exceed 25 mils and the total width of all the stripes shall not exceed 50-percent of the jacket outer circumference.

7. Quality Assurance

7.1 Quality System

The cable Manufacturer shall have a quality system in place that meets the requirements of ISO-9002, latest edition.

7.2 Plant Certification

To qualify as a Bidder the following information shall be submitted for the specific cable manufacturing plant where the cable will be made: (Note: The District encourages cable Suppliers to submit this information in advance of the bid quote. See Section 8.4.2 for mailing address.)

7.2.1 Plant location
7.2.2 Description of the extrusion equipment used, including positioning of extruders
7.2.3 Description of the statistical quality control method used
7.2.4 List of previous customers supplied from this plant

8. Testing by the Manufacturer

8.1 Qualification Tests

8.1.1 One certified copy of the results of AEIC CS8-13 and ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013 qualification tests for the specified cable shall be provided.

8.1.2 Qualification test reports shall be provided to verify strand-block material meets the requirements of ICEA T-31-610, does not flow or drip under a heat test, and does not cause increased heating in connections under load conditions.

8.2 Production Sampling Tests

8.2.1 Production sampling tests shall be made in accordance with the applicable parts of AEIC CS8-13 and ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013.

8.2.2 Cable with strand-blocked conductor shall be subjected to water penetration resistance production tests as required in ICEA T-31-610. The cable Manufacturer shall supply test data to verify the strand-block material will not flow along the cable at cable operating temperatures and will not have an adverse effect on connections.

8.3 Tests on Completed Cable

Tests on completed cable shall be made in accordance with the applicable parts of ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013. Electrical tests shall be performed on each shipping reel.

8.4 Test Reports

8.4.1 The cable Manufacturer shall furnish the District with one certified copy of all applicable production tests in accordance with ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013, AEIC CS8-13 and this material standard. Data recorded for Qualification Tests shall also be sent to the District. One certified copy of the dimensional measurements and reports of all test data shall be furnished for each reel of cable to be shipped. All tests must demonstrate compliance of the cable to be shipped with all applicable requirements.

8.4.2 One copy of each certified test report shall be sent to:

Snohomish County Public Utility District No. 1
Attn. Engineering Standards
P.O. Box 1107
Everett, WA 98206-1107

9. Acceptance Tests by the District

9.1 Sampling By the District

The District may take cable samples from each shipping reel of received cable or may request a sample from each reel of cable to be shipped. If cable samples are requested by the District they shall be shipped concurrent with the regular cable shipment. If requested, cable samples shall consist of one 2-foot length of cable taken from the trailing cable end of each shipping reel, appropriately identified with the reel and master reel number of the reel from which they were taken. Samples shall be taken such that a cable shipping length occurs between each sample. One copy of the associated certified test report shall be sent with any cable samples requested. If cable samples are requested, the District will inform the Manufacturer where to ship them at the time of the request.

9.2 Performance Acceptance Tests

Performance acceptance tests may be conducted on samples from each reel of cable. The testing and examinations of cable samples may be performed by the District or its authorized agent. All test procedures, examinations, and their results shall conform to the applicable parts of ANSI/ICEA S-97-682-2013 and AEIC CS8-13 except as specifically noted. Failure of a sample to satisfy the requirements of any section of this material standard may be cause for rejection of that shipping reel of cable. The District reserves the right to return, at the Supplier’s expense, any cable not meeting the requirements of this material standard.

10. Shipment and Reels

10.1 Packing and Sealing

10.1.1 Cable shall be supplied in one continuous length for each reel. Cable length per reel shall be as specified in Figure 1 of this material standard.

10.1.2 Each end of the cable shall be firmly and properly secured to the reel. Care shall be taken to prevent looseness of reeled cable. The cable end attached through the interior of the reel shall be fastened in such a manner that it remains attached as the cable is dispensed from the reel and does not interfere with other reels or waste cable.

10.1.3 There shall be a minimum 2-inch clearance between the outer edge of the reel flange and the surface of the outermost layer of cable.

10.1.4 Watertight seals shall be applied to all cable ends to prevent entry of moisture during transit and outside storage. All reels shall have Level 2 flexible film type protection over the outer layer of cable in accordance with NEMA WC 26-2008, Section 4.1.

10.2 Reels

Unless otherwise specified on the Special Provisions sheet, all reels shall:

10.2.1 Be standard nonreturnable wood reels conforming to NEMA WC 26-2008, unless otherwise stated in this specification or authorized by the District

10.2.2 Be free of damaging protrusions, e.g., nails, staples, etc.

10.2.3 Use steel bushings to line reel arbor holes if the gross weight of the reel exceeds 2,500 pounds

10.2.4 Have minimum drum diameters as specified in NEMA WC 26-2008, Section 3 (12 x cable OD)

10.2.5 Have dimensions and tolerances as specified in Figure 1 of this material standard