A Brief Overview of Electrical Power Cables

An electrical power cable transmits electricity from the source to different points and the properties of the electrical power cable differ depending on the type of material. There are different applications of power cables and we configure the design and material of those cables depending on the impending power load.

For lower, to medium level power loads we choose simple and subtle power cables, and for heavy loads, the material type, density, strength, conductivity, ductility and various other properties are kept in contention. There are parameters created by international regulatory authorities for developing respective electrical power cables for different purposes.

The properties of an electrical power cable are evaluated on different parameters and the main parameter is volts and their respective thresholds. 

The volt specification is categorized into different groups and they are as follows

• The first category of wire comprises low voltage cables designed for handling low-level thresholds. The range does not exceed 750 V; it is enough to run small-scale appliances harmoniously.
• The second category of power cables is built to handle lower to medium levels of voltage thresholds. The range varies between 750 V to 1000 V (1 kV). The power cable is ideal for industrial scales. For various industrial applications such as general and public installations, building strong grid infrastructures, etc., we use this group of cables with high tensile strength.
• The third category offers medium voltage cables having a threshold limit varying from 1 kV to 36 kV. These are high scale power cables that are capable of transmitting electricity from long distances and distributing the power from electrical substations to local transformer stations.
• The final category of electrical power cables is high voltage cables having the highest degree of the voltage threshold. High voltage power cables are installed in power plants from where the power is transmitted to substations. They are capable of transmitting 36 kV of power to longer distances continuously without breaking their material integrity.

According to International Electrical Commission Standard IEC 60446, we identify the designated use of a cable wire on the basis of its colour. Different wire cables illustrate different purposes. There is a specific group of colours that are allowed for thermoset coating of a wire the colours are: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Black, White, Gray, Pink and Turquoise.

The colours of the electrical copper wire are governed by the International Electrical Commission Standard IEC 60446. For the identification of the conductors, the following colours are allowed: black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, grey, white, pink and turquoise.

There are three conductor types for 3 phase power supply: Neutral, Phase, and Earth. For neutral conductors the universally recommended and accepted color is blue. For phase conductors, only black, grey and brown are recommended, and for the earth, yellow or green colored wires are permissible. These are universal standards for preventing confusion.

Hence, the above-mentioned information is a brief explanation of electrical power cables, their categories, specifications and functions. The nomenclature of electrical power cables diversifies into a plethora of specifications as we dig deeper.