GB2589645A - Electrical conductor - Google Patents

Electrical conductor Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2589645A
GB2589645A GB2001037.7A GB202001037A GB2589645A GB 2589645 A GB2589645 A GB 2589645A GB 202001037 A GB202001037 A GB 202001037A GB 2589645 A GB2589645 A GB 2589645A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
electrical conductor
electrical
layer
copper
section
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB2001037.7A
Other versions
GB202001037D0 (en
Inventor
Kumar Ashish
Mishra Shashank
A Ghag Bhavesh
Bankar Akshay
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd
Original Assignee
Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd filed Critical Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd
Publication of GB202001037D0 publication Critical patent/GB202001037D0/en
Priority to PCT/EP2020/084652 priority Critical patent/WO2021110925A1/en
Publication of GB2589645A publication Critical patent/GB2589645A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H02GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02GINSTALLATION OF ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES, OR OF COMBINED OPTICAL AND ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES
    • H02G5/00Installations of bus-bars
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01BCABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B1/00Conductors or conductive bodies characterised by the conductive materials; Selection of materials as conductors
    • H01B1/02Conductors or conductive bodies characterised by the conductive materials; Selection of materials as conductors mainly consisting of metals or alloys
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01BCABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B1/00Conductors or conductive bodies characterised by the conductive materials; Selection of materials as conductors
    • H01B1/02Conductors or conductive bodies characterised by the conductive materials; Selection of materials as conductors mainly consisting of metals or alloys
    • H01B1/023Alloys based on aluminium
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01BCABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B1/00Conductors or conductive bodies characterised by the conductive materials; Selection of materials as conductors
    • H01B1/02Conductors or conductive bodies characterised by the conductive materials; Selection of materials as conductors mainly consisting of metals or alloys
    • H01B1/026Alloys based on copper
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01BCABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B5/00Non-insulated conductors or conductive bodies characterised by their form
    • H01B5/02Single bars, rods, wires, or strips
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01BCABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B9/00Power cables
    • H01B9/006Constructional features relating to the conductors

Landscapes

  • Non-Insulated Conductors (AREA)

Abstract

The electrical conductor is intended for medium and high voltage alternating current applications, for example as a busbar in electrical switchgear. The electrical conductor 1 comprises an elongate solid body having a substantially uniform cross-section steel core 2, an aluminium layer 3 enveloping the steel core, and a copper layer 4 cladding the aluminium layer.

Description

Electrical conductor The invention relates to an electrical conductor for alternating current applications, in particular for medium and 5 high voltage alternating current applications.
Electrical switchgears are widely utilized for power distribution applications in various environments ranging from commercial, residential to industrial infrastructures. A typical switchgear consists of a number of electrical conductors which enable switchgear to safely distribute current across various feeder units.
In electrical switchgears, electrical resistivity, eddy currents and contact resistance generate heat within the enclosure of the switchgear resulting in a temperature rise.
Typically, the electrical conductors also contribute to the thermal management within the enclosure by acting as heat sink to carry away the generated heat.
Furthermore, the electrical conductors are used to provide structural strength to the assembly in case of a short 20 circuit.
In order to combine the functions of conducting the current, acting as heat sink and providing structural strength, it is well known in the prior art to use electrical conductors with a solid body of copper, which material combines these functions very well.
However, these solid copper electrical conductors give rise to the issue of a substantial weight and substantial costs, which is a substantial part of the overall costs of the switchgear.
For this type of applications, it is essential that the electrical conductor has a solid body to provide sufficient strength. So, stranded electrical conductors cannot be applied as such kind of stranded electrical conductors are typically designed for flexibility and the ability to resists frequent bending, movement and vibrations.
Using another kind of material for the solid body of the electrical conductor will typically increase the electrical resistance of the conductor, which will increase the generated heat. It is well known that copper has a very efficient electrical resistivity.
Accordingly it is an object of the invention to 10 reduce or even remove the above mentioned disadvantages of electrical conductors according to the prior art.
This object is achieved with an electrical conductor according to the invention, which electrical conductor comprises an elongate solid body having a substantially uniform cross-section of a steel core, an aluminum layer enveloping the steel core, and a copper layer enveloping the aluminum layer.
When an alternating current is fed through an electrical conductor, then the skin effect and proximity 20 effect will occur.
The skin effect is the tendency of an alternating electric current to become distributed within a conductor such that the current density is largest near the surface of the conductor, and decreases towards the core of the conductor.
The electric current thus flows mainly in a small portion of the skin of the electrical conductor, while on a small part of the electric current flows below beneath the skin and thus in the core of the electrical conductor.
The proximity effect is the effect that the current in an electrical conductor is concentrated in only a part of the electrical conductor due to the influence of currents flowing in nearby other electrical conductors, which is typical for switchgear.
Due to the skin effect and proximity effect, only a part of the prior art solid copper electrical conductor would be used. So, for a prior art conductor a portion of the copper 5 is nonfunctional for the conductivity of current.
With the electrical conductor according to the invention, only the skin of the conductor is made of copper. As the skin effect causes a main portion of the current to flow through the outer part of the conductor, only this portion is made from copper to have a low electrical resistivity for the main portion of the current.
The middle part of the electrical conductor according to the invention is made of aluminum. This will conduct the remaining portion of the electrical current. While aluminum has a higher electrical resistivity, the overall resistance of the electrical conductor will only increase marginally.
The aluminum portion of the electrical conductor according to the invention also has a good heat conductivity, 20 but has a substantial lower strength. This is compensated by having a steel core, which has an excellent strength.
In a preferred embodiment of the electrical conductor according to the invention the cross-section is circular and wherein the steel core, aluminum layer and copper 25 layer are concentrically arranged.
With a circular cross-section, the distribution of the current due to the skin effect will be even around the circumference of the cross-section. This allows for a minimal thickness to be used for the copper layer.
In a further preferred embodiment of the electrical conductor according to the invention the copper layer is cladded to the aluminum layer. By cladding the copper layer onto the aluminum layer, a fusion of the copper with the aluminum is obtained, such that no electrical surface resistance between the two layer occurs nor any heat conducting barriers are present.
In a further preferred embodiment of the electrical conductor according to the invention, the copper layer has a thickness between 5% and 20%, more preferably 10%, of the largest main dimension of the cross-section.
Preferably, the aluminum layer has a thickness between 50% and 70%, more preferably 60%, of the largest main dimension of the cross-section.
Within these ranges, an electrical conductor is obtained with a substantial reduction in weight, while having a low resistance due to the copper outer layer, having a good heat conduction due to the copper and aluminum layer, and a sufficient strength due to the steel core.
The invention also relates to a switchgear comprising: -a number of busbars; and -at least one of an electrical disconnect switch, a fuse or a circuit breaker electrically connected to at least one of the number of busbars, wherein at least one of the number of busbars is an electrical conductor according to the invention.
These and other features of the invention will be elucidated in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 shows a cross-section of an embodiment of an electrical conductor according to the invention.
The electrical conductor 1, shown in cross-section 30 in figure 1, has an elongate solid body with a steel core 2, an aluminum layer 3 enveloping the steel core 2 and a copper layer 4 enveloping the aluminum layer 3.
The electrical conductor 1 has a circular cross-section with a diameter D. The thickness of the copper layer is t, and the thickness of the aluminum layer is ta.
As an example of the advantages of the invention, the electrical conductor 1 is compared to a prior art solid copper electrical conductor. Both conductors have a length of 1.23 m and a circular cross-section with a diameter of 20mm.
The thickness t, of the copper layer of the electrical conductor 1 is 1.57mm, the thickness t, of the aluminum layer is 6.43mm and the thickness or diameter of the steel core is 12mm.
Using a copper density of 8800 kg/m2, an aluminum density of 2700 kg/ms and a steel density of 8050 kg/ms will result in a weight of 13.74 kg for the prior art solid copper electrical conductor and 8.47 kg for the electrical conductor 1 according to the invention. A reduction in weight of 38.35'.:.
When an alternating current of typically 501-1z or 601-1z is fed through each of these electrical conductors, then the ohmic loss on the prior art solid copper conductor would be 431W in this example, while the ohmic loss on the electrical conductor 1 according to the invention would be 437W. Only an increase of 6W, i.e. 1.42,, which is insignificant.
Furthermore, it will be clear that due to the small amount of copper 4 in the electrical conductor 1, the costs are substantial lower than the costs of a solid copper conductor according to the prior art.

Claims (6)

  1. Claims 1. Electrical conductor (1) for alternating current applications, in particular for medium and high voltage alternating current applications, which electrical conductor (1) comprises an elongate solid body having a substantially uniform cross-section of a steel core (2), an aluminum layer (3) enveloping the steel core (2), and a copper layer (4) enveloping the aluminum layer (3).
  2. 2. Electrical conductor (1) according to claim 1, 10 wherein the cross-section is circular and wherein the steel core (2), aluminum layer (3) and copper layer (4) are concentrically arranged.
  3. 3. Electrical conductor (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the copper layer (4) is cladded to the aluminum 15 layer (3).
  4. 4. Electrical conductor (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the copper layer (4) has a thickness (t,) between 5% and 20%, more preferably 10%, of the largest main dimension (D) of the cross-section.
  5. 5. Electrical conductor (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the aluminum layer (3) has a thickness (ta) between 50% and 70%, more preferably 60%, of the largest main dimension (D) of the cross-section.
  6. 6. Switchgear comprising: -a number of busbars; and -at least one of an electrical disconnect switch, a fuse or a circuit breaker electrically connected to at least one of the number of busbars, characterized in that at least one of the number of busbars is an electrical conductor (1) according to any of the preceding claims.
GB2001037.7A 2019-12-07 2020-01-24 Electrical conductor Withdrawn GB2589645A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/EP2020/084652 WO2021110925A1 (en) 2019-12-07 2020-12-04 Electrical conductor

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IN201911050610 2019-12-07

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB202001037D0 GB202001037D0 (en) 2020-03-11
GB2589645A true GB2589645A (en) 2021-06-09

Family

ID=69725970

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB2001037.7A Withdrawn GB2589645A (en) 2019-12-07 2020-01-24 Electrical conductor

Country Status (2)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2589645A (en)
WO (1) WO2021110925A1 (en)

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN105845192A (en) * 2016-03-22 2016-08-10 长沙理工大学 Copper/aluminum/steel three-layer coated composite wire and forming method thereof

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
SE9500293D0 (en) * 1995-01-26 1995-01-26 Asea Brown Boveri Switchgear with actuator for switches
JP2003132736A (en) * 2001-10-19 2003-05-09 Asmo Co Ltd Wire
CN106229058A (en) * 2016-07-26 2016-12-14 汉舟四川铜铝复合科技有限公司 A kind of strong conduction copper of resistance to temperature rise aluminum interface alloy composite pipe bus

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN105845192A (en) * 2016-03-22 2016-08-10 长沙理工大学 Copper/aluminum/steel three-layer coated composite wire and forming method thereof

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2021110925A1 (en) 2021-06-10
GB202001037D0 (en) 2020-03-11

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WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)