Numerical and experimental analysis of thermal behaviour of high voltage power cable in unfilled ducts

The work addresses the topic of the thermal study of high-voltage power cables installed inside plastic pipes in the absence of filling. The presence of air inside the pipe creates an insulating layer that does not favor heat exchange and makes the calculation of the flow rate more complex, as it is necessary to take into account the thermal phenomena of natural convection and radiation between the surface of the cable and the internal surface of the tube. The numerical model based on the finite element calculation was compared with the experimental results obtained on a simulacrum in which the temperatures on the different layers of the cable were measured. After this validation, some typical installation configurations of single and double energy transport triads were analyzed.