Transactions of the VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava, Mechanical Series No. 3, 2010, vol. LVI article No. 1815 Jiří HEJČÍK * , Miroslav JÍCHA ** 1D SIMULATION OF HEAT TRANSFER IN CABLE CHANNEL SIMULACE PŘENOSU TEPLA V KABELOVÉM KANÁLU Abstract The paper deals with the use of 1D simulation tool AMESim to predict the steady state temperatures of a high-voltage electrical cables which are installed inside a cable channel. Abstrakt Příspěvek se zabývá problematikou simulace ustálených teplotních stavů v kabelových kanálech, pomocí univerzálního simulačního nástroje AMESim. 1 INTRODUCTION Rising power consumption puts demands not only on the continuous development and construction of new power sources, but also on the efficient distribution of electricity to final consumers. Since the largest amount of actually consumed electricity is produced by big and centralized power plants, the power grid has to transport electricity over large distances. The power losses in electrical power system correspond to the square of the transmitted current, therefore high- voltage lines are used for power transmission. On the other hand, the high-voltage cables are more prone to the formation of an electrical discharge and must be properly installed. There is no problem with the correct high-voltage line installation in such areas where the overhead power lines are used. If there is no space for overhead lines the buried cables have to be used (e.g. in urban areas); hence the special cables with enhanced insulation and stored in concrete channels have to be employed, see Figure 1. If such a cable channel is buried, the waste heat from cables is removed relatively easily into the surrounding soil. Unfortunately, problems occur when the buried cable channel crosses the other lines (e.g. drainage) hence the released heat has to be transported by convection. 2 SOLUTION AND RESULTS Since the maximum operating temperature of a single cable is limited to a value around 90 °C, it is very important, for the safe operation of the grid, to locate places of the worst heat dissipation to avoid cable overheating. Hence, the 1D model of a concrete cable channel for 6 high-voltage cables (Fig. 1) was developed for this purpose. In this model, the individual cables with a diameter of 120 mm are deposited in PE pipes diameter 200 mm with wall thickness 6 mm. These tubes are embedded in concrete, so that the entire cable channel is a monolithic block with a cross section of 750 × 100 mm, and the desired length (1 m in case of the developed model). * Ing. Ph.D., Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Energy Institute, Technicka 2896/2, Brno, tel. (+420) 541 143 284, e-mail hejcik@fme.vutbr.cz ** prof. Ing. CSc., Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Energy Institute, Brno Technicka 2896/2, Brno, tel. (+420) 541 143 271, e-mail jicha@fme.vutbr.cz 69