Cable fault location expertise for land and submarine cables (XL-CFL)

Reliable fault location for maximum cost effectiveness

Cable fault location on long cables | BAUR GmbH

Due to the growing demand for power and increasing dependence on renewable energy, more and more of which is being generated offshore, submarine power cables are becoming indispensable for a reliable energy supply. Among experts, submarine cables are classified as critical infrastructure. Why critical? Firstly due to the harsh environment in which they are installed. Secondly, and this is also the most common cause of faults, submarine cables are exposed to mechanical stress, such as currents, fishing, or heavy ships' anchors, at irregular intervals and at all water depths, which can result in significant damage. 

Advantages

Immediate availability guaranteed

 

... high security of supply and operational readiness of cable fault location systems

Minimised downtime

 

... thanks to a customised contingency plan, trained personnel, and the immediate availability of the fault location system

Maximum safety

 

 

...comprehensive safety features and high-performance discharge unit

Precise measurement results

 

 

... thanks to tried and tested measuring techniques and the professional location system

Security of supply

Since 2010, BAUR has been developing individual product solutions for fast and efficient fault location on long land and submarine cables. With the powerful systems and extensive expertise of BAUR specialists, critical cable faults on submarine cables have been located rapidly, efficiently, and precisely in recent years. You too can rely on BAUR expertise and the high-performance technologies that have been tried and tested worldwide.

  

The impact of cable faults enters a new dimension

When a submarine cable is damaged, cable fault location and repair is usually a complex and time-consuming process. The protracted downtime translates into losses in the millions for the cable operator – with the downtime costs growing day on day!


Many cable operators therefore invest in a suitable fault location system even before the cable is put into operation. Immediate availability when a fault occurs means that the fault can be located straight away, thus reducing cable downtime in the long term. Due to the enormous time saving, the investment pays for itself after just one cable fault.

More stringent safety requirements cannot be met with traditional cable fault location

Depending on the fault type and breakdown voltage, high voltage may be used for cable testing and cable fault location. Long cables store a lot of energy during this process. Most devices and measurement systems are unable to cope with the discharge of such a high level of energy. Moreover, standard devices are also not protected against the very high-energy transient waves. This inevitably leads to the devices being damaged and presents a high risk for operating personnel. You should rely on proven BAUR solutions from the outset that are specifically designed for long land and submarine cables.

 

 

 

 

 

Save millions in downtime costs!

No matter what the application, BAUR has the technology to allow you to locate cable damage rapidly and accurately. Suitable measurement methods provide a measuring accuracy of less than 1%. For very long cables, stationary measurement systems at both cable ends significantly improve measuring accuracy. Imagine the time and cost savings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The biggest threats to submarine cables: External forces exerted by heavy ships' anchors and trawl nets of fishing boats at all sea depths.

Cable fault location: long land and submarine cables | BAUR GmbH

Cable fault location beyond the standard

What should you do when the favoured time domain reflectometry method cannot be used? 

  

The normal fault location methods – time domain reflectometry (TDR) in particular, but also the secondary/multiple impulse method (SIM/MIM) – cannot always be used in very long cables (especially those with cross-bonding joints). One reason for this is that the measurement pulse or its reflection is too strongly damped over the long distance, making it very difficult to evaluate results. Another possible cause is the high capacitance of the cable, which makes it difficult to achieve a usable pulse discharge with the SIM/MIM method because the capacitance of the surge capacitor should be significantly higher than that of the cable. 

Impulse current method (ICM)

Impulse current method for locating high-resistive faults and breakdown faults. The fault distance is determined by evaluating the impulse current diagrams. Particularly suitable for use on long cables.

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Decay method

Voltage-coupled decay method for locating faults with high breakdown voltage. The oscillating voltage reflection waves are evaluated automatically to determine the fault distance.

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Differential comparison method

The differential comparison method is one of the pre-location methods that are used in branched voltage networks when a normal reflection measurement is not feasible. High-resistive or intermittent faults can be pre-located using this method. It is called the ICM differential method because two ICM images created in parallel when a surge wave is emitted are compared. To do this, a surge wave generator is connected to both the faulty phase and an intact one at the same time. The ICM measurement is then performed once without a bridge and a second time with a bridge at the cable end from the intact phase to the faulty phase.

 

If the fault lies on a main core between the generator and the bridge circuit, the measuring device shows the distance between loop and fault location. If, on the other hand, the fault lies in a branch, the measurement gives the distance between the loop and the start of the branch in question. 

Suitable for all cable types:

  • HVDC submarine cable links (monopole, bipole)
  • HVDC land cable links
  • AC submarine cable systems
  • Combined AC land and submarine cable systems

Portable devices

Area of application

  •  For cable fault location at multiple locations of use
  •  For cable systems with high relevance – high costs in the event of cable failure, high risk for security of supply

FEATURES:

Long cables

All measurement methods

Advantages

  •  Small and convenient
  •  Fast transportation to place of use
  •  Great flexibility of use
  •  TDR fingerprint in accordance with CIGRE TB 773, CIGRE TB 610, CIGRE TB 680, CIGRE TB 490, CIGRE TB 496
  •  IEEE 1234-2019

BAUR Solution

Cable fault location: shirla product solution | BAUR GmbH

shirla

Mobile systems

Area of application

  • For cable fault location at multiple locations of use 
  •  For cable systems with very high relevance – very high costs in the event of a cable failure, very high risk for security of supply
  •  Fastest possible availability and operational readiness

FEATURES:

Long cables

All measurement methods

Advantages

  •  Compact: All cable fault location methods integrated into a single system
  •  Fast transportation to place of use
  •  Immediate use
  •  Great flexibility of use
  •  Very high degree of efficiency
  •  Proven system solution

BAUR Solution

Cable fault location: Product solution with wheels | BAUR GmbH

Systems on wheels for use within the station

Cable fault location: Cable test van product solution | BAUR GmbH

Cable test vans

Stationary systems

... for long cable systems, can be deployed at both ends

Area of application

  • For cable systems with extremely high relevance – extremely high costs in the event of cable failure, extremely high risk for security of supply
  • Tailored cable fault location system integrated in a measurement container
  • Immediate availability when stored in the cable hall

FEATURES:

Long cables

All measurement methods

Advantages

Saves time

  • No loss of time due to transportation
  • Immediate deployment in the event of a cable system failure 
  • Cable fault location within the shortest possible time / on the first day
  • Suitable for very long cables

 

Precision

  • Improved positional accuracy thanks to deployment at both ends of the cable

 

Cost savings

  • Reduction of downtime and holding time costs – these can amount to several €100,000 per day
  • Investment pays for itself after just one fault

BAUR Solution

Fault location systems in containers

Cable fault location: Stationary system in a container | BAUR GmbH
Cable fault location: Stationary system in a container | BAUR GmbH
Cable fault location: Stationary system in a container | BAUR GmbH

Interview with Manfred Bawart

Why it pays to invest in XL-CFL

 

Since 2010, BAUR has been developing individual product solutions for fast and efficient fault location on long land and submarine cables. With the powerful systems and extensive expertise of BAUR specialists, critical cable faults on submarine cables have been located rapidly, efficiently, and precisely in recent years. You too can rely on BAUR expertise and the high-performance technologies that have been tried and tested worldwide.

Cable fault location: Expert Manfred Bawart | BAUR GmbH

Manfred Bawart

Cable fault location expert and author of specialist publications (published in CIGRE, JICABLE, IEEE PES ICC, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, CIRED, etc.)

1. Do long submarine cables often sustain damage during their life time?

 

Submarine cables for power transmission are designed to be very robust and have a service life of over 50 years.
Nevertheless, cable system failures do occur during this long service life, mostly caused by external forces such as heavy ships' anchors, fishing operations, the erection of wind power plants, and natural forces.

2. What is the best way of preparing for cable damage? 

 

Precise preparation is crucial for fast and successful cable fault location. Compile a comprehensive contingency plan together with your experts early on. Follow this in the event of any damage, and be guided by the experts. CIGRE Technical Brochure TB 773 contains suitable approaches. In particular, you should bear in mind that Working on long cables requires specific safety procedures. Standard fault location systems are not suitable for use on long power cables. Special discharge systems are required for the safe discharge of energy. Invest in suitable cable fault location technology and the safety of your personnel before commissioning the cable. 

3. What is the best way to obtain a cable fault location as quickly as possible?

 

Fast and successful cable fault location depends upon the prompt on-site availability of suitable fault location systems and trained personnel, or
expert support on a case-by-case basis. In particular, you should bear in mind that the measurement methods commonly used for land cables are not usually appropriate for long cable systems. Special measurement methods and optimised measurement technology are used. Recording accurate distance measurements on very long cables usually requires a measurement to be taken at both ends. If suitable cable fault location systems are available at both ends, this will save valuable time and the fault can usually be pre-located within a few hours. Taking a precise pre-location measurement at both ends is the starting point for fast pin-pointing and saves having to conduct expensive investigations on the seabed, which can often take days and weeks to complete. Particularly in deep-sea areas, this method eliminates expensive section losses due to the cable being cut in the wrong place.

4. How exactly can you home in on the fault position?

 

Submarine cables are buried in the seabed over vast areas or laid with a protective cover.  This considerably reduces the chance of visually pin-pointing the fault. High-precision measurement results from pre-location are therefore extremely important. Certain pre-location methods, taking measurements at both ends and comparing several measurement methods, provide greater certainty when determining where to cut the cable. Measuring accuracy with deviations ranging from 0.05% to 1% of the cable length can be achieved. Reference measuring points of known cable joints permits further fine-tuning of the measurement results.

5. What is special about the BAUR technology?

 

BAUR offers custom fault location systems for long land and submarine cables, HVDC cables (monopolar or bipolar), as well as for particularly long AC cables with cross bonded earthing systems. The cable fault location systems are optimised for safety and, even in the case of very long submarine cables, allow safe discharge of the stored energy.

What is the technical article about?

  

The growing use of renewable energies and the transition to e-mobility are increasing the dependency on electrical energy. One source of renewable energy is offshore wind farms, which are connected to the mainland by long cables. However, such high-voltage direct current transmission (HVDC) cables are also used on land. Any faults occurring on these long lines have enormous consequences for a country's electrical infrastructure.

     

Keeping downtime to a minimum and quickly locating these cable faults requires effective measurement technology. This technology must be versatile, cover various fault location methods, and be capable of adapting to the cable length in order to facilitate reliable fault detection. But which device covers the various measurement methods and can be adapted to the cable length?

  

The answer to this question and many others can be found in our free article. 

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Explanatory video: XL-CFL cable fault location on large land and submarine cables (subtitles in EN)

Since 2010, BAUR has been developing individual product solutions for fast and efficient fault location on long land and submarine cables. With the powerful systems and extensive expertise of BAUR specialists, critical cable faults on submarine cables have been located rapidly, efficiently, and precisely in recent years.

September 2020

Long power cables: Using experience | BAUR GmbH

Fault location on long power cables

Findings and experience concerning the use of submarine cables for long land connections

 

In a few years’ time, high-voltage cables hundreds of kilometres long and extending from one end of Germany to another will become part of the country’s critical infrastructure. Maximising the availability of these cables is crucial, so any faults need to be located swiftly and reliably and the cables repaired with minimum delay. This goes beyond the capability of conventional fault location technology but, fortunately, special solutions are available for extra-long cables based on technology partly derived from a field in which long cables are commonplace: submarine cables.

 

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Detailed information on cable fault location

 

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Solution folder: XL cable fault location Solution folder: XL cable fault location

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