Underground Cable Thermal Analysis - Raceway Rule Book
ETAP rule book for underground raceway system includes the following rules for creating and aligning underground raceway systems:
Non-uniform rules
The purpose for the non-uniform rules is to allow the user to create the following rules for an underground raceway system setup:
- Specify the conduit types commonly used for designing underground raceway systems
- Specify the conduit sizes considered for various conduit types
- Specify the minimum separation to maintain when placing conduits of various sizes to create an underground raceway
Circuit level based rules
The purpose for the circuit level rules is to allow the user to create the following rules for an underground raceway system setup:
- Specify the conduit types commonly used for designing underground raceway systems
- Specify the conduit sizes considered for various conduit types
- Specify the minimum separation to maintain when placing conduits of various circuit or power levels next to each other
Underground duct bank raceway wizard
Raceways can be created using the underground duct bank raceway wizard in addition to the standard graphical drag and drop method.
There are three main options for using the wizard to create new raceways with associated conduits:
- Uniform underground raceway - All conduits are same size and spaced equally. This option is particularly useful for building standard raceway layouts like 2x2, 3x3, 2x3, etc.
- Non-Uniform (using rule book) – Conduits may not be same size and are spaced based on the conduit size. These rules are used when adequate spacing is required in order to avoid thermal interaction between the conduits in close proximity. Larger the conduit implies larger cable, higher cable temperatures hence more spacing between conduits.
- Circuit Level (using rule book) – Conduits may not be the same size and are spaced based on the power levels or circuit levels defined for each conduit. Higher the power level such as higher voltage and / or higher current levels implies higher electromagnetic interference (EMI) with surrounding control cables hence greater the separation.
ETAP Rule Book is a storage and processing system that contains various engineering rules, rules of thumb, standard rules, and industry best practices for performing routine engineering tasks. The advantage of utilizing the rule book is that it can be shared across the organization ensuring that the company or industry engineering standards are being followed consistently. A user can open and create their own rule files similar to ETAP library files. Rule books can also be copied and merged together.
