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Indoor Datacomms and

Feature

Power Cable Separation to BS EN 50174-2

David Stefanowicz B.Eng(Hons)C.Eng.MInstMC1, Tim Oldershaw, Technical Director2
1. ECA ITEC, 2. J Brand

W
ith the continued growth of factory controls, BMS
and computer networks linked to process plant
DNS and SCADA based systems, problems often
arise due to interference between signal and power
cabling. Not that the signal cables interfere with the power
system but very much so the other way around.
This problem is addressed in BS EN 50174 Part 2 –
Information Technology - Cabling Installation Planning
and Practices Inside Buildings. Readers should be aware
that the information and recommendations given in BS EN
50174 Part 2 was based upon the technology available at
the time the standard was developed, which was based on
a maximum of Category 6 (Class E) cabling designed for a
maximum bandwidth of 250MHz usually running a maxi-
mum of Gigabite technology.
When designing an Information Technology installation,
it is normal to take into consideration the separation dis-
tances for the different types of cabling utilised within the Figure 1: Separation of Sensitive Equipment
installation. Consideration should be given to the segrega- sider the following points to prevent the electricity distribu-
tion of sensitive equipment from general power circuits, tion systems adversely influencing sensitive equipment:
e.g. controls and information technology cables from 1) Where are any potential sources of interference e.g.,
power supply cables and lighting. lifts, power transformers, variable speed drills and high
This guidance leaflet sets out the minimum recommen- electrical current busbars or HT equipment?
dations for separation distances when installing data 2) Metal pipes (e.g. for water, gas, heating) and cables
cables. However, it must be borne in mind that particular should enter the building at the same place and be con-
manufacturers’ recommendations, client specifications or nected to the main equipotential bonding of the building.
contractual arrangements should take precedence. If this is 3) Metal sheets and metal pipes should be bonded to the
the case, then separation distances may have to be adjust- main equipotential bonding of the building with low
ed accordingly. impedance conductors (see BS 7671 for details).
When the requirements for the segregation of sensitive 4) The choice of a common route through the building for
equipment and cables are being considered for an installation, power and signal cable with the best possible separation (
the design information can be found in the series of standards by distance and/or screening) to avoid large inductive
EN 50310, EN 50173, EN 50174 part 1, part 2 and part 3. loops formed by different power cabling systems.
5) It is recommended to use either one single multi-core
Separation of Sensitive Equipment cable for power supply purposes or – in cases of higher cur-
rent levels, a busbars system with low-level magnetic fields.
This is the separation of any interfering equipment from 6) The necessary separation (distance or screening)
sensitive equipment, which is often the separation of linear between power and Information Technology cables must
loads and non-linear loads. There are different ways of be provided.
achieving this, however, the basic guideline should be to 7) Power and Information Technology cables must cross
gain the maximum segregation between the sensitive over at right angles and use a bridge where necessary.
equipment circuit and general equipment. 8) Power cabling systems which use single core conduc-
As can be seen in Figure 1 the best solution is to have tors should ideally be enclosed in bonded steel metallic
the sensitive equipment on a completely isolated supply by enclosures or conduits.
use of a separate phase or UPS, this is the best solution.
However it is understood that this is not always possible. Segregation of Power Supply Cables and
(A) Is the sharing the final sub circuits, (B) the sensitive Information Technology Cables
equipment is on separate sub circuit and (C) the sensitive
equipment on a separate supply. When installing Information Technology cables and power
The designers of the electrical installation should also con- supply cables which share the same cable management

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systems, or building voids, security, safety, and EMI must A practical example of a) would be the first 35 meters of
be taken into consideration. Of these, safety must always the horizontal cabling running on a cable tray above a ceil-
have the highest priority and as such BS 7671 - IEE Wiring ing to an office area, where it then drops down to a twin
Regulations shall be followed as an absolute minimum. compartment plastic dado trunking for the last 15 meters.
When a route is being designed the following should be A practical example of b) would be the installation of
taken into consideration: high-density data outlets in a server room, locally to a cab-
1) The immunity level of all equipment connected to the inet where the cabling runs in a large twin compartment
Information Technology cabling system to different elec- plastic dado trunking around the room.
tromagnetic disturbances (transients, lightning pulses, Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the requirements of Table 1 for
bursts, ring wave, continuous waves, etc.). both parallel cable runs without dividers (Figure 3) and
2) The distances that the cables will run in parallel (cou- with dividers (Figure 4):
pling zone).
3) The type of cables to be used.
4) The local electromagnetic environment (simultaneous
appearance of disturbances, e.g. harmonics, plus bursts,
plus continuous wave).
5) The distances that the cables run in parallel (coupling zone).
6) The quality of the attachment between the connectors a)
and the cable.
7) The coupling attenuation of the cables.
8) The connection of the equipment to the earthing system.
9) The type and the installation of the cable management
system.
Type of Distance A
Installation Without divider or Aluminium Steel divider
non-metallic divider divider
Unscreened power 200 mm 100 mm 50 mm b)
cable and
unscreened ITcable Figure 3: examples of information technology cables and power
Unscreened power 50 mm 20 mm 5 mm cables that are run parallel without a divider.
cable and screened
IT cable c) The minimum distance ‘A’ in Figure 3a is the worst sit-
Screened power 30 mm 10 mm 2 mm
uation between fixing points.
cable and unscreened d) Where fixing’s are not provided, Figure 3b or other
IT cable physical restraints, such as a divider system are not pres-
Screened power 0 mm 0 mm 0 mm ent, as in loose laid cables under a floor, the separation dis-
cable and screened
IT cable tance ‘A’ shall be assumed to be 0 mm.
1) It is assumed that in case of metallic divider, the design of the cable management
system will achieve a screening attenuation related to the material used for the divider.
2) The screened IT cables shall comply with EN 50288 series.
Table 1: Information Technology Cable Separation from Power Cabling
The distances given in Table 1 must be used for the separa-
tion of backbone cabling from end to end. However, for hori-
zontal cabling where the final circuit length is less than 35
meters no separation is required in the case of screened cabling.
For lengths greater than 35 meters, the separation shall
apply to the full length, excluding the final 15 meters
before it is attached to the outlet. See Figure 2.
a)

a)

b)
Figure 4: examples of information technology cables and power
cables that run parallel with a divider.
b) c) Where cables are installed in adjacent compartments of
Figure 2: note that the "no separation required" notation is refer- a cable management system (e.g. 3 compartment trunking)
ring to additional EMI protection only and not to the safety that incorporates more than one divider, the minimum sep-
requirements of the IEE Wiring Regulations, which still need to aration between cables must be assumed to be equal to the
be adhered to. distance ‘A’ the thickness of the dividers, (Figure 4a)

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unless cable fixing is provided.

d) Where cables are installed in non-adjacent compart-
ments of a cable management system (e.g. 3 compartment
trunking) that incorporates more than one divider, the min-
imum separation between cables must be assumed to be
equal to the distance ‘A’ between the dividers, (Figure 4b)
unless cable fixing is provided.
e) The minimum distance between fluorescent, neon, and mer- Figure 6: cable management systems.
cury vapour (or other high-density high-frequency discharge) Earthing and Bonding for Information
lamps and Information Technology cables shall be 130mm. Technology Systems
f) Electrical wiring and data wiring should ideally be in
separate cabinets. Data wiring racks and electrical equip- Without adequate earthing and bonding the effectiveness
ment should always be separated in accordance with BS of other mitigation methods will be impaired.
7671, the IEE Wiring Regulations. The terms ‘earthing’ and ‘bonding’ are often confused.
g) Cables for different purposes should not be in the same Earthing is defined in BS 7671 as: "The act of connecting
bundle (e.g. mains power and Information Technology cables). exposed-conductive-parts of an installation to the main
h) Different bundles should be separated electromagneti- earthing terminal of an installation". Equipotential bond-
cally from each other. ing is defined as "Electrical connection maintaining vari-
ous exposed-conductive-parts and extraneous-conductive-
parts at substantially the same potential" (N.B. referred to
as bonding throughout this document).
It is important to note at this point that the primary func-
tion of an earthing network is for safety. Safety must take
precedence over any mitigation methods that are imple-
mented to reduce the EMI in the environment.
When making bonding connections between earthed
metal conductors it is important to take account of a num-
ber of environmental factors to ensure a successful long-
term connection:
Figure 5: separation of cables in cable management systems.
Cable Containment Temperature
Humidity
Cable management systems are available in metallic and Vibration
non-metallic forms. Some metallic materials offer an Mechanical Damage
improved protection from EMI. The cable management Corrosion
system, if conductive, must provide a continuous, efficient
conducting metallic structure over its full length to ensure It is also essential that when making the connection the
that it can take effect as a parallel-earthing conductor contact surfaces should be clean, i.e. free from grease,
(PEC). All metallic parts must be electrically well bond- paint, corrosion, insulating materials and any other effect
ed to the earthing system (see EN 50310). that may cause a high contact resistance. This is a practi-
The choice of material and the shape should be selected cal point to note when bonding to cabinets, cable trays,
depend on the following considerations: trunking etc. that have protective painted coatings applied
1) The strength of any electromagnetic fields along the during manufacture.
pathway (e.g. the location of any disturbing sources); When bonding connections are made it is important that
2) The type of cabling (optical fibre, screened, twisted pair); compatible metals are used, to minimise the effects of cor-
3) The immunity of the equipment connected to the rosion that would inevitably lead to a deterioration of the
Information Technology cabling system; initial low contact impedance.
4) Any other environmental constraints (chemical, Two ways of achieving good bonding connections are:
mechanical, climatic, heat, etc.). i. Ensure that earthing contact areas are of the same or sim-
5) Any allowance for the future expansion of the ilar contact potentials; and
Information Technology cabling system. ii. Use a grounding strap or fastening of intermediate contact
Non-metallic cable management systems are only suit- potential to separate the two (this, for direct contact, would take
able where the electromagnetic environment has a perma- the form of plating one of the metallic contacts or for indirect
nently low level of disturbance, the cabling system has a contact a bonding strip with an intermediate contact potential).
low emission level, or where optical fibre cabling is used. For low-impedance bonding, the length of the strap between
Where metallic system components are used, the shape the apparatus and the earthing network should be a minimum.
(flat, U-shape, tube, etc.), rather than the cross section will In practice, this implies that apparatus should always be con-
determine the characteristic impedance of the cable man- nected to the nearest earthing network conductor.
agement system. Enclosed shapes are the best (by reducing For bonding straps, suitable conductors include metal
the Common Mode coupling). Trays often have slots for strips, metal (7a) mesh straps (7b) or round cables (7c).
easy attachment of cables and those that are most effective Yet, round cables are not effective above 10 MHz, because
in shielding from EMI are those with a small slot, parallel they have higher impedance than flat conductors with the
to the axis of the tray. Those with slots perpendicular to the same material cross-section:
tray axis have a very limited effect. Continued on page 222

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Feature

Figure 7: examples of bonding straps (the length to width ratio

for these straps should be five or less)
For cable terminations the most effective bonding is to
have a 360º peripheral connection around the shield. The
best to worst methods are shown at Figure 8.

Cable Screening & Termination Figure 8: best to worst case cable screen termination.

As well as the implementation of effective earthing and 4. EN 50086 series, Conduit systems for electrical installations
bonding, it is important to consider the most appropriate requirements.
5. EN 50098-1, Customer premises cabling for information tech-
cable screen and its correct termination. nology – Part 1:ISDN basic access.
Remember that the best screen without good bonding is 6. EN 50098-2, Customer premises cabling for information tech-
Cable type Noise reduction nology – Part 2: 2048 kbit/s ISDN primary access and leased line
50 Hz magnetic RF network interface.
7. EN 50310, Application of equipotential bonding and earthing in
Plain (no screen, no twist) None None buildings with information technology equipment.
Twisted pair Good None 8. EN 50346_, Information technology – Cabling installation –
MICC None Good Testing of installed cabling.
Twisted pair MICC Good Good 9. EN 55022, Information technology equipment – Radio distur-
bance characteristics – Limits and methods of measurement
Plain in steel trunking Good Good
(IEC/CISPR 22:1997, modified).
or conduit
10. EN 55024, Information technology equipment – Immunity char-
Plain with braid or None Good acteristics – Limits and methods of measurement (IEC/CISPR
metal tape screen 24:1997, modified).
Twisted pair with braid Good Good 11. EN 60603-7, Connectors for frequencies below 3 MHz for use
or metal tape screen with printed boards – Part 7: Detail specification for connectors 8
way, including fixed and free connectors with common mating fea-
Steel wire armoured Good Good tures (IEC 60603-7).
Plain in correctly None Good 12. EN 60721 series, Classification of environmental conditions
designed and installed (IEC 60721 series).
aluminium trunking or conduit 13. HD 384.2 S1, International electrotechnical vocabulary – Chapter
826: Electrical installations of buildings (IEC 60050-826:1982).
Twisted pair in correctly Good Good 14. HD 384.3 S2, Electrical installations of buildings – Part 3:
designed and installed Assessment of general characteristics (IEC 60364-3:1993, modified).
aluminium trunking or conduit 15. EN ISO 9000 series, Quality management and quality assur-
ance standards (ISO 9000 series).
Table 2 - Types of Cable Screens 16. ETS 300 019-1-1, Equipment engineering (EE) –
Environmental conditions and environmental tests for telecommu-
ineffective in most situations. nications equipment – Part 1-1: Classification of environmental
As stated previously, the effectiveness of the cable conditions – Storage.
screen will be significantly reduced if it is not terminated 17. ETS 300 019-1-3, Equipment engineering (EE) –
correctly. The following diagram (Figure 3) gives a best Environmental conditions and environmental tests for telecommu-
nications equipment – Part 1-3: Classification of environmental
to worst case of termination methods. conditions – Stationary use at weather protected locations.
18. EN 300 386, Electromagnetic compatibility and radio spectrum
Bibliography matters – Telecommunication network equipment – Electro-
Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) requirements.
1. EN 50082-1, Electromagnetic compatibility – Generic immunity 19. IEC 60807-8, Rectangular connectors for frequencies below 3
standard – Part 1:Residential, commercial and light industry. MHz – Part 8: Detail specification for connectors, four signal con-
2. EN 50082-2, Electromagnetic compatibility – Generic immunity tacts and earthing contacts for cable screen.
standard – Part 2: Industrial environment. 20. BS 6701:1994, Code of Practice for Installation of apparatus
3. EN 50085 series, Cable trunking systems and cable ducting intended for connections to certain telecommunication systems.
systems for electrical installations. 21. BS 7671, The IEE Wiring Regulations.

220 Vol 37/7 September 2004 www.instmc.org.uk