Systems and methods for operating an overhead electrical line
AssigneeCTC Global Corporation
InventorsKevin Corbalis, Eric Bosze, David Goekjian
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for the operation of an electrical line, such as an electrical line in an electrical transmission or distribution grid. The systems and methods may include the use of sensors such as distributed sensors and non-distributed sensors to collect data about the electrical line and utilize that data for taking action with respect to the electrical line, such as to improve transmission efficiencies and to mitigate outages.
Claims72
A method for operating an overhead electrical line, comprising the steps of:
- collecting distributed condition data at a first time from an optical fiber sensor extending along a length of an overhead electrical cable while the overhead electrical line is energized at a first current, the overhead electrical cable comprising a fiber-reinforced composite strength member and an electrical conductor surrounding the fiber-reinforced composite strength member, wherein the distributed condition data comprises at least one of distributed cable temperature data and distributed cable strain data;
- and
- adjusting first current in the overhead electrical cable from the first current to a second current, wherein the adjusting reduces the absolute difference between the first current and an allowable current.
A system for determining an electrical line power rating, the system comprising:
- an optical fiber sensor extending along a length of an overhead electrical cable in an electrical line, the overhead electrical cable comprising a fiber-reinforced composite strength member and an electrical conductor surrounding the strength member, the optical fiber sensor being configured to provide distributed condition data along the length of the overhead electrical cable;
- and
- an interrogation device operatively connected to the optical fiber sensor and being configured to interrogate the optical fiber sensor and collect the distributed condition data from the optical fiber sensor, wherein the distributed condition data includes at least distributed temperature data;
- a data acquisition server (DAS) configured to receive and analyze the distributed condition data from the interrogation device.
A method for operating an electrical power grid comprising an overhead electrical line, the overhead electrical line comprising an overhead electrical cable having a fiber-reinforced composite strength member and an electrical conductor surrounding the fiber-reinforced composite strength member, the method comprising the steps of:
- determining at least a first environmental condition state from a geographical region, wherein at least a portion of the overhead electrical line is disposed within the geographical region;
- collecting distributed condition data from a distributed sensor associated with the overhead electrical cable while the overhead electrical line is energized, where the distributed condition data comprises at least one of cable temperature data, cable strain data and cable vibration data from at least the portion of the overhead electrical line that is disposed within the geographical region;
- and
- providing the environmental condition state and the distributed condition data to a virtual model of the electrical power grid.
A system for the measurement of temperature in real time in an overhead electrical line, comprising:
- an overhead electrical cable comprising a fiber-reinforced composite strength member and an electrical conductor surrounding the composite strength member, wherein the overhead electrical cable is strung upon a plurality of support towers;
- an optical fiber sensor embedded within and extending along a length of the composite strength member, the optical fiber sensor comprising a glass fiber core and a polymeric coating having a thickness of at least about 250 μm surrounding the glass fiber core, the optical fiber sensor having an outer diameter of at least about 600 μm;
- and
- an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) operatively attached to a first end of the optical fiber sensor, wherein the OTDR is configured to measure at least temperature profile data along the length of the optical fiber sensor.
A method for increasing the current in an electrical line, comprising the steps of:
- determining a steady state thermal time constant (τ) for the overhead electrical line at for at least a first temperature (T1) and a second temperature (T2);
- measuring an initial temperature (Ti) of the overhead electrical line using a distributed sensor associated with the overhead electrical cable;
- measuring an initial current (Ii) of the overhead electrical line associated with the initial temperature (Ti);
- determining a steady-state cable temperature (Tf) from the thermal time constant (τ), the desired application time (t), the initial line temperature (Ti) and a maximum desired temperature (Tc);
- determining a final current (If) that can be applied to the overhead electrical line before exceeding the maximum desired temperature (Tc) of the overhead electrical line within a desired application time (t);
- increasing the current in the electrical line to an amperage of If for a period of time not to exceed the desired application time (t).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.