A Dynamic Ampacity Model for the Testing of Advanced Conductors

Advanced Conductors are an intriguing new technology that promises to help the utility industry increase the transmission capacity available in the United States. Manufacturers of advanced conductors promise double the current carrying capacity of normal Aluminum Clad Steel Reinforced conductor through a combination of increased thermal limits and decreased thermal elongation. This thesis will outline a control developed for the Power Line Conductor Accelerated Test Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This custom facility is designed for the testing and rapid aging of advanced overhead conductors as part of a U.S. Department of Energy initiative to assist the development and deployment of new transmission technologies. The control outlined will make use of an ampacity model capable of accurately describing the current – temperature relationship of bare overhead conductor at an outdoor facility. This model will be used to maintain test conductors at specific elevated temperatures for extended periods of time. It is hoped that these tests will verify the thermal limits of the advanced conductors and encourage utilities to begin deploying them in the field

On-line core losses determination in ACSR conductors for DLR applications

Dynamic line rating (DLR) is a method that focuses on dynamically determining the maximum allowable current of power lines, while ensuring they operate within safe limits. DLR needs to monitor the temperature and current of the line in real-time, as well as the weather variables in the surroundings of the power line. DLR approaches also require determining the AC resistance of the power line conductors, which is a key parameter that enables it to determine Joule and core losses. This paper presents an approach for an on-line alternating current (AC) resistance estimation of aluminum conductor steel-reinforced (ACSR) conductors to determine the DLR capability of such conductors from real-time conductor and meteorological parameter measurements. For this purpose, conductors with one, two and three layers of aluminum strands are analyzed in detail. Based on the experimental results presented in this paper, two possible approaches are proposed.This research was funded by Generalitat de Catalunya, grant numbers 2017 SGR 967 and 2020 DI 007.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

CO2 footprint reduction and efficiency increase using the dynamic rate in overhead power lines connected to wind farms

Since the first wind farms began operating in the early 1980s, several important factors have changed in the overall picture of energy politics worldwide. The total renewable wind energy capacity of Spain currently accounts for more than 20% of the total installed capacity, which makes integration into the grid challenging for wind farm owners as well as electricity transportation and distribution companies. The smart-grid concept, which focuses on real-time monitoring and dynamic rating operation of power lines, is an important component in the solution to these new challenges. This paper explains how a more efficient operation of energy-generating activities via dynamic rating of the electric grid due to a better knowledge of the main parameters contributes to more clean, renewable energy and decreases the CO2 footprint. The dynamic rating operation of a Spanish overhead power line is analysed, and different scenarios are studied. The dynamic rate achieved in 2015 has saved more than 1100 tonnes of CO2 and has generated over 240,000 € of extra income. This dynamic rating operation also increased the actual annual energy generated from 231.5 GW h to 834.7 GW h with only a 2% greater loss along the line due to Joule and magnetic effects.This work was supported by the Spanish Government under the R+D initiative INNPACTO with reference IPT-2011-1447-920000, the Spanish R+D initiative with reference ENE-2013-42720-R and RETOS RTC-2015-3795-3. The authors also acknowledge support from Viesgo