A power line ampacity system called LINEAMPS is invented by object oriented modeling and expert rules of the power line environment. Ampacity is estimated by the solution of conductor temperature differential equations using synthetic generation of meteorological data adjusted to national weather service forecast. The line ampacity system provides hourly values of present and future power line ampacity up to seven days in advance. The program has steady state, dynamic and transient ampacity models which can accurately respond to any weather condition or line currents. The system does not require real time meteorological data, conductor temperature measurements or new hardware on power lines. In the absence of real time meteorological data the system generates power line ampacity from the stored weather patterns of the region located in the weather station objects. LINEAMPS is applicable to all overhead power lines and is easily implemented in all geographic regions. It is an economical line ampacity system implemented in a standard PC Windows computer system and easily ported to all computer platforms.
A process and apparatus that enable continual self-adaptation of dynamic transmission devices (saSTDs), allow "smart" filtering of information for transmission from one element to another within a network of interacting elements, such as a "neural network". An adaptation algorithm (MapSA) incorporated in STDs allows multiple parameters of STDs (which determine its filtering properties) to continuously adapt simultaneously and interdependently. In this manner, complex correlations can be established between the parameters in all STDs within a network of interacting elements. The process according to the invention therefore establishes unique patterns of connection parameters within the network which in turn dictates a novel sequence of information processing steps by the network.
A method and apparatus for determining the thermal capacity of overhead power lines is disclosed. The apparatus includes two rods of similar diameter and material properties to the line to be rated. One of the rods has a heater inside that dissipates a known amount of energy approximately equal to what the line loses during operation at the static rating. The rods are oriented parallel to the line and the temperature of each is measured. Using this information and standard equations governing the cooling of power lines, a very accurate, real-time reading of the line's thermal capacity is generated.
In general the invention is directed to systems and methods to identify conductors that may be used as part of a power transmission line system. In one embodiment, the invention is directed to a computer-implemented method of evaluating an electric conductor for an overhead power transmission line, comprising: receiving requirements data defining requirements for an overhead power transmission line; receiving conductor data that define at least two conductors to be evaluated; after receiving conductor data for the plurality of conductors to be evaluated, automatically modeling expected operating performance for at least two conductors using conductor assessment software running on a computer, wherein modeling at least comprises, for at least one of the conductors to be evaluated, calculating the conductor's maximum ampacity within the constraints defined by the requirements data; and, based on the modeling, identifying at least one conductor that meets the requirements for the power transmission line.
A sag calculator (122) computes sag for a span of a section of a power line based at least in part upon a temperature of conductor lines in the line section. A temperature calculator (120) determines the temperature by computing a resistance ascertained through augmented state estimation techniques performed by a state estimator (118). A Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system (104) acquires data used by the state estimator (118) to compute the resistance.
An electrical distribution system includes a communications network; a transmission circuit; a plurality of distribution feeder circuits; at least one monitoring device; and a plurality of substations. Each monitoring device is associated with an operating parameter of the transmission circuit or one of the distribution feeder circuits. Each of the substations is electrically connected between the transmission circuit and at least one of the distribution feeder circuits. Each substation includes at least one controllable device and a control unit. The control unit at each substation includes a communications device and a processing circuit. The communications device is independently coupled with the communications network for providing data to and receiving data from the communications network. The processing circuit is coupled with the communications device and at least one monitoring device. The processing circuit at least intermittently receives an output signal from the monitoring device and at least intermittently transmits an output signal to the communications network via the communications device. The processing circuit is configured to control operation of at least one controllable device at the corresponding substation. Additionally, the processing circuit is configured to control operation of at least one controllable device at a remote substation.
