Powerline Conductor Accelerated Testing (PCAT)

Prinicipal Investigator: Philip Irminger Oak Ridge National Laboratory

irmingerp@ornl.gov Team: Dan King, Michael Starke, Marcus Young, Zhi Li,

Ben Ollis, Mark Buckner, Joe Gracia June 10-11, 2015 Washington, DC

DOE/OE Transmission Reliability Program

Topics to Address

Recap on what is PCAT and why is it here?

Previous Capabilities & Challenges

Status of Current Upgrades & Test Results

2

Recap - History: Powerline Conductor Accelerated Testing Facility – Why is it here?

3

“DOE will develop national transmission-technology testing

facilities that encourage partnering with industry to

demonstrate advanced technologies in controlled

environments.

Working with TVA, DOE will create an industry cost-shared

transmission line testing center at DOE ’s Oak Ridge National

Laboratory (with at least a 50 percent industry cost share).”

2002 - National Transmission Grid Study

- One of the 51 Recommendations -

Originally built for the 3M Composite Conductor

development, now available for any manufacturer to

validate their product.

Recap: Past Accomplishments PCAT has been in operation for

over 10 years

The PCAT facility has been used to test many different conductors and sensors:

– 3M 477 kcmil ACCR

– 3M 675 kcmil ACCR

– Southwire 1113 kcmil ACSR FO

– Power Donut2

– 3M 1272 kcmil ACCR

– 3M 795 kcmil ACCR

– Southwire C7 Overhead Conductor

– Others

4

Recap - Capabilities: Powerline Conductor Accelerated Testing Facility

5

Testing Capabilities

– Thermal / Mechanical Cycling

– Current / Temperature Ramp

– Current / Temperature Steps and Hold

– Controlled current testing

– Controlled temperature testing

Facility

– 2400 feet of conductor

– two 600 foot spans

– 3 towers

– 0 to 400 Vdc

– 0 to 5,000 Adc

– Conductor and accessories

– Tested up to 300oC

– can go higher if needed

6

Recap: Driver of higher operating temperatures is higher current ratings

Need to test / verify new conductors over entire operating range

0

50

100

150

200

250

0 500 1000 1500 2000

Ampacity, amps

Op

era

tin

g T

em

pera

ture

, °C

Conventional Conductors

ACSR, ACAR, and AAC

High Temperature Conductors

Over temperature causes annealing

and loss of strength for

Conventional Conductors

Recap: Benefit of a high temp/low sag conductor

7

NESC Required Minimum Clearance

Conv. Conductor

High Temp/Low Sag Conductor No Load Condition

Ground

More ampacity while still meeting the National

Electric Safety Code (NESC) required minimum

clearance

Recap: Existing Infrastructure 8

PCAT Control House

DC Supply

9

Recap: Conductors are installed by TVA using conventional industry practices

Typical installation is ~ 3-4 days

Where PCAT fits?

PCAT provides a unique transmission conductor testing facility to augment utility field tests and demonstrations

Each conductor test undertaken in collaboration with industrial partner

10

How is PCAT Unique?

Who else does this in the US?

Other Facilities:

– KEMA – No Overhead testing in US

– NEETRAC – Primarily indoor

– EPRI – Charlotte is indoor, Lennox could add outdoor testing, but currently not present

Only facility in North America where there are realistic spans, realistic environment, and realistic loads

11

Historical Data Collection – Visual Basic 12

Temperature

(Thermocouples)

Sag

(Laser Based)

Weather

(Weather Station)

Tension, Net Radiation

(CAT-1)

DC Supply Control

(V and I Setpoints,

Startup/shutdown)

Temperature, status,

voltage current

measurements.

RS485

RS485

RS232

Fiber Optic

RS485

RS485

DC Power Supply

Fiber Optic

ComputerRS485/FO

RS485/FO

RS232/FO

RS485/FO

RS485/FO

Fiber Optic

Conductor/accessory temperature

– Surface contact or conductor core

– Upto 128 thermocouples

Applied current and voltage

– Measured by power supply

Conductor sag

– Laser at mid-span

Conductor tension

– Load cells on both circuits

Weather

– Ambient temperature, wind speed, wind direction

– Conductor net radiation sensor

PC-based data acquisition system

– 10 second polling, 1 minute data archive

*Note: combined at midnight, non real-time

Historical Challenges to Testing 13

Lightning strikes have damaged many sensors

System lacked flexibility to adapt test plans and analysis to meet specific vendor needs: Legacy software was in Visual Basic, original programmer has since retired.

Measurement resolution Inability to investigate short duration phenomena

Inability to detect bad data Unable to validate measurements using multiple sources (diverse

measurement technologies)

Conductor Right-of-Way Encroachment Tree limbs were in close proximity to conductor including touching at times

Current Activities 14

Rehabilitating PCAT Data Acquisition, Controls, and Visualization:

Replaced broken, obsolete and inflexible parts

Transitioning control from Visual Basic to LabVIEW.

Integrate new sensors including thermal imaging of conductor

Integrate continuous CAT-1 data feed

Implement real-time remote monitoring and warning system

Continue testing

Installed and currently testing General Cable ACSS Drake 795 Conductor One side coated, One side non-coated

Cable and Accessory

Temperatures

(thermocouple modules)

Sag Measurement

(laser based)

Weather Station

Tension measurement

(CAT-1), other

Voltage and Current

Setpoints, Startup/

shutdown

Temperature, status,

voltage current

measurements.

Thermal imaging camera

Sag Measurement

(camera, DGPS, freq)

RS485

RS485

RS232

Fiber Optic

RS485

RS485

Power Supply Trailer

Fiber Optic

Labview PXI Chassis

Fiber Optic

RS485/FO

RS485/FO

RS485/FO

RS485/FO

RS232/FO

General Cable Test Results

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0:0

02

:24

4:4

87

:13

9:3

81

2:0

21

4:2

61

6:5

01

9:1

52

1:4

00

:05

2:2

94

:54

7:1

99

:43

12

:07

14

:31

16

:55

19

:20

21

:44

0:0

82

:32

4:5

67

:20

9:4

51

2:1

01

4:3

41

6:5

81

9:2

42

1:4

80

:13

2:3

75

:01

7:2

59

:50

12

:14

14

:38

17

:02

19

:26

21

:50

0:1

62

:40

5:0

47

:28

9:5

31

2:1

71

4:4

11

7:0

61

9:3

02

1:5

4

Day End

Coated

Uncoated

1 2 3 4 5

Day

Con

du

cto

r T

emp

eratu

re (

oC

)

5 days of testing at

different current levels

General Cable Test Results

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

0:0

02

:27

4:5

47

:22

9:5

01

2:1

71

4:4

41

7:1

21

9:4

02

2:0

80

:35

3:0

35

:30

7:5

81

0:2

51

2:5

21

5:1

91

7:4

62

0:1

42

2:4

11

:08

3:3

56

:02

8:2

91

0:5

71

3:2

51

5:5

21

8:2

02

0:4

82

3:1

51

:43

4:1

06

:37

9:0

51

1:3

21

3:5

91

6:2

61

8:5

32

1:2

02

3:4

92

:16

4:4

37

:10

9:3

71

2:0

51

4:3

21

7:0

01

9:2

72

1:5

4

Day End

1 2 3 4 5

Day

% R

edu

ctio

n i

n T

emp

eratu

re f

or

E3X

Con

du

cto

r

% Reduction between

coated and non-coated

General Cable Test Results C

on

du

cto

r T

emp

eratu

re (

oC

)

Temperature profile at

1425A

General Cable Test Results 18

Ambient

Temp (°C)

Wind Velocity

(ft/s)

Uncoated

Conductor

(°C)

Coated

Conductor

(°C)

%

Reduction

Differential

Sag (ft.)

9 1.1 - 3.6 90 72 20% 0.5

8 0 - 4.7 119 90 24% 0.7

8 4.4 - 5.7 125 94 25% 0.9

6 0.2 - 3.2 166 125 25% 1.5

6 0.4 – 4.8 200 150 25% 1.6

4 NA 240 174 28% 2.25

2 2.1 - 2.2 275 190 31% 2.85

Conductor: ACSS Drake 795kcmil

20-30% Reductions in Operating Temperature and Sag for

Coated Conductor vs Uncoated Conductor

Right of Way Clearing

Current Right of Way was encroaching on the conductor

At times would have tree contact with conductor

Cleared a large Right of Way (~15’) for the Conductor to ensure uninterrupted testing

19

Thermocouple Upgrade

Thermocouple modules all updated to I-7018-R modules

Every channel individually checked to ensure valid identification and labeling

Added open circuit thermocouple detection to the module enabling identification of unused thermocouples

20

PCAT LabVIEW implementation using Actor Framework

21

Messages Actors

Config

Files

Advantages

• Measurements, processing, and controls

performed asynchronously and in

parallel

• Allows adding new measurement or

control capabilities without affecting

current functionality

• Enables rapid development of additional

measurements and new controls

Initial Thermal Investigation

Roadside tracker with 2 FLIR Tau 2 Longwave Infrared (LWIR) cameras (640 by 512).

9 mm lens with focal length providing a 70 degree horizontal view angle.

22

Selected Thermal Camera

Purchased A310f 15°FLIR Camera

Currently integrating with LabVIEW front panel, followed by embedded image processing for sag and temperature analysis

23

Planned Installation Site,

2nd at other end once

validated

Additional sensors

Material Transfer Agreement has been executed with UC Synergetics to implement their ThermalRate System

– Plans to expand into a CRADA

Plans to install the system during June and incorporate into the LabVIEW data feed

Will provide feedback on any beneficial features

24

Risk Factors 25

Glitches during cutover to new control system.

– Have minimized risk by paralleling the serial connection to keep it connected to both sets of controllers.

Unfavorable weather conditions

– Because sustained bad weather is not predicted, this is only a minor risk to the schedule.

Proposed FY16 Activities 26

Continue conductor testing

Finish integrating additional sensors

Enhance Real-time controls

Expand PCAT test capability to include alternating current

– Add a DC to AC inverter stage to the current infrastructure

– Conduct additional testing including: • Perform conductor testing of steady state and transient conditions at grid frequency

accounting for all the effects of the AC EM field

• Test and experiment with measurement devices and auxiliary equipment including: – Dynamic Line Rating Devices

– PMUs

– CTs

– VTs

– Other devices intended for ac powerline applications

• Test and experiment with different power flow control devices – Smart Wire

– Power Donut

– ORNL’s Continuously Variable Series Reactor (CVSR)

– Others

• Investigate the impact of AC EM field on different devices/objects along the right-of-way

Q&A 27