NERC Alert Task Force: Guidelines for Determining Conductor Temperatures During Measurement of Sag Along Overhead Transmission

Lines

Significance of Using Proper Conductor Temperature

Dale Douglass
Power Delivery Consultants, Inc.
February 7, 2012 Management of Existing Overhead Lines WG Meeting Tampa, Florida

Purpose of Talk

The goal of this presentation is to quantify the impact of errors in determining conductor temperature during LiDAR surveys on the resulting high temperature sag estimates for a variety of lines and conductors.

Consequences of conductor temp errors during LIDAR measurements

1.

2.

3.

The final sag is measured using LIDAR at an actual ruling span cond. temp = 30C. If cond. Temp is estimated to be 40C, sag at 95C is too low & clearance problems may be missed! If cond. Temp is estimated to be 20C, sag at 95C is too high & the lines thermal capacity may be underestimated.
GROUND LEVEL

Span Length

Sag Meas with LIDAR & actual Cond Temp = 30C

Calculated Sag @95C for calc Cond Temp = 40C with LIDAR meas Calculated Sag @95C for calc cond. Temp = 20C with LIDAR meas

Minimum Electrical Clearance

Field Data Required

In order to calculate the clearance at high temperature, the conductor temperature must be calculated or measured during the LiDAR survey.
If conductor temperature is calculated, the line current and weather conditions along it must be measured. If conductor temperature is measured, weather and line current are not needed but may be useful for verification of measurements.

Span and Line Section Temperature

In most lines, there is very good tension equalization between suspension spans so the sag clearance depends on the average temperature within each line section. There is little temperature equalization along bare overhead conductors. At high current levels (> 0.5 amps/kcmil), the normal variations in wind speed and direction along the line can yield significant variations in conductor temperature from span to span. If we measure or calculate conductor temp. at one location within a line section, it may not be close to the average of all spans, especially at high line currents.

250

26/7 795 kcmil Drake ACSR conductor temperature variation with wind speed and direction along the line as a function of line current. For all locations, Tair = 40C & Solar Heat is for Summer Noon

200

Conductor Temperature - deg C

150

200a

400a
600a

800a 100 1000a

1200a

1400a
1600a

50

4fps, 45o

3fps, 22o

6fps, 22o

4fps, 90o

6fps, 45o

4fps, 22o

3fps, 45o

3fps, 90o

6fps, 90o
9

10

Span Position Along the LIne

Impact of Line Current

If the line current during the LiDAR survey is small (< 0.5 amps/kcmil), then the error in estimating the conductor temperature during a LiDAR survey is usually small (<5C), even if the determination method is not robust. If the line current during the LiDAR survey is large (>0.5 amps/kcmil), then errors in determining the average conductor temperature can translate into significant errors in calculation of high temperature electrical clearances.

85

795 kcmil, Drake ACSR Conductor Temperature Calculated with IEEE 738

Calculated Conductor Temp at 40C air, 0.8 emiss & absorp

80

75

70

With 160 amps, the conductor temperature is between 40C and 53C regardless of the wind speed and direction and the maximum temp meas error is probably < 5C.

TC- 2 ft/s&FullSun TC-4 ft/s&FullSun TC- 8 ft/s&FullSun

65

60

55

50

45

With 640 amps, the conductor temperature is between 40C and 70C and the maximum temp meas error can be larger (> 10C) direction.

Air Temperature = 40C

40 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00

Current Density - amps/kcmil

Final Sag-LiDAR Temp Errors

Other errors in estimating high temperature sag

Selection of weather conditions for Thermal Ratings. Use of 4 fps wind can yield a 20C error conductor temperature* ( 2 ft sag) Calculation of thermal elongation can yield errors of 1 to 3 ft (10 to 30C)**
** - CIGRE TB 324

* - CIGRE TB 299

Conclusions

Possible errors in determination of conductor temperature during LiDAR surveys are a function of line current. At line currents above 0.5 amps/kcmil, the error in estimating high temperature sag can be 1 to 2 ft in typical lines. This is comparable to errors related to selection of rating weather assumptions and thermal elongation of ACSR.