Tension and Ampacity Monitoring System for Overhead Lines

Real time monitoring allows the determination of the line state and the calculation of the actual rating value. The real time monitoring systems measure sag, conductor tension, conductor temperature or weather related magnitudes. In this paper, a new ampacity monitoring system for overhead lines, based on the conductor tension, the ambient temperature, the solar radiation and the current intensity, is presented. The measurements are transmitted via GPRS to a control center where a software program calculates the ampacity value. The system takes into account the creep deformation experienced by the conductors during their lifetime and calibrates the tension-temperature reference and the maximum allowable temperature in order to obtain the ampacity. The system includes both hardware implementation and remote control software.This work was supported by the Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia-Diputación Foral de Bizkaia and the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU under projects DIPE06/24 and DIPE08/22, the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (DPI2009-08454), the UPV/EHU (UFI 11/28), and the Eusko Jaurlaritzako Hezkuntza, Unibertsitate eta Ikerketa Saila (Euskal unibertsitate-sistemako ikerketa-taldeak Ref. IT532-10)