Advanced monitoring of icing and prevention against icing on overhead power lines

The aim of this paper is to present the investigation of complex icing system for the transmission grid. The introduced investigation forms a two-level method, which in the first stage gives a warning for system operators when the environmental factors are appropriate for ice formation on conductors. Then a mathematical model forecasts the radius and mass of the expected ice-layer. The mathematical relationship between the conductor’s tensile force and sag is crucial for the calculation of the conductor’s expansion (tension) and final length over a constant span distance. The reliability of ice thickness calculations mainly depends on the accuracy of conductor temperature and angle/sag measurements. The OTLM-ICE application enables the operator of the transmission network to monitor sag and clearance changes on a conductor, subjected to ice overloads. The operator can optimize and determine the suitable ampacity of transmission lines in order to prevent the damage in the early phases of ice-rain. The second level of the system monitoring the ice-formation on the phase conductors with line-monitoring sensors, thus the system operators get real information about the line condition. The operation of the methodology is also investigated, which are also presented through case studies. FLEXITRANTORE as a HORIZON 2020 project aims to develop an integrated platform for the next generation flexible electricity transmission system