Rocky Mountain Power 2011 Clinic Project Dynamic Line Rating Preliminary Design Review Project Advisor: Dr. Thomas Schmid Clinic Team Members: Skyler Kershner, Benjamin Sondelski, Trevor Nichols, Shayan Barzagari, Zhao Qi

2 Presentation Overview Project Background Goals Proposed Solution Model System Implementation Additional Considerations System Validation

3 Project Background Overhead Conductor Sag National Electrical Safety Code specifies minimum clearance As conductor heats, sag increases Environmental, power considerations Dynamic line rating system needed [1] Clearance Levels

4 Project Goals Develop dynamic line rating system –Combine best characteristics of commercially available models –Simple design Implement system in a model Validate collected data [2] Line Sag Illustration

5 Measuring Sag Direct measurement vs. estimation Direct correspondence with conductor temperature and tension Indicates average conditions between dead ends [3] Tension Illustration

6 Proposed Method: Thermal Imaging Directly measures sag and line temperature Non-contact measurement [4] Configuration [5] Camera View

7 Proposed Method: Thermal Imaging Provides high contrast images, temperature measurement Image processing tracks lowest point in line [6] Thermal Image

8 Proposed Method: Thermal Imaging Limitation: Cost ModelPrice FLIR T620 $ 19,500 FLIR SC325 $ 13,500 FLIR E60 $ 7,500 [7] [8] [9]

9 Contact Info / References References [1] “Clearance Levels”, Oct. 3, [Online]. Available: [2] “Line Sag Illustration”, Oct. 3, [Online]. Available: [3] “Tension Illustration”, Oct. 3, [Online]. Available: tension.html. [4] “Configuration”, Oct. 3, [Online]. Available: [5] ”Power Line View”, Oct. 3, [Online]. Available: process-for-transmission-lines. [6] “Thermal Image”, Oct. 3, [Online]. Available: [7] “FLIR T620”, Oct. 3, [Online]. Available: [8] “FLIR SC325”, Oct. 3, [Online]. Available: [9] “FLIR E60”, Oct. 3, [Online]. Available: Skyler Kershner University of Utah Electrical and Computer Engineering Department