Performance of Polymer Cementitious Coatings for High-Voltage Electrical Infrastructure

This paper investigates the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties as well as the environmental performance of polymer cementitious composites (PCCs) as sustainable coating materials for underground power cables and as high-voltage insulators. Particular focus is placed on the optimised mix design and the effect of the manufacturing method on the performance of PCCs, incorporating liquid styrene and acrylic (SA) monomers, wollastonite and muscovite. Microstructural investigations, together with results from strength tests, indicate that the manufacturing method is a key performance parameter. Experimental results show that PCC mixes containing 25% SA emulsion, 12.5% wollastonite and no muscovite provide the most favourable dielectric properties from the mixes investigated. The PCC material has a dielectric strength up to 16.5 kV/mm and a dielectric loss factor lower than 0.12. Additional experiments also show that PCC has good thermal stability and thermal conductivity. The mechanical strength tests indicate that PCC specimens possess reliable strengths which are applicable in structural design. Environmental assessments also show that PCCs possess significantly lower embodied energy and embodied carbon than conventional plastic insulating materials.

Development of a Wavelet – ANFIS Based Fault Location and Identification System for Underground Power Cables

Transmissionlinesare thebackboneof electricalpower systems and other power utilities as they are used for transmission and distribution of power. Power is distributed to the end-user through either overhead cables or underground cables. In the case of underground cables, their propensity to fail in service increases as they age with time. The increase in failure rates and system crashes on older underground power cables now negatively affect system reliability and involve numerous losses. It is therefore easy to realize that the consequences of this trend need to be managed [3]. Identification of the type of defects and their locations along the length ofthe cablesis vital to minimize the operating costs by reducing lengthy and expensive patrolsto locate the faults, and to speed up repairs and restoration of power in the lines. In this study, a method that combines wavelets and neurofuzzy techniques for faultlocation and identificationare proposed. For this methodology a power transmission line model was developed and different fault locations were simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK, and, as an input to the training and development of the Adaptive Network Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), certain selected features of the wavelet transformed signals were used. Fault index obtained from wavelet transformation are used as input variable for fuzzy input block function. Different membership functions were observed within input block function. As per formulation of rules, for membership function, the output value of the defuzzifier component was decoded to give a crisp value of ANFIS output. ANFIS results were compared with actual values. A comparison of the ANFIS output values and the actual values show that the percentage error was less than 1%. Thus, it can be concluded that the wavelet-ANFIS technique is accurate enough to be used in identifying and locating underground power line faults. Which will help in solving this time taking and tedious problem more efficiently and thereby reducing human effort in finding the type of fault and its location.

Thermal Distortion of Signal Propagation Modes Due to Dynamic Loading in Medium-Voltage Cables

Temperature variation from dynamic cable loading affects the propagation characteristics of transient signals. The distortion of modal signal components as a function of temperature in a three-phase medium-voltage cable is investigated. The temperature influence arises mainly through the complex insulation permittivity, which has a non-linear relationship with temperature. Near the maximum operating temperature of the cross-linked polyethylene insulation, the propagation velocity increases by 0.56% per degree centigrade but is an order of magnitude less sensitive at ambient temperature. The paper presents modeling results based on cable impedance and admittance matrices obtained from electromagnetic field simulation, taking into account the time-varying temperature distribution in the cable cross-section. The results are verified by applying Rayleigh–Schrödinger perturbation analysis. In the time domain, signal patterns shift when the modal propagation velocities change upon cable loading. Moreover, separation of degenerate modes is observed when the cable phase conductors carry an unbalanced current. The perspectives for exploiting the temperature dependency of signal propagation for pinpointing cable defects and for dynamic rating of underground power cables are discussed.