Development of a Digital Twin for the Determination of Transmission Line Conductor Asset Health

Abstract

Electrical transmission lines are an essential part of a functional economy delivering electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. One important component of the transmission line is the conductor and transmission line asset managers are responsible for decisions on how to maintain and, when necessary, replace conductors currently in service. The decision-making process requires reliable long-term and up-to-date information on the state and condition of the conductors. Currently, most asset managers lack such information. LineVision is a company that provides non-contact transmission line monitoring of conductor assets. Originally developed for Dynamic Line Rating (DLR), the LineVision systems collect information that is invaluable for utility asset managers. An Asset Health Module (AHM) has been developed which creates an asset digital twin, integrating both historical and real-time data from the target transmission line in order to compute its baseline Asset Health. These inputs include high-temperature cycling, extreme sag and blowout forces, occurrences of galloping and their intensity, vibration and precipitation loads from icing, and other events the conductor experiences during its lifetime which negatively impact asset health. Without monitoring equipment many of these events go unrecorded and even unnoticed unless they cause catastrophic failures which can be dangerous, cause forced service interruptions, and take months or years to repair. The AHM integrates engineering specifications of the design, information collected after a line is built, and real-time field measurements obtained via a field-based monitoring system. Based on field measurements, an extensive proprietary model determines the operating conditions and the asset health of the transmission line conductor. The output of the system is a real-time, continuous assessment of a transmission line’s operational condition and an estimate of the conductor’s remaining life based on the historical and collected data, industry standards, and proprietary conductor analysis. The AHM can assist asset managers and system operators to prioritize the criticality of multiple monitored sections. The AHM improves line reliability, overall system reliability and can lead to significant cost savings by supporting asset management decisions, such as postponed conductor replacement which is the costliest conductor asset decision. The details of the AHM and the approaches it uses along with the benefits for transmission line operators will be discussed in the paper.