Research on Scale Model of Typical Tension String of UHVDC Transmission Lines under Ice-Shedding Loads

Tension insulator string is one of the important components of transmission lines and it needs to have enough mechanical strength to transfer the load between conductors and towers. However, due to the large size of the tension insulator strings, it is usually impossible to carry out the true type experiments. In this paper, the dimensional analysis was adopted to establish the mapping scale models of typical tension strings, namely 8N42-50100-55P at first. Then, the load scaling ratios of three typical tension insulator strings were obtained based on the results of the ice shedding calculation on an actual UHVDC transmission lines. Finally, the dynamic experiments of the scale tension insulator strings were carried out to access the feasible of technical route and to provide a technical support for the following research.

Identification of Permanent Faults and Disturbance Induced by Deicing Based on Permutation Entropy for the Large-Scale Clean Energy Transmission in Winter

Ice shedding may induce isolated ground wires’ temporary grounding, which can cause electric quantities of direct current (DC) deicing devices to fluctuate. Hence, the disturbance of ice shedding is able to trigger the protective relay frequently and unnecessarily, which adversely affects the deicing process. Due to the randomness of ice shedding, the grounding resistance varies quickly; thus, the disturbance in poles of deicing devices can be detected multiple times in a short time. Moreover, the permanent fault requires steady arc plasma because of the low output voltage and current of deicing devices, which cannot bring out multiple-time disturbances in the poles. This paper proposes the identification of permanent faults and disturbance induced by deicing based on the permutation entropy, which is verified by a large number of simulations.

Collapse Analysis of a Transmission Tower-Line System Induced by Ice Shedding

Ice shedding causes transmission lines to vibrate violently, which induces a sharp increase in the longitudinal unbalanced tension of the lines, even resulting in the progressive collapse of transmission towers in serious cases, which is a common ice-based disaster for transmission tower-line systems. Based on the actual engineering characteristics of a 500 kV transmission line taken as the research object, a finite element model of a two-tower, three-line system is established by commercial ANSYS finite element software. In the modeling process, the uniform mode method is used to introduce the initial defects, and the collapse caused by ice shedding and its influencing parameters are systematically studied. The results show that the higher the ice-shedding height is, the greater the threat of ice shedding to the system; furthermore, the greater the span is, the shorter the insulator length and the greater the dynamic response of the line; the impact of ice shedding should be considered in the design of transmission towers.

Design and Development of an Experimental Setup of Electrically Powered Spinning Rotor Blades in Icing Wind Tunnel and Preliminary Testing with Surface Coatings as Hybrid Protection Solution

In order to study ice protection systems for rotating blades, a new experimental setup has been developed at the Anti-Icing Materials International Laboratory (AMIL). This system consists of two small-scale rotating blades in a refrigerated icing wind tunnel where atmospheric icing can be simulated. Power is brought to the blades through a slip ring, through which the signals of the different sensors that are installed on the blades also pass. As demonstrated by the literature review, this new setup will address the need of small-scale wind tunnel testing on electrically powered rotating blades. To test the newly designed apparatus, preliminary experimentation is done on a hybrid ice protection system. Electrothermal protection is combined with different surface coatings to measure the impact of those coatings on the power consumption of the system. In anti-icing mode, the coatings tested did not reduce the power consumption on the system required to prevent ice from accumulating on the leading edge. The coatings however, due to their hydrophobic/superhydrophobic nature, reduced the power required to prevent runback ice accumulation when the leading edge was protected. One of the coatings did not allow any runback accumulation, limiting the power to protect the whole blades to the power required to protect solely the leading edge, resulting in a potential 40% power reduction for the power consumption of the system. In de-icing mode, the results with all the substrates tested showed similar power to achieve ice shedding from the blade. Since the coatings tested have a low icephobicity, it would be interesting to perform additional testing with icephobic coatings. Also, a small unheated zone at the root of the blade prevented complete ice shedding from the blade. A small part of the ice layer was left on the blade after testing, meaning that a cohesive break had to occur within the ice layer, and therefore impacting the results. Improvements to the setup will be done to remedy the situation. Those preliminary testing performed with the newly developed test setup have demonstrated the potential of this new device which will now allow, among other things, to measure heat transfer, force magnitudes, ice nucleation, and thermal equilibrium during ice accretion, with different innovative thermal protection systems (conductive coating, carbon nanotubes, impulse, etc.) as well as mechanical systems. The next step, following the improvements, is to measure forced convection on a thermal ice protection system with and without precipitation and to test mechanical ice protection systems.

Experimental Heat Loads for Electrothermal Anti-Icing and De-Icing on UAVs

Atmospheric in-flight icing on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is a significant hazard. UAVs that are not equipped with ice protection systems are usually limited to operations within visual line of sight or to weather conditions without icing risk. As many military and commercial UAV missions require flights beyond visual line of sight and into adverse weather conditions, energy-efficient ice protection systems are required. In this experimental study, two electro-thermal ice protection systems for fixed-wing UAVs were tested. One system was operated in anti-icing and de-icing mode, and the other system was designed as a parting strip de-icing system. Experiments were conducted in an icing wind tunnel facility for varying icing conditions at low Reynolds numbers. A parametric study over the ice shedding time was used to identify the most energy-efficient operation mode. The results showed that longer intercycle durations led to higher efficiencies and that de-icing with a parting strip was superior compared to anti-icing and de-icing without a parting strip. These findings are relevant for the development of energy-efficient systems in the future.