Title :
A novel sensing device for underground cable condition assessment
Author :
Lauletta, John L. ; Sozer, Yilmaz ; De Abreu-Garcia, Jose Alexis
Author_Institution :
Exacter, Inc., Columbus, OH, USA
Abstract :
Since the early 1950s electric utilities have installed millions of miles of low-voltage underground cables to improve the reliability and resilience of secondary power distribution. Early cable technology included butyl rubber insulated conductors and paper insulated lead coated cables. Over the decades, age and heat have degraded the insulation, leading to catastrophic failures and underground fires that can pose a public and employee safety hazard, cause equipment damage, and result in prolonged power outages. Assessing the condition of underground cables is expensive. Most test techniques are invasive (power outages are required), intrusive (cables need to be disconnected), and destructive (high voltages are applied to create partial discharges). The novel active clamp assessment technology discussed in this paper accurately determines the condition of underground cable insulation. It is non-intrusive, non-invasive, and non-destructive. Results from simple tests provide accurate condition assessments used to prioritize cable replacement. The technology can be called a cable failure prediction system.
Keywords :
condition monitoring; electricity supply industry; fault location; nondestructive testing; power cable insulation; power distribution faults; power distribution reliability; underground cables; butyl rubber insulated conductors; cable failure prediction system; cable technology; clamp assessment technology; electric utilities; low-voltage underground cables; paper insulated lead coated cables; power outages; secondary power distribution reliability; sensing device; underground cable condition assessment; Conductors; Frequency conversion; Heating; Power cable insulation; Power cables; Reliability; insulation condition assessment; insulation failure; insulation test; intelligent sensors; non-destructive conductor test; power distribution maintenance; power distribution reliability; underground distribution;
Conference_Titel :
Electrical Insulation Conference (EIC), 2015 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Seattle, WA
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-7352-1
DOI :
10.1109/ICACACT.2014.7223561