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Kathleen Davis, Senior Editor of Utility Automation and Engineering magazine, discusses advances towards the SmartGrid, and some of the technologies that will help get us there in her article entitled Building a Better Transmission System.
From the article..."Real-time ratings can feed into the positive advantage of TP conductors, among other hardware upgrades for transmission," said Sandy Aivaliotis, senior vice president at The Valley Group.
"Real-time monitoring maximizes the value of any conductor by operating at true capacity, not a static rating," Aivaliotis said. "The conductor thus delivers its full power transfer capability in addition to its other design benefits."
Real-time monitoring gets more bang for the buck out of hardware already in place by drawing out real perimeters rather than assumed ones. Transmission lines have a required minimum clearance, a height they must maintain above the ground for safety reasons. While the ground rarely moves, the line does, especially in the burning sun. Sun warms the line, the line sags, and suddenly it might push the limits of that clearance.
If a utility can't monitor that line by the hour, minute and second, it must factor in all conditions that might make the line bounce below that required clearance...
Click here to read the full article.
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