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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number	NIA_UKPN0067
Title	GIS temperature monitoring
Status	Completed
Energy Categories	Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electricity transmission and distribution) 100%;
Research Types	Applied Research and Development 100%
Science and Technology Fields	ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) 100%
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation	Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator	Project Contact No email address given UK Power Networks
Award Type	Network Innovation Allowance
Funding Source	Ofgem
Start Date	01 November 2020
End Date	01 June 2022
Duration	ENA months
Total Grant Value	£327,000
Industrial Sectors	Power
Region	London
Programme	Network Innovation Allowance
Investigators	Principal Investigator	Project Contact , UK Power Networks (100.000%)
	Industrial Collaborator	Project Contact , UK Power Networks (0.000%)
Web Site	https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/NIA_UKPN0067
Objectives	Fibre optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS) technology has both a high degree of spatial and temperature resolution, and typically can be used for applications where sensing is needed over a long distance (up to 4km in conventional uses). By attaching a single fibre optic cable to a DTS unit, UK Power Networks can potentially use it to monitor a full bay of five or six GIS in a single site. The load and temperature characteristics of GIS can then be monitored, in order to ascertain normal temperatures for a given load and to identify the development of hotspots in the GIS.This will enable early intervention, reduce disruption to customers, prevent environmental incidents and prevent damage to highly expensive GIS that is valued at approximately £1m per bay when switch room building costs are taken into account. The project will be implemented in two phases.Phase 1: A demonstration at GE Renewables facility in Stafford using one of UK Power Networks GIS. This unenergised GIS will be heated up internally, and the attached DTS system will monitor for temperature changes. This phase will serve to verify the hypothesis that heat build-up within a GIS will manifest in detectable temperature changes by the DTS system, and the monitoring system will be programmed to generate an alarm at a designated threshold.Phase 2: With the findings from phase 1, phase 2 will follow on with demonstration of the technology in the working environment by installing it on approx five bays of switchgear at each of two sites to ascertain whether the relationship between load and temperature can be characterised and thereby enable the setting of sensible alarm levels. Analysis of the site data and will further augment the findings from phase 1. The objectives of the project are to: Test whether or not the DTS fibre technology can detect temperature changes as small as 0.5 degree Celsius outside of a chamber containing SF6 subjected to heating Correlate changes in temperature to the pressure of SF6 gas in a controlled environment Test a 132kV system in a live environment which aims to ascertain the relationship between load and temperature, and prove that sensible alarm levels can be configured to effectively discount heating effects due to load only and highlight heating due to incipient failure Prove that the integration and remote access of condition data will not be an issue during Business-As-UsualThe desired outcome of the project is to prove whether or not DTS fibre technology is a sensible solution to predict the presence of abnormal heating/hot spots in GIS in order to prevent disruptive failure.
Abstract	UK Power Networks owns and operates Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS), and some of them use Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) as an electrical insulator. SF6 is an extremely good electrical insulator, is not poisonous to humans and has other advantageous engineering properties. However, SF6 is a potent greenhouse gas. Managing potential leaks of SF6 is increasingly important with the UK working to meet its Net Zero targets, and for UK Power Networks to meet its own environmental targets.There is a large population of GIS on the network that are legacy models and no longer supported by manufacturers. However, they are still in good condition. One example is F35 GIS made by Areva (now GE).It has been identified that enhanced monitoring of this asset could be beneficial in identifying developing faults. For example, if localised heating caused by loose connections in circuit breakers could be monitored, the asset could be switched out and maintained before failure occurred.
Publications	(none)
Final Report	(none)
Added to Database	02/11/22