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With the increase in electricity demand, the ampacity calculation based on the dynamic thermal rating (DTR) technology is increasingly significant for assessing and improving the power transfer capacity of the existing overhead conductors. However, the DTR models now available present some inadequacies in measurement techniques related to wind speed. Therefore, it is essential to propose a new model instead of wind speed measuring in DTR technology. In this paper, the influence analysis of various weather parameters on the conductor ampacity is carried out by using the real weather data. Based on the analysis, it is confirmed that the impact of wind speed is significant, especially in the case of the low wind speed. Moreover, an equivalent heat transfer (EHT) model for DTR technology is proposed instead of wind speed measuring. For this EHT model, the calculation of conductor ampacity is realized through investigating the correlation of heat losses between the heating aluminum (Al) ball and conductor. Finally, combined with the finite element method (FEM), the EHT model proposed in this paper is verified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standard. The results indicate that the error of the EHT model is less than 6% when employing the steady thermal behavior of the Al ball to calculate the ampacity. The EHT model is useful in the real-time thermal rating of overhead conductors. It can increase the utilization of overhead conductors while also avoiding the limitation of the existing measurement techniques related to wind speed.

In the ground wire-clamp system, aluminum armor tape (AAT) or armor rod (AR) is commonly adopted to avoid the wear damage of ground wire. While under the short-circuit current, damage or even breakage of ground wire in suspension clamp due to overheat may occur. However, there still lacks attention on the investigation about this type of damage. In this paper, a finite element (FE) modeling method of the ground wire-clamp system, which was applicable to two cases with AAT and AR, was proposed to discuss the transient thermal and mechanical behaviors. In the modeling of contact points, an improved contact bridge model considering the contact shape characteristics was proposed. The transient temperature rise experiments for ground wire-clamp systems with AAT and AR were carried out to verify the accuracy of models. The results shows that the improved contact bridge model is conducive to obtaining the accurate calculation results. For the analysis of this type of damage, the generated thermal stress cannot be ignored. In engineering, the ground wire twinned by AAT is at risk of overheat or even breakage under the short-circuit current, while using AR can prevent the ground wire in the suspension clamp from damage of overheat.

The traditional dynamic capacity-increasing technology of overhead conductors needs to monitor the operation state of conductors (temperature, sag, etc.), and the relevant sensors are usually installed directly on the surface of conductors. The installation cost is high, and the operating maintenance is complicated. In this paper, a non-contact dynamic capacity-increasing method for overhead conductors based on CT is proposed. Firstly, the theory of the non-contact dynamic capacity-increasing method for conductors is introduced, and a cooling testing device is designed according to the theory. Then, the cooling index is defined to represent the cooling capacity of the object, and the corresponding cooling indexes for the conductors and the CT are calculated based on the steady-state thermal balance equation. By establishing a cooling correlation model for the conductors and the CT, the calculation for the dynamic ampacity of the conductors can be obtained. Finally, the cooling conditions of cooling testing device at different ambient temperatures and wind speeds are calculated through the finite element simulation method. Combined with the dynamic capacityincreasing method proposed in this paper, the corresponding ampacity value are obtained, and the effect of capacity increase is analyzed. The results show that the non-contact dynamic capacity-increasing method based on the CT has obvious effect in capacity-increasing compared with the static ampacity.