Since cable insulation with low thermal conductivity occupies a large proportion of high voltage cable, an optimization analysis on dynamic thermal behavior of cable insulation can be very useful to improve the accuracy of cable dynamic thermal rating. In this paper, the dynamic thermal analysis of cable insulation is carried out by combining theoretical method and finite element analysis (FEA) method. Based on the analysis, it is proved that using IEC recommended transient thermal model of cable insulation will bring certain error to cable dynamic temperature evaluation, especially at the early stage of cable temperature rise. Moreover, in this paper an implementable optimization method for transient thermal model of cable insulation is developed. The improvement of the optimized model compared to the IEC model on cable dynamic thermal rating is verified by FEA method. Results confirm that the optimized model can better model the dynamic thermal behavior of cable than the IEC model and the improvement is more obvious for dynamic thermal rating of cable with high voltage level and under large load. The methodology developed in this paper can pave a way for electricity utilities to increase cable utilization while still ensuring cable reliability.

This paper reveals a correlation between morphology and thermal parameters on cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable with different insulating states. Several cables were selected to detect the physicochemical and thermal parameters of the XLPE. The results show that the cable ampacity is determined by the thermal parameters, which are deeply subjected to the morphology of the XLPE. The molecular chain and crystal structure of the XLPE have a close connection with the thermal resistivity. The physicochemical parameters of carbonyl index (CI) and unsaturated band index (UBI) from Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR) and melting range (Rm) from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) can be the indicator to evaluate the diversity of the thermal resistivity. The change of thermal capacity is governed by the crystal distribution of the XLPE. The physicochemical parameters of crystallinity (χ) and lamellar thickness (L) from DSC can be the indicator to evaluate the change of the thermal capacity. In addition, FWHM of the crystallization peak ΔW, crystalline rate index (T0-TP) and cross-linking degree (G) can also be the indicator of the thermal parameters. Finally, this paper proposes a more accurate on-line monitoring method for electric power industry by detecting thermal parameters to diagnose the operating cables in the practical application.

This article proposes a risk-based contingency-constrained optimal power flow model by leveraging the methods of both adjustable uncertainty set and distributionally robust optimization. In the proposed model, an adjustable uncertainty set of wind power is developed with network contingencies explicitly incorporated. Based on this uncertainty set, the proposed model is capable of securing the network against both wind power fluctuations and contingencies in a probabilistic manner with the optimal balance between operation cost and risk. Meanwhile, a data-driven L 1-norm-based ambiguity set is employed so that the proposed model is distributionally robust to the ambiguous probability distribution of wind power and the size of the model remains unchanged as the available wind power data increases. A decomposition-based algorithm is also derived so that the proposed model is solvable by off-the-shelf solvers. Numerical studies on IEEE 14- and 118-bus systems are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model.

This paper presents a theoretical and experimental study on the ampacity of the prefabricated straight-through joint of a 110 kV high voltage cable. Thermal modelling revealed that the critical spot limiting the ampacity of this type of cable joint is located on its crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation section. The axial distribution of the thermal field in this type of cable joint was also determined. An algorithm for assessing ampacity in this type of cable joint was developed. Experiments were conducted on a real cable system with a prefabricated straight-through joint under different loading conditions. The experiments show a good agreement with the thermal modelling results.