Using Infrared and Ultraviolet Technology for Line Inspections
Penn Power and West Penn Power, subsidiaries of FirstEnergy that serve about 169k and 734k customers across Pennsylvania, respectively, recently touted their utilization of infrared and ultraviolet (IR/UV) technology to conduct inspections of transmission lines. The companies issued a joint press release indicating that inspections this year have so far spanned nearly 1,000 miles of 345 kV transmission lines in and around Pittsburg.
Benefits ofInfrared and Ultraviolet Technology for Transmission Line Inspections
The companies conduct the IR/UV inspections once every 4 years. It works by attaching IR/UV cameras to the bottom of a helicopter, which patrols areas at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. It’s an efficient method, allowing many miles of infrastructure to be inspected each day.
Onboard is a thermographer that uses the camera transmission to view the electrical equipment through infrared and ultraviolet spectrums to identify voltage or overheating anomalies. Any potential issues such as loose connections, rusted hardware, cracked insulators, or corrosion are indicated by bright colors on the infrared display, and these bright colors typically indicate the need to make a repair.
The benefit of utilizing infrared and ultraviolet technology is that problems can be detected earlier and more precisely, including issues that would have previously gone undetected.
Regular visual inspections, even those done via drone technology, aren’t as effective as IR/UV. That said, the inspection process really needs to be a mix of activities and methods. For example, aerial patrols can be useful for identifying visible issues like overgrown trees or broken poles. Utilizing more traditional methods for these highly visible issues allows the IR/UV technology to focus on items that only it can efficiently detect.
I don’t know how many other electric utilities are utilizing infrared and ultraviolet technology to conduct transmission line inspections, but it would be interesting to find out. It seems like a highly effective method, although I do wonder about the cost. Nevertheless, from a pure emergency preparedness perspective, IR/UV detection technology sure seems like it would be highly beneficial.
