Patent ID: 8775151
Filing Date: 2014-07-08
Classification: G01K

Abstract:
1. A method for determining and displaying future current power load characteristics of power cables comprising the components of conductor metals, insulators, sheathings, bedding, and armors using distributed temperature sensing (DTS) systems comprising the steps of: receiving current load measurements from the power cables; receiving current temperature profiles of the power cable from the DTS system; calculating, from static thermal models of the particular power cable, the static temperatures of the various components of conductor metals, insulators, sheathings, bedding, and armors consistent with the current temperature profiles from the DTS measurements; calculating and updating all of the static heat losses and resistances of the components; calculating the static power load of the power cable; calculating, from transient thermal models, future power loads and temperatures reached for different future load scenarios; displaying these future temperatures and power loads on a display device suitable for creating graphic images and/or alphanumeric characters recognizable to a user; storing the static and transient data accumulated from the models and the DTS monitoring into a database for future display; and using the stored data to predict reliable lifetime of the power cable based on cumulative time at various load conditions.