VRC Ice Protection for The Grid

52 Patents 116 Pending

...Worldwide

Chinese Language Version

Contact: Cliff Lyon 801.895.2977

A team of physicists and engineers at Dartmouth College led by Dr. Victor Petrenko have unlocked the secrets of ice and perfected a number of ways to make ice work for us instead of against us.

Dr. Victor F. Petrenko

Director, Ice Physics Research Lab Thayer School of Engineering Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH USA 54 patents, 116 pending worldwide

M.S., Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Ph.D., U.S.S.R. Academy of Science, Moscow 1974 D.Sc., Physics and Mathematics, U.S.S.R. Academy of Science, Chernogolovka 1983 Publishing: Physics of Ice Physics of Semiconductors Over 150 scientific publications (See video interview)

Photo Courtesy of Gary Braasch. All Rights Reserved

ICECODE

At POLARSTAR, we have deciphered the secrets, decoded the details and changed mans interface with ice forever.

Where can we break ice? Ice makers Power lines Windshields Wings and wind blades Bridges, buildings and ships Refrigerators and airconditioning ...and more

Click to see video

More videos here

Photo Courtesy of Gary Braasch. All Rights Reserved

Premise Power Grid

VRC technology controls ice on power transmission lines without service interruption.

Today, the US power grid is over-capacity causing massive loss of heat energy. VRC means higher capacity lines can be employed improving transmission efficiency by up to 25% for over 50% of the grid worldwide.

(VRC Technical Paper) (US Patent, Chinese Patent)

VRC for Smart Grids

VRC for Smart Grids

Distribution and transmission lines today carry much more power than their original design capacity. While this overcapacity produces excess heat, which conveniently serves as an anti-icer, the energy loss is immense. As smart grids replace old grids worldwide, VRC technology will allow engineers to design for capacity and maximum efficiency unencumbered by the compromises in efficiency once demanded by the threat of ice. Successfully tested winter '09-'10 in The Ural Mountains of Russia. (See Video)
(VRC Technical Paper) (Patent)

VRC Animation

VRC solution uses proprietary power electronics and slightly modified conventional power-line cables to switch from lowresistance to high-resistance mode for deicing without service interruption. De-Icing takes from between 30 seconds to three minutes and consumes less than 5 percent of the electricity running through the lines. VRC also works on power transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Uses conventional power cables, either modified or replaced Requires inexpensive high power switching electronics Fast, cost and energy efficient

Click to see video

The cable heating power = (Current)2 x Cable resistance

De-Icing: High resistance Normal operations: Low resistance

One section can be from 50m to 10km

Simple Diagram

Normal Mode vs. De-Icing Mode

VRC Math

The Mathematics of VRC

Summary: VRC de-icing works because the current flowing through parallel conductors in a cable bundle is rerouted to flow through the individual cables in series, thus increasing the resistance of the circuit by a factor of N2, where N is the number of cables in the bundle. So for a 3 cable bundle, R increases 9x.

Nwire is the number of strands (wires) in a conductor, 3, 4, 5, 6, Iline is the line current Iswitch is the current passing through one switch Vswitch is the voltage drop across one switch Rtransmission is conductor resistance per meter in the normal (transmission) mode Rdeicing is conductor resistance per meter in the deicing/anti-icing mode Pdeicing is heating power per meter of the conductor length

Chinese Language Version

(VRC Technical Paper) (Patent)

VRC Technical Paper

Download VRC Technical Paper

Download from Google Docs

VRC Field Test

VRC Field Test in Orenburg, Russia, Winter 2009/2010

Click to play video

Test Specifications: Line voltage: 10.5kV Line frequency: 50Hz Distance between towers: 35m to 60m Type of conductor used: bundled Line current: Ampacity: 175A Current during the test: 60A to 70A VRC was designed for 40A to 100A range

VRC Field Test

Test Specifications: Line voltage: 10.5kV Line frequency: 50Hz Distance between towers: 35m to 60m Type of conductor used: bundled Line current: Ampacity: 175A Current during the test: 60A to 70A VRC was designed for 40A to 100A range

Lab Demonstration

VRC Power Line De-Icing Demonstration

Chinese Language Videos

VRC Deicing Separated Bundle (Chinese) VRC Deicing Stranded Bundle (Chinese)

Click to play video

Note: Chinese language transcription is available here. / (Link)

Chinese Language Version Entire Presentation

VRC Basic Design

Basic Design VRC Systems

The conductors are electrically isolated from each other and from ground. Wind, temperature, and ice sensors provide information for automatic or manual de-icing. De-icing control can be remote and wireless using GSM. Electric Power for the switches/control electronics is taken from the line by using current transformers. A backup battery can also be used. If the control electronics fail or lose power, they automatically return the system to normal power transmission mode. Control electronics and sensor systems are fully integratable with existing grid infrastructure control systems and software. A backup safety system integrates a fuseable link so that in case of overheating due to control failure, the system automatically returns the lines to low-resistance transmission mode.
Figure 1. Example conductor configuration for a split-phase line

High Tension Transmission Tower Termination

Design Characteristics: High Tension Transmission Tower Termination

Fig 1. Termination 1

Fig 3. Run-Through Termination

Fig 2. Termination 2

High TensionII

High Tension Transmission VRC Line Configuration (Tower Not Shown) Conductors Termination Isolators

Conductors

Not Shown: Temperature, Wind and Ice Sensors Control Electronics Hub Containing Switches

Construction of a composite VRC cable for power transmission lines

insulatio n

steel wire

aluminum wire

VRC Control Electronics

Power for the switch/control boxes is taken from the line by using currenttransformers. If for any reason power goes off, the line is automatically switched to normal transmission mode. The control boxes are equipped with conductor temperature and ice sensors. The control electronics can work in an automatic mode, but can also be controlled remotely as shown in the next slide. If the control electronics are damaged during de-icing, a fusable link attached to a conductor is melted and releases a mechanical switch which returns the section to normal low-resistance mode.

Remote Control for Smart-Grid VRC

Air temperature

Ice thickness sensor

Wind velocity sensor

Cable temperature

GSM module 1. Monitoring and transmitting data 2. Switching/mode control

Antenna

Cable current sensor

Power and control electronics of PL de-icing This part is under power line potential

This part is under ground potential

Computer

GSM module

Antenna

Switches for high voltage power lines Vacuum Recloser Example: OVR-1 by ABB
One-phase recloser for a power line with 3 conductors in a bundle. For a bundle with more than 3 conductors a three-phase recloser may be used. Six 25kV/800A ABB OVR reclosers are sufficient for deicing 50km to 100km sections. Vacuum reclosers (one or three-phase) by ABB can withstand up to 170kV of lightning surge, up to 60 kV for up to 1 minute surge, current up to16kA and up to 1200A of continuous current and 34.5kV of continuous voltage.
25k g 45k g

Operating temperature range: -40C to +70C

Long life: >= 10000 operations without maintenance and degradation

Other Solutions

Other Ice Management Solutions

Short Circuit De-icing Advantage: Well-tested, fully-developed. Disadvantage: Interrupts power to customers. 80-year old technology invented in Russia. Requires expensive power-equipment. Cannot perform anti-icing Not suitable for deicing short sections. Damages cables through overheating.

Single Conductor Heating (Couture, Hydro Quebec) Has been tested, but only heats one conductor at a time. High Frequency PL De-Icing (IceCode) Alternative method developed by IceCode Tower Reinforcement Expensive; requires tower replacement. Not 100% reliable.

Power Danger I

Every winter, headlines repeat themselves:

"Ice Storm Leaves Millions Without Power!"

In March of 2008, a severe ice storm destroyed over 80% of the Jiangxi power grid in China leaving over 20 million without power for almost 2 weeks. As many as 172,000 high-voltage pylons collapsed under the weight of ice and snow. 153,000 kilometers of low-voltage transmission lines were damaged. The Chinese government put the direct economic losses from the disaster at 21 billion U.S. dollars. - Source Great Ice Storm of 1998, USA "In January 1998, a massive combination of five successive ice storms combined to strike a relatively narrow swath of land across eastern Canada and bordering areas from northern New York to central Maine. Estimates of material damages reached $4-6 billion for all the areas affected. Damage to the power grid was so severe that major rebuilding, not repairing, of the electrical grid had to be undertaken. Many power lines broke and over 1,000 pylons collapsed in chain reactions under the weight of the ice, leaving more than 4 million people without electricity, some of them for an entire month. At least 25 people died in the areas affected, primarily from hypothermia," Source

VRC Cost Benefit

VRC for Smart Grids

Benefit No service interruption De-icing and anti-icing modes for electric power transmission and distribution lines Constant monitoring of icing conditions How it works Variable Resistance Conductors (VRC) Sensors & power units switch resistance automatically or manually, as needed Value Eliminates energy loss through overcapacity cables No interruption in power service to customers Increases public safety Protects utility infrastructure from costly damage

Cost Small % in overall cost of cable installation VRC components exceed the 30-50 year cable lifespan Redirects less than 5% of electrical energy during operation Environment Recovers substantial electric energy now being lost Eliminates continuous heat dissipating into atmosphere

VRC Advantage

Advantages
Complete and rapid de-icing No interruption to customers service No external (auxiliary) power supply required De-ice sections of any length Anti-icing mode Uses widely available cables, switches and dielectric spacers Cheapest method to implement Uses significantly less energy than conventional short-circuit method Not subject to overheating and damaging lines as with short-circuit method Provides customers with power even if the electronics fail Easiest to implement Successfully tested in Oremburg Russia

About ICECODE
ICECODE is an ice management technology company currently based in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Founded by Dartmouth Engineering Professor Victor Petrenko to commercialize technologies developed in his Ice Research Lab, IceCode has exclusive rights to more than 170 granted or pending patents in the field of ice management worldwide. The principal technology, Pulse Electro-Thermal Deicing (PETD) can instantly break the bond between ice and surfaces. In another configuration, PETD can increase the friction between ice and other objects such as shoes or tires, creating ice brakes.

About IceCode

The breakthrough that PETD represents is the discovery that the amount of energy required to de-ice a surface is inversely proportional to the intensity of the power applied and the thinness of the interface being heated. Paradoxically, short, 1 to 5 second high-density electrical pulses applied to a variety of surfaces, detaches ice using very little energy. Over $20 million in development funding has produced highly optimized PETD-based ice management solutions with broad and disruptive commercial applications in aerospace, defense, automotive, wind energy, power transmission and refrigeration among others.

Last Slide of 7 (short presentation)

Full PolarStar Presentation (PPT slide deck)

Chinese Language Version (VRC only)