Wouldn’t it be useful to know the lifespan of any given thing or object? This project is addressing a pain point that is known to every citizen… lifespan of ABC (Aerial Bundled Cables) that are overhead power lines using multiple insulated phase conductors bundled tightly together. The primary goal of the project is to predict the remaining useful life of ABC cable installed in Karachi in recent past.
These cables are less prone to electricity pilferage and theft. Moreover, the cables offer safety and reliability, reduce power losses and ultimate system economy through cost reduction in the installation and operations.
Karachi Electric (KE) has recently used these cables in Karachi for power transmission instead of standard copper cables to avoid electricity theft. However, the performance and life of such cables in coastal areas is not known due to less frequent usage of these cables. Karachi Electric, premier company supplying power to the metropolis is interested in finding the degradation rate of the cables with respect to environmental conditions including moisture, thermal and mechanical loading conditions to facilitate and schedule repair and replacement action well in time to avoid sudden power failures.
The scope includes gathering of non-destructive testing techniques (NDT) data from the ABC installed in different regions of Karachi at the intervals of two months for a duration of one year. Data collection will be followed by the processing of NDT data to diagnose the existing state of the cable. A prediction system will be developed using the historical database so generated and underlying fatigue models for cables and connectors will be developed to predict the remaining useful life of cables in different regions of Karachi.
