METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING CONDITIONS OF POWER LINES

1 . A method for determining conditions of power lines in a power distribution system based on data collected by a plurality of sensor units deployed in the power distribution system, the method comprising acts of:

obtaining data associated with measurements collected by at least two sensor units in the plurality of sensor units;

determining, by using at least one processor, at least one condition of at least one power line in the power distribution system by using the data obtained by the at least two sensor units.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two sensor units comprise a first sensor unit and a second sensor unit, and wherein:

the act of obtaining the data comprises:

obtaining first data associated with measurements collected by the first sensor unit from a first phase of a first power line, and

obtaining second data associated with measurements collected by the second sensor unit from a second phase of the first power line, wherein the first phase is different from the second phase; and

the act of determining the at least one condition comprises determining the at least one condition of the at least one power line by using the first data and the second data.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least two sensor units further comprise a third sensor unit, and wherein:

the act of obtaining the data further comprises obtaining third data associated with measurements collected by the third sensor unit from a third phase of the first power line, wherein the third phase is different from the first phase and from the second phase; and

the act of determining the at least one condition comprises determining the at least one condition of the at least one power line by further using the third data.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two sensor units comprise a first sensor unit and a second sensor unit, and wherein:

the act of obtaining the data comprises:

obtaining first data associated with measurements collected by the first sensor unit from a first power line segment, and

obtaining second data associated with measurements collected by the second sensor unit from a second power line segment, wherein the first power line segment is different from the second power line segment; and

the act of determining the at least one condition comprises determining the at least one condition of the at least one power line by using the first data and the second data.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein obtaining the first data comprises obtaining a voltage value, and wherein obtaining the second data comprises obtaining a current value.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising determining an impedance value based on the voltage value and the current value.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the act of determining the at least one condition of the at least one power line comprises determining a distance to a location of a fault based on the impedance value.

8 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the act of determining the at least one condition of the at least one power line comprises applying at least one user-specified rule to the first data and the second data by using a rules engine.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the at least one condition comprises identifying a type of the at least one condition as a type of condition associated with animal contact with the at least one power line, lightning strike, tree contact with the at least one power line, ice on the at least one power line, sag in the at least one power line, stretch in the at least one power line, or oscillation of the at least one power line.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the at least one condition comprises detecting a current need for maintenance of the at least one power line and/or predicting a need for future maintenance of the at least one power line.

11 . At least one tangible computer readable storage medium storing processor executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method for determining conditions of power lines in a power distribution system based on data collected by a plurality of sensor units deployed in the power distribution system, the method comprising acts of:

obtaining data associated with measurements collected by at least two sensor units in the plurality of sensor units;

determining at least one condition of at least one power line in the power distribution system by using the obtained data from the at least two sensor units.

12 . The at least one tangible computer readable storage medium method of claim 11 , wherein the at least two sensor units comprise a first sensor unit and a second sensor unit, and wherein:

the act of obtaining the data comprises:

obtaining first data associated with measurements collected by the first sensor unit from a first phase of a first power line, and

obtaining second data associated with measurements collected by the second sensor unit from a first phase of the first power line, wherein the first phase is different from the second phase; and

the act of determining the at least one condition comprises determining the at least one condition of the at least one power line by using the first data and the second data.

13 . The at least one tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the at least two sensor units comprise a first sensor unit and a second sensor unit, and wherein:

the act of obtaining the data comprises:

obtaining first data associated with measurements collected by the first sensor unit from a first power line segment, and

obtaining second data associated with measurements collected by the second sensor unit from a second power line segment, wherein the first power line segment is different from the second power line segment; and

the act of determining the at least one condition comprises determining a distance to a location of the at least one condition of the at least one power line by using the first data and the second data.

14 . The at least one tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein obtaining the first data comprises obtaining a voltage value, and wherein obtaining the second data comprises obtaining a current value.

15 . The at least one tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the act of determining the at least one condition of the at least one power line comprises determining a distance to a location of the at least one condition based on the voltage value and the current value.

16 . A monitoring system for determining conditions associated with power conditioning components in a power distribution system, the monitoring system comprising:

at least one sensor unit configured to:

measure first power factor information on a first phase of a power line in the power distribution system, wherein the power line is electrically coupled to at least one power conditioning component; and

at least one processor configured to:

compare the measured first power factor information with stored power factor information associated with the first phase of the power line to produce first comparison results, and

determine whether the at least one power conditioning component has a fault condition based on the comparison results.

17 . The monitoring system of claim 16 ,

wherein the at least one sensor unit is further configured to measure second power factor information on a second phase of the power line; and

wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

compare the measured second power factor information with stored power factor information associated with the second phase of the power line to produce second comparison results, and

determine the at least one condition of the at least one power conditioning component further based on the second comparison results.

18 . The monitoring system of claim 16 ,

wherein the stored power factor information comprises at least one previously obtained power factor measurement of the first phase of the power line, and

wherein the at least one processor is configured to compare the measured first power factor with the stored power factor information by calculating whether the measured first power factor deviates from the at least one previously obtained power factor measurement by more than a threshold percentage.

19 . The monitoring system of claim 16 , wherein the at least one power conditioning component is a capacitor bank.

20 . The monitoring system of claim 20 , wherein the fault condition of the at least one power conditioning component is a blown fuse of the capacitor bank.