System and method for determining characteristics of power cables using distributed temperature sensing systems

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.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of using the stored static and transient data to predict the aging of insulation material in the power cables based on known aging data.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said DTS system comprises one or more light sources and the method further comprises the steps of:

emitting one or several wavelengths through an optical fiber deployed along the power cable;

collecting backscattered Rayleigh and/or spontaneous and/or stimulated Raman wavelengths; and

using said backscattered wavelengths to determine a distributed temperature profile of the power cable.

4. A system for determining power load characteristics of a power cable system comprising;

a processor;

a distributed temperature sensing (DTS) system coupled to a processor, the DTS system configured to:

receive as input a load measurement of a power cable;

receive signals relating to the distributed temperature profile of the power cable, including hot spots;

forward the received load measurement and signals relating to the temperature to the processor;

a fiber optic sensor connected to said DTS system and deployed next to, in proximity of, in direct contact an exterior wall, or within said power cable;

a memory device coupled to said processor operable to retain program instructions and store data from said processor and said DTS system;

a network port operable to transmit information from said system for determining characteristics of power cables to an exterior network; and

a display device operable for creating graphic images and/or alphanumeric characters recognizable to a user;

a database that stores the load measurement data as well as static and transient data accumulated from the fiber optic sensor;

wherein the processor is programmed to use the static and transient data from the database to predict a reliable lifetime of the power cable based on cumulative data at various load conditions and to determine the characteristics of the power cable based at least on the received load measurement and signals relating to the temperature of the power cable system.

5. The system of claim 4 further wherein said fiber optic sensor is a spare fiber in an optical fiber composite overhead ground wire (OPGW) in the power cable system.