Introduction

Laser Foreign Object Removal Device for Power Grid

With the development of urban and rural construction, the geographical environment of transmission lines has undergone tremendous changes, and the factors endangering power grid safety are gradually increasing. In recent years, suspended foreign objects such as kite strings, plastic mulch films, canvas, advertising banners and fireworks residues have become one of the major threats to high-voltage transmission lines. Winding around or hanging on power conductors, these foreign objects are highly likely to trigger faults such as single-phase grounding and phase-to-phase short circuits on high-voltage transmission lines. In severe cases, they may even cause large-scale power grid blackouts. Therefore, timely removal of such foreign objects is essential.

Traditional methods for removing suspended foreign objects adopt contact modes, either power-cut maintenance or live-line operation. Arranging maintenance personnel to handle line faults after power outage not only increases the frequency and duration of power cuts, but also causes huge economic losses to enterprises and society. At present, many provinces and cities are devoted to the research on equipotential live-line operation technologies and equipment. A variety of live-line disposal methods have been developed, including blowtorch combustion, rope hooking, equipotential rope ladder, operating rod picking, and insulated aerial bucket truck operation. Nevertheless, all these methods belong to mechanical contact operation. Equipment or maintenance personnel need to make physical contact with power transmission and transformation facilities, which may cause certain damage to the lines. Moreover, when personnel and equipment enter the strong electric field of transmission and transformation conductors and ground wires, they face high potential safety hazards.

Adopting laser as the energy source, the ground-based laser foreign object removal device emits laser beams to irradiate suspended foreign objects and form a laser ablation or cutting zone on the surface. The foreign objects are completely ablated or cut into fragments, realizing the non-contact live-line removal of non-metallic attachments such as kite strings, plastic mulch films, canvas and advertising banners suspended on high-voltage transmission and transformation equipment.

This long-distance non-contact live-line cleaning mode keeps operators away from high-voltage strong electric fields and requires no physical contact between equipment and transmission lines. It possesses important theoretical significance and great engineering practical value for improving the power supply reliability of transmission lines and guaranteeing the operational safety of maintenance personnel.