Lateral Integrity Detection System

The ENSC-44 team engaged with Avista Utilities in developing a distribution line lateral integrity detection system. During hazardous weather conditions such as windstorms, protection devices on Avista’s distribution network are set to trip instantaneously to mitigate the threat of wildfires in high-risk areas. In order to accelerate the required inspection process before re-energization, which can be time-consuming on long, rural feeders, ENSC-44 developed a software model in MATLAB aimed at using a span of frequencies and measured impedance to indicate to dispatch crews if each lateral has maintained integrity. A change of impedance characteristics indicates the line has not maintained integrity and needs service before re-energization. The team validated the project by first modeling a single conductor and then expanding the model to mimic a complete power system resembling one of Avista’s longest and most rural feeders.

» Joci Anderson, Electrical Engineering

» Matthew Gauss, Electrical Eng.

» Andrew Thompson, Electrical Eng.

» Rhys Williams, Electrical Engineering

ADVISOR: Meirong Zhang

DAB: Nathan Cutler, Brent Barr

SPONSOR: Avista

LIAISON: Doug Forkner