Software validation of optimal bidirectional composite conductor design with applications

Abstract

The ever-increasing electricity consumption patterns worldwide and the very many drivers of load growth have placed heavy burdens on new and existing power supply infrastructures, globally. The measurement of standards of living based on the quantity and quality of electricity consumed has further exacerbated power systems transmission network problems. Software validation of optimal bidirectional composite conductor designs, which carry very high currents at high temperatures, vertically and horizontally in tandem, attempt to provide solutions to the above problems. Composites comprising a conductor and insulating material strips in which the density approaches the minimum conducting area and satisfies Laplace's equation was considered. The variational problem was homogenized and polyconvexified using Lagrange multipliers and Green's identity, while the Hessian was used to relax the minimized characteristic function for convexification. The results indicate materials and costs optimization. Both the horizontal and vertical currents were equal, without hotspots or irregular power transfer problems in the composite conductor matrix. The vertical and horizontal gradients along the composite were equal and optimal, and their respective directions of highest change were uniform along their lines of equal energy. The conductor materials occupied about two-thirds area of composite. The high-temperature low-sag cable is light in weight, strong, and bendable. Its larger diameter reduces corona effects, which makes it useful for voltages beyond 300 kV and can minimize the incidence of power blackouts, globally.