The West - East Electricity Transfer Project is one of the landmark projects in the development of western China. In this project, Changji-Guquan ±1100 kV UHV DC power transmission project is one of the landmark projects. It is also the UHV transmission project with the highest voltage level, the largest transmission capacity, the longest transmission distance and the most advanced technology level in China. . This project has set a new height in the world's power grid technology and started a new era in the development of UHV DC power transmission technology.
According to reports, Changji-Guquan ±1100 kV UHV DC power transmission project is the "Power Silk Road" connecting Xinjiang and East China. It can transmit 66 billion kWh of electricity to East China every year, and that can light up 400 million 30-watt lamps at the same time. It cansame time.electricity demand of 50 million households in East China. At the same time, it can reduce coal transportation by 30.24 million tons. If it is calculated by train capacity, it needs 25,000 20-compartment trains.
How to ensure the constant and safe electricity supply of the "Power Silk Road"? On September 1st, the reporter took this question into the hinterland of the Gurbantunggut Desert in Jimsar County, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, and closely watched the circuit inspection of the Xinjiang Power Grid. From afar, the insulators used in ±1100 kV UHV DC power transmission are much larger and more than those in the ±750 kV UHV power transmission, and the tower is very tall. Going deep into the desert’s hinterland, the sand is loose and soft, it’s very hot with high temperature all the year round. Even the lightly geared reporters had a very tough walk, I can imagine the hard work of the power inspectors.
“In the past, in order to ensure the safe working of the main power grid, we mainly did manual inspection. Now we use drones to conduct inspections to ensure personnel safety and improve work efficiency.” Chen Hui, head of the Xinjiang Power Grid Inspection Center of State Power Grid, told the reporter that the line spans across the Tianshan Mountains. Nearly 80% of the towers are located in the mountainous areas. Due to the steep mountains and cliffs and other factors, some tower inspection personnel cannot reach to the towers. The daily inspection work of the line cannot be carried out, so the drone inspection is required.
"In the past, a base tower needs 2-3 people to check for about one and a half hours. Now drone inspection is put into use. It only takes about 15 minutes for 2 people to do the job." Says Yangkai, the 1st level pilot of Xinjiang Power Grid Inspection Center of State Power Grid. This has greatly improved the efficiency of work and made our "air dancers" safer. The most important thing is drone can provide clear and effective sample data by using various payloads attached on it (such as high-definition cameras, thermal imaging cameras, etc.). For the harsh environment such as Snow Mountain and Gobi desert, the high mobility of drone has its unparalleled advantages. Increasing the participation of drones can effectively solve the problems of insufficient coverage and monitoring by terminals, and improve the resource utilization of hardware and software.
The person in charge told the reporter that the drone's participation in power inspection has the advantages of saving labor costs, increasing safety index and efficiency, and this brings revolution to the working modes of inspection and maintenance of power line. The traditional electric power inspection requires the inspectors to arrive at the sites in the mountains and waters, which is not only inefficient, but also risky for working at height. The efficiency and safety of drone inspection are higher, and large-scale and intelligent operation can be realized, which greatly improves the reliability of power grid operation, and ensures the safe operation of the power grid.
According to reports, so far the Xinjiang company of state power grid has successively put a variety of different models of MMC unmanned drones into the power line inspection. However, in daily inspections of ordinary high-voltage power lines, they mostly use the Skylle series, and in the inspection of the Changji-Guquan ±1100 kV high-voltage DC power transmission project, the MMC SKYLLE 1550 model was used. The MMC SKYLLE 1550 has the features of heavy load and excellent endurance, and its modular design further enhances reliability and makes it easier to use. Skylle 1550 has a MMC flight controller built inside in default, features network video transmission, 12S high voltage battery pack, supports a variety of payloads, its max weight load can go up to 10KG, it provides a reliable high-performance flight platform for industrial aerial photography and industry applications. Photon C20 high-definition video transmission system, consists of C20T transmitter and C20R receiver, supports H.264 codec, to achieve stable and smooth transmission of high-definition video. The C20T supports multiple video format inputs and features 128-bit dedicated encryption for more secure and reliable transmission. The C20R supports HDMI and network video output, and is compatible with various interfaces on display devices, and has enhanced anti-interference capability. It can work stably in wind and rain, dust or high temperature and cold weather, it provides high reliability control. In addition, the SKYLLE 1550 can locate damaged parts by using the long-range zooming camera Thyea Z40 or the thermal imager camera ZT40. It allows manual re-inspection in the control end, so that the inspection of the UHV power line in no man’s land can be carried out smoothly, it is more reliable than the telescope under the tower. The infrared temperature measurement function of the Thyea ZT40 can discover the potential danger of the wire in time. The Thyea Z40’s 40x zooming can help them find the broken insulators, loose screws, tilted metals and the details, thus it shortens the fault judgment time.
As the world's leading manufacturer of drones, MMC has been committed to driving technological innovation and striving to develop the social value of technology applications. Since the beginning of exploring the application of drones in the power industry in 2016, MMC has been concentrating on improving localized after-sales service. With solid industry experience and technological competence, it has achieved outstanding results in the power inspection market. At present, the MMC drones has covered the first-line teams of 27 provincial departmernts of the State Grid and the five provincial companies of China Southern Power Grid. According to statistics, as of May 2019, the total distance that MMC drones have been flying through exceeded 400,000 kilometers, and the annual inspection operations exceeded 800,000 kilometers.