Electrical Grid Smart Cable Detach Mechanism and Emergency Communication Network

Abstract

Recent hurricane catastrophes and the rapid increases of hurricane activity across the world has exposed the inadequacies of current emergency grid recovery strategies. In this paper, a proof-of-concept system was built to introduce, motivate and validate the idea of a cable detach mechanism that protects electrical poles by detaching the cables from the pole when excess physical stress is present on the lines. In said event an ad-hoc network is deployed and serves as a means for communications to first responders in the event of cellular tower failures. The benefits of the smart detach cable system include increased grid resiliency, reduced grid recovery time and costs, improved sensing of grid state, and rapid maintenance deployment. The system was built and modeled as a small-scale, one line, power grid. The modeled system demonstrated and confirmed some of the clear benefits of the proposed detach mechanism and communication network.