Vulnerability of Wireless Network Technology to Impulsive Noise in Electricity Transmission Substations

国家电力传输系统的基础设施投资是巨大的。因此，有必要在保持可接受的供应安全的前提下，尽可能有效地操作这些系统。高效和可靠的运行要求持续监控系统的状态，导致仪表和控制设备广泛分散在整个输电变电站大院。用于正常和异常操作的信息和控制信号传统上使用电缆或光纤连接到监测和控制系统。然而，如果信号可以无线地在变电站大院周围路由，则将获得比有线基础设施更大的灵活性和成本优势。此外，无线通信技术还提供了“热线”的前景，传感器可以部署在通电的高压设备上，而不会带来与桥接电力系统初级绝缘相关的不便和成本。无线局域网（WLAN）和蓝牙技术代表了实现这些优势的明显机会。然而，在关键功能上随意部署无线技术并非没有风险。变电站内的人为噪声环境是非常恶劣的，由于局部放电（PD）辐射不完善的绝缘和辐射的开关和故障瞬态。拟议计划的主要目的是评估无线局域网技术的脆弱性，脉冲噪声在特别恶劣的环境中的电力传输变电站，从而评估这种系统的适用性监测，控制和保护应用。如果发现这些技术足够强大，其部署的经济和技术效益将是巨大的。如果发现它们不够稳健，则该方案将查明性能和可靠性下降的机制，从而能够制定适当的缓解技术和对策。

The infrastructure investment in a national power transmission system is colossal. It is therefore necessary to operate such systems as efficiently as possible, consistent with maintaining acceptable security of supply. Efficient and reliable operation demands continuous monitoring of the system's state resulting in instrumentation and control equipment being widely scattered throughout transmission substation compounds. Information and control signals for both normal and abnormal operation are traditionally connected to a monitoring and control system using cables or optical fibres. Significant flexibility and cost advantages over a wired infrastructure would be gained, however, if signals could be routed around electricity substation compounds wirelessly. Furthermore, wireless communication technologies hold out the prospect of 'hot-line', sensors that can be deployed on energised high voltage equipment without the inconvenience and costs associated with bridging the power system's primary insulation.Wireless LAN (WLAN) and Bluetooth technologies represent obvious opportunities to realise these advantages.The casual deployment of wireless technologies for critical functions is not, however, without risk. The man-made noise environment within a substation compound is extremely hostile due to partial discharge (PD) radiation from imperfect insulation and radiation from switching and fault transients.The principal aim of the proposed programme is to assess the vulnerability of WLAN technologies to impulsive noise in the particularly hostile environment of electrical transmission substations, and thus assess the suitability of such systems for monitoring, control and protection applications. If these technologies are found to be sufficiently robust the economic and technical benefit of their deployment will be substantial. If they are found to be insufficiently robust then the programme will identify the mechanisms by which performance and reliability are degraded, allowing the development of appropriate mitigation techniques and countermeasures.