ACCC Conductor News  CTC Global  June 2013
 

      

 ACCC Conductor Takes Hard Hit

in Oklahoma Tornado

  

On Monday afternoon, May 20, 2013, an EF5 tornado, with peak winds estimated at 210 miles per hour (340 km/h), struck Moore, Oklahoma, and adjacent areas, killing 24 people and injuring 377 others. The tornado was part of a larger storm that produced several other tornadoes over the previous two days. The tornado touched down west of Newcastle at 2:56 p.m. CDT, staying on the ground for 39 minutes over a 17-mile (27 km) path, crossing through a heavily populated section of Moore. The National Weather Service reported that the tornado was 1.3 miles (2.1 km) wide at its peak.

 

In 2006, OG&E installed approximately 56 km of ACCC Drake size composite core conductor on new steel monopoles to carry current from the McClain power plant north towards Oklahoma City. The steel monopoles were approximately 122 feet (37 meters) above ground level. The path of the tornado crossed directly over the southernmost section of the 138 kV ACCC line just across the North Canadian river 0.9 mile north of just as it exited the power plant.

 

During the tornado one of the steel monopoles yielded to the high winds and/or was possibly hit by a large object. The force caused the pole to drop towards the east. Two adjacent poles also deflected to the east due to the extreme tension placed on the conductor.

 

The tension carried by the conductor was so intense that it actually snapped the aluminum strands in one location. Surprisingly, the ACCC conductor's composite core was not damaged. However, due to the extent of the damage to the aluminum strands, a 30 foot long (9 meter) section of new ACCC conductor was spliced in using 2 full-tension splices after the monopole was replaced.

 

Two other sections of ACCC conductor near this location were also replaced due to extensive strand damage from flying debris. One section required splicing in a new 80 foot (24 meter) piece of ACCC conductor using 2 full-tension splices. The other section, of approximately 800 feet (244 meters), used one splice and terminated at a dead-end.

 

Approximately one mile to the northeast a double circuit 345/ 138 kV lattice steel tower line experienced a structural failure which dropped its double-bundled conductors on the underbuilt 138 kV ACCC line. After the 345 kV line was repaired, the areas of the ACCC conductor that were impacted were covered with armor rod to reinforce potentially damaged strands

 

The 138 kV ACCC conductor line was re-energized on Tuesday, May 28th. For more information visit: http://www.ctcglobal.com/news/tornado/

 

13th ACCC Installation Completed in Poland 

 

 Nearly 700 km of ACCC Installed in Poland

to Improve Grid Efficiency, Capacity & Reliability

 

In 2008, with the support of five independent contractors, Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne Spolka Akcyjna (PSE S.A.) replaced a 95 km 220 kV circuit during a very quick 30 day planned outage on the Kozienice-Mory line in central Poland.  The experience gained subsequently enabled the successful completion of five additional projects in 2011, five more in 2012, and the first one in 2013 completed in April.  A second 2013 project is being completed in June and third 2013 project is slated to begin in August. 

 

While each of these projects had unique challenges, including highway and river crossings, heavy ice and wind loading, sag constraints, etc., the ACCC conductor's improved efficiency, capacity and reliability helped the utility's achieve their objectives. Repeated orders from several Utilities underscores thier satisfaction with the ACCC conductor and with services provided. CTC is especially grateful to Zircon Poland, a trading and engineering company that has helped deploy the technology with outstanding customer service and support.  For more information, please contact CTC Global.  www.ctcglobal.com

 
ACCC Conductor Installed in Poland
 

Recent Articles & News

 

Please Click on the Links Below:

Proven Reliability at over 260 Projects worldwide  

              

         

 

The ACCC conductor's outstanding performance has allowed more than 100 utilities worldwide to exploit its unique advantages while saving millions of dollars delivering more power, more efficiently, with reduced line losses, decreased fuel consumption and reduced generation emissions.  To learn more about how the ACCC conductor can work for you, please visit our website www.ctcglobal.com

CTC Global logo
  
ACCC Conductor is an internationally patented and trademark registered product of CTC Global Corporation.  The ACCC conductor is manufactured in association with several qualified and licensed international stranding partners. If you are interested in the ACCC conductor, please contact CTC Global to make sure your supplier is authorized to produce ACCC.  Thank You.  
  
In This Issue
ACCC Takes Hard Hit
13th ACCC Installation Completed in Poland
Recent Articles & News
Free Conductor Selection Software
Free Engineering Manual
ACCC Technical Updates
Please Visit CTC Global at:
  
July 21 - 25
Vancouver, BC, Canada
  

 

 Free

Conductor Selection Software 

 

   

 

Responding to an ever-increasing demand to help select the most appropriate size of the highest performing ACCC conductor available, CTC Global has developed a new software program, CCP.

 

The program is available at no charge to utility planners, transmission engineers and others involved in conductor selection, project engineering and project economics. Using the design parameters associated with your specific project, CCP can calculate and compare ampacity, sag, tension, line losses, and the economics associated with the reduction in thermal sag and line losses the ACCC conductor offers compared to any other conductor of the same diameter and weight.

 

To receive a free copy of CCP:

  

CLICK HERE

 

Engineering with High-Capacity, Low-Sag ACCC Conductor 

 

 

To help T&D planners, engineers, and technicians take full advantage of the ACCC conductor's attributes, CTC Global has published a 250 page Engineering Manual. Contact CTC Global today to request a copy.

 

Request Your Free Copy!

  

CLICK HERE 

 

 Technical Updates 

Facts & Fiction

 

     

 I know its works, but how long will it last?

  

After analyzing more than 250 test reports that offered significant insight into how well the ACCC conductor's physical, mechanical and electrical characteristics would resist the harsh environmental conditions a conductor would be subjected to, American Electric Power asked the same question.
To get to the bottom of it, AEP developed a 'Sequential Mechanical Test.' The test protocol required that a length of conductor be pulled over a sheave wheel a number of times at different angles and under different tension levels to replicate installation stress.
The same conductor sample was then placed in a test span with a suspension clamp and subjected to 100 million cycles of vibration, followed by 100 thousand cycles of galloping. The suspension clamp was then removed and the conductor inspected. Unlike ACSR and ACSS conductors that experienced fatigue failure of their round aluminum strands, the ACCC conductor's carbon and glass fiber composite core and trapezoidal aluminum strands were unscathed. 
The conductor sample was then pulled to failure. After the test, the broken aluminum strands were removed from the composite core and the core was cut into several one-meter to four-foot long pieces. AEP then conducted a number of additional tensile and flexural tests and evaluated the core using dye penetrant and micrographic techniques. Today, AEP is in the process of completing their 9th ACCC installation. In this particular project they are installing over 1,440 lineal miles (2,300 km) of ACCC conductor.
While it is important that any user of a new technology does their best to understand a technology's attributes and limitations, the ACCC conductor has now been deployed to more than 260 project sites in more than 25 countries. It endured Super Typhoon Saomai in China without incident, fell to the ground and put back up after a firestorm in Nevada, endured a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Chile, major ice storms in Kansas and Niagara Falls, and many other events. While there is no such thing as "bullet proof" or "earthquake proof," the ACCC conductor is certainly highly resistant to environmental extremes.
As Boeing, Airbus and NASA are well aware, the attributes of carbon fiber hybrid composite materials offer outstanding performance not only because of their high strength to weight ratio and corrosion resistance, but primarily because of their outstanding resistance to cyclic load fatigue. To learn more, please contact CTC Global.
To Review Previous ACCC Newsletters
 

CTC Global Proudly Serving Over 100 Utilities Worldwide