Employees of the insulation, overvoltage protection and testing department of the Rosseti Volga branch - Ulyanovsk Grids (a member of IDGC of Volga, PJSC) are testing electrical equipment to identify and prevent the development of possible defects.

 For 5 months of 2019, 3519 inspections were conducted. Among them - 257 tests at transformer substations (PS) 0.4 / 6/10 kV and 279 - at high voltage substations 110/35 kV. Specialists conducted a thermal imaging survey of electrical equipment of 71 high-voltage substations and 10 high-voltage overhead lines, 190 transformer substations of 6-10 / 0.4 kV.

Thermo-vision monitoring allows power engineers to detect even minor defects by fixing and converting infrared radiation into the visible spectrum. Such a non-contact examination is one of the most effective methods for diagnosing the state of equipment and structures without removing them from work. In the framework of early diagnostics of slowly developing defects, 2273 examinations of support-rod insulation by a vibroacoustic method were carried out, which allowed to detect microcracks on porcelain and prevent possible technological violations.

Equally important for power engineers is the examination of substation equipment by the method of ultrasound diagnostics of the structure of high-voltage porcelain. The use of this method is one of the most effective for non-destructive testing of support-rod porcelain insulators and porcelain tires. “Timely diagnostics and monitoring of equipment condition allow us to prevent technological disruptions in networks caused by equipment malfunction. All data obtained during measurements, tests and surveys of electrical equipment are taken into account when forming and adjusting the annual production programs, ”said Deputy Director - Chief Engineer of the Ulyanovsk Networks branch Igor Antonov.