Introduction: Demonstration of how remote cable pressure monitoring equipment and Control System load information can be used to monitor the integrity of fluid filled cables.

Objectives: The potential environmental harm caused by leaks from fluid filled cables is of concern to WPD and methods to detect small leaks from distribution assets are necessary. Self contained equipment for calculating the volume and pressure of a fluid filled cable system is available for transmission systems, but this is not considered to be an effective solution for distribution networks.

Information about cable and ambient temperatures in addition to pressure readings and system parameters are needed to calculate the cable fluid volume. While the cable temperature depends upon a number of fixed and variable parameters (including the changes in circuit load, which is already available in our Control System).

Obtaining real time pressure and temperature data from some fluid filled cable systems can be challenging due to their remote or extreme locations, which can include buried, in partially flooded roadway pits and exposed, on raised electricity tower platforms.

This project attempts to integrate available monitored information to calculate changes in the cable fluid volume in a cost effective manner.