National Grid Electricity System Operator
National Grid TO Innovation Team
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Health and Safety
£156,000.00
National Grid in the past has looked at the problem of screening from a very
local viewpoint, and tended to rely on screening systems that are not capable of
being easily transported, manoeuvred and put into the HV environment without
outages, lifting equipment and substantial cost.
The screening material under investigation is designed to primarily be completely
effective in preventing all fragments of porcelain from a catastrophic failure at a
distance of less than 10m. The system is designed to be modular, which means
entire walls can be quickly assembled. The materials are to be extremely cost
effective, relatively lightweight and will be designed to be easily fabricated to
address several roles such as relay room protection, outer perimeter fence
guards (for third party protection), window guards, safety pathways through
substations, wheeled screens for ASAP coverage and emergency refuge
shelters for those working within the substation, where travelling to a point of exit
represents a danger in itself.
The materials employed will be able to be 80% recycled (post use) on our
substations as trench covers, with the lightweight transparent armour plate being
recycled through normal recycling channels.
It is thought that only the main stay frame will be the only component that will
require disposal or return to the manufacturer.
The entire system will be completed from non-conductive components, and
assembled by Redman Composites, who currently are building blast protection
screens for the enhanced security projects at many London substations.