DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT A POWER LINE VANDALISM MONITORING SYSTEM USING ELECTRONIC SYSTEM
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This project explains how to design and build a transmission power line vandalism detector system. Vandalism is defined as destructive behavior. It is the malicious and intentional defacement/destruction of someone else’s property or national assets such as high-voltage transmission power lines, transmission towers, distribution transformers, and so on. The nation’s electric power grid is supported by high-voltage transmission power lines strung from support towers. Many of those 158,000 miles of transmission lines, supported by nearly 800,000 towers, pass through remote areas as they transport electricity from power plants to cities. These high-voltage transmission power lines are vulnerable to terrorism, vandalism, physical deterioration, and extreme weather all over the world. Every year, criminals vandalize power lines, towers, transformers, generators, and other power transmission/distribution facilities in Nigeria. This results in frequent power outages and surges, affecting over 50 million businesses and manufacturing industries across the country. These businesses rely on power supply from the power line for their operations. If the power line is vandalized and some of their machines are unable to be powered by a generator, they will lose income, investments, and commodities worth billions of Naira. If electricity is available during the power line vandalism incident, people’s lives and properties in the area may be jeopardized as a result of electric shocks, power surges, and fire outbreaks, among other things. Vandalism is now primarily motivated by the soaring values of copper and aluminum in the international metals market as a result of increased global market demand fuelled by
The industrialization of China and India. As a result, vandals now operate in well-organized syndicates complete with offices and hierarchy, amassing large quantities of stolen materials that they eventually export as scrap. These vandals’ main targets are transformer oil, copper, and aluminum. The following are the applications for the stolen transformer oil:
When combined with diesel and sold as fuel,
Used as a fuel in industrial furnaces and to cool welding sets,
Cooking oil is made by combining it with vegetable oil.
It is used as a cosmetic and as a wound treatment.
Copper and aluminum, on the other hand, were previously used on a small scale by the informal sector for welding sets but are now primarily exported as scrap. It is
It is this later use that has led to the recent increase in vandalism.
Vandalism to an electrical transmission line is a lethal national security threat.
The diagram below depicts a vandalized transmission tower.
Transmission Tower Vandalism (Figure 1.1)
Power line vandalism has a negative impact on the economy because new burglar gadgets are developed each year to monitor and protect power lines. Every year, millions of dollars are spent to replace, maintain, and improve the electricity network, but the system is under threat from vandalism. Today NEPA and PHCN have been privatized, since in 2013, there were more than 12 incidences of vandalism recorded on the Alaoji-Owerri 132kV line, Jebba-Shirioro 330kV lines, Osogbo-Ayede 330kV line, Oshogbo-Benin
330kV line, Jebba-Shirioro 330kV line, Benin-Ikeja West 330kV line, Sapele-Benin 330kV line, Delta-Sapele-Benin 330kV line, Sapele-Benin 330kV line, Benin-Ajaokuta 330kV line, and Abuja-Keffi 132kV line. Some of these transmission lines have been vandalized three times.
Vandalism of power plants, while inexcusable and unjustified, has resulted in vandals stealing equipment worth billions of naira. Recently, a series of transmission line vandalisms in the country’s south were reported, owing to the lack of electronic devices secretly installed to monitor these lines. This project, the design and construction of a power line vandalism alarm system, addresses these issues.
Figure 1.2: Vandalized Cable
1.1 Detection System for Power Line Vandalism
A power line vandalism detector system is a high-voltage detection system.
Transmission line anti-tampering electronic security device designed specifically to remotely monitor and protect the line from vandals. When the transmission line is vandalized, the system detects it, as well as when vandals enter the area where the transmission line tower is installed. This means that the system can detect unauthorized movement of objects around transmission lines (caused by humans or nature). Sensor nodes, a buffer, an alarm circuit, a power supply unit, and a controller that processes data and triggers an alarm comprise the system circuitry. The alarm sound is produced by a buzzer output transducer. The system uses a radio frequency (RF) signal network to communicate wirelessly with power line operators and law enforcement.
Considerations for Design
The
The project’s first design consideration is the availability of the components needed to implement a power line vandalism monitoring system. The country’s available electronic components, with considerations based on a sound economic overview for their availability and affordability. The following factors are considered in the design for the system’s effectiveness and future development.
1.3 System of high frequency alarms:
When vandalism is about to occur, a high frequency alarm sound is used to alert the people at the power station. This helps the police, military, and paramilitary with their duties of monitoring and protecting power lines. Because law enforcement cannot be everywhere at all times, when this alarm sounds at the power station, they will respond. can alert the security agency close to the targeted destination. This is why the project design includes a high frequency alarm that emits an appealing high frequency sound that alerts anyone nearby when vandals intrude into the power line vicinity.
1.4 Aims and Objectives
The goal of this project is to design and build a power line vandalism monitoring system using an electronic system that can monitor and report power line vandalism. The goals are to protect transmission power lines and towers from vandalism, allowing the PHCN to transmit quality and reliable bulk power in a viable and efficient manner.
1.5 Significance of the Project
The project is critical for power line security and access control during maintenance. It secures installations that are mostly hidden from view. Other significant aspects of the project include:
1. It effectively monitors the movement of these vandals when they cross their boundary and alerts power line operators and the people nearby, as it is also the responsibility of every citizen to protect and guard national assets.
2. When an authorized person is present in the power transmission line zone, this project can be deactivated or reconfigured.
3. The project can be used anywhere in the world.
4. It protects utility facilities, transformers, substations, power plant generation, transmission, and distribution facilities that were vandalized at the end of this project.
1.6 Scope of Project
When the power line is cut, the cable is immediately disconnected, regardless of whether there is power or not.
Limitations and Future Development Suggestions
One of the major constraints to this project’s work is funding, and its limitations and suggestions for future development are as follows:
The battery serves as the project’s backup power supply. Batteries do not last longer as a result of excessive power consumption, so it will be preferable to use a standalone power supply system in the future (solar energy).
The system lacked a television surveillance system to automatically record vandals’ activities.
The project does not have a GPS or an automatic alert system via SMS to notify the nearest security agency.
There is no lighting in the project. A vandal can be detected meters away by a dependent motion sensor before he begins operation.
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