Comprehensive Corrosion Management in Transmission Lines an Operational Technical Approach to Asset Management

Abstract

In recent years, standards, guides, and recommended practices, have been developed for the management of corrosion in industrial assets, the Electrical Utilities do not escape this reality, This is the result of the monitoring carried out by the industry in recent decades, we can recognize that millions of dollars are lost for the impact of corrosion. Transmission towers are commonly made of galvanized steel, and although they constitute a vital artery for the supply of electricity, the corrosion problem should not be seen only as asset management to guarantee, its useful life but must also be analyzed from an operational perspective. The reason for this is when the structures corrode, they clearly affect their equivalent impedance, whose continuity was assumed to be effective, and was previously simulated before transient overvoltage phenomena to know their response to lightning discharges, to determine and select a correct insulation. For this reason, the structure corrosion, specially of the bolted joints, would increase the impedance of the tower and, consequently, the probability of a back flashover would also increase. But integral corrosion should not only be seen from the point of view of the structure, grounding, conductors, and fittings are also subject to corrosive phenomena, that affect the line. This article aims to detail all the corrosion characteristics that must be considered, at the time of design engineering, as well as solutions during operation that are directly focused on maintenance, according to international standards.