They create technology that helps prevent blackouts

He Engineering and New Technologies Research Group (GRINTEC) presented an innovative online monitoring system that is capable of detecting the exact moment when an electrical installation’s insulator is about to fail due to environmental pollution and cause a power outage.

Insulators or electrical isolators are fundamental parts of electrical networks and if they are shorted, blackouts or instability of service occur.

Having a precise and reliable method that detects the moment at which insulators will fail is essential to avoid damage and adequately maintain the flow of electric service, explained Carlos Boya, former Senacyt fellow, member of the National Research System (SNI), director Faculty of Industrial Technology of the Higher Specialized Technical Institute (ITSE) and research associate at Inter-American University of Panama (UIP).

The lack of electrical service is one of the most common complaints to the National Public Service Administration (ASEP). The entity is authorized to apply sanctions of up to 20 million dollars for the shortfall in the supply of electricity in the events recently registered in Western Panama and various sectors of the country, Armando Fuentes Rodríguez, general manager, recently reported. Network users report that they were without electricity for more than 24 hours.

The performance of electrical insulators is affected by environmental factors such as salt, carbon, dust and other particles that accumulate in them and deteriorate them, a situation that occurs in Panama and anywhere electrical system cables are exposed to the environment.

This system is one of the results achieved by the project “Improving the quality of supplied energy by monitoring the pollution of the electricity distribution network”, funded by National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (Senacyt), through the Public Call for Promotion of Research and Development for Sustainable Development – Energy Mission (IDDSE) 2019, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

“We are among the few engineers working on a solution that provides accurate information to solve this problem, we are paving the way in this regard, so this project will be important not only for Panama, but also for the world,” explained the researcher.

“I have worked for many years as a field engineer and something that is missing is an automatic system that provides this service,” he added.

There are sensors, there are other tools, but not with the level of efficiency that we are developing,” the Panamanian researcher points out.

Creation High-voltage electrical test laboratory at UIP a study of the impact of environmental pollution on electrical network insulators in Panama, two academic theses on the project, published articles and others in the process of writing for the exchange of research data, proposals for scholarships for doctoral studies in Brazil and Chile for several engineering students who participated in the research and creation of GRINTEC, are other results achieved by the project, which, Boya announced, will still amount to 57 million dollars in the restoration of circuits and the creation of new circuits and an additional 42 million dollars for public lighting to improve visibility and on the main roads in the country.