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An “Australian-made innovation” is in high demand in other countries, as the company behind the invention seeks government funding.
The makers of an early fault detection (EFD) system that can spot faulty power lines and prevent blackouts and bushfires are seeking government funding to assist in rolling it across Australia.
IND Technology, which designed the tech at Melbourne’s RMIT University, already has 2,500 units installed in Europe, the US, and parts of Australia, but the company has a far grander vision.
A pair of EFD units can monitor up to five kilometres of single-wire earth return power lines, and IND Technology wants to roll out enough to cover the entire 200,000-kilometre Australian network within the next 10 years.
According to Professor Alan Wong, lead RMIT researcher and chief executive of IND Technology, the EFD system “can detect and locate faults on a powerline before they happen”.
“You can think of it like a smoke alarm for the power network,” Wong said.
“If you place enough sensors across the network, these sensors or alarm systems will send out an alert when it thinks there’s a certain risk in the network.
“According to a report by Adept Economics that we commissioned, every dollar spent on the EFD technology would generate $4.70 in expected benefits for Australia, in terms of the benefits from preventing bushfires and blackouts.”
The system – which is already in high demand to help combat wildfires in the US and Canada – features a patented sensing system and data processing algorithm, which can pinpoint faults before they can cause any damage. The system is a passive listening device that tracks radio signals across power lines, the kind of signals that usually presage a failure that could lead to sparking wires, causing a catastrophic fire.
With the system in place, network owners can monitor for faults 24/7, even in heavy weather.
The technology was trialled on a property on Porcupine Ridge in Victoria, where it identified a failing conductor.
“When I’m driving around the property, I’m looking at the stock or at the pasture; I’m not looking up at the powerline which is well above me, and it would be pretty hard to spot a broken strand even if you were paying a reasonable amount of attention,” said property owner Michael Thorne in a statement.
“The risk is that the power line breaks, drops to the ground and starts a grass fire. Grass fires can move very quickly, faster than a bush fire typically because the wind’s not interrupted as it flows across the grass and the fire could have swept up to the house, through the sheds and then beyond to adjacent farms very rapidly.”
As far as Wong is concerned, that incident perfectly encapsulates what his technology can do.
“We always tell people that this technology can potentially save lives and prevent fires. I think in Michael’s example, it captured all this essence. It has prevented a potentially catastrophic fire,” Wong said.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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