Dmitry Titov

Research Area: Diagnostics of electrical grid equipment.
Dmitry has experience in successful implementing and leading (as the PI) the innovative projects, including:
– applied research and product development management;
Development of a system for icing monitoring on the wire and a system for diagnosing the line insulation state. Implementation of software and hardware systems. Pilot operation of the developed systems was carried out in the grids of FGC UES, MOESK, Rosseti Ural, Rosseti North-West, Rosseti South, MES South, and Orenburgneft.
– bringing a high-tech product from idea to implementation in the field of electrical grid;
The founder of the company “MIG” – a resident of the “Skolkovo” Foundation. Currently, MIG is an actively developing company. Already more than 1000 sensors have been installed from Murmansk to Ossetia.
– attracting external investment and grants for research and product development;
Attracted more than 57 mln. RUB. (which 49.5 mln. RUB. as a part of the Skoltech during 2017/20 years for 8 projects implementation).
Dmitry Titov has organized and equipped a climate laboratory with unique equipment of its own design, partially funded from the external projects. Five engineers are hired to the lab and supervised by Dmitry Titov, fully funded from the external projects.

1. Titov D. E. Monitoring intensivnosti gololedoobrazovaniya na vozdushnyih liniyah elektroperedachi i v kontaktnyih setyah [The ice intensity monitoring in overhead power lines and overhead contact systems]. PhD thesis – Saratov, 2014, 150 pages
2. Titov D. E., Volkhov K. V., Ivanov N. I., Melnikov A. A. and Vorobev P. E. Experimental study of resistance of aerial bundled cables with different hydrophobic coatings to hoar frost and soft rime. Proceedings – Int. Workshop on Atmospheric Icing of Structures. IWAIS 2019 – Reykjavík, June 23 – 28
3. Volhov K. V., Kotolivcev V. V., Titov D. E., Kudryavcev A. A. Avtomatizirovannaya chistka linejnoj izolyacii [Automated cleaning of line insulation]. Sbornik nauchno-tekhnicheskih statej. Materialy PAO «Rosseti» [Collection of scientific articles. Rosseti materials], 2018, pp. 118–135
4. Titov D. E., Volhov K. V., Kudryavcev A. A., Kotolivcev V. V., Petrenko S. A., K voprosu diagnostiki linejnoj izolyacii [To the question of diagnostics of line insulation]. ELEKTROENERGIYA. Peredacha i raspredelenie № 6 (45) [Electrical power. Transmission and distribution № 6 (45)], December 2017, pp. 10–16
5. Titov D. E., Ugarov G. G., Ustinov A. A. Analysis of application of models to assess parameters of ice formation on overhead electric power lines. Power Technology and Engineering: Volume 51, Issue 2, 2017, pp. 240-246
6. Titov D. E., Soshinov A. G., Shewchenko N. Ju. Thermodynamic method of ice monitoring on power line wires. Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 698, 2015, pp. 803-807
7. Titov D. E., Ugarov G. G., Soshinov A. G. Monitoring the Intensity of Ice Formation on Overhead Electric Power Lines and Contact Networks. Power Technology and Engineering: Volume 49, Issue 1, 2015, pp. 78-82
8. The utility patent: «Method for determining the state of an insulator string» No. 2015156834, 29.12.15
9. The utility patent: “A way of detection … ice on the wire and a device for its implementation” No. 2013143646, MPK H02G7/16, 26.09.2013
10. The utility model patent: «Insulator string tension measuring device on a phase wire of an OHL», No. 025642, 26.04.2016
11. The utility model patent: «Temperature measuring device for phase conductor of OHL» No. 025643, 26.04.2016

1) Engineer (2011). Specialty: Power supply of the industrial enterprises;  faculty of Industrial technologies of KTI (branch of) VOLGSTU.

2) Specialist (2011). Specialty: Financial management; faculty of Economy and management of KTI (branch of) VOLGSTU.

3) Candidate of Technical Sciences (2014). Specialty: 05.09.03 – Electrotechnical complexes and systems. Full-time postgraduate study of the Saratov state technical university of Yu.A. Gagarin.

Research area

My research interests lie in the field of operation of electrical grids. Specifically, my research focuses on development of methods for diagnostics of overhead power line equipment.

Background

My team is currently focused on developing particular technologies, which are self-sufficient niche products. A feature of our approach is the emphasis on the commercialization of our developments. We have already organized the production and selling of self-developed products (sensors and software) to 8 grid companies[1]. To date, I have attracted more than 56 mln RUB of private investments and grants for research. Below you will find the information about individual projects, which I am the principal investigator of:

The icing intensity on power lines investigation

The ice formation on power lines is widespread in Russia as well as in other cold or mountainous countries. In some regions, it causes 80% of electricity shortage by duration. My Ph.D. thesis was aimed at solving the problem of timeliness of anti-icing and de-icing measures. As part of the Ph.D. thesis, the processes of condensation and desublimation of steam on the surface of charged conductor were investigated. An empirical model[2] has been developed for assessing the intensity of icing, which takes into account, in addition to the generally accepted thermodynamic parameters[3], the relation between the wire surface temperature and dew and frost points, as well as the electric field strength on the wire. The model was later used in real operation[4] to assess the intensity of the icing growth at the initial stage of the process. A method for assessing the economic effect of the technology has been developed and field tests of the wire temperature control module have been carried out on 10 kV overhead lines.

After winning Energoproryv 2014 competition[5], we received the grant of the Skolkovo Foundation (4.5 mln. RUB; 2015-2016 years; Recipient – MIG, LLC), within the framework of which the technology for ice monitoring was developed and its trial operation was carried out. The first production site was organized. MIG system is a hardware and software complex that monitors weather effects on overhead lines. An advantage of the product is ice forecasting, as well as a number of technical non-trivial solutions. More than 1000 sensors have been already installed from Murmansk to Volgograd. The MIG system measure temperature, slope and vibration of wires, as well as the weight of ice and obtain weather data, including light and rainfall intensity. MIG can reduce the cost of ice-caused accident damage by 3-4 times and reduce the cost of overhead line inspections in the icy period by 20 times.

Further development of icing forecasting technology was in usage the verified international forecasting model WRF-ARW[6]. The research results are being tested in Karelia and the Rostov grids. Algorithms for integrating of MIG systems into a SCADA of grid company using the IEC 60870-5-104 protocol have been also developed[7].

The developed MIG system is a prototype for the development of many subsequent projects. For example, in 2019, we started developing a power supply system for the light marking of high voltage power transmission towers. In the project, it is planned to develop ways of organizing guaranteed power supply for the light marking of towers, which pose a threat to night time safety for aircraft[8].

In order to identify the influence of the shape and material of the wire on the icing intensity the experiments to model icing on wires of various brands were carried out in Obninsk laboratory – one of the largest weather laboratories in the world – and in the Skoltech climatic laboratory specially designed by us[9][10]. The processes of cooling and moistening air are separated in the lab setup. That makes it possible to avoid reducing the efficiency of the installation, since the cooling surface is practically not overgrown with ice.

The definition of an ice-resistant conductor has been formulated. Methods of testing wires for hoar frost and soft rime, glaze ice and hard rime, as well as for torsional stiffness of the wire, which can be further used for certification of ice-resistant wires, have been developed. 8 types of wires have been tested according to the methods.

It was found that electrical voltage significantly accelerates the formation of hoar frost and soft rime. The influence of contamination and aging of the wire on the intensity of ice formation have been investigated. It was revealed that the presence of polymer insulation on the wire surface reduces the rate of ice growth by about 16%. However, the insulation makes the wire thicker, what ultimately worsens the ice resistance of that type of wires. The influence of the wire surface shape on the ice formation process has not been confirmed. The empirical dependences of the ice mass from the wires diameter were revealed in case of one-side growth of sediments. Plastic deformation of the one-sided sediments and wire twisting were estimated.

A new approach was proposed to considerate the influence of wire characteristics to the ice formation processes, which consists in experimentally justified changes in the standard thickness of the ice wall depending on the characteristics of the wire.  In some cases it allows increasing the distance between the towers when designing overhead lines with ice-resistant wires

An algorithm of selecting optimal equipment for the power lines and software for it has been developed. Recommendations for application of existing wires on the market and proposals for changes in regulatory technical documents PUE-7, PTE 2003, RD 34.20.504-94 were formulated. Draft of technical standards for PJSC ROSSETI “Technical requirements for wires of new generation” has been developed.

The project was among the ten presented in the public report of PJSC ROSSETI in 2019. Some project materials were presented at the conference “IWAIS 2019” in Iceland.

Further development of research in the field of ice control on wires will be aimed at the developing of ways to remove ice. The technology involves installing an ice removal device in the gap between adjacent phase wires. The device ice-shaker shakes the wires at the command from the icing monitoring system. The device allows to dump the ice from the OHL by pulsed dynamic action quickly, safely and in the remote mode without removing the voltage. The scope of work and cost estimates have been preapproved by Customer.

Development of methods for the state of insulation diagnosis

The insulation flashover is the cause of 23% of accidents on OHL. Modernization of isolation is a very slow process. For example, in Volgogradenergo, the last currently operating insulator string will be replaced in 150 years, if maintaining the pace of replacement will be the same. One of the reasons of this is the lack of effective methods for selecting the strings that need to be replaced.

We offered a method of estimation of the contamination degree of the insulator and indicating the overlap location based on measuring the leakage current in insulator string. In 2017-2018, tests were conducted on more than 300 decommissioned insulators; the mechanisms of overlapping the contaminated string were researched[11].

Dissolving of contamination in dew reduces the discharge voltage of the insulator almost at 2 times. Analysis of the voltage distribution in the string showed that the arc begins to elaborate at the upper or lower insulators and easily shifts to the insulators in the center, since they are initially applied more voltage in the wet mode. It is explaining the predominance of “morning” outages (more than 60% of insulation overlap occurs in the morning hours in conditions of dew formation).

The leakage current pulses on equal insulators have the largest dispersion than sinusoidal component. The amplitude of the sinusoid strongly depends on the presence of dew and contamination that allows us to more accurately evaluate the insulator state. Therefore, the sinusoidal component of the leakage current was chosen as the measured indicator for the device that checked the state of insulation. After the implementation of the project, 2 full-scale tests of the technology were carried out in Dagestan and Volgograd in 330 and 110 kV grids.

In 2020, MIG sold a patent to a major manufacturer of insulators for the further development of a product under its brand. The manufacturer of insulators had invested in the product development[12]. At present time, our team is developing sensors, communication systems and software for this product. The project aims at bringing new devices supplied together with isolators to the international market. The first stage was successfully completed.

We also conducted research aimed at improving the quality of interpretation of the ultraviolet control data for the state of insulators in 2019[13]. A model is proposed for the distribution of surface-partial discharges, as well as a method for screening out surface-partial discharges that are not related to insulation defects. A model for calculating the conductivity of the insulator by 26 input parameters with an error of 15% is developed. An algorithm has been developed for ranking insulator string, which makes it possible in the conditions of limited resources to increase the validity and effectiveness of replacing insulation. Software that implements the algorithm was developed and tested on Karabash-Kyshtym OHL 110 kV.

When in the process of laboratory research we tried to identify the contribution of contamination of the insulator surface and aging of materials to reducing the discharge voltage separately, we got an idea of automatic cleaning of insulators with further testing them on discharge voltage and mechanical load.

The technology will reduce the cost of purchasing insulators by up to 4.5 times. The scope of work and cost estimates have been preapproved by Customer.

Comprehensive analysis of OHL defects

The most dangerous impacts include: thunderstorms, high wind speed and precipitation, icing on conductors, atmospheric pollution, impact of organizations and individuals. In 2016, we, as part of the working group of FGC UES and the Skolkovo Foundation, studied the statistics of OHL equipment defects during 2012-2014 and related accidents. We came to the conclusion that 61% of accidents are associated with 13 defects (out of 100 types of defects in total accordingly to the directive document 34.20.504-94). Most of the 13 defects are rapidly developing and can be diagnosed in real time or even predicted. At the same time, 31 of defects can be diagnosed only by a line service worker at the inspection site, but these defects develop over years and are the direct cause of only 14% of accidents. This distribution of defects makes the following conventional inspections ineffective: annual walking inspections and selective inspections with lifting on a transmission tower once every 6 years with visual and instrumental fixation of defects, since some defects require more frequent observation, while the others allow rarer inspections.

After years, we participated in investigations of accidents causes of OHL, collected failure statistics, analyzed monitored or measured parameters that characterize defects, as well as current methods of diagnostic were analyzed: the capabilities of drones, types of sensors, and methods of estimation on cumulative effects of their exploitation. We came to the conclusion that integrated exploitation of stationary sensors and drones can reduce the frequency of scheduled walking inspections while increasing reliability indicators[14].

An approach of the selection of diagnostic tools that will take into consideration the time of appearance and potential risk of defects can give a real positive economic effect, because it optimizes traditional methods of monitoring conditions of lines through the integration of modern sensory technologies, communication and data analysis, computer vision, etc. According to our preliminary calculations, the total cost of diagnostics of OHL with this approach will be 3-7% of the cost of ownership of overhead power lines, which is comparable to the current costs for regular inspections, but due to real-time monitoring of defects appearance, it will reduce the number of accidents in future and, as a result, it will also reduce the cost of unscheduled inspections and elimination of accidents consequences.

I see the implementation of the approach in providing the service for a grid company to inform about the technical condition and calculate the risks of overhead lines failures. The cost of the service will be determined by the error in the forecast of accidents, and the prime cost will be determined by the number of sensors, the way they are powered and connected with each other, by the functionality of drones, the quality of mathematical models for assessing risks, etc.

At present you cannot find all necessary types of sensors at the market. Companies that provide services for collecting data about lines conditions from drones are not able to cover all the necessary functionality to ensure monitoring of all critical defects and reduce the frequency of walking inspections. The task of optimizing lines equipment with sensors has not been solved. That’s why, there is still no integrator that can offer a comprehensive service, but there are first pilot projects in this field in Russia and in the world.  There is a competitive business environment for launching such projects.

 

[1] – I am the founder of the company “MIG” – a resident of the “Skolkovo” Foundation. Currently, MIG is an actively developing company that grows twice a year. MIG is a winner of the Business Priority contest “Top 10 Innovative Companies in the Energy Sector”, 2020 (Roscongress and the Ministry of Energy).

[2] – RFBR grant in 2014 year «Development of a model for assessing the icing intensity» – 0.145 mln. RUB.

[3] – ISO 12494:2001 “Atmospheric icing of structures”, IDT. Research by L. Makkonen, E. Lozowski, M. Farzaneh.

[4] – The visit of Terna delegation (Italian electricity grid company), led by the director of the technical department Massimo Petrini to the operation site of our equipment at the link: https://yadi.sk/i/A0gnyzrT_esH0Q.

[5] – The video from the Rugrids Electro forum in the RBC report: https://vk.com/video113458566_170252577.

[6] – The contract with Gismeteo.ru in 2017-2020 years – «Monitoring of icing in the district electrical grid». Video of the checking of work results from the Skoltech climate laboratory – https://yadi.sk/i/fanEyAb1GMEiog.

[7] – The contract with Automation Concern (Rostec) in 2018 year – «Development of integrated overhead line monitoring system».

[8]  – The contract with EESK, JSC in 2019-2020 years – «Development of new technologies for the light marking of high voltage power transmission towers».

[9] – The contract with NPO Typhoon (Roshydromet) in 2019 year – «Research and testing of various wires types for icing and frost deposits resistance».

[10] – In Skoltech, we have organized and equipped a climate laboratory with custom-design equipment, partially funded from the external projects. Examples of the external small projects are current transformer and soil heat stabilizer test designs for Rus STC and Gazprom Salavat, respectively.

[11]  – Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises grant in 2017-2018 years – «Diagnostics system of isolation state».

[12] – The contract with Global Insulator Group (GIG) in 2019-2021 years – «Development of devices for indication of isolation condition of OHL».

[13] – The contract with Rosseti Ural, PJSC in 2017-2019 years – «Diagnostics technology of insulators condition of overhead lines and switchgears 6-220 kV by the ultraviolet control method».

[14] – from the application materials for the Startup Village 2020 competition, where the project became a semi-finalist.

Winner of Business Priority contest “Top 10 Innovative Companies in the Energy Sector”, 2020 (Roscongress and the Ministry of Energy).

The winner/finalist in All-Russian and international competitions and conferences: CIGRE-2018 General Assembly, Paris (youth section), “Energoproryv-2014“, “Startup Village-2015“ conference, “Energoproryv-2015“,“Elektroenergetika glazami molodezhi 2014“, “Innovatsii v elektroenergetike 2014“, etc.

Participant of many industry oriented events, including “IWAIS 2019” (Iceland), CIGRE General Assembly 2018 (Paris), 11th session of the Intergovernmental Russian-Danish Council for Economic Cooperation (Moscow), “Hannover Messe 2018” (Hanover), ICEBOX 2018 (Statnett, Oslo), STC NES of Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek), STC IDGC of Siberia (Krasnoyarsk), STC IDGC of the North-West (St. Petersburg), Open Days: Rosseti (Moscow), Forum “Electrical Grids”, ” Russian Energy Week” (Moscow), etc.

Participant of the educational program of the Moscow School of Management “Leaders of Scientific and Technological Breakthrough” (2020/21).

Member of the Russian Committee of CIGRE.

Expert in contests “Energoproriv” and Skolkovo Junior Challenge in 2019-2020 years. In the framework of working with Fond “Nadeshnaya Smena” (FGC, System Operator), Dmitry is the jury member in Masters thesis competition, expert in contest «Youth Global Energy Outlook» and a guest lecturer.

1. http://www.rosseti.ru/press/gazeta/doc/RosSeti10_mini.pdf
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px0jGCQd0Ks
3. http://sk.ru/news/b/pressreleases/archive/2016/03/31/fsk-ees-i-fond-skolkovo-razvivayut-sotrudnichestvo.aspx
4. http://www.rosseti.ru/press/news/?ELEMENT_ID=26000
5. https://vk.com/id113458566?z=video113458566_170252577%2F698d5e3c9a69a2340e%2Fpl_wall_113458566
6. http://www.rosseti.ru/press/news/?ELEMENT_ID=24796
7. http://iz.ru/news/589840