Experimental study on location of lightning stroke on OPGW by means of a distributed optical fiber temperature sensor

•A lightning stroke simulation system is constructed to attack the optical fiber ground wire (OPGW) for experimental study on the damage of lightning stroke.•A distributed optical fiber temperature sensor (DOFTS) is adopted to identify and locate lightning stroke on OPGW.•The spatial resolution of DOFTS is a key factor that limits accuracy of the lightning stroke location and identification.

abstractAn electric anode with high pulsed current and a negative electrode are adopted to form a lightning impulse system with duration time of 200 ms for simulation of the lightning stroke process. The lightning stroke on the optical fiber ground wire (OPGW) is considered to be a heat release process at the lightning stroke position, and a distributed optical fiber temperature sensor (DOFTS) is employed to locate the lightning stroke. In the experiment, simulated lightning strokes with the quantity of electric discharge of 100 C and 200 C are generated respectively, but in the inner part of the OPGW the temperature increase captured by the DOFTS is just several degrees Celsius because of the heat-insulating property of the grease and jelly filled into the OPGW and the limit from spatial resolution of the DOFTS. Experimental results demonstrate that DOFTS has excellent potential for the maintenance of electric power transmission line and it is important to enhance the spatial resolution for further applications of DOFTS in engineering.