INSULATED BUS PIPE (IBP) FOR POWER UTILITY APPLICATIONS

In voluntary compliance of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, power utility substations feeding critical loads must be upgraded to include measures to secure against terrorist attacks. Outdoor, air insulated electrical substations use exposed bus bars and cables to connect from transformers and bus ties to switchgear equipment. A length of chain thrown over an air insulated sub-station fence could create a catastrophic failure that could destroy the entire substation. Replacing the exposed bus bars and cables with a product called insulated bus pipe (IBP) would prevent such failures. The IBP is a commercially available, touch safe means of transmitting high current and voltage of up to 8000 amps at 240 kV per single-phase section. This paper will discuss IBP construction, present use in industry and in commercial passenger ships, and recommendations for power utility applications.