A Review of Anti-icing and De-icing Technology of Overhead Ground Wire

Under the same icing conditions, compared to the transmission wires with load current passing through, the icing of overhead ground wires is more serious, and the ground wire is generally compounded with the power communication network. The interruption of power communication seriously endangers the safe and stable operation of the power system. Additionally, due to the distributed grounding characteristics of the overhead ground wire, short-circuit ice melting cannot be used directly, which makes a difficult point of de-icing. This paper summarizes the principles, applications and related research of existing overhead ground wire anti-icing and de-icing technologies, including anti-icing technology, thermal de-icing technology and mechanical de-icing technology. It is concluded that the existing anti-icing and de-icing technologies for overhead ground wires are not perfect. Although the purpose of de-icing is achieved, each technology cannot satisfy operability, economical efficiency, and durability at the same time. This paper introduces an ongoing research of intelligent ground wire de-icing device based on ground wire energy extraction and electromagnetic pulse de-icing technology, aiming to improve the reliability of overhead ground wires under extreme natural environments. Finally, the next development tendency of the anti-icing and de-icing technology of the overhead ground line is prospected.