Ongoing climate change is imposing increasing efforts to increase the resilience of the power system. Specifically, this research aims to mitigate the formation of ice and snow sleeves on overhead phase conductors and safeguard wires, thus reducing the disruptions resulting from them. The study presented relates to the synthesis of coatings with anti-ice and anti-snow properties and the characterization of these properties.

The activity aims to identify more effective, environmentally friendly, industrially applicable, and economically viable solutions. A rapid process was developed to impart anti-icing properties to galvanized surfaces, constituent materials of guard ropes. The speed of the process, less than 2 minutes, makes it particularly promising from the aspect of industrial applicability. Elastomeric coatings with different elastic properties and elastomeric coatings in which a liquid additive was inserted were studied in order to increase the flowability between polymer chains and the slipperiness of the surface. The anti-icing and atmospheric aging properties of elastomers were investigated further: these showed promising properties (reduction of ice adhesion from 5 to more than 50 times), but only some formulations were shown to be durable to aging conditions.

Optimization of the experimental parameters applied to shear stress measurements was performed: under the best application conditions, a repeatability of the analysis data was obtained, which, regardless of the type of surface tested, was above 80 percent, an excellent value compared to what has been reported in the literature. The range of anti-ice and anti-snow characterizations was then broadened with the start-up of the artificial snow laboratory (LNA) and the conduct of snow tests and characterizations. In the LNA, tests were carried out to produce snow with a liquid water content (LWC) that can vary from 6% to 34%: this allows the best simulation of wet-snow conditions critical for snow sleeve formation. Studies were then conducted on the adhesion of snow to surfaces, varying both the LWC and the roughness and wettability of the tested surfaces.

These studies allowed, together with campaign data, for the development of a model of snow sleeve growth and detachment. The most promising samples were prepared in large sizes and installed at the WILD experimental station for winter 2022-2023. One also participated in an experimental campaign organized by Terna, which allowed the installation and evaluation of two guard ropes treated with an anti-icing process on a section of a high-voltage (HV) line in operation.

The tested ropes were prepared with superhydrophobic treatment and, to one of them, special rings called snow-rings were also coupled, which mechanically weaken the snow sleeve, promoting its early detachment. The snow-rings were designed at RSE and the prototype was made in-house using 3D printing. The results of the winter campaigns will be studied for next year; for now, it can be said that the preparation of the superhydrophobic treatment on a 650-meter guard rope is an indication of the potential industrial applicability of the proposed process.