High Gradient Magnetic Fields Generated in Events on the 230 kV Electric Power Transmission Infrastructure: Human Exposure Analysis and Risk

This work presents a process for analyzing human exposure to high-gradient magnetic fields based on protection models for patients undergoing magnetic resonance examinations developed by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). A series of events presented in the electrical energy transmission infrastructure is taken, with typical currents and front times, a case of extreme failure is added, and results are presented. Subsequently, with a classic lightning signal, compliance with the exposure to this type of field in the right-of-way strip of a transmission line is verified and validated in the event of a hypothetical atmospheric discharge impact event. Finally, a simulation is implemented with space discretization techniques, establishing the signal resulting from the magnetic field generated as a function of time. The exposure is evaluated using the presented model. Only in one of the analysis cases was it found that the perception threshold is exceeded at distances less than 0.6 cm, virtually a situation in which the worker has contact with the down conductor. With the results obtained and the cases analyzed, it is concluded that failures of this type do not generate significant exposure to high-gradient magnetic fields and do not exceed the determined perception thresholds.