Laser deicing for high-voltage composite insulator by high-power mid-infrared fiber laser

Ice disaster has always been a threat to the stable operation of electrical power systems, and it is a challenge to melt ice online for high-voltage composite insulator. Here, we proposed a safe and efficient method to deice a high-voltage composite insulator using high-power mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser. The laser source is a Tm-doped fiber laser, delivering a continuous-wave (CW) output power of 75 W at 1940 nm. Due to the strong vibration absorption of H2O molecule at 1940 nm, the mid-IR laser could be absorbed efficiently by ice/water with an absorption coefficient as high as 135  cm  −  1. Indoor deicing experiment demonstrated that an 8-mm-diameter ice pillar could be cut off within 28 s under an incident optical intensity of 25  W/cm2. Due to the small penetration depth of 148  μm, the residual water film could prevent the laser from damaging the composite insulator. Our research results show that high-power mid-IR Tm-doped fiber laser is a potential scheme for online deicing high-voltage composite insulator.