Discussion of "High temperature sag model for overhead conductors"

The author discusses the paper by S.L. Chen at al. (see ibid., vol.18, p.183-8, 2003). He points out that despite the authors' implication in the paper on their combined ampacity/sag computer program being the first of its kind, the author points out that the Calculation of Overhead Line Thermal, Electrical and Mechanical Properties (COOLTEMP) program has been described previously by V. Filipovic-Gledja et al. (see Proc. Canadian Conf. Elect. Comput. Eng., Halifax, NS, p.182-5, 1994). He also expresses surprise that the authors have used a graphical method in their program to calculate sag. He also makes general comments about the use of software for monitoring conductors at elevated temperatures.