Characteristics of External Loop Sensor Located Near Bushing on Partial Discharge Induced Electromagnetic Wave Measurement

Abstract

For transmitting a huge electrical energy, high voltage transmission systems are commonly operated. Due to high reliability and less space required, gas insulated substation (GIS) are widely used. In a defect experienced GIS, partial discharge (PD) usually takes place. Partial discharge (PD) monitoring technique using UHF method becomes more popular because of its higher signal to noise (S/N) ratio. Amongst novel sensors, loop sensor could be a candidate for PD detector to measure UHF signal emitted from PD source. This paper presents the experiment results on characteristics of loop sensors. The characteristics of three loop sensors with varying diameter were examined using a spectrum analyzer and a network analyzer to obtain frequency characteristic and optimum operating frequency (S11) parameter, respectively. Then, PD experiment was conducted on 66kV GIS model having floating electrode and free metallic particles as its PD source. The loop sensors were placed far external to GIS bushing to measure leaked PD signal from it. The influences of the sensor diameter and the sensor distance from GIS bushing on PD detection sensitivity were also examined. Based on IEC-60270 standard measurement, the highest sensitivity of 30 pC was obtained from this investigation. The result suggests that higher sensitivity could be achieved with proper shielding and suitable filter design against external noise.