Condition monitoring of power components in electric grid using electromagnetic stray fields

Abstract

Monitoring and fault detection of the power components in power grid through radiated fields are proposed in this paper. The frequency response of electromagnetic radiated fields from the components was measured through low-frequency antennas and signal analyzer. Proper algorithms are developed for the identification of the components as well as the detection of faults and failures. These algorithms are designed based on the active performance of the components including induction, DC and synchronous machines as well as power converters. More than 150 tests of various combinations of the components and their conditions were implemented to fulfill this identification. The results show that the proposed technique demonstrates reliable monitoring of the components. Since there is no need to dismantle the components to detect the faults in this method, it can be considered as nonintrusive for industry. Moreover, this method can be used for applications in which it may be impossible to access the parameters of the components for online monitoring.