INNOVATIVE CONTINUOUS PARTIAL DISCHARGE MONITORING FOR MV SUBSTATION

Abstract

Partial Discharges (PD) diagnostic remains a challenging subject in Medium Voltage (MV) domain, in particular for MV substations. Based on IoT experience and practical knowledge, an innovative solution to detect and diagnose PDs is presented in this paper. This architecture is represented by a compact and robust monitoring device which performs local signal processing associated with centralized cloud computing. Standard capacitive coupling compatibility, local pre-processing of PDs signal and wireless technology allow designing such a compact device easily installed inside new AIS and GIS switchgears, as well as in the installed base. MV substation environment presents several challenges for PD measurement such as random phenomena or noises, which are efficiently overcome through statistical calculations and correlation with centralized substation data. As MV substations are a complex assembly of various ranges of switchgear and products, the modelling of MV equipment is a key step to guarantee the proper coverage of customer applications. Targeted tests have been performed to confirm the behaviour of specific MV switchgear. Continuous monitoring of data allows an early identification of risky PDs evolution. Substation data aggregation opens opportunity to raise relevant alarming and provide a pre-analysis of the situation.