Partial Discharge Detection Technique Research Articles

A Contemporary Review of High Voltage Partial Discharge Detection and Recognition Techniques

This review article provides a summary of the most advanced approaches and advancements in the detection and recognition of high voltage partial discharge (PD). It discusses numerous detecting technologies, such as electrical, acoustic, and optical approaches, as well as their merits and disadvantages. It also discusses current developments in signal processing and pattern recognition algorithms used for PD detection and classification. Lastly, the study covers the challenges and limitations in high voltage PD detection and identification studies, as well as potential future solutions.

Comparison of On-Line Partial Discharge Detection Techniques for High Voltage Power Cable Joints and Terminations

Cable joints and terminations play a vital role in providing dependable electrical connection, mechanical support and physical safeguard. These provide electrical stress control to shielded power cables. Despite their usefulness, they suffer from partial discharges (PD) because of enhanced voltage stress, moisture ingress and poor workmanship (during installation). Therefore, it is necessary to undertake on-line PD detection to determine their state. Some of these techniques are capacitive coupler (CC); acoustic emission (AE); and high frequency current transducer (HFCT). This article presents a literature review of these techniques based on the cost, availability, and applicability. The comparative analysis is also provided on location of their sensors, quantification and detection ability. The CC technique involves the quantification of the coupler sensor input measured in mV/pC by realizing the time of flight between two sensors for which the results are used to estimate location of the PD. Meanwhile, the AE technique has an advantage of high immunity to electrical noise, with a caveat that acoustic signals are highly attenuated within the cable joints. Additionally, the combination of the acoustic sensors and PD electrical couplers can be used to discriminate PDs from electrical noise. The HFCT has two methods – with demonising (HFCT-WiD) and without demonising (HFCT-WoD). The HFCT-WiD technique can significantly reduce the sensor’s detection sensitivity due to its high value of noise to signal ratio (NSR). Comparatively, the HFCT has the best results of quantification and detection ability for PDs among all three techniques investigated. However, in places where electrical noise is severe, PD activities may be detected effectively with AE technique. Further work is needed to statistically map these methods and establish their correlation with experimental data.

Design of an Effective Antenna for Partial Discharge Detection in Insulation Systems of Inverter-fed Motors

Partial discharge (PD) measurements under repetitive impulse voltages are critical for the qualification of inverter-fed motor insulation systems. Severe electromagnetic interference due to high frequency switching from power electronic devices can cause the traditional PD detection techniques of sinusoidal voltage unfeasible. This article presents the design of an Archimedes spiral antenna that can work effectively for PD detection under fast rise time repetitive impulse voltages. The antenna structure is optimized by a media superstrate with a high dielectric constant over the radiant surface. Through the optimized design, both the gains of the antenna in the 0.5–1.5 GHz frequency range and the signal-to-noise ratio for PD detection are increased substantially. Modeling and experimental results prove that the gain of the antenna can reach 2.5 dB in the frequency range of 500–900 MHz and become higher than 7.0 dB in the frequency range of 900–2.0 GHz, with a voltage standing–wave ratio smaller than 1.4. This seems to be a significant achievement for PD detection under fast rise time impulse voltages.

Efficient Partial Discharge Detection by Plasmonic Photonic Crystal Fiber Sensor With Bimetallic Grating

In this article, a new approach for optical partial discharge (PD) detection in gas-insulted systems is introduced for the first time to the best of our knowledge. The suggested sensor is based on plasmonic D-shaped photonic crystal fiber (PCF). Further, bimetallic grating structure of Ag/Au is utilized to enhance the sensor sensitivity. For light detection, methyl-red-doped poly (methyl methacrylate) polymer (MR-PMMA) is used as a sensing material for its photochromic characteristics and its fast response to visible light radiation. At resonance, good coupling occurs between the surface plasmon mode and the core guided mode. The radiated light intensity reflects the charge magnitude of the occurred PD process which can be detected by calculating the shift in the resonance wavelength of the loss spectra. The structural geometrical parameters are studied to improve the sensing performance using full vectorial finite-element method. The proposed sensor achieves high sensitivity of 667 pm/mW<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cdot $ </tex-math></inline-formula>cm^&#x2212;2 with a linear performance with the light intensity. Moreover, the proposed sensor has advantages of simple and compact design, fabrication feasibility, electromagnetic interference immunity, fast response, and high sensitivity relative to conventional PD detection techniques using electrical methods. The designed sensor can be also utilized for laboratory testing and it could be evolved to accomplish real-time detection of PD phenomenon in gas-insulted systems.

Partial Discharge Detection in Pressboards Immersed in Mineral Insulation Oil With Quantum Well Hall Effect Magnetic Field Sensors

Insulation degradation may cause inefficient and faulty operation of transformers. The insulation failures in transformers mostly start with a Partial Discharge (PD) event. For both operational and cost reasons to ensure the best performance and functionality of transformers, early detection of PD events is of great importance. In this paper presents a novel PD detection technique by using a highly sensitive Quantum Well Hall Effect (QWHE) magnetic field sensor and compare the findings with an off-the-shelf silicon magnetic field transducer. The investigation of the QWHE for high voltage engineering problem such as PD detection is given first time in this paper. The aim of the study is to detect PD activity in pressboards immersed in mineral insulation oil experimentally using a new QWHE sensor. The measured experimental data from both sensors are decomposed by Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and Wavelet Decomposition (WD) methods, and PD signals are analyzed comparatively. The results show that QWHE sensors provide more accurate and noise free measurements allowing early and more accurate PD detections.

A Review of Techniques for RSS-Based Radiometric Partial Discharge Localization.

The lifespan assessment and maintenance planning of high-voltage power systems requires condition monitoring of all the operational equipment in a specific area. Electrical insulation of electrical apparatuses is prone to failure due to high electrical stresses, and thus it is a critical aspect that needs to be monitored. The ageing process of the electrical insulation in high voltage equipment may accelerate due to the occurrence of partial discharge (PD) that may in turn lead to catastrophic failures if the related defects are left untreated at an initial stage. Therefore, there is a requirement to monitor the PD levels so that an unexpected breakdown of high-voltage equipment is avoided. There are several ways of detecting PD, such as acoustic detection, optical detection, chemical detection, and radiometric detection. This paper focuses on reviewing techniques based on radiometric detection of PD, and more specifically, using received signal strength (RSS) for the localization of faults. This paper explores the advantages and disadvantages of radiometric techniques and presents an overview of a radiometric PD detection technique that uses a transistor reset integrator (TRI)-based wireless sensor network (WSN).

Overview and Partial Discharge Analysis of Power Transformers: A Literature Review

The high voltage power transformer is the critical element of the power system, which requires continuous monitoring to prevent sudden catastrophic failures and to ensure an uninterrupted power supply. The most common failures in the transformer are due to partial discharge (PD) in electrical insulations which are the results of the insulation degradation over time. Different approaches have been proposed to monitor, detect, and locate the partial discharge in power transformers. This paper reviews and evaluates the current state-of-the-art methods for PD detection and localization techniques, and methodologies in power transformers. Detailed comparisons of PD detection techniques have been identified and discussed in this paper. The drawbacks and challenges of different partial discharge measurement techniques have been elaborated. Finally, brief reviews of PD denoising signals, feature extraction of PD signals, and classification of partial discharge sources have been addressed.

Optical Sensing of Partial Discharge in More Electric Aircraft

The aviation sector is one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and there is a need to develop more-electric aircraft (MEA) that are operationally efficient. In traditional aircraft, the limited number of electrical systems operate at low voltage. The next generation of MEA will operate at voltages of above 1 kV to facilitate the transfer of significant levels of electrical power in an aircraft. However, the higher voltage and frequency levels will lead to an increased chance of partial discharge (PD) degradation in the insulation systems. Therefore, it is critical to have an accurate method of PD detection available for use in these new aircraft. Conventional PD detection methods are optimized for 50/60 Hz applications in the power industry and can be disturbed by harmonics generated via power electronic devices operating at high frequency. This paper explores a bespoke PD detection technique developed using a Sagnac optical fiber sensor capable of measuring the frequency-dependent PD information. Tests were conducted in the 50–1000 Hz range in which existing variable frequency AC power systems are being used in MEA. The results demonstrate that the increasing frequency will have an adverse effect on PD and must be considered in MEA design.

Piezoelectric Sensor using PZT Material for Partial Discharge Detection on Power Transformer

This paper presents an analysis of acoustic emission (AE) detection technique for partial discharge (PD) on power transformer using piezoelectric sensor. The AE PD detection technique using piezoelectric material is one of the popular method due to its low cost and compact size. A matching resonant frequency of AE sensor with PD signal which in range 10 kHz to 300 kHz is an important factor for this technique. An AE sensor that have a resonant frequency match with PD signal able to give an optimal performances. Therefore, a simulation on different dimensions of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) AE sensor using finite element method (FEM) is conducted in order to determine the performances in terms of resonant frequency, total displacement and generated voltage. The length of AE sensor is varied from 2 mm to 30 mm in order to reveal the influence of length dimension against generated voltage. Based on the obtained results, that 2 mm length of AE sensor able to generate voltage of 3.01 x10−5 mV at resonant frequency of 113.58 kHz which can be proposed toward PD detection on the power transformer.

Review of research on partial discharge detection techniques of high voltage switchgear

Partial discharge inside a high-voltage switchgear can cause serious accidents. Partial discharge detection can reduce the incidence of accidents. This article summarizes the current research status of common high-voltage switchgear partial discharge detection technologies (Transient Earth Voltage or TEV, Utrasonic or AE and Ultra-High Frequency or UHF), introduces the research status of partial discharge model identification and localization of PD source, and finally looks forward to future research directions.

Classification of Partial Discharge Detection Technique in High Voltage Power Component: A Review

In this study, a review on categorization of partial discharge (PD) detection technique is presented. The PD detection is important in order to monitor and diagnosis the insulation health on high voltage (HV) power component. PD at high voltage transformer occurs due to the unscheduled maintenance, aging of equipment, breakdown of insulation, gas bubbles in insulation liquid, manufacturing error and etc. In order to maintain constant and high as possible of the transformer performance, it is essential to control, detect and measure the PD phenomena. There are many methods have been developed based on point of observation; optical, chemical, acoustic and electrical. However, the different methods have their own advantages and disadvantages.

A Novel PD Detection Technique for Use in GIS Based on a Combination of UHF and Optical Sensors

Detecting partial discharge (PD) in gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) is an effective way to diagnose the insulation state of GIS. When PD occurs in GIS, optical and electromagnetic signals will be emitted from the discharge source. PD can be detected by analyzing these signals. At present, the ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) method is one of the most popular methods for detecting the PD in GIS. However, the optical method has not been in the field due to the problem of mounting optical sensor into GIS, even though it has higher sensitivity and better anti-interference performance. To settle this problem, a novel GIS PD detection sensor integrated with the optical fiber and UHF method is developed in this paper, which can fully utilize the advantages both of UHF and optical methods. The simulation results indicate that the integrated sensor can be mounted into GIS on the premise of not affecting the electric field distribution in GIS. In addition, the integrated sensor has a good UHF performance. The PD signals of typical defects at several locations were measured in a physical GIS using the integrated sensor. The results show that the integrated sensor can detect the optical and UHF signals induced by PD at the same time. The optical method has higher sensitivity than the UHF method for the protrusion defect. The amplitude and the number of the optical signals induced by PD clearly decrease with the increase in the detection distance. The studies in this paper are helpful to improve the accuracy and sensitivity of PD detection in GIS on site.

Sigma-Delta ADC Topology Implementation Based on Partial Discharge Detection using Rogowski Coil Sensor

Partial discharge (PD) diagnostic on high voltage (HV) power cables is a modern technology in order to investigate the insulation health. The trending technology such as wireless sensor network (WSN) and internet of thing (IoT) are mostly process in digital signal by microprocessor where looking toward on automatic system. The high performance of analog to digital converter (ADC) in term of sampling rate which is much expensive in order to convert the high frequency of analog PD signal that captured by Rogowski coil (RC) sensor. Thus, this paper propose the implementation of the Sigma-Delta (∑Δ) ADC topology in Altera DE0-Nano development board as an effective method in this work to replace the conventional ADC chip and the cost is minimal. Then, peak PD detection technique is applied after the conversion of the digital PD signal. The Verilog hardware description language (VHDL) is used in Quartus II software which corporate with Altera DE0-nano development board for the prototype development. In order to achieve the accurate digital sampling of high frequency PD signal, the N-bit of voltage resolution is paramount.

Case Analysis on Partial Discharge Signal of XLPE Cable T-Joint by Using High-Frequency Pulse Current Method

The cable joint is a vital part of cable lines which cause defects and faults easily and through partial discharge (PD) test internal discharge can be noticed. In this paper, we study a suspected PD signal which was found in the T-joint and intermediate joints nearby during a 110kV XLPE cable partial discharge (PD) test. Through the high-frequency PD detection technology, the discharge signal was positioned from the inside of T-joint. A trace of discharge was found at the air gap of the metal ring and the epoxy sleeve in the front of the T-joint stress cone. It is further verified that high-frequency PD detection technique can be used to locate the position of discharge.

Acoustic emission partial discharge detection technique applied to fault diagnosis: Case studies of generator transformers

In power transformers, locating the partial discharge (PD) source is as important as identifying it. Acoustic Emission (AE) sensing offers a good solution for both PD detection and PD source location identification. In this paper the principle of the AE technique, along with in-situ findings of the online acoustic emission signals captured from partial discharges on a number of Generator Transformers (GT), is discussed. Of the two cases discussed, the first deals with Acoustic Emission Partial Discharge (AEPD) tests on two identical transformers, and the second deals with the AEPD measurement of a transformer carried out on different occasions (years). These transformers are from a hydropower station and a thermal power station in India. Tests conducted in identical transformers give the provision for comparing AE signal amplitudes from the two transformers. These case studies also help in comprehending the efficacy of integrating Dissolved Gas is (DGA) data with AEPD test results in detecting and locating the PD source.

The Comparative Study of PD Detecting in Power Transformer Model According to Acoustic Emission and IEC270 Standard Method

This paper presents a comparative study of partial discharge (PD) detection technique of power transformer model. The acoustic emission (AE) method was applied to detect the signal from PD-origin in a model of the power transformer tank according to IEEE standard C57.127. The Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) technique was additionally applied. In the experiment, a simulated PD-origin was set up inside the transformer tank. Four acoustic sensors were installed on the tank surface, which were used to detect and provide the signal to a signal amplifier and data recorder. Multifunction Compact NI-DAQ 9223 was used together with 1 slot Chassis model 9191 in order to transfer the data to computer by using LAN or wireless system. The AE signal of PD-origin was then collected and analyzed with the Lab View program to identify the location of PD-origin. All physical dimensions of power transformer such as width, length and height and position of each acoustic sensor (in centimeters) were loaded into the main program. Then, the pattern of PD-origin was simulated at different positions in oil-filled transformer tank model. Finally, the localization result was displayed in a graphic user-interface screen. The acquired signal from this method was subsequently compared with the conventional PD detection method using IEC60270 standard in order to observe the PD. The experimental results were satisfactory and could be applied practically.

Review on partial discharge detection techniques related to high voltage power equipment using different sensors

When operating an equipment or a power system at the high voltage, problems associated with partial discharge (PD) can be tracked down to electromagnetic emission, acoustic emission or chemical reactions such as the formation of ozone and nitrous oxide gases. The high voltage equipment and high voltage installation owners have come to terms with the need for conditions monitoring the process of PD in the equipments such as power transformers, gas insulated substations (GIS), and cable installations. This paper reviews the available PD detection methods (involving high voltage equipment) such as electrical detection, chemical detection, acoustic detection, and optical detection. Advantages and disadvantages of each method have been explored and compared. The review suggests that optical detection techniques provide many advantages in the consideration of accuracy and suitability for the applications when compared to other techniques.

Development of GIS Partial Discharge Detection System Based on the New UHF Sensor Combination of Switchgear

In order to ensure power supply reliability and reduce a variety of power supply failure, we analyze the development status, advantages and disadvantages of partial discharge detection techniques about the various Gas -insulated Metal-enclosed Swith Gear (GIS). We put forward the application of ultra high frequency (UHF) technology for GIS partial discharge online monitoring technology methods to solve the problems of the difference of the pulse current method of anti-interference ability and ultrasonic sensitivity the problem of low. According to the deficiency of the traditional ultra high frequency sensor, we developed a new window type of ultra high frequency sensor, and compared with conventional in vitro type UHF sensor. Experimental results show that that the window-type UHF sensor sensitivity and anti-jamming capability are superior to conventional high-frequency sensor

Characterization of streamers in liquid nitrogen under AC voltages using UHF techniques

Pre-breakdown phenomena in liquid nitrogen (LN2), often referred as streamers, are the precursor of total breakdown due to the more conductive nature of density-change channels compared to the liquid. The paper characterizes streamer behavior in LN2 under AC voltages using ultra high frequency (UHF) and radio frequency current transformer (RFCT) measurements. The aim is to further understand the role of LN2 as insulation as well as the application of non-conventional partial discharge (PD) detection techniques in condition monitoring of future HTS devices. An experiment has been developed to measure PD events in LN2 using narrowband and wideband methods simultaneously. PD detection following IEC 60270 standards allows measurement of the amount of charge transferred at the terminals while the use of a UHF senor with a bandwidth up to 3 GHz can provide better resolution in the time domain. Results from the UHF sensor show that PD in LN2 appears in the form of multiple pulses which are suggested to be due to the expansion and collapse of the gaseous channels. The pulse burst phenomenon was not observed by the narrowband detection. Instead, a slowly damped signal was measured, which may result from the integration of multiple individual events. The experiment also allows correlation of PD measurements with images of pre-breakdown streamers using shadow photography. The characteristics of streamers in LN2 are discussed based on the observation of the density-change channels together with the corresponding discharge signature.

PARTIAL DISCHARGE DETECTION APPROACH FOR A MEDIUM VOLTAGE SWITCHGEAR SYSTEM

Partial Discharge detection techniques strive to ensure a safe and reliable power network by preventing power failure. In this work, electromagnetic sensing of partial discharge, in air-insulated medium voltage switchgear (Type D24-121114 of Driescher) is considered. The partial discharges are approximated by Gaussian sources. A versatile broadband sensor for detecting two major types of partial discharge was designed and optimized. The antenna has low return loss and high gain over the frequency band of corona discharge, 0.75-0.9 GHz and dry band arching, 1.25-1.4 GHz. The horn antenna is incorporated into the medium voltage switchgear for detecting partial discharges. The analysis of the electromagnetic field distributions generated by partial discharges in switchgear is coupled with the sensing efficiency of the horn antenna. The results indicate a good correlation between the intensity, location and frequency band of partial discharge and their sensing. This study provides the foundation for a dual band detection system of partial discharge in switchgear systems.