12/28/2015

GeneralGuidelinesforOnlinePartialDischargeTestingofPowerCables|EEP

GeneralGuidelinesforOnlinePartial
DischargeTestingofPowerCables

Suitable Cable Termination for online PD measurement as individual earth shield of each cable is
connected to substation earth separately. Also heat shrink tubes can be seen over earth shields

Faultsinthecableinsulation
OnlinePDtestingisbecomingthetopicofinterestforpowercableownerstoensure
thesafeandcontinuousoperationofpowercables.

PartialDischargeisalocaliseddischargeintheinsulationmediumdue
tohighvoltagestressthatdoesnotbridgethespacebetweenthetwo
conductors.PartialDischargetestingofPowerCablesisoneofthe
diagnosticmethodstodetectandlocateincipientfaultsinthecable
insulation.
http://electricalengineeringportal.com/generalguidelinesforonlinepartialdischargetestingofpowercables

1/8

12/28/2015

GeneralGuidelinesforOnlinePartialDischargeTestingofPowerCables|EEP

IfPDsourceisdetectedtimelyinthecablesystem,itcouldsavethehugecost
ofunplannedoutagetoPlantowners.
RegularperiodicorcontinuousmonitoringofPDsinsidecablesandtheiraccessories
willhelpconditionmonitoringteamtoidentifythelocationofincipientfaultandthen
planningascheduled outageofthesuspectedcablecircuit inordertoperform
correctivemeasures.

OfflineandOnlinePD
PDtestingofpowercablescanbedoneofflineandonline.Whendoingofflinetesting,
cableisdisconnectedattheterminationsandthenconnectedtoseparatepower
supply.Therearedifferenttypesofpowersuppliesforthispurposei.e.
VeryLowFrequency(goingaslowas0.1Hzto0.01Hz),
ResonantVoltage(frequencyrangingfrom20Hzto300Hzdependingonthe
voltage)or
Normalpowerfrequency(50Hzor60Hz)supply.
OnlinePDtestingisdonewhilethecableisinserviceundernormaloperating
conditionbyinstallingsensorsatcabletermination.
Example of HFCT clamped around Earth Shield of Power Cable

ThesesensorsincludebutnotlimitedtoHighFrequencyCurrentTransformer(HFCT),
TransientEarthVoltageSensor(TEV),HighVoltageCouplingCapacitororAcoustic
Sensor.Someofthesesensorscanbeinstalledwhilethesystemisonlinewhile
others(/orinsomecases)requireoutageofcablesysteminordertoinstallthem.

http://electricalengineeringportal.com/generalguidelinesforonlinepartialdischargetestingofpowercables

2/8

12/28/2015

GeneralGuidelinesforOnlinePartialDischargeTestingofPowerCables|EEP

OnlinePDtestingofpowercables,sometimes,becomeschallenginginthe
presenceofhighnoise.

Problemofhighnoise worsenthesituationwhenPDsignalsaresuperimposedonto
noisesignals.Simplepulseseparationandclassificationtechniquesarenoteffective
insuchsituation.Signalneedstobeanalysedinfrequencydomainthen.
FollowingaretheguidelineswhenconductingOnlinePartialDischargeTesting
ofPowerCables:

http://electricalengineeringportal.com/generalguidelinesforonlinepartialdischargetestingofpowercables

3/8

12/28/2015

GeneralGuidelinesforOnlinePartialDischargeTestingofPowerCables|EEP

Guideline#1
Cableearthshield comingoutofthecable(whethersinglecoreorthreecore)must
notbetouchinganyearthedmetalexceptatterminatingpointtoSubstationEarth.
Earthshieldatcableterminationshouldbeinsulatedusingshrinktubesinordertoget
accesstoindividualcableearths.
ThiswillhelpineasyinstallationandreliablemeasurementofPDinthecables.

Suitable Cable Termination for online PD measurement as individual earth

shield of each cable is connected to substation earth separately. Also
heat shrink tubes can be seen over earth shields.

Guideline#2
AtcableterminationswhereaccesstothecableendisnotpermittedduetoHealth
andSafetyRegulations,permanentsensorsshouldbeinstalledwithterminationbox
nearcableendprovidingaccesstothesensorsconnectedtoindividualcableearths.
Guideline#3
BeforedoingonlinePDmeasurement,itisimportanttoknowtheCableReturn
Time.CableReturnTimeisdefinedasthetimetakenbyapulseforcompletinga
roundtripalongthecircuitlength.CableReturnTimeimprovestheaccuracyofPD
sourcelocalizationafterdetection.

http://electricalengineeringportal.com/generalguidelinesforonlinepartialdischargetestingofpowercables

4/8

12/28/2015

GeneralGuidelinesforOnlinePartialDischargeTestingofPowerCables|EEP

Cablereturntimecanbemeasuredbyinjectingapulsefromonecable
endandthencalculatingthetimedifferencebetweeninjectedandreturn
pulsewiththehelpofOscilloscope.

Guideline#4
OnlinePDmeasurementshouldbeconductedforlongertimelengthinorderto
improvethereliabilityoftest.Although,onlineperiodicmeasurementofPDin
powercableswillbeable tocapturecontinuousdischargesources andiflucky,some
intermittentdischargesources.
ItisbettertoperformPDmeasurementatbothendsofthecableinorderto
confirmtestresults.
Guideline#5
MostofthePDsignalsflowingalongthelengthofcableshavedominantfrequency
componentoflessthan5MHzduetolowpassnatureofpowercableandpropagation
losses.Itshouldbenotedthatfilteringisnotdesirableintherangeof100kHzto5
MHzasapplyingsuchfilteringmayalsofilterPDsignals.
Caremustbetakenwhenfilteringisdonewithinthisrange.
Guideline#6
PDsignalsarephaseconsistent.However,itisalsoobservedthatnoisecanbe
phaseconsistent.ThismighteffectPDanalysisifanalysisisonlyconsideringPhase
Resolvedpatterns.TherearenumerousanalysistoolsavailableinthemarketforPD
detectionwithinhighnoise.Oneshouldnotonlyrelyonsuchsophisticatedanalysis
tools.

ItisadvisedtosticktotheconventionalrulesofidentifyingPD.
However,itdoesnotignoretheeffortsdonebehindthoseanalysistoolsand
theirimportance.Suchtoolscanbeusedinconjunctionwithbasicrules.

Example of noise activity during Online PD measurement in power

cables with phase resolved characteristic
Plan View of Noise Phase Resolved Activity
http://electricalengineeringportal.com/generalguidelinesforonlinepartialdischargetestingofpowercables

5/8

12/28/2015

GeneralGuidelinesforOnlinePartialDischargeTestingofPowerCables|EEP

Guideline#7
Basicrulesinidentifying
aPDsignalinnoisydata
are:
1. PulseShape:PDpulse
travellingalongthelengthof
cablehasbigger
peakfollowedbyfew
oscillations(insomecases).
2. PDactivityshouldbephase
consistent.
3. Ifsuchactivityisfound
withinthedata,thereshould
bereflectedpulse(s)
aftermainPDpulse.Such
reflectionswillhelpin
locatingincipientdefectsite.
However,itisalsopossible

thatthereisnoreflectedpulsesbecauseoflongcablelengthsandattenuation.

Guideline#8
WhenPDisdetectedinsidepowercables,itissuggestedtolocatethedefect
http://electricalengineeringportal.com/generalguidelinesforonlinepartialdischargetestingofpowercables

6/8

12/28/2015

GeneralGuidelinesforOnlinePartialDischargeTestingofPowerCables|EEP

sourcebyfurtherinvestigations.OncePDsourceisconfirmed,itisadvisedtoplan
ascheduledoutageinordertoperformcorrectivemeasures.
Guideline#9
9.Aftercorrectivemeasures,itisalsoadvisedtoperformonlinePDmeasurement
regularlyorcontinuouslyforsomedaysorweeksinordertoconfirmtheworkmanship
doneduringrepair.

Fewwordsmore//
ThesearethegeneralguidelinesthatcanbefollowedtoperformonlinePD
measurementsinpowercables.

However,theseguidelinesdonotfavour
orrejectanytechnology,systemor
commerciallyavailabletools.

OnlinePDtestingofpowercablescanbedifficultorchallengingbutnot
impossible.Byusingproperprocedureandcorrectmethodology,reliableonline
PDmeasurementscanbedoneeveninthepresenceofnoise.Withthe
Get
availabilityofhugeresearchmaterial,innovativeanalysistoolsandsophisticated
PDF
software,reliableonlinePDtestinginpowercablesispossibleascomparedto
TOP
theconceptofPDtesting10yearsbefore.
SHARE

RecommendedEEstuff//

Sharewithengineers//

http://electricalengineeringportal.com/generalguidelinesforonlinepartialdischargetestingofpowercables

7/8

12/28/2015

GeneralGuidelinesforOnlinePartialDischargeTestingofPowerCables|EEP

AboutAuthor//

Ammar Anwar KHAN

AmmarAnwarKHANAmmarisTechnicalApplication
SpecialistforPowerCablesConditionBasedMaintenance.In
currentposition,heconductstrainingandeducationofSales
Teams,FieldServiceTeamsandPowerCableownersonthe
topicofOnlinePartialDischargeMeasurementsinPower
Cables.

2015EEPElectricalEngineeringPortal.AllRightsReserved|PrivacyPolicy|TermsofService |42queriesin0.100
seconds.
PoweredbyCsanyiGroup

http://electricalengineeringportal.com/generalguidelinesforonlinepartialdischargetestingofpowercables

8/8