PD-Diagnosis Physical basic practical experience with OWTS

April 2006

What are Partial Discharges?

Simulation
Electrical description

PD in PILC and XLPE

Solutions

Practical Experiences

April 2006

Joint with Locations of possible PD Stress 1 Gap build up 2 Cavities / Voids 3 Cavities with conductive peaks

April 2006

Source: TU Delft

Paper insulated three phase cable joint with PD source

April 2006

Model to simulate partial discharges

Optical and accoustical Partial Discharges (PD)

April 2006

Model of a PD fault a)

b)
1

i(t) Test object

u C

u(t)

2 Dielectric material and capacitive equivalent circuit to model an inner fault a) High voltage insulation b) Equivalent circuit
April 2006

Current and voltage simulated for a PD fault

a) u 10 (t) i(t) +u z -u z u (t) t t u(t) b) u(t)

tt

tm

t t

tm

Voltage and current for the capacitive equivalent circuit a) Graphical simulation of the voltage on C b) Current and voltage shape measurable on the test lead
April 2006

Source: TU Delft

PD faults in paper insulated cables based on sharp edges on the conductor. The reason can be for example poor workmanship.

April 2006

Example of a cable insulation short time before a breakdown occurs

Impurities at the inner semicon lead to a growth of vented trees which often change into an electrical tree

April 2006

PD Faults in XLPE power cables

PD in a PE/XLPE cable insulation:

Impurities or changes in the outer semiconducting layer

change of water tree in electr. tree

old cables of the first generation

e.g. initiated with test voltages

Water Trees do not create PD at all !!

Mechanical damages of the outer semicon Due to external influences in polymeric cables sheet faults can be determined and localized easily

Electrical Trees lead to a breakdown of the insulation under service conditions in a time range of weeks/months
Except treeing based on migration and diffusion processes of additives; no measurable partial discharges !
April 2006

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PD Faults in XLPE power cables

PD in joints and terminations:

Mounting faults

PD effects in terminations start later normally under service conditions Silikon is able to fill microvoids and holes for some time. Using shrink techniques PD are directly measurable, there are no HV PD-tests for all splices Reasons for an increase of faults in joints are mainly poor workmanship or additional high thermal stress.

Material faults
After thermal stress

The complexivity of mounting joints lead to a high risk of subjective failures

April 2006

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PD Faults in PILC- cable segments

PD in joints and terminations:

Mounting failures, especially in transition joints Absence of mass in cable accessories Leakages in joints increase of the electrical field stress in bad conductor connections Impuritiy based increase of the electrical field stress at the outer semicon
Characteristical effects : Self healing due to mass wandering under high load PD-intensity up to 1000 pC has long term stability Basic rules: PD-levels at Uo in a range of several 100 pC can be accepted PD-levels in joints of 1000 pC at Uo repeat measurements later to check the trend!! Mapping recommended, replace at high levels Good cable segments are free of PD under service voltage Uo
April 2006

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Overview PD inception voltage and PD faults in paper insulated cables

Cable joints
100%

20%
90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% PDIV PD Localisation

Cable termination

51% 29%

Cable insulation PD activity above 1,3Uo PD activity upto 1,3Uo

33% 51% 16%

PD activity upto Uo

Source : Frank Wester ; Nuon Alkmaar

April 2006

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Examples of values

April 2006

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Why OWTS ?
The measuring system works with the resonant method and uses a sinussoidal oscillating wave test voltage (compact dimensions and low weight) The oscillating frequency depends on the cable capacitance and is fixed in a range of 50 Hz up to several 100 Hz The voltage stress of the test object is similar to the nominal service conditions The duration of the voltage stress is only several 100 ms and therefore nearly all long-term influences can be neglected. Analysing the decrease of the test voltage, the PD extinction voltage and the tan delta value can be determined easily. PD level measurement according to IEC 270 at a bandwidth 150 ..650 kHz PD fault locating and mapping feature with a bandwidth up to 3 MHz with semi- and fully automatic analysing Software

April 2006

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April 2006

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Compact-PD Cable test van with rear and interior view

April 2006

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OWTS portable standalone unit with resonant coil and control unit

April 2006

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OWTS - Function
Voltage Devider 1k Semi-Conductor Switch IGBT DC Source 0 ... 36 kV Inductance 0.7 H 150 M 1 nF Cable under Test

15 k
V t

10 F

Filter

PD Coupling Unit

PD
t

PC with Display and A/D Converter

OWTS block diagram

April 2006

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PD-Diagnosis at 50 Hz AC and OWTS Method

Ac 50 Hz 20 ms <2 s 20 ms PD registration 1...20ms 1...20ms Energizing OWTS

PD signal PD magnitude [pC], [nC] All cycles PD pattern

PD analysis input information

PD signal PD magnitude [pC], [nC] All cycles PD pattern

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April 2006

PD Calibrator

April 2006

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Localization of the PD source with the pulse reflection method

impuls

Q x : t1 2

reflected impuls

Q 2l x : t2 2 2l x time difference: t t 2 t1

April 2006

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OWTS - Calibration (1)

A / D Converter for PD Mapping

April 2006

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OWTS - Calibration (2)

A / D Converter for IEC Standard measurements

April 2006

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Use of the calibration data after saving under e.g. L1_1000pC

April 2006

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OWTS Measuring window

Test voltage

Partial discharges

April 2006

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PD- Inception- and extinction voltage and service voltage

April 2006

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April 2006

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Dissipation factor measurement

Determination of the tan d value which results from the decrease of the test voltage Sensitivity: 1 E-3

April 2006

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Step by step evaluation of measured PD data

April 2006

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Zooming in on original pulse and first reflection

April 2006

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1100m cable, type NKBY 3x120 6/10 kV nominal voltage 6/10 kV, manual evaluation

April 2006

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PD threshold level for evaluation

April 2006

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April 2006

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Automatical evaluation with TDR Software-Tool

April 2006

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XLPE cable segment with joint problems at 110 m L2 and L3, and L1 at 450 m

Cable length: Installation:

940 m 1982

Service voltage: 15 kV Test frequency: 423 Hz Capacitance: 0,22 F

April 2006

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New 120m long 15 kV paper cable with mass problems on phase L3 from 2 m to 30 m distance from the test setup.
April 2006

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Mixed cable segment, 22kV, with increased PD intensity on phase L1 and customer recommondation to check the transition joints at 360, 1234, 1850 m distance from the test setup

April 2006

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PD pattern at 8 kV in a 20 kV cable TEAG PD measurement, 8 kV on L2

Example for a surface discharges in a splice

Mapping histogram at 8 kV

April 2006

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LEW PD fault location, L2 , 20 kV XLPE cable Two detected faults, termination and splice

Discharges in a joint
Number of PD events versus location

April 2006

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Splice at 570 m Phase L1, 17 kV PD level 1200pC

20 kV on L1 PD level 6500pC

PD measurement 20 kV mixed section

Needle-Plane PD in transition joint

April 2006

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