MeasuringPartialDischargein

StatorWindingsusing80pFLine
Couplers
02/01/2013

Hydroprojectownerscanuse80pFlinecouplers,installedinmanyrotatingmachines,tomeasurepartial
dischargeanddetectsignalsfromdeeperinsidethewinding.Thismethodcanprovideamorereliable
assessmentofinsulationconditionthantraditionalmonitoringsystems.
ByStefanKornhuber,MatthiasBoltzeandGregTopjian
Withinthestatorwindingsofrotatingmachines,partialdischarge(PD)signalsthatcomefromdeepinsidethe
machine,awayfrominstalledmeasuringpoints(orcouplers),areattenuatedinamplitudebecauseofthelow
passbehaviorofthesignalpathalongthewinding.1Thus,thecouplersonlypickupthelowerfrequencycontents
ofthesignal.
Manyrotatingmachinescomeequippedwith80pFlinecouplersthatcanbeusedtoperformonlinePD
measurements.2ThesePDdetectorshavea50load,formingahighpassfilterstartingatabout40MHz.PDis
measuredinthefrequencyrangeofseveraltensofMHz.Becauseofthis,theinternaldischargesaremeasured
withpoorsensitivitybythe80pFlinecouplers,andtheresultingPDpatternisdominatedbytheendwinding
discharges.
AmorepromisingmethodologyismeasuringPDinpicocoulomb(pC)accordingtoInternationalElectrotechnical
Commissionstandard60270.3Withthismethodology,readingofPDactivitydependslessonthepulseshape.
Thatprovidesmoresensitivitytointernaldischarges,leadingtoabetterandmorereliableassessmentofthe
entireinsulationstate.4

Bysignalconditioning,itispossibletomaintainthesignallowpassprocessingnecessaryforpCmeasurement.
Additionally,thetestvoltagesignalcanbederivedforsynchronization,enablingphaseresolvedPDpattern
analysis.ThebenefitofthisistoalsoacquireinnerPDandmeasurethisPDagainstachargethatcanbe
calibratedaccordingtoIEC60270,allowingtheplantownertocomparemeasurementswithqualityassurance
checks.
Comparativemeasurementsatageneratorstatorwithlargercouplingcapacitorsillustratethefeasibilityofcharge
measurementsvia80pFlinecouplers.5Thisarticlepresentsfurtherideasforcharacterizingtheintegration
behavioranddiscussescalibrationquestions.

Understanding the situation

MeasuringPDactivityofthestatorwindingintermsofpCprovidestheadvantageofbeingsensitivetoPDinside
thewinding,awayfromthedecouplingpoint.Ontheotherhand,thePDdetectoraswellasthewholesignalchain
includingthePDcouplermustprovideanappropriateintegrationbehavior.1,4
Figure1showsacalibrationsignalandatruePDsignal,bothgatheredatthephaseterminalofagenerator
statorwinding(11kV,41MVA)inthemanufacturertestlab,singlephasevoltageapplied.Incomparisontothe
calibrationimpulse,thetruePDsignalhasamuchlongerpulsedurationandisanindicationoftheinternal
attenuationbehaviorinthegeneratorwindingitself,dependingonthefaultposition.

Withrespecttothepermanentlyinstalled80pFlinecouplers,thehighpassfilterbehaviorwouldleadtoa
remarkablelossofsignalarea(charge)whenthePDsignalpassesthatcoupler.Thiscanbefurtherillustratedif
thehighpasstimeconstantof80pFx50=4nsisconsideredinrelationtothepulsePDdurationofabout1
s.Thementionedlinecouplershowsastrongdifferentiatingbehavior.2Thathampersthemeasurementofthe
apparentchargeandreducesthesensitivitytoPDsignalsfromdeepinsidethestatorwinding.
Thebasicideatoovercomethelossofsignalareaistocompensateforthehighpassfilterbehaviorbyan
appropriatelowpassfilteringofhigherorderinthesignalpath.Thissignalprocessingallowsthechargetobe
recoveredandtheintegrationerrorminimized.

Forthatpurpose,Dobledevelopedalinecouplermatchingunitin2010thatincludesalowpassfilterwitha
frequencyof500kHz.Thatmoduleprovidesanelectronicopampcircuitwithlowimpedanceinputthatintegrates
thecapacitivecouplercurrentandgivesoutthecorrespondinglowvoltagesignalofthehighvoltagesignalfor
synchronizingthephaseresolvedPDpattern.Thismatchingunitcaneasilybeconnectedtothelowvoltagepart
ofthe80pFcouplerssimplyusingscrewsandcables.

Generator stator measurements

Deepercomparativemeasurementsofthegeneratorstatormentionedpreviouslywereconductedtovalidatethe
feasibilityofapparentchargemeasurementsevenwith80pFlinecouplersandsubsequentsignalconditioning
(i.e.properlowpassfiltering).Thefirstmaintargetwastocomparethemeasuringresultsinthefrequencyrange
upto500kHz.Thecalibrationprocedurewasperformedaccordingtostandardbymeansofa10nanocoulomb
calibratorinparalleltothephaseterminalandground.
Couplerarrangementsthatwereinvestigatedare:100nF,2nFand80pFwithlinecouplermatchingunit(low
passactive).

Figure2showstheresultingphaseresolvedPDpatternsandtheassociatedreadingoftheapparentcharge.The
goodcorrelationoftheobtainedpatternsandthemeasuredapparentchargevaluesisthefirstindicatorofthe
feasibilityofchargemeasurementsusingthe80pFlinecouplers.

Investigation with larger bandwidths

Underrealmeasuringconditionsinapowerhouse,itissometimesimpossibletoapplythemeasuringbandwidth
restrictionsofIEC60270becauseofnoiseissues.Toimprovethesignaltonoiseratio,theupperfrequencylimit
hastoberaiseduptotheMHzregion.Inthatcase,itispossibletodeactivatetheinternallowpassfilterofthe
linecouplermatchingunit.
Toevaluatetheconsequencesforthechargemeasurements,theinvestigationsatthegeneratorstatorwinding
werecontinued.Table1givesanoverviewoftheresults.Thefirstcolumnshowsthecouplerarrangement,and
theupperlinecontainstheupperfrequencylimitadjustedatthePDdetector.

Acomparisonoftheindicatedchargevaluesshowsageneraltrendofmeasuredchargedecreasingwithahigher
upperfrequencylimit.Theexceptionisthelastrowofthetable.IndependentofthesettingsofthePDdetector,
theupperfrequencylimitofthetotalsignalchainismaintainedat500kHzprovidedbythelowpass.5
Atthe80pFcouplerwithoutthelowpassfilter,thechargereadingislowerevenintheIECfrequencyrangeof
thedetectorasaresultofthehighpassfilterbehaviorandthelossofsignaltimearea.Theseresultsgiveafirst
impression,ofwhichintegrationerrorscanbeexpectedunderrealconditionswherethemeasuringfrequencies
havetobematchedaccordingtotheactualcircumstancesofthemachine.Notethattheseresultsareonlyan
examplebecausetheyaredependentontheindividualPDsignalshape(seeFigure1onpage39)andmustnot
begeneralized.

Determining the integration behavior and errors

Thenexttargetwastoapplyasimplesolutiontocharacterizetheintegrationbehavioroftheentiremeasuring
arrangementcoupler/PDdetector.ThelowpassfiltercomponentsofR1/C1shapealowpass,viathetime
constantT1.Hence,therisetimeofthestepresponseontheincomingstepsignalcanbeadjusted.Bymeansof
theconnectedoscilloscope,therisetimecanbedeterminedandread.
TheelementsC0/RLformahighpass.Thesmalltimeconstant,providedbyT2,inthispartofthecircuitcanbe
consideredasapuredifferentiationstage.TheresistancevalueofR1issmallenoughtoavoidinteractionsfrom
theconnectedPDcoupler.Thus,theresultingvoltagedropacrossR1(Usig)representsthedesiredneedlepulse
withconstantarea(charge)andvariableduration.
Thepulsesfromtheabovecircuitwereinjectedintothecorrespondingcouplers,andthepulsedurationwas
increaseduntilthechargereadingatthedetectorreachedthearbitrarilyselectedvalueof63%.Inthatway,the
integrationtime(TI)wasdefinedanddeterminedforeachindividualmeasuringconfiguration(seeTable2).

TheresultsofthisanalysisshowthatTIisveryshortatthe80pFcoupler,finallyresultinginanintegrationerror
thatisnotnegligible.ThechargereadingatthePDdetectorwoulddeviate,especiallyincaseswheretheactual
PDimpulseshapesaremuchlongerthanthecalibrationpulses.
The80pFcouplerincombinationwithlowpassfilteringshows,again,muchbetterresults.Bythismeans,itcan
bedemonstratedthatitispossibletoperformproperchargemeasurementsevenwithsmallcoupling
capacitance.Theintegrationerrorofthesemeasurementswouldstaywithinreasonablelimits.Integrationtimes
(TI)ofabout1scorrespondtotheapparentchargemeasurementaccordingtoIECstandard60270.

Determining apparent lumped capacitance of the stator winding

Ingeneral,theapplicationofsmallcouplingcapacitancesleadstoadecreasedmeasuringsensitivity.2According
totheclassicalcapacitiveequivalentcircuitofIECstandard60270,thechargeamounttransferredtothe
measuringcircuitincreasesasthecouplingcapacitanceincreasesinrelationtothecapacitanceofthetestobject.
Inthecaseofageneratorwinding,itmakesnosensetorefertothetotalwindingcapacitance,becauseitdoes
notactaslumpedcapacitanceintherelevantfrequencyrangeofPDmeasurements.4Furthermore,thequestion
arisesaboutthesizeoftheequivalentlumpedcapacitanceofthegeneratorwindingthatappearsinthetotal
measuringarrangementincludingcoupler,detectorandcalibratordependingonthemeasuring
configuration,bandwidth,andotherfactors.Todeterminethementionedcapacitance,asimplesubstitution
methodwasapplied.
Aftereachcalibrationofthemeasuringconfiguration,thestatorwindingwasdisconnectedandsubstitutedbya
variablelowvoltagecapacitance.Itscapacitancevaluewastunedtogetthesamereadingasbefore,withthe
generatorwindingconnected.Table3showstheresultingcapacitancevalues.

TakingintoaccountthedimensionandpriceofPDcouplingcapacitors,itcanbestatedthatthebenefitislimitedif
thecouplingcapacitanceexceedsthatofthetestobject,intheactualcaseofthelumpedcapacitanceofthe
generatorstatorwinding.Themeasuringsensitivitywouldnotincrease.
Thedeterminedcapacitancevaluesarespecificforthestatorwindingundertestandthemeasuring
configuration.Nevertheless,wecangeneralizeasfollows:100nFascouplingcapacitanceisnotnecessary,and
10nFseemstobeadequatebutisinrealitynottheoptimumcompromiseconsideringthedimensionsandprice.
TheauthorsfindthatPDcouplersaround1to2nFrepresentthemostefficientsolution80pFcouplersarenot
recommendedfornewinstallationbutareoftenpreinstalledonmachines.Tocopewiththe80pFcouplers,the
matchingunitsolutionwascreated.

PD calibration
FormostonlinePDmeasurements,thereistheprinciplechallengethatthetestobjectterminalsarenot
accessibleforcalibrationpurposes.Theinstallationofonlinecalibratorsisnotcommon.
Butfortrendingpurposes,thereistheneedtohavethemeasuringresultscomparableintermsofpC.Finally,it
doesnotmatterfortrendingiftheresultsarethesameascalibratedaccordingtoIECstandard60270,butthe
resultsofrepetitivemeasurementsmustbebasedonthesamescalefactorofthemeasuringPDdetector.Soitis
recommendedtoperformataminimumanindirectcalibrationinparallelwiththeinputofthePDdetector
connectiontothecouplerterminalbox.
Takingthepreviousresultsintoaccount,itisfurtherrecommendednottoinjectchargepulsesdirectlyfromthe
calibrator.TogetascalefactorinthesamerangeroughlyoftheIECcalibration,thepulseshouldbeinjectedvia
acapacitivechargedivider.Thisshouldconsistofaparallelcapacitorof10nFtosimulatethelumped
capacitanceofthestatorwindinganda80pFcapacitortosimulatethecouplercapacitance.
Theproposedcalibrationproceduredoesnotguaranteethemeasurementsareinaccordancetoapparent
chargecalibrationofIECstandard60270,butitfulfillsthemaintaskofPDcalibrationingeneral.Usingthis
recommendedcalibrationprocedure,themeasuringresultswillbereproducibleandcomparable.

Summary
ThedetectionofPDdeeperinsidegeneratorstatorinsulationrequiresthetransitiontochargemeasurements
withrespecttoIEC60270.Thismeansasufficientintegrationbehavioroftheentiremeasuringarrangementmust
beprovided.Onmanygenerators,80pFonlinecouplersarealreadyinstalledwithastronghighpassbehavior
thathampersthechargemeasurement.Anadditionalmodulewithswitchablelowpassofhigherordercanbe
appliedtoovercomethisobstacle.5

ComparativePDmeasurementsatarealtestobjectverifiedthefeasibilityofcomparablechargemeasurements
evenwithacouplerofsmallcapacitance.TIwasintroducedasmeasuretoevaluatetheintegrationabilityofthe
measuringsetup.Thatvaluewasdeterminedfordifferentmeasuringconfigurationswithdifferentcouplersand
processingbandwidths.Theresultsrevealedthattheintegrationtimedecreasesandtheintegrationerror
increasesifthetotalupperfrequencylimitincreasesandthecouplingcapacitancedecreases.
Inprinciple,itispossibletomeasurethePDactivityintermsofpCevenintheMHzregion.Withsome
concessionstotheintegrationerror,themeasuredvaluemightbebelow50%oftheactualone.4Thiserroris
lesscriticalifthecalibrationisperformedthoroughlybeforeeachmeasurement.Acalibrationadaptorisproposed
foranindirectcalibrationforgettingscalefactorssimilartothatoftheIECcalibration.
Amethodwasappliedtodeterminetheequivalentlumpedcapacitanceofageneratorwinding.Basingonthe
generalizedresults,recommendationsweregivenfortheselectionofcapacitancevaluesofgeneratoronlinePD
couplers.

Notes
1.Train,D.,"TheMeasurementofPartialDischargePhenomenainStatorWindings,"DobleClient
CommitteeFallMeetings,DobleEngineering,Watertown,Mass.,USA,1994.
2.Zhu,H.,V.Green,M.Sasic,andS.Halliburton,"IncreasedSensitivityofCapacitiveCouplersforIn
ServicePDMeasurementinRotatingMachines,"IEEETransactionsonEnergyConversion,Vol.14,No.4,
1999,pages11841192.
3."HighVoltageTestTechniquesPartialDischargeMeasurements,"InternationalElectrotechnical
CommissionInternationalStandard60270,ThirdEdition2000.
4.Wilson,A.,"PartialDischargeMeasurementsonRotatingMachinery:ApparentChargeTechniques,"
DobleClientCommitteeFallMeetings,DobleEngineering,Watertown,Mass.,USA,1994.
5."LineCouplerMatchingUnit,"UserManualVersion00,DobleLemkeGmbHGermany,2011.
StefanKornhuberisengineeringmanagerandMatthiasBoltzeisservicemanagerwithDobleLemkeGmbHin
Germany.GregTopjianissolutionsmanagerpartialdischargewithDobleUS.

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