TEST SYSTEMS Hit E1-60 Partial Discharge Measurements on Power Cables A. Jenni September 802 HAEFELY il HIGH VOLTAGE TECHNOLOGYYU Partial Discharge Measurements on Power Cables A.Jenni {In regard to PD-messurements a long cable does not have like a lumped capacitance. The high frequency characteristics must be considered in order to choose a suitable measuring system. International standards turers want to meas k for PD-levels below 5 pC. Many cable manufac: ra down to 1 pC. The characteristic impedanc HV cable is between 10 and 60 ohms. This means that the measuring sensitivity must be better than 1 pC on a load of 10 ohms. The measuring sensitivity of a PD- measuring system is algo limited by in- terference from the mains and airborne electromagnetic interference in the ambient of manufacturing areas where routine test fields are mostly located. As it js costly to suppress interference in the low frequency range, the cut-off fre- ‘quency should not be too low. The attenuation of a power cable in- creases with the measuring frequency which limits the sensitivity for PD-pulses originating far away from the cable end, Therefore, the measuring frequency should be as low as possible. It is therefore most desirable that excessive partial discharges in a long cable can be located. ‘A PD-measuring system in a routine test field must be easy to operate by relatively low trained staff, The measuring results should not leave too much room for interpretation and they should be reproducible. Investment and operating cost for a PD-measuring system should be as low as possible. It fs obvious that the many conflicting targets must lead to compromises in many respects. There are a number of PD- measuring systems commercially available all with their advantages and disadvantages. As far as the author knows, none of the available systems have been designed especially for cables. Partial discharges in cable: PD-pulses which can occur in a cable are composed of a spectrum of frequencies between OHz and several MHz. The amplitude is the same over the whole fre- quency range, Figure 1.1 t ‘Fig 1 Fraqooneyspecrum of 3 PO pula APO pulse which is propagating along a cable is subjected to distortions. Even though the charge of the pulses does not decrease significantly on its way, the shape of the pulse changes. The upper part of the frequency spectrum is attenuated considerably more than the lower part. The width of a PD-pulse which is not distorted varies from a few 10 ns to a few 100 ns, Figure 2.1) Fig 2 OF Popul shape of PD-tte, 02 PO pulse A PO-source in a cable always Produces two PD-pulses, each with a ‘charge of 0/2. One is propagated towards the near end A of the cable to which the PD-detector is connected. The other is propagated towards the far end B where it is reflected. The reflection arrives at the PD-detector with a time delay of At, Figures 3 and 4. t 4 Fig 4 PDspulse and refecton: Br tine delay of If the PD-source is very close to the far ‘end, so that the time lag between the two pulses is within the PD-pulse width, the two pulses with the charge Q/2 appear at the measuring system superimposed. The resulting pulse has a charge of Q, Figure 5 Fig 5 Superposition of PD-pulse and is relection No reflection occurs if the cable is ter- inated by its characteristic impedance, Figure 6. Only Q/2 appears at the near end Of the cable even if the PD-site is very close to the far end. 50 per cent of the charge Is absorbed by the terminating impedance. The characteristic impedance ‘of power cables varies between 10 and 60 ohms. ae 7 Fig 21 Gable erat, Distance of POs fom far nd8:POS PO measuting system The travelling velocity v of a PD-pulse in an XLPE cable is approximately 470 mlus. The distance of the PO-site from the far end of the cable is calculated 28 follows: O8-v-At Fig 6 Cable terminated with ie charactoriie Response of partial discharge measuring systems Up to now only the influence of the cable ‘on the PO-pulses were considered. Thepulses appearing at point A must_be measured with @ measuring system. The two pulses which appear at the entrance of a PO-measuring system when PD on a cable is measured can be superimposed. Superposition occurs when a pulse is followed by @ second pulse with a short delay, before the first pulse is processed in the measuring system Depending on whether the resulting output is increased or decreased only 2 positive or negative superposition is being discussed, which means a positive or negative measuring error. Negative super- position is not allowed, The superposition characteristics of a PD measuring system depend on the measuring frequency, the bandwidth and the types of filters used, ‘Two-pulse diagram ‘The two-pulse diagram of a PD-measuring system is a useful tool for finding out whether the system is adequate for measurements on long power cables or ot. It determines the superposition characteristics and the pulse resolution time of the system, -'| ig? Diagram with two puoe ganarator G:F Lond ‘resistor 80-120 brn, Cx Coupling copacion Td Inet Unt Detector Instead of a cable a two-pulse ‘generator is connected to the PD-detector via @ coupling capacitor and input unit. An auxiliary oscilloscope is connected in parallel with the output of the two-pulse ‘generator, Figure 7. The pulses from the generator are similar to those originating from a cable with PD. The pulse spacing can be varied between O and 100ys. Assuming a travelling velocity of 170 m/s the two- pulse calibrator is good for cables in which the PD site varies between O and 8500 m from the far end. The two-pulse .gram, Figures 3 and 4, is received by iting ‘the output signal versus pulse separation time. Fig 8 Two-plee dvaram typical for brond bard In 18|the kind of response according to Figure 8 is defined as alpha response. No negative superposition occurs. For pulse separation times below t, (about 5 us) there is positive superposition, t, is also referred to as pulse resolution’ time Pulse pairs with a separation time longer than t are measured as two separate pulses. the PD-site in the cable is varied by in- jecting defined PD-pulses along the cable PD of the very far end would still result in positive superposition, notin the detector, but in the cable, for a pulse separation time below the pulse width, dotted line in Figure 11 Fig 9 Twospulse Segram with negative supe/pae: ‘A PD-measuring system with a two- pulse diagram according to Figure 9 has according t0 51a beta response. PD from a source with a distance between |; and |p from the far end is measured with @ negative measuring error. This kind of two-pulse diagram is typical for PD- detectors with a relatively narrow band width According to I), is defined as the critical cable tength. Cables shorter than |, can be considered as lumped capacitance, The positive superposition is always above 1.4. PD-measurement with reflection suppressor ‘As already mentioned, negative super- position errors can be avoided by ter ‘inating the cable with its characteristic impedance when measuring with narrow- bband detectors. Another solution with @ Fig 11 Two-gulee dagram tor PO-measurrvent Influence of the cabl attenuation Two:pulse diagrams received from two- pulse generators do not take into account the attenuation of the cable. The attenuation of a power cable depends on the measuring frequency and the type of cable. According to) the ‘attenuation at 100 kHz varies for different types of power cables between 0.7 and 1.1 dB/km. At 500 kHz the attenuation is between 1.7 and 3.1 dB/km, if a two-pulse diagram is produced by injecting defined PO-pulses along the cable according to Figute 12, the resulting diagram looks like Figure 13, Fig 10 Diagram with retain suppressor AS between input uit and detector similar result is the electronic reflection suppressor, Figure 10. This device locks the input of the amplifier during some 50 ns after the first PD-pulse from the PD- site has arcived. The reflected pulse can therefore not enter the detector") If the two-pulse diagram of such an arrangement is plotted with a two-pulse ‘generator, the diagram shows no super- position, neither positive nor negative. ‘The diagram looks slightly different when, instead of using the two-pulse generator, Fig 72 injection of pues along the cable with puke generator PG Description of new PD-measuring system Based on the above considerations a PO-measuring system has been developed, illustration No 1 and Figure 14.-Muzesion 1 PO-dectactr tye 560 To allow matching the impedance of the input circuit to the measuring cable an active input unit has been chosen. The input unit provides, besides the PD-signal also the power frequency signal for the time base of the CRT, for fixing the zero passage of the sine wave and for meast 19 the _ac-peak voltage of the test voltage. Three different frequency ranges were chosen for measuring partial dis- charges, Broad band measurement The lower cut-off frequency is 40 kHz. This is not ideal ifthe ultimate sensitiyity is determined by the attenuation in a long cable. A lower cut-off frequency leg 5 kH2) would result in a lower attenuation of the measuring signal in along cable. In reality, however, the sensitivity of the ‘measuring eystem is in most cases deter- mined by the low frequency interference level from the mains, appearing at the input of the detector via the test voltage. 40 kHz is high enough to avoid most of this interference, Fig 18 Two pulse diagram of type 660. Mescuing ‘ange 40-400 tte ‘The upper cut-off frequency of 400 kHz results in a sufficient relative bandwidth 10 assure that no negative superposition can occur. Figure 15 shows the measured two-pulse diagram for this frequency range. The pulse resolution time is ~1 us. ig 14 Block dngram of he PO-measuring system u #3 Rim ao-soo ute, Wr Windom pocesor row band measurement PD-measurement with a narrow band range has the advantage that interference from the high voltage source can be suppressed relatively easily with selective filters The discussed PD-detector has two nartow band measuring ranges, 108 £8 kHz and 250 + 16 kHz. The disadvan- tage of narrow band measurement is the possibility of negative superposition for measurements on long cables. Having two measuring ranges allows the ‘selecting of the one with the lower exter nal interference level. Fig 16 Two pee aagram of type 660 with norow ‘band measuring rnge 108 8 ite Figure 16 shows the two-pulse diagram of the narrow band ranges. Cables up to 250m respectively 120m can be tested without worrying about negative superposition. This measuring range is ideal for type tests on samples in HV laboratories with a relatively high in- terference level The area between |, and |p {corresponding to 260 m end 600 m with 8 propagation velocity of 170 mus) can ‘be measured correctly when the cable is more than twice I long by measuring from both ends of the cable, Reflection suppressor Both narrow band ranges can be operated with a reflection suppressor in series, Figure 17. This results in two-pulse diagrams according to Figures 18 and 19, ig 1? Two pulse diagram of type 560 with narrow ‘and measuring range and reflection suporestor 108 eKOnly the PD-pulse coming directly from the PD-site is measured. The reflected pulse is suppressed. The negative land Positive) superposition disappears for both frequency ranges allowing PD- measurements on any length of cable J] EHE) Fig 18 POsocation with broad-band measuring Fig 19 Pleture on CRT screen to locate PO tos Read-out The highest PD-pulse is indicated on a igital display directly in pC. An XY recorder which plots the PD-level as a function of the test voltage can be con- nected An oscilloscope measures distinct PD- pulses and surveys the PD-pattern. The selected measuring range and the PD- level is also indicated digitally on the screen. This information is thus fixed on photographs which may be taken, Instead of the usual ellipse a double sine wave hhas been chosen {ill 2). It can be con: verted into a double straight line picture (il 3). window gate with a variable width. which can be shifted from 0-360°C, allows discrimination between interference and PD outside the window. ‘A phase shift of 30° allows better surveillance of PD located exactly in the zero line crossing, il 4). The measuring circuit is calibrated by means of the external or internal calibrator. Pulses corresponding to defined partial discharges are injected via 2 low voltage or high voltage injection ‘capacitor into the measuring circuit. A two-pulse generator used for check- ing PD-detectors with the two-pulse diagram is integrated into the calibrator cE Imystation & Double sine wave wit 30° phase shite PD oncero costing Imustaion 5 Pol discharge eabator with two: puleegonoatortye 460 Partial discharge location ‘The new PD-detactor is also provided with a broad band measuring range limited to SOkHe and 10MHz, This measuring range permits a very accurate image of the PD-pulses coming out of the cable to be depicted. Tho time base of the oscilloscope can be set so that the width of the screen cor- responds to the length of the cable. This is achieved by injecting a calibration pulse Into the near end of the cable. The time delay between the injected pulse and its reflection determines the sweep time of the oscilloscope, The PO site in the cable can then be determined by measuring the location of its reflection on the scceen. |, corresponds to the distance of the PD-site from the far lend of the cable in percentage of the com: plete length. Tests have shown that ‘method locates partial discharges above 10 pC with an accuracy of approximately 2 por cont. Partial discharge sites which are very close together (cavity nests) behave like a single PD-site Conclusion PD-measurements on solid insulated power cables have become so important that the development of @ PD-detector tailored to PDsmeasurements on cables appeared 10 be justified. The first ox: perience gained with the new measuring system is encouraging. It is well suited for use in routine and type test fields of cable makers. The optimised measuring fre- {quencies and the reflection suppressor reduces costs for interference control. The measuring sensitivity of better than 1 pC is reached even under extreme conditions regarding cable length and impedance, The PO-sites producing pulses above 10pC can be located with a sufficient accuracy of 2 per cent of the cable length The new PD-measuring system will help to improve the quality of power cables and to reduce costs for quality References (1) H Bors, Verlaan aur Messung von Tent Bevscksicngung dee Einfvsses de Rabat, (2) G'S Eager G Bader. O X Hoinich, R Suares ne rel corona detection of power cabes, (eee Tans. Vol PAS-€8 No’ 12 Dat 1969 po Wrz, A Lukaschewitech van Hove Ritter Schupoe, Stockel” Bors, "Prufungen an. Kebain- und (0872 Pan 813, 1960) (4) PCE, Pubihation 124-980 1974 18) OrF #4 Kreuger, ‘Disenarge detection, methods CGIGRE 1906 Paper No 209, (6) PU Reyna, Parealecharge_ measuring 17) E Lemke, ‘A new method for P-maasuremant fon polyethylene insltod power cables” 1H Beind Katie. ‘Usber den Einfluss von imouls- verrerengen eines Kabels aut da, Merewer {anveig Diplomat am Schering nat 10 Hannover, 1978. H Bors, Moglehkstn und Grenzen der Ortong von "Tallertiadungen an kunsttoftraioten itaton Unveretat ‘ oi Hennover 1398 i] Y~[MILE HABFELY & CO [TD LEHENMATTSTRASSE CH-4026 BASEL/SWITZERLAND PHONE +4161, 315511 FAK +4161, 3112187 TELEX 962469 HAEFELY iil HIGH VOLTAGE TECHNOLOGY