Conference Proceedings of CMD2010

Sensitivity Evaluation of Different Types of PD

Sensors for UHF-PD-Measurements

A. TROEGER1*, U. RIECHERT1, S. BUROW2 and S. TENBOHLEN2

1
1ABB Switzerland Ltd., Zurich, Switzerland
2
University of Stuttgart, Germany
*E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract — Ultra high frequency (UHF) partial discharge sensitivity verification, the determination of the voltage
detection is a common on-site insulation diagnosis technique for amplitude of the pulse, which has to be injected in order to
gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) that has increasingly acquired simulate a 5 pC defect (hopping particle) in the GIS.
importance in recent years. Compared to other methods of One of the essential parameters which do have a significant
partial discharge (PD) measurement, it is less susceptible to
disturbances from outside the system. It does have the
impact on the results of such a sensitivity verification test is
disadvantage that the measured amplitude depends on a variety the type of sensor that is connected to the measuring system.
of different factors which make it impossible to perform a signal In this paper, the sensitivity of isolated electrodes in
calibration as it is done for PD measurements according to disconnector and earthing switches is compared to the
IEC 60270. It is possible, however, to perform the so called sensitivity of standard partial discharge sensors. Also,
sensitivity verification. This contribution describes the different methods for the comparison of the obtained results in
measurement and evaluation of the influence of different respect to their frequency spectrum are evaluated.
parameters like the type of sensor and the evaluation parameters.
PD sensors were developed to have a flat frequency response up II. INTERNAL SENSORS
to and beyond 2 GHz which has been verified by laboratory
experiments. In addition to purpose-built PD sensors, it is ABB utilizes specially designed electric field sensors
possible to use other components in the GIS for sensing UHF (hereafter referred to simply as ‘PD sensor’) for detecting PD
partial discharges. This is namely the earthing switch shield in GIS (Figure 1). The PD sensor consists of a small modular
which is provided in all fast acting and maintenance earthing unit which fits into earthing switch flanges of GIS components
switches. The presented frequency response and the sensitivity and is designed to pick up the very fast transient radio
check of these sensors prove the suitability for PD diagnostic and frequency pulses produced by PD.
monitoring in almost the same manner compared to the PD The sensor consists of metal flange plate which house an inner
sensors. sensing element supported in a coaxial arrangement by
insulating material. The components are designed so as to
Keywords -- UHF, PD-Measurement, Sensors, Sensitivity
minimize reflections and other unwanted effects, thus
improving sensitivity in the UHF frequency range. The high-
I. INTRODUCTION voltage capacitance is between the inner conductor of the GIS
The demand for reliable and economic medium- and high- and the sensing element, while the stray capacitance is
voltage installations is increasing due to the present rapidly between the sensing element and the GIS enclosure.
changing conditions in the power substation and distribution Measurement equipment is connected to the sensor via a
markets. As a result, the diagnostics of gas-insulated standard type N-connector.
switchgear has also generally acquired importance.
In order to perform diagnosis or monitoring of PD which
occur inside a GIS, the UHF method is generally applied. Its
advantage in comparison to the “electrical” measurement
method described in IEC 60270 is that a bulky coupling
capacitance is not required. It is however difficult to use the
amplitudes of the measured signals for the interpretation of the
measurement results – they are dependent on the type of
defect, the architecture of the system and the distance between
the defect and the measuring sensor. The same defect at a
different position leads to a different PD amplitude, a
calibration of an UHF PD measurement is therefore not
possible. It is possible, however, to perform a sensitivity
verification test that is described in the report of the CIGRÉ
Task Force 15/33.03.05 [1]. The investigations which are Figure 1 Photo of UHF PD sensor
described in this paper focus on the first part of the suggested
 Conference Proceedings of CMD2010
The PD sensor is available for all types of ABB GIS from Nevertheless, both the DES and the FAES sensor are suitable
170 kV to 1100 kV and was developed to have a flat for on-site PD measurement during commissioning tests,
frequency response up to and beyond 2 GHz which has been service checks and for continuous PD monitoring and allow
verified by laboratory experiments [2]. sensitive measurements in the UHF frequency range. The
In addition to the purpose-built PD sensor, it is possible to use frequency characteristic of the sensors has to be considered
other components inside the GIS for sensing UHF PD, during sensitivity verification and for the PD measurement,
although since these are not optimized for this function [3]. especially if narrow-band measuring systems are used.
This includes the earthing switch field shields. Earthing switch
field shields are provided in all combined disconnector / 0
earthing switches (DES) and fast-acting earthing switches
(FAES), as shown in Figure 2.

Amplitude [dBm]
-20

-40

-60 DES
FAES

-80
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Frequency [GHz]

Figure 3 Sensor frequency response

III. SENSETIVITY CHECK

An apparent “disadvantage” of UHF measurements is that the
UHF signal cannot be clearly correlated with the apparent
charge of the PD source. In other words, a calibration
according to IEC 60270 is not possible because of physical
and measurement reasons. It is possible, however to perform a
sensitivity verification according to report of the CIGRÉ Task
Force 15/33.03.05 [1]. As a result, the GIS operator can also
check the sensitivity of the UHF sensors and the measuring
system according to the CIGRÉ sensitivity verification
procedure on-site.
A. Comparison of Different Sensors
Figure 4 shows the test setup used for the experiments. It
consists of 4 adjacent GIS compartments in which different
sensors are installed. The compartments are divided by
partition or support insulators. They are connected with a high
voltage transformer that is equipped with a conventional PD
Figure 2 Drawing of the earthing switch shield in the disconnector measuring system. The complete test setup has a noise level
/earthing switch (DES, above) and of the earthing switch shield
in the fast-acting earthing switch (FAES, below): 1 Earthing below 2 pC. PD Sensor 2 is only used for the injection of
switch shield, 2 N-connector, 3 Moving contact, 4 Insulation, 5 voltage pulses. Different UHF PD measurement systems
GIS enclosure which are used in the experiments are always connected to PD
sensor 1 or to the shields.
Originally, these earthing shields have not been designed for In order to compare the characteristic properties of a voltage
the sole purpose of PD measurement but also for zero impulse with the properties of typical defects in a GIS system,
potential measurement. Because of the increasing importance an artificial defect was placed inside the compartment which is
of PD diagnostic and monitoring also the field shields were near to PD sensor 2. As artificial defect hopping metal
optimized to realize a good signal-to-noise performance and particles with a length of 3 mm - 5 mm and a diameter of
sensitivity. Based on physical limitations it is not possible to 1 mm were used. They were placed on the encapsulation and
reach the same flat response over the whole frequency range the paint was removed in that area in order to ensure that the
compared to the PD sensor. Figure 3 shows the frequency particles are electrically charged if a high voltage is applied to
respond of the different sensors. Both the DES and the FAES the system.
sensor have a widely flat frequency response, with narrow High voltage was applied to the system and was adjusted to a
band sections with lower sensitivity between 1.1 GHz and level where the conventionally measured PD amplitude of
1.5 GHz. 5 pC was reached. UHF PD measurement systems which were
 Conference Proceedings of CMD2010
connected to the other three sensors measured the PD signal at interpretation. For the FAES sensor a frequency range from
the same time. The corresponding voltage impulse was 600 MHz to 2 GHz gives a better result. Moreover, prominent
determined by comparison of the measured UHF PD signals peaks in the measured spectra influence the calculation results.
with the recorded signals of the voltage impulses which were
injected in sensor 2. A commercially available “GIS TABLE I STATISTICAL VALUES OF SPECTRA MEASURED AND
CALCULATED FOR THE DIFFERENT SENSORS (AVERAGE SPECTRUM)
calibrator” which was able to produce voltage steps with
different amplitudes was used as source for the pulses. The Voltage Parameter
origins of the PD signals that are caused by the defect and by Pulse /
Particle MP [dBm] AP [dBm] MA [dBm] AR
the injected voltage pulse were very close to each other, so PD Sensor 1
that the influence of the GIS geometry on the signal Hopping
transmission was identical and can be neglected. 34 5.9 18 1.6
Particle
5V 25 -4.1 15 0.1

7.5 V 29 1.1 19 0.8

12.5 V 32 4.2 23 1.1

FAES (600 MHz – 2 GHz)
Hopping
26 (22) -3 (-6) 11 (9) 0.23 (0.22)
Particle
5V 27 (16) -1.8 (-12) 19 (3) 0.05 (0.05)

7.5 V 29 (17) 0.4 (-10) 21 (3) 0.1 (0.06)

12.5 V 31 (22) 3.7 (-7) 25 (10) 0.5 (0.25)

DES
Hopping
32 3.6 19 0.7
Particle
5V 28 -0.4 19 0.1
Figure 4 Picture of the experimental layout of indoor test facility (test
set-up A) 7.5 V 29 0.8 14 0.3

12.5 V 33 4.5 20 0.7

The amplitude of the artificial defect was measured by a
spectrum analyzer with custom made preamplifiers. A full TABLE II STATISTICAL VALUES OF SPECTRA MEASURED AND
frequency sweep in the range from 300 MHz – 2 GHz was CALCULATED FOR THE DIFFERENT SENSORS (MAXIMUM SPECTRUM)
performed. The measured spectrum consists of the maximum Voltage Parameter
amplitudes which have been determined for each frequency Pulse /
during 60 s of measurement time. Moreover the average Particle MP [dBm] AP [dBm] MA [dBm] AR
spectrum was also recorded. A comparison with the spectra of PD Sensor 1
different voltage pulses can be done directly or with the aid of Hopping
36 8.5 24 1.9
Particle
statistical tools like the measured power (MP) and the average
power (AP) in the frequency spectrum, the maximum 5V 34 5.3 24 0.6
amplitude (MA) or the averaged area per data point (AR) [4]. 7.5 V 36 8.8 26 1.4
A direct comparison of the spectra measured at the PD sensor
12.5 V 39 12 28 2.1
shows that the amplitude of a corresponding voltage pulse is
between 9 V and 11 V in case of a hopping particle. This FAES (600 MHz – 2 GHz)
result was also confirmed by measurements with a second Hopping
34 (32) 5.4 (3.9) 23 (19) 0.6 (0.5)
Particle
commercial peak detection system. In case of the earthing
5V 35 (25) 6.8 (-3) 26 (15) 0.6 (0.2)
shields the required corresponding voltage pulse is between
12 V and 13 V and therefore a little higher compared to the 7.5 V 36 (28) 8.9 (-0.2) 27 (22) 0.7 (0.25)
PD sensor.
12.5 V 39 (32) 11.6 (4) 29 (23) 1.4 (0.6)
The corresponding statistical values for all sensors are listed in
TABLE I and TABLE II. TABLE I shows the results DES
Hopping
evaluated from the average spectrum, whereas TABLE II Particle
42 14 27 3
shows the values evaluated from the max-hold spectrum. The
5V 37 8.4 23 0.9
results based on the statistical values are basically in
conformity with the direct comparison of the measured 7.5 V 39 11.4 25 1.9
spectrum, especially for the average spectra (MP and AP). Of 12.5 V 42 15 27 3.6
course, there are differences between the evaluation methods.
Depending on the frequency response of the sensor it is
important to choose the best frequency range to avoid a wrong
 Conference Proceedings of CMD2010
B. Influence of the Test Set-up and after each test for correct operation. The system operated
In laboratory experiments, the distance of the sensor for the correctly at all times, no failures or damage occurred during
voltage injection and the sensor for the measurement is as either test. The tests have shown that the PD system is suitably
short as possible. The sensors are placed in adjacent GIS protected. For the FAES it is required to prove the short-
compartments. In GIS installations the sensors are placed circuit making performance as well as the Short-time
throughout the GIS according to rules based on experience and withstand current and peak withstand current according to
the topology of each individual installation. The distance IEC 62271-102. The PD measuring system was connected to
between the sensors could reach more than 20 m. In order to the sensor during these tests. Also in that case, the system
determine the influence of the test set-up the results presented operated correctly at all times. Concluding, the shield
in chapter 3A were compared to the results using a typical electrodes used for PD measurement are suitable for UHF PD
laboratory test set-up for the first step of the sensitivity measurements and continuous monitoring.
verification [5]. Figure 5 shows the test set-up which was used V. CONCLUSIONS
for the second test series. It consists of two adjacent GIS
compartments. Sensor 1 was only used for the injection of A partial discharge sensor is available for all types of ABB
voltage pulses. The UHF PD measurement system was always GIS from 170 kV to 1100 kV and was developed to have a flat
connected to sensor 2. frequency response up to and beyond 2 GHz which has been
verified by laboratory experiments.
In addition to the PD sensor, it is possible to use other
components inside the GIS for sensing UHF PD. This includes
the earthing switch field shields. Earthing switch field shields
are provided in all combined disconnector / earthing switches
and fast-acting earthing switches.
During broadband measurements with the spectrum analyzer,
the spectrum of the maximal and average PD amplitudes was
recorded for a frequency span of 300 MHz – 2 GHz. A
Figure 5 Picture of the experimental layout of indoor test facility (test
comparison with the measurement of the PD sensors results
set-up B) lead to the similar result if the equivalent voltage pulse was
determined by direct comparison of the spectra.
TABLE III shows a comparison of the results for both test set- A comparison of statistical values that were derived from the
ups, based on a direct comparison of the measured frequency measured spectra did not lead to the same result in any case.
spectra. It could be concluded, that the effect of the test set-up Depending on the frequency response of the sensor it is
and therefore, the effect of the distance between the sensors important to choose the best frequency range to avoid a wrong
for the sensitivity verification could be neglected. interpretation. The presented frequency response and the
sensitivity check of these sensors prove the suitability for PD
TABLE III EQUIVALENT VOLTAGE PULSE FOR HOPPING PARTICLES diagnostic and monitoring in almost the same manner
Test set-up A Test set-up B compared to the PD sensors.
Required voltage pulse 9 V – 11 V 10 V
REFERENCES
IV. OTHER TESTS [1] CIGRÉ, Joint Task Force 15/33/03.05: Partial Discharge Detection
Beside the PD diagnostic and monitoring function, it is System for GIS: Sensitivity Verification for the UHF Method and the
Acoustic Method, Électra, No. 183, April 1999, pp. 75 – 87
important to know, that the sensors as well as the connected
[2] Riechert, U.; Tröger, A.; Schraudolph, M.; Bräunlich, R.; Neuhold, S:
measuring system is able to withstand the system PD Diagnostics of Gas-Insulated Switchgear - Sensitivity Verification,
requirements. When switching capacitive currents, the focus is Internationaler ETG-Kongress 2009, 27.-28. Oktober 2009, Düsseldorf,
on VFTO (very fast transient overvoltages) in particular. In 2009, ETG-Fachbericht 119, 2009, S. 477-482,
addition to the requirements for the disconnector itself, the [3] Hampton, B.F.; Meats, R.J.: Diagnostic measurements at UHF in gas
overvoltages that occur represent a major challenge in relation insulated substations, IEE Proc., Vol. 135, No. 2, 1988, pp. 137 – 144
to the EMC of the measurement and control equipment [6]. [4] Meijer, S.: Partial Discharge Diagnosis of High-Voltage Gas-Insulated
Systems, Dissertation University of Delft, 2001
As the sensor may be struck by VFTO during earth switch /
[5] Tröger, A.; Riechert, U.: Influence of Different Parameters on
disconnector operations, tests were carried out to verify that Sensitivity Verification for UHF PD Measurement, 16th ISH 2009,
the protection mechanisms of the continuous PD monitoring Cape Town, South Africa, 24 to 28 August 2009, conference
systems are sufficient to prevent damage. Two system proceedings, paper B-33, pp. 521-524
immunity tests were carried out: disconnector switching [6] Riechert, U.; Krüsi, U.; Sologuren, D.: Very Fast Transient
according to Annex F of IEC 62271-102 and closing operation Overvoltages during Switching of Bus-Charging Currents by 1100 kV
Disconnector, CIGRÉ Report A3-107, 43rd CIGRÉ Session, August 22-
of the earthing switch with a trapped charge voltage of 1 pu at August 27, 2010, Palais des Congrès de Paris, Paris, France
the busbar section. The PD system was checked before, during