chapter 12
DESCRIPTION
engTRANSCRIPT
J.M. PANG & SEAH PTE LTD 1
On-Line Partial Discharge Measurement of a 230kV XLPE Cable Termination Using High Frequency CT Sensors
n a cable system consisting of the cables, cable terminations and cable joints, one of the common
point of premature failure will be at the cable termination. This article will show the use of a on-
line partial discharge measurement system using high frequency CT for a 230kV XLPE cable
termination. Partial discharge measurement is a useful assessment tool because it provides an
instantaneous measure of the integrity of the cable termination and also serves as a sensitive monitor of
the deterioration of insulation as a function of time.
High Frequency Current Transformer The high frequency CT or HFCT sensor has a split core construction and can be connected to the
earth connection for the cable screen at either one end or both ends of the cable termination. Figure
12.1 and Figure 12.2 illustrates the two methods of earthing for the cable screen. When a cable has
earthing at both ends of the cable screen, there will be a power frequency 50 hertz circulating current in
the earth cable connected to the cable screen. This 50 hertz current is proportional to the length of the
cable and the current in the phase conductor of the cable. However, the HFCT will not detect the 50
hertz current in the earth cable connected to the cable screen because it has soft ferrite core whose
frequency response is constant from 1MHz to 10MHz.
I
Chapter
12
FIGURE 12.1 : Earthing at Both Ends
J.M. PANG & SEAH PTE LTD 2
Figure 12.3 shows the frequency characteristic of the HFCT. This frequency range is consistent
with other capacitive and inductive sensors of about 10MHz which will achieve the best signal to noise
ratio. The HFCT sensor is easy to use because it can easily be connected to the earth cable connected to
the cable screen and does not require to de-energize the cable system for the partial discharge
measurement. In addition, the split core construction does not require the disconnection of the earth
cable in order to insert the HFCT sensor. Figure 12.4 is a picture of the HFCT used by the author.
FIGURE 12.2 : Earthing at Single End
Frequency (kHz) 1 5 10 50 100 500 1000 5000 10 000 13 000
Input (V) 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Output (mV) 0 1.3 6.7 104 180 222 222 224 218 200
FIGURE 12.3 : Frequency Response of HFCT
J.M. PANG & SEAH PTE LTD 3
The Measurement System The output of the HFCT sensor is
connected to a typical digital oscilloscope with
100MHz bandwidth and a sampling rate of 1
Giga sample per sample. The oscilloscope has
4 input channels with 3 of the input channels
connected to L1, L2 and L3 phase of a 3 phase
cable system. The last input channel is
connected to an antenna to detect external
noise. The oscilloscope is interfaced to a
partial discharge software using a standard
GPIB (general purpose interface board).
The partial discharge software will display and detected partial discharge activity in the phase resolved
mode, which has the horizontal axis in 0 to 360 degree of the line voltage. This will provide the real time
information of the partial discharge across the phase of the 50 hertz AC line voltage. When the AC line
voltage is zero, there will be no partial discharge activity. Partial discharge can only happen when there is
voltage whose magnitude exceeds the partial discharge inception voltage. This basic behavior will allow
pattern recognition of real partial discharge activity. The partial discharge software will set up the
oscilloscope for the following:
• The trigger source of the oscilloscope will be on AC line voltage.
• The measurement is set to peak detection
• The input channel will detect only the AC component of the measured signal. Any DC
component will be ignored.
Figure 12.5 shows the basic block diagram of the measurement system. The measurement duration can be
as short as 5 minutes or as long as 60 minutes. The typical duration is 10 minutes.
Case History
The A short length of new 230kV XLPE
cable connect an existing 230kV GIS to a new
230/66kV, 150MVA transformer. The
transformer was successfully energized to the
utility 230kV line voltage. Partial discharge
activity was detected at the cable termination
FIGURE 12.4 : High Frequency Current Transformer (HFCT)
FIGURE 12.5 : Measurement System
J.M. PANG & SEAH PTE LTD 4
at the transformer by the utility
company and I was requested to
measure the partial discharge activity
using the HFCT sensors. Figure 12.6
shows the measurement for phase L1.
The phase L1 shows partial discharge
activity near the positive peak and
negative peak of the line voltage. The
cable termination at the transformer
was for a 230kV XLPE cable into an
oil filled box at the transformer. The
cable was unplugged from the oil filled
box, cleaned-up, plugged back to the
oil filled box, and re-energized to the
utility line voltage. Figure 12.7 shows
the re-measurement for phase L1. The
previous “double hump” shape did not
appear and the re-measurement was
relatively constant across the phase
angle of the utility line voltage. This
indicates no partial discharge activity.
Conclusion The partial discharge activity was
measured using the actual utility line voltage, and hence will represent the insulation condition at the
actual operating voltage. The split core construction of the HFCT sensor allows easy connection to the
cable termination. These two factors make the partial discharge measurement of the cable termination
useful and easy to use.
- END --
Phase (Degrees)350300250200150100500
PD M
agni
tude
(mV)
65605550454035302520151050
FIGURE 12.6 : Measurement Before Repair for Phase L1.
Phase (Degrees)350300250200150100500
PD M
agni
tude
(mV)
3
2
1
0
FIGURE 12.7 : Measurement After Repair for Phase L1.