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Partial discharge measurements on 110kV current transformers. Setting the control value.

Case study

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2017 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 200 012002

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Innovative Ideas in Science 2016 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 200 (2017) 012002 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/200/1/012002
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Partial discharge measurements on 110kV current transformers.

Setting the control value. Case study

C Dan1 and R Morar2

1
Transilvania Sud Power Distribution Company, Subsidiary Sibiu, 1-7, Uzinei street,
550253, Sibiu, Romania
2
Technical University Cluj Napoca, Romania, Department of Electrical Engineering,
26-28, George Barițiu street, 400027, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

E-mail: cristian.dan@eletricats.ro

Abstract. The case study presents a series of partial discharge measurements, reflecting the
state of insulation of 110kV CURRENT TRANSFORMERS located in Sibiu county
substations. Measurements were performed based on electrical method, using MPD600: an
acquisition and analysis toolkit for detecting, recording, and analyzing partial discharges.
MPD600 consists of one acquisition unit, an optical interface and a computer with dedicated
software. The system allows measurements of partial discharge on site, even in presence of
strong electromagnetic interferences because it provides synchronous acquisition from all
measurement points. Therefore, measurements, with the ability to be calibrated, do render:
 a value subject to interpretation according to IEC 61869-1:2007 + IEC 61869-2:2012 + IEC
61869-3:2011 + IEC 61869-5:2011 and IEC 60270: 2000;
 the possibility to determine the quantitative limit of PD (a certain control value) to which the
equipment can be operated safely and repaired with minimal costs (relative to the high costs
implied by eliminating the consequences of a failure) identified empirically (process in which
the instrument transformer subjected to the tests was completely destroyed).

1. Introduction
Electrical utility industry all over the world faces a tough challenge with ageing of the power grid
components population as failure of these assets may cause interruption of power supply and also
revenue losses. The insulation condition represents an essential cast for reliability in operating high
voltage equipment. Considering this, it is very important to identify the healthy units in the ageing
equipment' population as not extending service to these units will result in substantial cost savings for
the power company [1].
Modern technologies and developments in signal acquisition and analysis techniques do provide
new tools for diagnostic of electrical power equipment.

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Innovative Ideas in Science 2016 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 200 (2017) 012002 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/200/1/012002
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2. Instrument transformers
Per se, instrument transformers are non – rotating electromagnetic machines, powering electrical
equipment falling into a broad category of metering and protection devices. Judging by their
manufacturing technology, they have some common features with other non-rotating electromagnetic
machines (power transformers), still their functional properties resembling more to those of electrical
apparatus.
The order of magnitude of voltage and current in a power system is very diverse. Adapting both
voltage or current metering systems and protective devices to this wide range of values is neither
technically nor economically justified. Therefore, these devices are connected to the electrical circuitry
indirectly, via current and voltage transformers – instrument transformers whose construction and
operation is tailored specifically for this purpose. The instrument transformers possessing a primary
winding and a certain number of secondary windings, performing an isolating function (isolating the
utilization current or voltage from the supply current/voltage to ensure safety for both, operator and in
use end device), change currents and voltages from one magnitude to another, suitable for power
metering and protection devices.
Instrument transformers, in general acceptation [2]:
 transform current and voltage to standardized magnitude appropriate for supplying current and
voltage windings of the metering and protection equipment;
 isolate high voltage circuit (the grid) from the low voltage circuit (metering and / or protection),
thus removing meters and protection devices from the area influenced by the strong electric and
magnetic fields of power grid circuitry, eliminating disruptive action that these fields may have
on measurement accuracy and correct operation of the equipment;
 allow rational concentration of metering and protection devices in the control room right outside
the substation, enabling thereby direct both command and monitoring of the entire grid.
For each instrument transformer, insulation issues are fundamental and do determine a priori the
possible limits of their functional properties [3].
In a CIGRE survey also the used maintenance techniques prior to instrument transformers‘ failure
are listed [4] in table 1.

Table 1. Maintenance strategy used prior to failure from 3004 reported failures [4]

Maintenance strategy How often used

Regular visual inspection 95%
Check of oil level and/or pressure gauge 61%
Secondary voltage monitoring for CVTs 15%
Insulation resistance checks 11%
DGA and/or moisture of oil 7%
Thermovision inspection 4%
DF measurement at mains frequency 2%
PD measurement 1%

3. Partial discharge measurement

Partial Discharge (PD) measurement is a worldwide accepted tool for quality control of high voltage
equipment [5]. PD indicates partial loss of the insulating capacity and is, thereby, considered a
measure of electrical ageing of any insulation system [6].

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The classical measuring circuit, according to IEC60270: High voltage test techniques – Partial
discharge measurements, requires a coupling capacitor for the connection of the PD measurement
instrument and works at a measuring frequency from several hundred kHz up to one MHz [7],
detecting therefore, the line based pulse propagation. Beside these methods, there are also non-
electrical PD measurements (e.g. acoustic), used above all for localizing partial discharges.
Nevertheless, electrical PD measurement is being by far the most used technique standardized. As a
general rule, successful diagnosis requires distinguishing internal partial discharges from any external
interference, particularly for onsite applications. Excellent measurement and interference suppression
algorithms have therefore been developed for conventional electrical measurement [7].

3.1. Interference – free measurement setup

Often lacking screening, PD signals are cvasi every time superposed by various noise pulses, a fact
that adds difficulty to PD data analysis for both human and software expert systems. Thus, handling
disturbances is one of the main challenges when the goal is to accurately measure PD. The effects of
external interference in the measuring circuit are minimized through electrical isolation between the
measuring system and the control unit.

3.2. Frequency – selective, narrow band and wide – band measurement

The measuring systems used today extend the measuring range historically limited to ~ 1MHz, as far
as 20MHz. Within this wide frequency range, the user can select a band that has only marginal
superimposed interference or none at all.

3.3. Synchronous multi – location PD measurement

PD measurements are often performed under noisy conditions. By using synchronous multi-channel
PD acquisition it will be possible to gain de-noised PD data from separated PD sources. The PD signal
is superposed by stochastic noise pulses or even multiple PD sources, leading to a complex phase-
resolved PD pattern that is not easy to analyze. Conventional frequency filters are not able to eliminate
these pulse-shaped disturbances [6]. The superposition of multiple PD sources and noise will,
nevertheless, raise laboriousness for PD experts and automated computer expert systems. Some well-
known evaluation techniques as pulse-sequence analyses would even fail with non-correlated PD
pulses to be compared [7]. Separating noise from PD and then separating multiple PD sources must be
the starting point onto obtaining free-noise PD data.

3.4. 3PARD evaluation procedures

A new field of evaluation methods is opened by fully synchronous multi-channel PD acquisition in
order to gain more reliable measuring results combined with effective noise suppression. Therefore the
3-Phase-Amplitude-Relation-Diagram (3PARD) was introduced as a new powerful analysis tool [3] to
distinguish between PD sources and noise pulses when measuring 3-phase high voltage equipment [7].
Through suitable superimposition of the amplitudes, the traditional phase – resolved PD (PRPD)
pattern can be broken down into individual components, allowing individual sources to be singled out.

3.5. Analysis of the frequency spectrums

With these processes, it is not the amplitudes measured at various locations that are superimposed, but
rather the spectral components measured selectively but still synchronously at one single location. The
frequently noisy PD patterns can also be broken down into individual sources using these methods.

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 200 (2017) 012002 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/200/1/012002
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4. PD Measuring System
The MPD600 as a fully digital PD measuring system is capable of performing synchronous multi-
channel PD measurements [8]. It consists of one or more acquisition units (Figure 1), an optical
interface (FO bus-controller) and a PC including the measuring software [9]. The PD signals are
filtered, amplified and digitized. A frequency band can be chosen to avoid continuous-wave
disturbances and to reach a high signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) even under noisy conditions on site.

10

7
2
3 9
6
5

4 1

Figure 1. Components of a MPD system:

optic-USB converter (1), PD acquisition unit DP (2), battery pack (lithium-ion) (3),
calibration unit CAL542 (4), measuring impedance (5), fiber optical cabling (6),
Ethernet/BNC cables (7), battery cable (8), USB cable (9), notebook (10)

For multi-channel PD measurements several acquisition units can be connected to one distributed
PD system [7] while a maximum number of 960 units can be operated in a fully synchronized mode.

5. Case Study
The case study of the current transformer, type CESU1 110kV (925011/1979), operating in a
110/20kV transformer power substation, in a 110kV line bay, identified ever since 11 October 2000
(back then by gas chromatography) with potential failure: high-intensity partial discharges, active
failure!
Temporal evolution of the technical condition both in terms of chromatographic analysis (for in the
insulating oil dissolved gases) and PD measurement results is presented in full in attached Annex 1.
1
Encoding current transformers denomination:
C – current transformer;
E – exterior / outdoor mounting;
S – support;
U – insulating environment, ulei (oil);
m – embodiment with metal compensator;
o – construction type (monospiral, with bar crossing and median round flange fixing);
110(123) – rated insulation voltage [kV];
after these groups of letters and numbers, the rated ratio is printed as: rated primary current / rated secondary
current.

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 200 (2017) 012002 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/200/1/012002
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Electrical measurements of partial discharge, for this particular current transformer, on site
(power substation) were made (starting in July 2007) according to the provisions of standard EN
61869-1:2007 „Instrument transformers. General requirements”, applying, assimilated to it, A2 partial
discharge test procedure, using as test voltage the very rated 110kV distribution grid voltage [2].
Considering paramount maintaining the same operation conditions for the instrument transformers
and precisely to the purpose of an increased reproductibility of measurement results, following the
guidelines of standard EN 61869-1:2007, we knowingly used the rated voltage of the 110kV power
distribution grid to perform PD measurements.
One of the main benefits of the PD measuring system used is that the PD acquisition units can be
placed very close to the transformer. This minimizes the required length of electrical connecting
cables and allows PD signal acquisition with high bandwidth, while minimizing electromagnetic
interference.
Using the built-in frequency sweep function, a measuring frequency of 1MHz (1.5MHz bandwidth)
was selected. Results of the PD measurements on CT (110kV CESU (925011/1979)), are shown in the
following Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2. Electrical PD measurement according to IEC 60270, center frequency: 1MHz, bandwidth:
1.5MHz, all PD data

As usual for conventional on-line PD measurements, the diagram shows a notable 3-phase corona
cross-talk from the substation and the near overhead transmission lines.
The external noise was successfully gated with the information from one second PD acquisition
unit. Figure 3 shows the corrected PD pattern recorded.

2
Partial discharge test voltage is reached while decreasing rated power-frequency withstand voltage.

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Figure 3. Gated electrical PD measurement, center frequency: 1MHz, bandwidth: 1.5MHz

This significant increase in PD level was measured in August 27, 2011, about two weeks before the
complete destruction of insulation: 09.07.2011 (Figure 4).
This PD level value, exceeding from a far the permissible PD level [10], according to IEC 61869-
2:20123 (10pC), was identified empirically (process in which the instrument transformer subjected to
the tests was completely destroyed).

Figure 4. Current transformer, CESU (925011/1979), at 07.09.2011

Judging by the temporal evolution of the PD level, measured for 5 years (2007-2011) and
considering the maximum slope segment (specific time intervals of 1 year) represented graphically in
figure 5, it is necessary to use a safety factor of 17.95% of the maximum measured value
586,285pC .
3
Which applies only to newly manufactured current transformers.

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Figure 5. PD level quantitative development for current transformer, CESU (925011/1979)

6. Conclusion
The quantitative limit of PD to which the equipment can be operated safely and still be repaired with
minimal costs (relative to the high costs implied by eliminating the consequences of a failure) is
480nC .

References
[1] Talib M A, Miswan N and Supramaniam G K 2010 Condition Assessment of HV Equipments in
Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Malaysia, Instrument Transformer Measurement Forum, Salzburg,
Austria
[2] ***IEC 61869-1:2007 (cancels and replaces first edition of IEC 60044-1 (1996), its
Amendment 1 (2000) and Amendment 2 (2002), Instrument transformers – General
requirements
[3] Plath K D, Plath R, Emanuel H and Kalkner W 2002 Three-phase synchronous partial
discharge measurements on transformers on site and in the laboratory, ETG Conference on
Diagnostic, Berlin, Germany
[4] ***CIGRÉ Study Committee A3, Technical Brochure 394/2009 State of the Art of Instrument
Transformers, Paris
[5] Smit J J 2005 Trends in PD-diagnostics for Asset Management of Aging HV Infrastructures,
14th International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, Beijing, China, August 25-29
[6] Montanari J C 2006 Insulation diagnosis of high voltage apparatus by partial discharge
investigation, Liu-Yeda Memorial Lecture, in Proceedings IEEE ICPADM, Bali, Indonesia,
June 26-30
[7] Kraetge A, Rethmeier K, Krüger M and Winter P 2009 Synchronous Multi-Channel PD
Measurements and the Benefits for PD Analyses, OMICRON Training, Klaus, Austria
[8] ***2014 MPD 600: High-end measurement and analysis system for partial discharges,
www.omicron.at | www.omicronusa.com, OMICRON L2317
[9] Holle R, Plath R, Schon K and Lucas W 2006 Type testing a digital PD measuring system
according to IEC 60270, ETG Conference on Diagnostic, Kassel, Germany
[10] ***IEC 60270:2000 (SR EN 60270:2003) Tehnici de încercare la înaltă tensiune – Măsurarea
descărcărilor parțiale, versiune română a Standardului European IEC60270:2000 (standard
tradus de ASRO, publicat cu permisiunea CENELEC)

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ANNEX 1
RESULTS for the 110kV CURRENT TRANSFORMER in substation A. Vlaicu, bay Agnita, phase S
of the ANALYSIS of GASES DISSOLVED in ELECTRICAL INSULATING OIL by GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY / 2000 – 2011

200 (2017) 012002 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/200/1/012002

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and its AMOUNT OF PARTIAL DISCHARGES (pC) / 2007 – 2011

DGRESULT / KEY GAS LIMITS

NOMINAL EQUIPMENT EVALUATION

NR. EQUIPMENT TYPE PRODUCER SERIAL NUMBER LOCATION FLUID TYPE MODEL RESPIRATION SAMPLE DATE H2 CH4 C2H6 C2H4 C2H2 CO CO2 TOTALGAS GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY RESOLUTION NEXT DGA / TIME LAPSE NEXT DGA DATE

YEAR
kV CONDITION STANDARD PD AMOUNT

150 120 130 10 5 1.100 4.000 5.515 (pC)

MANUFACTURING
1 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 11-Oct-2000 1.452 94 79 2 2 99 2.124 3.852 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 1 MONTH 10-Nov-2000 IEEE DG
2 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 10-Nov-2000 1.493 108 81 5 4 93 1.931 3.715 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 1 MONTH 10-Dec-2000 IEEE DG
3 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 10-Dec-2000 1.565 129 88 11 9 85 1.792 3.679 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 1 MONTH 9-Jan-2001 IEEE DG
4 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 9-Jan-2001 1.623 149 93 13 20 78 1.558 3.535 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 3 MONTHS 9-Apr-2001 IEEE DG
5 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 9-Apr-2001 1.732 192 99 18 29 60 589 2.719 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 6 MONTHS 6-Oct-2001 IEEE DG
6 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 13-Nov-2001 2.004 271 108 25 36 104 786 3.334 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 6 MONTHS 15-May-2002 IEEE DG
7 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 15-May-2002 2.262 393 118 29 50 147 1.113 4.111 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 6 MONTHS 14-Nov-2002 IEEE DG
8 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 14-Nov-2002 2.473 476 139 35 69 237 1.570 4.999 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 6 MONTHS 16-May-2003 IEEE DG
9 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 1-Jun-2003 2.749 624 151 39 75 295 2.224 6.158 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 12 MONTHS 2-Jun-2004 IEEE DG
10 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 2-Jun-2004 3.460 687 173 51 93 422 2.917 7.802 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 12 MONTHS 2-Jun-2005 IEEE DG
11 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 15-Jul-2005 4.183 789 189 60 123 575 4.043 9.962 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 12 MONTHS 15-Jul-2006 IEEE DG
12 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 15-Jul-2006 6.416 1.152 299 114 351 569 3.745 12.646 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 12 MONTHS 17-Jul-2007 IEEE DG
13 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 17-Jul-2007 9.258 1.406 350 128 669 554 3.542 15.907 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 12 MONTHS 20-Jul-2008 IEEE DG 258.260
14 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 27-Jul-2008 11.811 1.663 444 165 1.001 541 3.301 18.926 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 12 MONTHS 31-Jul-2009 IEEE DG 345.763
15 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 31-Jul-2009 14.335 1.879 507 189 1.514 490 3.293 22.207 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 12 MONTHS 3-Aug-2010 IEEE DG 420.562
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16 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 13-Aug-2010 17.911 2.138 603 236 2.064 434 3.225 26.610 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 12 MONTHS 21-Aug-2011 IEEE DG 526.099
17 CT-A. Vlaicu-Agnita-S iTRN EPC 925011 110/20kV Aurel Vlaicu substation OIL 1979 CESU 110 FREE 27-Aug-2011 19.520 2.179 687 293 2.418 384 3.173 28.654 4 High-intensity partial discharge. Active fault. PD / 12 MONTHS 28-Aug-2012 IEEE DG 586.285

Apparent charge – hydrogen H2 (in insulating oil dissolved gas) dependancy for 110kV CT, Aurel Vlaicu substation, bay AGNITA, phase S, 2007 - 2011
600.000

7.260
8.651
13.145
15.820
586.008

500.000 limita superioară

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7.893
12.070
14.504
17.509
586.285

8
400.000
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300.000

DP (pC)
200.000

100.000

0
0 2.000 4.000 6.000 8.000 10.000 12.000 14.000 16.000 18.000 20.000
H2 (ppm)

upper limit pC / H2 maximum pC / H2 minimum lower limit CESU, 925011/1979, blown up: 07.09.2011. Linear (upper limit) Linear (lower limit)
200 (2017) 012002 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/200/1/012002
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