On-site Applications of the VHF Partial Discharge

Detection Method for the Underground Power

Cable Terminations
Jae-Seop Lim Won Choi Jeon-Seon Lee
Facility Diagnosis Department New Business Development Team Management Team
Korea Electric Power Corporation SMND Co., Ltd. SMND Co., Ltd.
Daejeon, Korea Anyang, Korea Anyang, Korea
limjs@kepco.co.kr somacw@smnd.co.kr leecable@smnd.co.kr
Byong-Seon Moon Du-Il Kang
Facility Diagnosis Department Transmission Operation Team
Korea Electric Power Corporation Korea Electric Power Corporation
Daejeon, Korea Naju, Korea
moon.b.s@kepco.co.kr kangduil21@kepco.co.kr

Abstract— Extra-high voltage underground power cables partial discharge signals within the kit. The sensitivity of
are adopted as the major transmission cable system in most measuring partial discharge over ground such as in a
metropolitan cities of Korea. As a result, any operational termination kit tends to drop compared to the kit
malfunctioning thereof may cause social and economic damage underground or in a manhole. [1-3]
and the ripple effects as well as enormous time and financial
costs. Moreover, as the EHV underground power cables in
Korea have operated for a prolonged time, the necessity for
regular check-ups and other preventive diagnostics becomes
more critical. One of the preventive diagnostic methods is to
detect the VHF partial discharge that could occur inside
terminations or the cables, and this method has been
conducted to decide the current states of underground power
lines. Conventional detection methods for the partial discharge
of the underground cables utilized the detection of the high- Fig. 1. Diagnosing partial discharge and measuring external noise within a
frequency ranges. Contrary to them, this paper described the termination kit
method of detecting and analyzing the partial discharge for the
underground transmission cable terminations at the VHF Figure 1 is an example diagnosing partial discharge and
ranges, and this method can minimize the extraneous noise measuring external noise within a termination kit. The
effect. Also, on-site application of the method is conducted in following research paper provides a method of detecting
this paper in order to test reliability. signals in the VHF/UHF wideband used in the GIS (Gas
Insulated Switchgear) as a measuring technology for EHV
Keywords— Partial Discharge, PD, VHF, UHF underground power cables. It gives a review of the applied
sensor for the measurement of partial discharge within a
I. INTRODUCTION EHV underground power cable termination kit, and an
organization of the research of a partial discharge
The most important characteristic of a partial discharge measurement system using a spectrum analyzer. [4-6]
sensor created in extra-high voltage underground power
cables is that the generation and extinction of partial
II. DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF A VHF
discharge is very frequent, occurs intermittently in initial
MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
stages of deterioration, and the ampere-hour is very small.
Therefore, it is highly possible that a flaw cannot be detected
in a cable as the measuring time of partial discharge lasts for A. VHF wideband measurement sensor
only a couple of minutes. A suitable measuring technology The sensor developed by the company through mutual
had to be applied and a superior measuring sensitivity and development was used, with the specifications listed below
noise reduction function was required after the testing on Table 1. The sensor measures frequencies ranging from
involving various partial discharge sensors and measuring 2~400MHz and were used for performance testing in
technology in order to extract the miniscule partial discharge construct systems and in spot adoption.
occurring in actual path deficiencies. The reality is that
underground cables’ measured frequency range for partial TABLE I. SPECIFICATIONS OF THE APPLIED SENSOR
discharge is HF(1~50MHz) because the signal reduction
characteristics are very large in high frequencies due to the Model HFCT-400M-40D
high capacitance of the internal insulator within the XLPE
underground transmission cables. External noise and partial
discharge signals are mixed due to the operation conditions Image
of the sealing end of the underground transmission cable,
while the current measuring device for partial discharge
cannot differentiate the noise and partial discharge signals,
which is a broad range mixing external noises and the innate Frequency 2MHz ~ 400MHz

978-1-5386-4126-2/18/$31.00 © 2018 IEEE

 dB <15dB EXT trigger input to the EXT trigger source. The S/W
S21 analysis is done by a laptop connected by TCP/IP
Range 2MHz ~ 400MHz
Internal diameter: 40mm connections. Figure 4 is an image of the structure of the
Size measurement system. [7-8]
External diameter: 98mm
Mass 0.85kg
Internal: Metal
Cladding
External: Polymer
Connector N-type

B. Composing the VHF measurement system

The measurement system was established using a
frequency analyzer that could analyze frequencies in the
VHF/UHF wideband, in order to analyze PD in the
termination kit.
Fig. 4. Measurement System Structure
TABLE II. SPECIFICATIONS OF THE VHF MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Classification Content Notes

III. MATERIALIZATION OF ANALYSIS AND
MEASUREMENT SOFTWARE
Model N9340B (KEYSIGHT)
Frequency Range 100khz to 3GHz A. Narrowband PRPD analysis using Zreo-span mode
Spectrum Sweep time 10ms to 1000s Like in an oscilloscope, the zero-span mode is one in
Analysis BW (Band which one can observe the pulse peak in a frequency
30Hz to 1Mhz analyzer. For a zero-span analysis, the CF (Center
Width)
EXT Trigger Frequency) has to be chosen first. In order for that, the start
5V TTL and stop frequency have to be set in the frequency range of
input
EXT Input AC 60Hz 220V
interest and the CF should be chosen after a frequency
Trigger analysis is done. The range of frequency centered in the CF
Source Output 5V TTL should be chosen next, and this research set 1MHz. The
setting is finished after the sweep time of interest is chosen.
The sweep time can be chosen from 10ms~1000s, but is
The frequency analysis is possible to a maximum of usually set as 16.66ms in a cable PD analysis to choose one
3GHz and needs an EXT trigger source input after creating a period unit. Figure 5 is the examples of the narrowband
phase locked module that can generate a 5V TTL signal PRPD analysis in each band.
applicable in the 60Hz frequency for the Narrow-Band
PRPD analysis using the zero-span mode.
The EXT trigger source was manufactured in order to
convert the signal applicable to the EXT trigger input during
the zero-span mode. It is a device that gives a 5V TTL signal
output from the common AC 60Hz power source. The device
circuit diagram and the output waveform is shown in figures
2 and 3.

Fig. 5. Examples of NarrowBand PRPD Analysis

Fig. 2. EXT Trigger Source Circuit Diagram
The structure of the measured software is composed of
frequency analysis mode and PRPDA zero-span mode, as
shown in figures 6 and 7. In a field diagnosis, the frequency
analysis S/W is first used to analyze frequencies from
100kHz~500MHz, take into account the analyzed
frequencies in the PRPDA zero span mode, set the band in
which to analyze, and proceed with the PRPD analysis.
Fig. 3. EXT Trigger Source Output Waveform

The RF Input of the frequency analyzer connects with the

PD Sensor to receive PD signals and input Sync signals from
 Fig. 9. Examples of a multiple signal experiment for Corona+Waveform
generator

The measured result were analyzed in zero span mode as seen

in figures 10 and 11, and as a result the Corona+Waveform
generator signals were measured in both in a band below 25MHz,
while only the corona signal was analyzed in the 50MHz band.
Fig. 6. Frequency Analysis S/W

Fig. 7. PRPDA Zero Span S/W

IV. MOCK VERIFICATION TEST

Fig. 10. PRPDA S/W Measurement
The mock verification test used the 10kV AC
Transformer seen in figure 8 to create a measuring system
and high AC voltage. Corona (2.5kV discharge) was used to
create partial discharge and the generated PD signals were
measured using the high performance HFCT (2~400MHz).
As seen in figure 9, pulses within the 25MHz frequency
range (Pulse edge 5ns, Pulse Width 200ns) was generated
and input inside the HFCT simultaneously from the
Waveform Generator in order to test whether the partial
discharge can be distinguished apart from noise.

Fig. 11. Zero Span mode classification results per frequency band

V. ON-SITE PD MEASUREMENT APPLICATION TEST

A. EBO Testing in the TR

The experiment to test the EBO in the TR was held by
the mock system. The supply was as shown in figure 12,
where the initial measurement system and the VHF
Fig. 8. Experiment Formation wideband measurement system were organized together and
applied.
Fig. 12. EBO measurement in the TR structure
The SMART-T7, available for HF wideband testing, was
used first to test for PD generation, which resulted in a PD
generation caused in C. The generated PD was also analyzed
for the source by inferring the location. The following table
is an organizational chart recording the generation
measurements. The PRPD form of the discharge is a floating
form, and the noise reduction analysis was possible using the
noise sensor. As a result of the pulse form analysis, the pulse
does not seem to be generated within the EBO.
TABLE III. HF WIDEBAND MEASUREMENTS IN C PHASE
Fig. 14. Location inference measurement
According to the analysis, the VHF measurement system
was implemented to measure and analyze the frequency
analysis mode and PRPDA zero span mode. As shown in
figure 15, the analysis was largest in the 50MHz bandwidth,
going up until the 180MHz region. The intensity diminished
as the frequency region was heightened, and no PD was
detected from 200MHz and up. From this result, it could be
seen that external signals coming from the outside can only
be detected under 200MHz.

Before No PD Patter detected

External within the cable insulator.
Noise A floating discharge form
PD
Reduction due to bad connection
Pattern
Analysis After
No PD Pattern after noise
Noise
reduction
Reduction
A similar pulse form Not a
Pulse Pulse
PD pulse form generated
Form Form
from a cable insulator
Analysis Analysis
discharge
Fig. 15. PRPD Analysis per frequency in C Phase
The location inference analysis was proceeded using an
oscilloscope according to the results, and the inference VI. CONCLUSION
analysis system was organized as shown in figure 13. The PD signals generated in extra-high voltage
underground power cables are intermittent. In termination
kits above ground, the VHF wideband frequency measuring
method was presented to replace the downsides of the HF
wideband measurement method. A measurement system and
software were developed using common devices, and the
possibilities of partial discharge in the VHF wideband was
verified through the mock testing. The measurement system
was applied in field and was tested. The measured signals
were analyzed for PRPD according to frequencies. This
testing showed that external noise would only be detected up
to 200MHz. In future experiments, the sites of partial
discharge would be chosen for additional testing
Fig. 13. Location inference measurement diagram
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