Information

SPG 40 and
Cable Test Van
Compact City
INFO Version 01

Compact fault location system for

low and medium voltage cables

Mess- und Ortungstechnik

Measuring and Locating Technologies

Elektrizitätsnetze
Power Networks

Kommunikationsnetze
Communication Networks

Rohrleitungsnetze
Water Networks

Leitungsortung
Line Locating

- as of 25. Aug 2005 -

 SPG 40
and Compact City

SPG 40 and cable test van version Compact City

Compact fault location system for low and medium voltage cables

Even prior to the regulation of the market for
electricity, the electricity supply companies
carried out comprehensive restructuring and
cost-reduction measures. In the process, the
existing equipment for cable testing and fault
location was largely decentralised, older test
equipment was disposed of and not replaced
with new equipment. In particular, new
investment in cable measurement vehicles was
significantly reduced.
Network operators now require small, very
flexible measurement systems, which can be
used in inner city areas with narrow pedestrian
zones and minimal parking spaces and which
can even be used in poorly accessible locations
in underground car parks. SebaKMT's response
to this was to develop a compact, universally
useable test and fault location system - the
SPG 40 (Fig. 1).
The parameters for a universal fault location
system are dimensioned to suit the supply
voltages of the cable network concerned.
Working together with a European
manufacturer of high voltage impulse
capacitors, particularly compact impulse
capacitors have been developed with a high
energy density. These enable the new
measurement system to be universally
configurable.
They allow particular customer requests to be
met for an optimal modification of the system to
the characteristics of network concerned.
The Solution

Fig. 2 SPG 40 a compact & powerful test and fault

location system

The SPG40 can be built as portable equipment

with an integrated VGA display or, it can be
Fig. 1 Compact City in a small vehicle produced to be built-in with a separate control
unit (Fig. 2; Fig. 3)
The Technical Challenge

The classical high voltage technology in cable

test and fault location systems is based on 50
Hz, high voltage generators with corresponding
rectification units. The disadvantages of this
technology are, apart from the high weight,
above all the secondary technology, to
implement automated operation and control.
Various fault location tasks such as locating
sheath faults, should be carried out without
damaging the cable, if possible. This requires
control of the output current, which is not
possible with 50 Hz transformer technology.
The technology should also be implemented Fig. 3 Compact City the way it is installed in a vehicle
with minimal weight and should need little
space.
On the basis of a powerful, electronic, switching
power-supply and an optimised cascading
circuit, a high voltage generator was developed
which feeds all measurement processes via
specially developed system switches.
SPG 40
and Compact City
Fig. 4 Control units of the SPG 40 and reflectometer
T 30-E
For safe operation of the SPG 40, all safety
features in the “large" cable test vehicle have
been further developed with modern technology
and provide the user with an easy to use
system and absolute safety when using it.
The ease of use extends to the safe to touch,
high voltage, coaxial plugs in the system
(Fig. 5).
Fig. 5 SPG 40 with a cable reel module, built into a
Citroen Berlingo
In the SPG 40, on the basis of a graphical
display, all known measurement processes
have been implemented with intuitive operation.
The Easy Go
operating philosophy of SEBAKMT
equipment and systems enables even
inexperienced users to safely and efficiently
carry out cable checks and fault location.
In the main menu (Fig. 6) the SPG 40
measurement processes can be selected.
Fig. 6 Main menu for the measurement process
In the operational mode Testing both an
insulation measurement (Fig. 7) as well as the
evaluation of the cable under test are possible
via measurement of the leakage current.
Fig. 7 Insulation measurement up to 5 kV or cable test up
to 40 kV DC
Under the Prelocation menu, the ARM (arc
reflection measurement), ICE (current coupling)
and Decay (voltage coupling) processes can be
selected.
The mostly used ARM process is implemented
in the proven ARM choke technology, to couple
the impulse process to the object under test.
With this, even with faults at large distances or
for cables with faults which are hard to ignite,
successful location using an arc is possible
After selecting the desired impulse voltage
level, the charging voltage and single shot
trigger are entered (Fig. 8).
 SPG 40
and Compact City

Fig. 8 ARM prelocation in the SPG 40

Fig. 9 Acoustic field method to pinpoint the location of
cable faults
As already mentioned, the SPG 40 is made into
a complete fault location system with the
addition of the modern, portable T 30-E
reflectometer. In this combination, the user has
Summary
access to an extensive automation of the
measurement procedure. For example in the
The SPG 40 is a universally useable, compact,
"ARM Quickstep" mode, only 3 steps are
low weight and modular system. The system
necessary from the operator to get the
can be used portably and can be built in very
prelocation result.
ergonomically, even into small vehicles.
Cable faults are then pinpointed classically with
the acoustic field method or, if the fault situation
Apart from the very flexible impulse voltage
warrants it, with the step voltage process. For
levels, the most important parameters are:
the step voltage method, the SPG 40 feeds a
pulsed dc voltage with controllable output
Insulation measurements 1000 V / 5000 V
current to the object under test. This avoids the
possibility of the fault location drying out and DC testing up to 40 kV
the damage of adjacent cables, as well as a Automatically determining breakdown
significant safety aspect, the step voltages voltage
resulting are controlled. Burning 0 ... 8 kV with 700 mA
Due to the modular impulse voltage levels the Burning 0 ... 20 kV with 100 mA
SPG 40 can be optimally configured to the Test and locating of cable sheath faults
voltage levels of the customer's network. The with step voltage of
following impulse voltage levels are available in 0 ... 5 kV and 0 … 10 kV
the portable version with a pulse energy of Prelocating methods ARM, ICE, Decay
1000 Ws and in the Compact City even up to
2000 Ws as an option:

12.5 kV / 25 kV
16 kV / 32 kV
8 kV / 12.5 kV / 25 kV
8 kV / 16 kV / 32 kV
4 kV / 12.5 kV / 25 kV
4 kV / 16 kV / 32 kV Author:
Dr.-Ing. Frank Petzold
Technical general manager
SebaKMT Mess- und Ortungstechnik GmbH

© 2005, Seba Dynatronic GmbH

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