Draft, Paper 1.

19, submitted to ETG, 'Diagnostik Elektrischer Betriebsmittel', Berlin, February 26-27, 2002

Partial Discharge Monitoring and Breakdown Location

on GIS Equipment
Detlev Gross and Markus Soeller, Power Diagnostix Systems GmbH, Aachen, Germany

Abstract
An increasing population of service aged GIS equipment has reached its originally projected lifetime. Continuous
on-line partial discharge monitoring helps keeping such equipment in service. The application of external UHF
sensors, such as external ring antenna or window sensors, is discussed versus the properties of embedded UHF
sensors. Field experience applying a modular and cost-effective UHF monitoring equipment is presented. Further
methods, such as ultra-sonic detection, are discussed in brief.
Occasionally, electrical breakdown is experienced during commissioning of GIS equipment. In case, sharp points,
faulty insulator discs, large floating particles, and other imperfections cause such breakdown. Using a multi-
channel acoustic analyzer, the point of the breakdown within a larger GIS is found by comparing the acoustic
travel time to several sensor modules mounted externally to the GIS.

1 Introduction
Different strategies exist to keep service aged substa-
tion equipment in service. For gas insulated switch-
gear (GIS), UHF partial discharge monitoring is one
tool to monitor the integrity of the insulation system
and to extend the lifetime of the equipment [1-4].
However, installing integrated sensors, as increasingly
used with new GIS, requires the opening of the GIS. To
avoid the ambiguities, risk, and costs of such opening
of an old GIS, effective methods to use external sen-
Amplitude
of the GIS parts that are acting as UHF wave guide
cause reflections as well. Further different TE and TM
modes of higher orders are excited and transmitted [2].
In time domain, the partial discharge signal, which was
originally a single impulse, only, appears as a heavily
ringing broadband signal, because of the reflections
and due to the relatively low attenuation. Further, this
attenuation causes the e-function envelope of the
UHF signal (Fig. 1, right graph).

Amplitude

sors are of greater interest [5].

2 Sensor Concepts for PD

Monitoring on GIS Equip-
ment
Partial discharge electron avalanches under SF6 at-
mosphere have a very steep rise time of well below 1ns
(Fig. 1, left graph). Thus, at its point of origin, such
partial discharge pulses offer an evenly distributed
amplitude spectrum of up to 2GHz and above.
Concerning basic design principles, gas-insulated
switchgear can be considered as tightly shielded con-
ductors offering a relatively low attenuation of UHF
signals being transmitted through a GIS bay [1,2]. On
straight bus duct sections, the attenuation was found
in the range of 2dB/m for the TEM mode.
However, steps in the outer diameter as well as with
the inner conductor introduce a change of the imped-
ance and, hence, reflections of the signal. Spare
flange, typical elbow pieces, and other discontinuities
Time, 1ns/DIV Time, 100ns/DIV
Fig. 1 Partial discharge signals in GIS equipment
Generally, antennas or field probes can be used to cap-
ture such signals. Embedded antennas, which are in-
stalled at spare flange, for instance, offer excellent
shielding against external disturbance in the UHF
range.
Fig. 2 shows an example of such an embedded an-
tenna. Various GIS manufacturers offer such couplers
for installation. However, the installation of those
couplers requires opening the GIS. Thus, embedded
couplers are used mostly in case of new installations
or in case of a major refurbishment of an old GIS,
which requires the opening anyway.

Fig. 2 Flange Type Sensor (ABB)
External UHF sensors can be put on inspection win-
dows, which are frequently found with older GIS (Fig.
3). Good results were obtained for various sizes of
such window sensors (Fig. 4). However, the sensitiv-
ity of such sensors decreases, the smaller the window
diameter gets and the deeper the antenna is recessed
in relation to its diameter. Further, if not shielded prop-
erly, the external antennas are prone to capture UHF
Fig. 3 External window sensor and pre-amplifier
disturbance. Additionally, so-called ring antennas can
capture the UHF signal travelling within the GIS. Such
external ring antennas are applicable with gas-
insulated switchgear, which have unshielded insulator
disks. In such case (Fig. 5), the section vessels of the
Fig. 4 Different external window sensors
Fig. 5 External ring sensors
GIS are directly bolted with the insulator disk. Here,
the UHF signal can be captured externally, as this ep-
oxy resin disk internally is not shielded completely.
The ring antenna itself, of course, is shielded.
However, this type of GIS does not offer measure-
ments of the same sensitivity as found with com-
pletely shielded GIS, because those unshielded insula-
tor disks also allow UHF disturbance to enter the ves-
sel. Fig. 5 shows a provisionally installed flexible ring
antenna.
Additionally, depending on the design of the GIS,
tapping of embedded shields and electrodes used for
internal field shaping can give a reasonable sensitivity
and may allow UHF monitoring. However, those non-
conventional sensors often show a response
dominated by system resonance.
2.1 Ultra-sonic Sensors
Finally, in case no means of UHF coupling can be
found, acoustic sensors to capture ultra-sonic
emission can be applied. Different sensitivities are
found, depending on the location and type of the
discharge source.
For so-called hopping particles, acoustic sensors offer
an excellent sensitivity, which mostly supersedes the
sensitivity found with other detection methods [6].
The sensitivity is comparable for partial discharges of
sharp protrusions, but usually a lower sensitivity is
found for discharges having a less effective acoustic
coupling to the vessel. Voids embedded in spacers
close to the conductor, for instance, offer a poor
acoustic signal. Preferably, acoustic sensors with
built-in pre-amplifier are used.
3 UHF Signal Processing
The wave guide properties of a GIS convert the steep
partial discharge impulse into a ringing signal of a du-
ration of several 100ns. To convert this signal and to
avoid further signal attenuation on coaxial cables, a
small demodulating pre-amplifier is connected directly
to the sensor. This pre-amplifier (RPA6C) with loga-
rithmic scale is remotely fed through a standard RG58
signal cable (Fig. 3). The input frequency range is 200-
2000MHz, while the output frequency is 100-800kHz.
Fig. 6 ICMmonitor software. Trending of the discharge activity and replay of phase resolved PD pattern.
4 Partial Discharge Monitoring
The ICMmonitor, a versatile partial discharge moni-
toring unit records the signals, which have been cap-
tured by the sensors and subsequently were down
converted by the RPA6C. Additionally, the ICMmoni-
tor is able to interface with piezoelectric acoustic ultra-
sonic sensors. The special version of the acquisition
unit for GIS PD monitoring comes with an eight-
channel input multiplexer and provides the supply of
the pre-amplifiers, which are installed at the sensors.
Long signal cables between the acquisition and the
pre-amplifiers are possible, as the supply current
amounts 30mA per pre-amplifier, only, and as further
the bandwidth of the transmitted signals is below
1MHz and, thus, is not suffering from the strong at-
tenuation of the UHF range.
The ICMmonitor acquisition unit continuously scans
through the activated input channels and acquires for
each channel a partial discharge pattern covering typi-
cally 30s. The trending information is stored locally for
each channel separately. The operator can set the
scanning time as well as the resolution of the trending
versus time. A multitude of ICMmonitor acquisition
units is used in a networked configuration depending
on the number of sensors to be monitored. Usually,
one ICMmonitor covers one GIS bay as an acquisition
satellite. In case, a central PC tracks the activities,
which were captured by the acquisition units. Further,
this PC takes care of the storage of phase resolved
partial discharge pattern as well as of the maintenance
of the long-term trending.
Fig. 6 shows a screenshot of the ICMmonitor PC
software. The trending information can be viewed and
analyzed along with the related phase resolved partial
discharge pattern.
Generally, the ICMmonitor can be integrated and has
already been integrated into larger monitoring sys-
tems. Such integration starts with simply recording the
re-converted analog output signal (4-20mA) or using
basic serial commands to get the readings. Finally, a
complete remote control is possible using C-code li-
braries offering full access to the entire instrument.
5 Breakdown Location on GIS
During the commissioning of gas-insulated switchgear
breakdown may occur while applying a test voltage to
a GIS section. Faulty components, sharp protrusions,
poor workmanship, and most prominently, loose me-
tallic particles (hopping particles) can cause such
breakdowns.
A simple acoustic travel time analyzer (ATTanalyzer)
was developed to avoid unnecessary opening of clean
GIS sections, which in case would bear the risk of
bringing in further particles. The system consists of
small acoustic sensors with a built-in preamplifier and
a fiber optic interface. Those sensors are mounted ex-
ternally on the GIS vessel using rubber tapes or straps
(Fig. 7). The sensor module emits an optical signal, in
case the acoustic excitation is stronger than a preset
Fig. 7 Acoustic sensor for breakdown location
level. Low power electronics and Lithium batteries of-
fer continuous operation of the sensor module for up
to four years. Rugged fiber optic cable connects up to
sixteen sensor modules to the acquisition unit, which
acts as a simple logic analyzer (Fig. 8). In case of a
breakdown, the sensor module that captured the
breakdown sound first triggers the acquisition. Sub-
sequently, all the other sensor modules will capture
the signal showing a delay correlated with their dis-
tance to the point of breakdown. In case required, the
sensors are repositioned with a second test to further
narrow down the location of the faulty component
causing the breakdown. Different sample rates for the
received optical signal can be chosen depending on
the distance between the sensors and the required
resolution (1, 2, 5, 10, and 20µs). The fiber optic cables
can have a length of several hundred meters. The
travel time of the optical signal (~150m/µs) can be ne-
glected if compared with the acoustic travel time in air
or in the structure of the GIS vessel (300-8.000m/s).
Besides using the instrument with commissioning
tests, the system can be used also to monitor devel-
Fig. 8 ATTanalyzer, portable acquisition unit.
opment tests on engineering samples or long-term
tests on post insulators, for instance. Reference [3]
describes the application of an earlier version of the
system with such a test setup and during commis-
sioning tests. The instrument is capable of storing six-
teen trigger events in a non-volatile memory for later
analysis. Thus, the unit can monitor such a test setup
unattended.
6 Conclusion
UHF partial discharge monitoring is a powerful tool to
maintain the insulation integrity of GIS. Older, service
aged GIS can benefit from this technique using exter-
nal UHF sensors without the need of opening the ves-
sels. Ultra-sonic sensors can be applied in case no
means of UHF coupling is available.
Breakdowns in GIS sections during commissioning
can be located with an acoustic travel time analyzer
using ultra-sonic sensors and fiber optic connections.
7 References
[1] Muto, H., Doi, M., Fuji, H., and Kamei, M.
"Resonance Characteristics and Identification of
Modes of Electromagnetic Wave exited by Partial
Discharges in GIS", 11th International Symposium
on High Voltage Engineering, London, UK,
August 23-27, 1999.
[2] Judd, M., Farish, O. "Transfer Functions for UHF
Partial Discharges Signals in GIS", 11th Interna-
tional Symposium on High Voltage Engineering,
London, UK, August 23-27, 1999.
[3] Diessner, A., Gorablenkow, J., Hashoff, I., and
Schreieder, A. "Experience with Diagnostic Tech-
niques for Electrical Insulation in GIS". CIGRE
Symp ., Berlin, 1993, Report 130-10.
[4] Wohlmuth, M. "Criticality of moving particles in
GIS". 9th International Symposium on High Volt-
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tember 1, 1995, Paper 2292.
[5] Fruth, B., Gross, D. "Partial Discharge Data Ac-
quisition Systems for Substation Monitoring",
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nostics Conference, February 17-19, 1997, New
Orleans, LA, USA.
[6] Lundgaard, L., Ljøkelsøy, K., and Schei, A. "Peri-
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