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April 3, 2024

Why to use a corona camera to detect corona discharge when you

already have an ultrasonic detector?

Ultrasonic and UV (DayCor) detection of corona discharge should be

compared from the following aspects:
1. Distance of detection
2. Accuracy in locating the corona
3. Disturbances.
4. Detection capability from helicopter
5. Price

1. Ultrasonic equipment is a sensitive corona detector from short distances.

When moving 50 m away from the target the detection capability of ultrasound
equipment is drastically reduced. Safe for very intense corona, ultrasound
equipment will not be effective from large distance. With the DayCor corona
camera, corona can be detected from long distance. On high voltage lines we
often detect corona from a distance 250 m and more.
2. Ultrasonic equipment will not exactly locate the place of the corona. An
experienced operator may locate the defective insulator on a high voltage
pylon, but will not tell if it is on a hardware piece attached to the insulator or
on a certain bell or shed. Exact location of the corona source detected by an
ultrasonic device may be time consuming. With a corona camera one can
rapidely and exactly locate the corona on the insulator, conductor or any other
substation component. This is of great importance because the exact location
of the discharge determines the action to be taken by the maintenance team
and the fast location of the discharge by the corona camera spares a lot of
time to the maintenance team.
The maintenance team has to know if the discharge is on an arcing horn, on a
corona ring, on an end fitting of a polymer insulator or on the cap of a
porcelain insulator etc… All this information can be easily obtained by exactly
locating the corona with an optical device like a corona camera.
3. Ultrasonic equipment is disturbed by noisy environment as it often occurs in
towns. Corona cameras are disturbed by UV emission from non-corona
sources like welding arcs and fires. However, a camera operator with little
experience will easily discern between “UV noise” and real corona signal.
4. Due to the noisy environment, ultrasound detectors cannot be used from
helicopters. Use of corona cameras in airborne inspections becomes popular
both in transmission and distribution sectors of utilities.
5. Ultrasonic equipment is cheaper to buy than a corona camera. This is offset
by labour saving gained by fast location of the corona by the inspection team
using a corona camera.

In many cases users of corona cameras use both inspection methods

simultaneously. The final location of the corona will always be done with the
corona camera.
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One case when the ultrasonic detector has advantage is when there is no
direct line of sight to the corona source. As any other type of camera, Corona
cameras require line of sight to the target.