Diagnostic PD pulse techniques A discussion on possibilities and limitations

Michael G. Danikas Democritus University of Thrace Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering Power Systems Laboratory, Xanthi GREECE

Terms and definitions

*PD magnitude is the loss of charge, as measured at the terminals of a sample, caused by a single discharge **PD energy is the energy dissipated by a single discharge
***Discharge resistance of insulation: Resistance of a material to deterioration and dielectric breakdown when exposed to discharges under prescribed test conditions (A. Kelen, 1967)

Deteriorating effects of a single discharge in polyethylene noted and investigated by Mason (early fifties) Increase of applied voltage above inception implies an increase of PD pulse repetition rate and therefore of PD intensity That in turn means increased deterioration

What do we mean by insulation deterioration?

It may mean various things to various people!

For example, Garcia and Fallou (1983) by the above term mean loss of weight

Others (Nikolopoulos (1983)) mean the production of bubbles in a system of pressboard/oil insulation and still others (Horri et al. (1983)) mean the deterioration of the surface of pressboard
Still others (Danikas (1985, 1987)), with a polymer/oil insulation, mean by this term the solid material damage only, manifested as blackened, discoloured and molten areas, punctures and surface treeing

How we define insulation deterioration depends on the insulating system we work with and on the complication of this system
In a more-than-one material insulating system it is probable that PD influence not only just one of the components but all of them Consequently, what is defined as insulation deterioration depends on the experimenter (but let it not sound too subjective!) We see that the question of insulation deterioration is not that simple, especially if we deal with more complicated insulating systems

Relationship between applied voltage and discharge attack is by no means simple Discharge attack influenced by PD magnitude* and energy**, waveform and frequency of applied voltage, the local environment and the resistance*** of the insulation both to discharge attack and to chemical attack by byproducts generated by PD as well as by the electrical and chemical characteristics of the ambient medium

What is the purpose of this presentation? To discuss the merits and limitations of the pulse- height and phaseanalysis of PD together with those of time-resolved PD measurements

Pulse-height and phase analysis

PD detection and measurement of major concern to engineers and scientists since they try to relate PD parameters to the deterioration and/or the service life of electrical insulation Initial studies focused on influence of electrical parameters on the detected PD (Mole, Mason, Kreuger) Although for a first approach, the measurement of maximum PD magnitude and of the inception and extinction voltages may be adequate, pulse-height and phase-analysis techniques give a much more detailed picture

Pulse-height and phase analysis

This technique permits the possibility of comparing results under different operational conditions: at full or no load
Phase distributions tend to act more sensitively to changes of voltage or sample condition than do the corresponding amplitude distributions The acquisition and digital recording and processing resulting in n-q- distributions of PD pulses of either polarity is a powerful tool for the trained observer if he is to distinguish between not yet eliminated disturbances and true PD pulse patterns

Deterioration increases with the applied voltage increasing above inception Deterioration depends on the nature of insulation (i.e. its resistance to PD-erosion and to chemical attacks by byproducts of the PD), the ratio of the applied to inception voltage, the magnitude and energy of PD, the dimensions and number of existing microcavities, the waveform and frequency of applied voltage, and both electrical and chemical characteristics of the ambient medium

IMPORTANT: maximum PD magnitude does not give detailed information on the insulation.

Why?
Because there have been numerous occasions in which breakdown came about suddenly after a relatively long period of apparently small or no (detected) discharges!

IMPORTANT: inception and extinction voltages depend on PD detector sensitivity. Also, for some composite insulating systems the said quantities depend on hydrostatic pressure
With the above mentioned techniques a number of useful PD parameters (such as PD energy, PD power, PD quadratic rate, skewness, kurtosis and other statistical moments of the PD pulse distribution) may be taken into account The variation of such parameters may give hints as to the actual state of insulation and/or warn on the imminent danger of a breakdown

Are relationships between various PD parameters and insulation deterioration straightforward?

By no means! Earlier work pointed out to a direct relationship BUT Work was usually confined to some specific experimental arrangements (this is the case of the work by Garcia and Fallou as well as that of Megahed)

These are, however, the good news:

Pulse-height distributions with a pronounced polarity asymmetry suggest PD activity between a conductor and an insulating surface Pulse-phase analysis produces patterns that are very sensitive to any change of the insulation condition as well to the operating conditions Pulse-height and phase-analysis offer fingerprints of the insulation in different operational regimes

Comparison between so obtained pulse distributions may suggest important diagnostic conclusions regarding the insulation condition (particularly with regard to the safety of continued operation or the needs of maintenance action) Basic weakness: difficult to extrapolate results from pulse distributions obtained in laboratory to operating equipment in the field

Why is PD diagnostics important?

Relates the amount of deterioration to relevant aspects of PD activity (i.e., PD dissipated energy) Gives information as to the state of the insulation and warns on any signs of imminent failure It may signal conditions like formation of cavities and cracks, conducting deposits etc. which might be relevant to other types of ageing than electrical, such as thermal, mechanical, as well as important aspects of multi-stress ageing

Time-resolved PD measurements

What is the aim of such measurements? To register PD pulses induced at the terminals of the test cell To give information on the variability of PD currents w.r.t. voltage To give information on the variation of PD currents w.r.t. time To reveal the mechanism of PD and to possibly observe transformations from one PD mechanism to another (or from one discharge regime to another)

Time-resolved PD measurements can record shape and speed of the PD event (which can be in the region of 1 ns or even less)
With the aid of such measurements one may relate cavity size to PD events With time-resolved measurements one may obtain information on the various regimes of PD events in laboratory samples (e.g. Morshuis, who observed streamer discharges, Townsend discharges and pitting discharges)

The above is most important information when we deal with laboratory samples having cavities
Why? Because the variety of PD regimes gives us an idea of the limitations of the conventional PD detectors (do conventional PD detectors detect all types of PD?)

Possibilities and limitations of the aforementioned methods

insulation that matter most or in other words many synergisms dominate both the dynamics of PD activity and the resulting insulation damage)

Pulse-height and phase-analysis (PHPA) techniques may monitor a variety of PD parameters with voltage and/or time PHPA techniques give the possibility of correlation between PD parameters and the amount of deterioration of the insulation (attention: such techniques are not sufficient to predict insulation lifetime since it is the operational conditions of the

PHPA techniques have detection thresholds with regard to pulse amplitude and time resolution (processing dead time, pulses too close to be counted separately) PHPA techniques may not detect very close or very frequent pulses or any occurring pulseless regimes (such regimes are possible to detect and assess if PHPA recordings are compared to corresponding results from other methods which do not depend on pulse acquisition (e.g. the Schering bridge method)

Time -resolved measurements may define the mechanisms of PD at a certain voltage and the change of PD mechanism with time
Time-resolved measurements record isolated events Time-resolved measurements, however, do not represent a reliable diagnostic tool regarding a possible correlation between PD activity and insulation deterioration Still, time-resolved measurements (i.e., information on the rise times of PD currents) can better define the calibration requirements of PD detectors

Ideally we should use both techniques

Both of them give valuable information and they seem to be complementary Both techniques can be very useful especially during the latest stage of ageing when the so called pitting (or swarm microdischarges) set in

Some further comments about the pulseheight and phase- analysis (PHPA) techniques

Epoxy resin samples with cavity, a.c. voltage Half-moon shaped PD distribution Each PD pulse as a point in the PD magnitude - phase angle plot Maximum positive PD occurs at about 900 and maximum negative PD occurs at about 2700

Let us remember Pedersens formula

q = k0 (i El) 0 with i El = 1 + B/2p

If Ecr is the electric field inside the cavity below which no PD is possible, if a PD has already occurred, and if for a new PD to occur the electric field must increase to a value Estr (value which is enough for a streamer PD), the minimum PD magnitude which takes place at Estr is proportional to the quantity (Estr - Ecr), i.e.,
qmin (Estr - Ecr) if we assume no statistical time lag

In case of statistical delay, q is proportional to (Ev - Ecr) > (Estr - Ecr) As the electric field follows the applied sinusoidal voltage waveform, the PD magnitude will be maximum at an angle of about 900 (in case of positive PD) and it will decrease after the instant at which the voltage attains its maximum

Exactly the same applies for the negative PD (with the difference that the maximum in this case is reached at about 2700) IMPORTANT: the proportionality of q to

statistical delay and to the quantity (Estr Ecr) may explain the well known phenomenon of the increase of the PD magnitude with the applied voltage

Additional remarks: if there is a variation in phase for the PD, then the retarded PD should have higher charge due to the excess field and a higher discharge duration and rise time This assumption comes true since a positive correlation between rise time and charge for a given cavity size was observed with cavities enclosed in polyethylene

PD diagnostics and electrical insulation condition

PD diagnostics produces information concerning PD activity in the object under test (intensity of PD, other characteristics of PD as well as identity, location and - to some degree- properties of PD active sites)
PD diagnostics cannot tell anything about those parts of a test object which are not sufficiently stressed to produce PD

PD diagnostics gives information on the actual state of an objects insulation BUT cannot give an assessment of its remaining life
(why is that? Because life depends BOTH on the state of a gradually deteriorating object and on the stresses that act on it later) ANY LIFE ASSESSMENT IS MEANINGFUL ONLY IF REFERRED TO SOME SPECIFIC SET OF REFERENCE OPERATING (AND ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS) CONDITIONS We should not forget that ageing is far more complex than the gradual advance of a single process like oxidation or water treeing

Complex and multi-dimensional diagnostic data cannot be compressed into a single figure of merit
Moreover, such a figure of merit is misleading, cannot give an estimate of remaining life, can be dangerous in its consequences both economically but also from the viewpoint of human safety

Outlook and perspectives

A uniform terminology regarding PD pulse polarity is necessary

Attention should be paid to the influence the voltage waveform has on PD results Attention should be paid to the regimes of pulseless or very small PD

We should not go for the good for all applications PD diagnostics but powerful methods should be developed for particular products