Partial Discharge Location Technique for Covered-Conductor Overhead Distribution Lines

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto.fi Author Muzamir Isa Name of the doctoral dissertation Partial Discharge Location Technique for Covered-Conductor Overhead Distribution Lines Publisher School of Electrical Engineering Unit Department of Electrical Engineering Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 9/2013 Field of research Power Systems and High Voltage Engineering Manuscript submitted 18 June 2012 Date of the defence 11 January 2013 Permission to publish granted (date) 4 December 2012 Language English Monograph Article dissertation (summary + original articles) Abstract In Finland, covered-conductor (CC) overhead lines are commonly used in medium voltage (MV) networks because the loads are widely distributed in the forested terrain. Such parts of the network are exposed to leaning trees which produce partial discharges (PDs) in CC lines. This thesis presents a technique to locate the PD source on CC overhead distribution line networks. The algorithm is developed and tested using a simulated study and experimental measurements. The Electromagnetic Transient Program-Alternative Transient Program (EMTP-ATP) is used to simulate and analyze a three-phase PD monitoring system, while MATLAB is used for post-processing of the high frequency signals which were measured. A Rogowski coil is used as the measuring sensor. A multi-end correlation-based technique for PD location is implemented using the theory of maximum correlation factor in order to find the time difference of arrival (TDOA) between signal arrivals at three synchronized measuring points. The three stages of signal analysis used are: 1) denoising by applying discrete wavelet transform (DWT); 2) extracting the PD features using the absolute or windowed standard deviation (STD) and; 3) locating the PD point. The advantage of this technique is the ability to locate the PD source without the need to know the first arrival time and the propagation velocity of the signals. In addition, the faulty section of the CC line between three measuring points can also be identified based on the degrees of correlation. An experimental analysis is performed to evaluate the PD measurement system performance for PD location on CC overhead lines. The measuring set-up is arranged in a high voltage (HV) laboratory. A multi-end measuring method is chosen as a technique to locate the PD source point on the line. A power transformer 110/20 kV was used to energize the AC voltage up to 11.5 kV/phase (20 kV system). The tests were designed to cover different conditions such as offline and online measurements. The thesis evaluates the possibility of using a Rogowski coil for locating faults in MV distribution lines and a test bench of a 20 kV distribution network is developed. Different fault scenarios are simulated including earth and phase faults, arcing faults and faults caused by leaning trees. Results favourably show the possibility of using a Rogowski coil for locating faults in distribution networks.In Finland, covered-conductor (CC) overhead lines are commonly used in medium voltage (MV) networks because the loads are widely distributed in the forested terrain. Such parts of the network are exposed to leaning trees which produce partial discharges (PDs) in CC lines. This thesis presents a technique to locate the PD source on CC overhead distribution line networks. The algorithm is developed and tested using a simulated study and experimental measurements. The Electromagnetic Transient Program-Alternative Transient Program (EMTP-ATP) is used to simulate and analyze a three-phase PD monitoring system, while MATLAB is used for post-processing of the high frequency signals which were measured. A Rogowski coil is used as the measuring sensor. A multi-end correlation-based technique for PD location is implemented using the theory of maximum correlation factor in order to find the time difference of arrival (TDOA) between signal arrivals at three synchronized measuring points. The three stages of signal analysis used are: 1) denoising by applying discrete wavelet transform (DWT); 2) extracting the PD features using the absolute or windowed standard deviation (STD) and; 3) locating the PD point. The advantage of this technique is the ability to locate the PD source without the need to know the first arrival time and the propagation velocity of the signals. In addition, the faulty section of the CC line between three measuring points can also be identified based on the degrees of correlation. An experimental analysis is performed to evaluate the PD measurement system performance for PD location on CC overhead lines. The measuring set-up is arranged in a high voltage (HV) laboratory. A multi-end measuring method is chosen as a technique to locate the PD source point on the line. A power transformer 110/20 kV was used to energize the AC voltage up to 11.5 kV/phase (20 kV system). The tests were designed to cover different conditions such as offline and online measurements. The thesis evaluates the possibility of using a Rogowski coil for locating faults in MV distribution lines and a test bench of a 20 kV distribution network is developed. Different fault scenarios are simulated including earth and phase faults, arcing faults and faults caused by leaning trees. Results favourably show the possibility of using a Rogowski coil for locating faults in distribution networks.