J.M.

PANG & SEAH PTE LTD

On-Line Partial Discharge

Measurement of a 230kV XLPE
Cable Termination Using High
Frequency CT Sensors

Chapter

12

n a cable system consisting of the cables, cable terminations and cable joints, one of the common
point of premature failure will be at the cable termination. This article will show the use of a online partial discharge measurement system using high frequency CT for a 230kV XLPE cable

termination.

Partial discharge measurement is a useful assessment tool because it provides an

instantaneous measure of the integrity of the cable termination and also serves as a sensitive monitor of
the deterioration of insulation as a function of time.

High Frequency Current Transformer

The high frequency CT or HFCT sensor has a split core construction and can be connected to the
earth connection for the cable screen at either one end or both ends of the cable termination.
12.1 and Figure 12.2 illustrates the two methods of earthing for the cable screen.

Figure

When a cable has

earthing at both ends of the cable screen, there will be a power frequency 50 hertz circulating current in
the earth cable connected to the cable screen. This 50 hertz current is proportional to the length of the
cable and the current in the phase conductor of the cable. However, the HFCT will not detect the 50
hertz current in the earth cable connected to the cable screen because it has soft ferrite core whose
frequency response is constant from 1MHz to 10MHz.

FIGURE 12.1 : Earthing at Both Ends

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FIGURE 12.2 : Earthing at Single End

Figure 12.3 shows the frequency characteristic of the HFCT. This frequency range is consistent
with other capacitive and inductive sensors of about 10MHz which will achieve the best signal to noise
ratio. The HFCT sensor is easy to use because it can easily be connected to the earth cable connected to
the cable screen and does not require to de-energize the cable system for the partial discharge
measurement. In addition, the split core construction does not require the disconnection of the earth
cable in order to insert the HFCT sensor. Figure 12.4 is a picture of the HFCT used by the author.

Frequency (kHz)

10

50

100

500

1000

5000

10 000

13 000

Input (V)

Output (mV)

1.3

6.7

104

180

222

222

224

218

200

FIGURE 12.3 : Frequency Response of HFCT

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The Measurement System

The output of the HFCT sensor is
connected to a typical digital oscilloscope with
100MHz bandwidth and a sampling rate of 1
Giga sample per sample. The oscilloscope has
4 input channels with 3 of the input channels
connected to L1, L2 and L3 phase of a 3 phase
cable system.

The last input channel is

connected to an antenna to detect external

noise.
FIGURE 12.4 : High Frequency Current Transformer (HFCT)

The oscilloscope is interfaced to a

partial discharge software using a standard

GPIB (general purpose interface board).

The partial discharge software will display and detected partial discharge activity in the phase resolved
mode, which has the horizontal axis in 0 to 360 degree of the line voltage. This will provide the real time
information of the partial discharge across the phase of the 50 hertz AC line voltage. When the AC line
voltage is zero, there will be no partial discharge activity. Partial discharge can only happen when there is
voltage whose magnitude exceeds the partial discharge inception voltage. This basic behavior will allow
pattern recognition of real partial discharge activity. The partial discharge software will set up the
oscilloscope for the following:

The trigger source of the oscilloscope will be on AC line voltage.

The measurement is set to peak detection

The input channel will detect only the AC component of the measured signal.

Any DC

component will be ignored.

Figure 12.5 shows the basic block diagram of the measurement system. The measurement duration can be
as short as 5 minutes or as long as 60 minutes. The typical duration is 10 minutes.

Case History
The

A short length of new 230kV XLPE

cable connect an existing 230kV GIS to a new
230/66kV,

150MVA

transformer.

The

transformer was successfully energized to the

utility 230kV line voltage. Partial discharge
FIGURE 12.5 : Measurement System

activity was detected at the cable termination

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at the transformer by the utility

65

company and I was requested to

60
55

measure the partial discharge activity

PD Magnitude (mV)

50
45

using the HFCT sensors. Figure 12.6

40

shows the measurement for phase L1.

35
30

The phase L1 shows partial discharge

25
20

activity near the positive peak and

15
10

negative peak of the line voltage. The

5
0
0

50

100

150
200
Phase (Degrees)

250

300

350

cable termination at the transformer

was for a 230kV XLPE cable into an
oil filled box at the transformer.

FIGURE 12.6 : Measurement Before Repair for Phase L1.

The

cable was unplugged from the oil filled

box, cleaned-up, plugged back to the

oil filled box, and re-energized to the

PD Magnitude (mV)

utility line voltage. Figure 12.7 shows

2

the re-measurement for phase L1. The

previous double hump shape did not
appear and the re-measurement was

relatively constant across the phase

angle of the utility line voltage.
0
0

50

100

150
200
Phase (Degrees)

250

300

350

This

indicates no partial discharge activity.

Conclusion

FIGURE 12.7 : Measurement After Repair for Phase L1.

The partial discharge activity was

measured using the actual utility line voltage, and hence will represent the insulation condition at the
actual operating voltage. The split core construction of the HFCT sensor allows easy connection to the
cable termination. These two factors make the partial discharge measurement of the cable termination
useful and easy to use.
- END --