Wireless sensor networks for partial discharge condition monitoring

Distributed wireless sensor networks (WSNs) promise to change the way industrial systems and structures are monitored and controlled. This paper presents a WSN simulation model for a partial discharge (PD) WSN monitoring system for HV systems. A simulation model of a ZigBee sensor network has been simulated to be positioned at 6 locations of an HV transformer to record the PD readings and associated monitored power cycle at each sensor for synchronization purposes. The model has been simulated using OPNET to evaluate the system throughput, data flow and management of the collected data. The simulation outputs assist in optimizing the performance of the WSN for PD monitoring in terms of optimizing power dissipation and end-to-end delay of data transfer.