Charge accumulation effects on time transition of partial discharge activity at GIS spacer defects

The partial discharge (PD) measurements are considered as the most important tool for condition monitoring of Gas Insulated Switchgears (GISs). However, if spacer surface is involved in PD activity, charge accumulation process greatly affects the time transition of PD characteristics. This paper investigates this effect considering the defect types of delamination at the electrode/spacer interface and metallic particles adhered to the spacer surface as the most serious defects that can lead to major failure. Two different electrode configurations were built to simulate the two defect types. The PD characteristics were measured and analyzed from immediately after voltage application up to several minutes where steady state characteristics have been obtained. As a result, it was found that the generation rate of PD pulses changed considerably with time for both defect types. This tendency of PD characteristics has been discussed considering the effect of charge accumulation. Comparing these effects for negative and positive PD enabled to clarify the similarities and differences in the charge accumulation effect for both defect types which can contribute to the defect type identification in GIS. It was found that the effects of charge accumulation on the electric field strength for the delamination defect case as well as on the ionization volume for the metallic particle case were the responsible parameters for the different PD tendencies.