Partial discharge in Gas Insulated substations (GIS): A development and engineering perspective

GIS and its allied subsystems are always expected to function and work with extremely high level of reliability. These substations contain several dielectric interfaces and combinational insulating medias. The GIS may be subject to Partial discharge activity may initiate in some conditions in the GIS modules considering its varied operating conditions thus an effective condition monitoring during the complete GIS life cycle is extremely critical. This phenomenon thus requires a special attention from the GIS manufacturers worldwide. This paper discusses the analysis of the various available techniques for PD detection. Also the various techniques available for the partial discharge detection in GIS like UHF, Acoustic and standard process as per IEC standards are discussed. A study for the partial discharge analysis techniques and its applications to different production stages Gas Insulated substations (GIS) from initial production to on-site testing has been conducted is also discussed. Finally this paper helps to conclude upon the most effective technique for PD detection considering the different parameters like cost, engineering and design parameters. This work is an extension to the author's publication titled Partial discharge in gas insulated substations: Effects mitigation and analysis.