Partial discharge measurements and techniques for pattern recognition and life prediction of medium voltage XLPE cables

Recent developments in online condition assessments for high voltage equipment has accepted Partial discharge (PD) measurements as an efficient diagnostics method. A PD measuring test setup was compiled with the aim to study the variations in the partial discharge characteristics over the insulation degradation in terms of the physical phenomena taking place in PD sources up to the point of failure. The statistical characteristics formulated with the help of Phase Resolved Partial Discharge Analysis (PRPDA) technique and ultra-wideband discharge characteristics by using High Frequency Current Transformer (HFCT) sensor were studied and analyzed. The experimental results can be used to develop an automated pattern recognition method based on the machine learning algorithms for online condition monitoring and insulation diagnostics.