8 Years Experience in Large-Scale Remote Partial Discharge Monitoring of HV Motors in an Oil and Gas Environment

This paper presents key knowledge gained over eight years of remote on-line partial discharge monitoring high voltage electric motors in an onshore oil production and gas processing facility using signal analysis tools. A technique that is suited to electric motors in hazardous (classified) zones is remote monitoring. With remote partial discharge monitoring signals from a variety of sources superimpose resulting in a complex phase resolved partial discharge pattern. Advanced signal analysis tools are thus utilized to distinguish and trend the partial discharge signals. Topics are discussed around system deployment, from the selection of suitable sensors and pulse propagation paths to full automation of the data transfer. Case studies are presented where advanced analysis tools along with partial discharge cluster trending were combined for diagnosis of aging in-service process-critical high voltage electric motors operating at 10 kV. An infrastructure to transfer and analyze online partial discharge data from the site to remote locations is also described.