Investigation of Partial Discharges in Supporting Insulators

Abstract

Partial discharge insulators diagnostic as a tool of personnel protection is studied in this paper. The electrical field of normal and defective insulators was simulated. Experiments of PD measurement were performed. Electrical field simulation results showed the high intensity of electrical field (EFI) in porcelain insulator with a cut and in epoxy compound insulator with a crack. Experimental research showed the highest partial discharges intensity in cases of high EFI obtained in the simulation. The experimental data analysis showed that partial discharges diagnostics might be effective for insulators only when using the voltage above the operating one. Only 16 kV and higher allowed reliably detect the defect presence in the experiments. Therefore, this method cannot be recommended for supporting insulators diagnostic before the disconnector use to decrease electrical traumatism personnel. Besides, partial discharges monitoring is also not effective enough for the researched defect types detection.