PD Detection and Analysis Triggered by Metal Protrusion in GIS Through Various Methods

Defects in GIS can be effectively detected by detecting the partial discharge (PD). The common methods of detecting partial discharge are pulse current, ultrasonic and UHF (ultra-high frequency). However, the results of different methods may be different due to the different physical quantities detected. It is important to research the differences between the PD detection methods for the PD detection and analysis. In this study, we designed metal protrusion defects in GIS, including protrusion on the conductor and enclosure. Then, we detected the PD of defects using pulse current, UHF and ultrasonic methods at the same time. The PRPD patterns, maximum discharge amplitude of different defects and PD inception voltage (PDIV) detected by the three methods were analyzed. The PRPD patterns and discharge amplitude of the different methods were very similar to each other, but the PDIVs were different. It can be concluded that the process from the PD inception to breakdown can be divided into four sections based on the PRPD and the maximum discharge amplitude. The similarity between the three methods is because their signals are all related to the pulse current during the PD process, and differences in their PDIVs are caused by the differences in sensitivity. The sensitivity of the pulse current is the lowest among the three methods due to its poor anti-jamming capability. The sensitivity of UHF is higher, and that of ultrasonic is the highest.