Cable Partial Discharge Equipment: Your Guide

How can we assess the condition of underground high voltage (HV) cables and their terminations to avoid unexpected Partial Discharge (PD) failure?

When cables fail, repair work is a costly exercise. When cable terminations fail, we have an increased safety risk and a chance that they are connected to the asset.

Cost from failures can be reduced by proactively assessing the condition of cables prior to any faults. Studies have shown that by checking and replacing cables before any malfunctions, we can save up to one-third of the overall repair costs.

Detection Methods:

• Detects TEVs in the VHF Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Detects internal discharge and high levels of surface discharge

• Generally centred at 40Hz
• Detects surface discharge

• Detects high frequency current pulses produced by cable discharge

• Directional antenna that detects internal discharge and high levels of surface discharge

Primarily used:

• For open air assets where corona is a problem
• When a TEV probe cannot be used: Such as when cables are inside a narrow opening/hard to reach
• For localisation: As UHF signals do not travel as far as VHF, they are more accurate in locating problems around a particular joint/termination

For more information, visit our our partial discharge detection and HV Solutions page.

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