Partial Discharge Measurement on Rotating Machines
Partial discharge (PD) is a reliable parameter to assess the condition of insulation in rotating electrical
machines. Partial discharges are electromagnetic impulses that occur in the insulation system of rotating
machines, where the local electric field stress exceeds the local electrical strength. Depending on the type of
PD activity, its appearance in correlation with the high-voltage signal allows an identification what kind of
defect is present.
PD measurement is the only method that can differentiate between the different defects in the high-voltage
insulation system without dismantling the machine. Even single faults within the insulation system can be
identified and classified according to their criticality. With this information, potential weak spots can be
identified long before they become a critical issue.
As the single phenomena have to be identified, a successful PD measurement in stator windings is based on
the separation of the PD sources that often occur in parallel. They can either be harmful PD or normal
PD occurrences and potential external noise. To achieve this PD source separation, the following techniques
are applied:
> Synchronous multi-channel data acquisition
> Advanced noise suppression
> Source separation techniques:
◊ 3PARD (3-Phase Amplitude Relation Diagram)
◊ 3CFRD (3-Center Frequency Relation Diagram)
◊ Automated cluster separation
Depending on the accessibility of the start point, different measurement setups can be chosen. The basic
measurement setup for a single-channel PD measurement is shown below in Figure 1. The voltage (value
depending on the rating of the machine and the standard being referred to) is applied at the open star point.
The measurements are performed phase-per-phase (here phase U1 as shown) where the non-measured
terminals are grounded. This setup is as described in the IEC 60034-27 standard.
CP CR600 CP CR600 U2 U1
HV output
V2 V1
CR safety bus
HV output W2 W1
HV Safety CR safety bus
MCC1xx
CP TD12/15 Serial
Booster
Meas. ground
MPD
CPC 100 Serial
Safety Work area High-voltage area
Figure 1: Basic setup for PD measurement on open star rotating machine
The measurement system setup can also be extended to get more information for an easier separation of
potential multiple sources (Figure 2). The BLI on top of the coupling capacitor is used as a blocking impedance
to filter undesired PD from the voltage supply (CP TD12/15) in the standard IEC measurement frequencies
100-400 kHz.
This measurement setup brings us many advantages, such as a lightweight and portable voltage source due to
the compensation of the capacitive load, the possibility to measure C and PF/DF prior to the PD measurement
without any additional setup effort, and a comprehensive information about the condition of the winding
insulation.
CP CR600 CP CR600
BLI
U2 U1
HV output
V2 V1
CR safety bus MCC1xx
HV output W2 W1
HV Safety CR safety bus MCC1xx
CP TD12/15 Serial
MPD HFCT
Booster
Meas. ground
MPD
CPC 100 Serial MPD
Safety
Work area High-voltage area
Figure 2: Multi-channel synchronous measurement on a rotating machine
Interpretation of the results
As mentioned above, the PD measurement can identify single insulation defects via the Phase Resolved Partial
Discharge diagram (PRPD diagram). How this works is explained in Figure 3, where two potential issues for
rotating machine windings are displayed together with their correlating PRPD diagram.
Figure 3: Potential issues in a rotating machine insulation system with correlating PRPD diagram. The left cause represents a
disconnected end potential grading from the outer corona protection. The right one represents a polluted endwinding area
and the resulting surfaces as well inter-phase discharges.
The shape of the different defects is known and verified by international publications and standards. For
example, the IEC 60034-27-1 identifies the different phenomena and offers a risk assessment in its informative
annex. State-of-the-art PD measurement software can identify the different phenomena and interpret them
automatically. Figure 4 gives a summary about the different phenomena and their resulting PRPD patterns.
S1 S2 S2 S3
Delamination of insulation tapes Delamination of insulation tape Delamination of insulation Abrasion of slot corona protection
from winding conductor layers; single sources tape layers tape / paint
S4 S4 E1 E1
End-winding surface discharge / End-winding surface discharge /
Micro voids / cavities Micro voids / cavities trakcing trakcing
E1 E1 E2 E3
End-winding surface discharge / End-winding surface discharge / End-winding discharges in gas / Bad connection between OCP
trakcing, Inter phase discharge trakcing sparking and EPG
E3 E3 Disturbance Disturbance
Discharge between OCP and EPG Discharge between OCP and EPG Noise (asynchronous noise) Excitation / converter noise
Figure 4: Different PD patterns and the correlating defects in rotating machines. They can be found in the
IEC 60034-27-1 standard together with a risk assessment of their impact on insulation aging. While “S” indicates
different issues in the winding, “E” stands for a problem in the end winding area.
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