A Guide For Partial Discharge Measurements On Medium Voltage (MV) and High Voltage (HV) Apparatus

Technical paper
A Guide for Partial Discharge Measurements on

medium voltage (MV) and high voltage (HV) apparatus
Part 3 – Noise mitigation
Authors
Mathieu Lachance | [email protected]

Matthew Sze | [email protected]
November 2020
Version 1.0
© OMICRON Page 1 of 8
1 Introduction
Partial discharge (PD) measurement is a very sensitive test which requires measuring very small signals. As
an example, for factory acceptance tests, the pass/fail criteria of most apparatus are in the picocoulomb (pC)
range. Therefore, test results can be easily affected by interferences.
According to IEC60270, interferences are referred as signals detected during PD measurements, which do
not originate from the test object. The terms interference, disturbance and noise are commonly used
interchangeably and therefore, they all have the same meaning in this article.
There are different types of interferences, which can be coupled into the test circuit through either a radiated
propagation path or a conduction path. Examples of interferences are radiated electromagnetic interferences
(EMI), sparking (e.g. gas discharge lights or welding machines), electromagnetic waves from corona type PD
in nearby equipment and switching from power electronics. Figure 1 shows an example of different sources of
interferences frequently encountered.
Figure 1: Examples of interferences
Interferences can affect the results of PD measurements in different ways. For example, they can:
• Decrease the sensitivity;
• Increase the complexity of data interpretation;
• Superimpose to the actual PD pulses resulting in distorted magnitudes.
It is not feasible to completely suppress interferences. Even in well-controlled laboratories, a given background
noise level is usually observable. However, using efficient grounding design, Faraday cage and PD-free
apparatus, it is common to reach a sensitivity level of 1pC or below.
PD measurements are not always performed in such environment. Interferences can be measured in
laboratories, in factories and are prominently encountered during onsite PD measurements (offline & online).
In addition, EMI are present in most environments and are usually prominent in the allowable conventional
frequency range of IEC60270. The present chapter will provide a quick summary of different hardware or
software techniques for noise mitigation.
© OMICRON 2020 Page 2 of 8

2 Noise mitigation techniques
The best noise mitigation technique usually focuses on eliminating the interferences at the source. However,
it might not always be possible nor practical to execute the required corrective actions. This section will explain
different hardware and software noise mitigation techniques that can be used to reduce interferences or to
separate them from the actual PD pulses.
2.1 Hardware PD filter

When dealing with disturbances that travel through the conduction path, a PD filter can be used to attenuate
those signals. These filters can be made of a single reactor (often called blocking impedance) or from a
combination of passive elements such as capacitors, reactors and/or resistors. They can be used as a low-
pass filter, which attenuates part of the high frequency signals coming from the network or the HV supply.
Filters can be installed on the low voltage (line filter) or high-voltage side (HV filter) of the test transformer.
Figure 2 shows a picture of a HV filter and a typical equivalent schematic of a test circuit with the use of a HV
filter.
Figure 2 : left) Picture of high-voltage filters and right) typical test circuit including a HV filter
2.2 Gating
External disturbances that are visible in the PRPD diagram can be masked using the window gating function.
Interferences that are fixed in position with the test voltage frequency can be easily removed using this gating
function. These events will not be considered for the charge calculation. Figure 3 shows an example of the
application of manual gating.
Figure 3 : left) without manual gating and right) with manual gating
Another available method is the channel gating or antenna gating technique. It uses a second sensor and a
second PD input channel to measure interferences and remove them from the original measurement. This is
particularly useful when the external disturbances are not stable with the test voltage frequency. For example,
a high-frequency current transformer (HFCT) can be installed around the grounding cable of a nearby
equipment that is known to cause interferences. Figure 4 shows the results of an actual measurement,
respectively without and with channel gating.

Figure 4 : left) without channel gating and right) with channel gating
If a conventional PD measurement is required, IEC60270 allows the use of signal gating to hide part of the
PRPD diagram for up to 10% of each test voltage period under certain conditions. For more information, please
refer to clause 10 of IEC60270.
2.3 Differential PD measurements

The differential technique, which is described in IEC60270, is based on a PD measurement in two different
branches using two measuring impedances, a differential processing unit and one PD input channel. It is
especially efficient to mitigate common mode noise that is coupled into the test circuit. Figure 5 shows an
example of a test circuit using the differential PD measurement technique.
Figure 5 : Test circuit using the differential PD measurement technique
One measuring impedance is connected in series with the test object (DUT 1) while the second measuring
impedance is connected in series with the sensor (Ck), or with a second test object (DUT 2) which has a similar
impedance as DUT 1. The common mode elimination is based on the principle that PD signals and common
mode disturbance signals show different polarities when measured in two different branches as described in
figure 5. When signals are captured by the measuring impedances, the differential processing unit (MBB1 in
figure 5) will display the difference between the two measured signals. If common mode noise signals (yellow
pulses in figure 5) are coupled into the test circuit and that both branches are balanced, the signals will

theoretically be measured with the same magnitude and polarity by the measuring impedances and therefore,
will cancel each other out. However, if PD is occurring in DUT 1 (red pulses in figure 5), then the measured
signals will be of opposite polarity and therefore, will be displayed with higher signal-to-noise ratio by the
measuring instrument. Figure 6 shows the PRPD pattern of a PD calibration on a HV bushing without and with
using the differential PD measurement.
Figure 6 : left) without differential measurements and right) with differential measurements
3 Noise mitigation and source separation techniques
3.1 3-Phase-Amplitude-Relation-Diagram (3PARD)

3PARD, also known as synchronous multi-channel PD measurement, uses 3 PD input channels (and three
sensors) and is usually applicable for three-phase test objects, even though it is sometimes used in specific
single-phase applications. As the name implies, PD events are measured by three synchronously connected
PD inputs, generally one input per phase. Simplified, the magnitude of each PD event from one channel is
compared to the magnitude of the events recorded by the two other channels. Because of inductive and
capacitive cross-coupling, a PD occurring on one phase can often be measured at the other two phases. The
measured magnitude is a function of several factors, including the construction of the test object, the location
of the PD event and its propagation path to the sensor. This comparison is then plotted on a diagram, where
separate clusters are created based on vector summation over many cycles. When selecting a specific cluster,
it is possible to isolate a PD source or interferences, and back transform them into PRPD patterns. Figure 7
shows a simplified theoretical schematic of a single pulse being measured by all three sensors while Figure
8, 9 and 10 show a practical example of the application of 3PARD on a power transformer.
Figure 7 : Simplified theoretical schematic of 3PARD for one single PD event

Figure 8 : Without 3PARD
Figure 9 : left) PD occurring on phase B and right) external interferences
Figure 10 : 3-PARD inverse gating function to remove one specific cluster (external interferences)
3.2 3-Center-Frequencies-Relation-Diagram (3CFRD)

The 3CFRD technique is based on a single-channel PD measurement while simultaneously applying three
different frequency filters to every measured PD event. Each filter uses the same bandwidth, but their center
frequency can be configured freely and independently.
The recorded frequency content of the measured pulses can be influenced by several factors, including the
type of anomalies, the location, the traveling path, the insulation material and the sensors. Their distinctive
characteristics can therefore be measured and processed by different bandpass filters.
The visualization is done using a star diagram like the one used in 3PARD. The correlation between the PD
magnitude obtained from each frequency filter is plotted on a diagram where separate clusters are created
over many cycles. When selecting a specific cluster, it can be possible to isolate a PD source or other external
interferences. Figure 11 shows a simplified theoretical schematic of 3CFRD, Figure 12, 13 and 14 show a
practical example of the application of 3CFRD on a potential transformer (PT).

Figure 11 : Simplified theoretical schematic of 3CFRD
Figure 12 : Without 3CFRD
Figure 13 : left) inner PD and right) Corona type PD
Figure 14 : 3CFRD inverse gating function to remove one specific cluster (ambient noise level / noise floor)

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Technical paper

A Guide for Partial Discharge Measurements on

Part 3 – Noise mitigation

Mathieu Lachance | [email protected]

Figure 1: Examples of interferences

© OMICRON 2020 Page 2 of 8

2.1 Hardware PD filter

© OMICRON 2020 Page 3 of 8

2.3 Differential PD measurements

Figure 5 : Test circuit using the differential PD measurement technique

© OMICRON 2020 Page 4 of 8

3 Noise mitigation and source separation techniques

3.1 3-Phase-Amplitude-Relation-Diagram (3PARD)

Figure 7 : Simplified theoretical schematic of 3PARD for one single PD event

© OMICRON 2020 Page 5 of 8

Figure 9 : left) PD occurring on phase B and right) external interferences

3.2 3-Center-Frequencies-Relation-Diagram (3CFRD)

© OMICRON 2020 Page 6 of 8

Figure 12 : Without 3CFRD

Figure 13 : left) inner PD and right) Corona type PD

© OMICRON 2020 Page 7 of 8

For more information, additional literature, and detailed contact information

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