Vicki Warren
Qualitrol - Iris Power
Toronto, Ontario Canada
vwarren@qualitrolcorp.com
Abstract Partial discharge (PD) activity has long been
known to be an indicator of the presence of some deterioration
mechanisms at work within, or on, the solid insulation of the
stator windings of high voltage rotating machines.
Specifically, the test can find loose, overheated, and
contaminated windings, well before these problems lead to
failure. As a result, on-line PD testing has become an
important tool for planning motor maintenance. On-line
monitoring of partial discharge results is preferred as it
provides an indication of the activity while the machine is
operating under normal thermal, electrical, ambient and
mechanical stresses.
However, when monitoring on-line, the influence of high
frequency pulses from sources external to the stator winding
must be identified and separated in order to prevent erroneous
interpretations. In the past, this has required the use of a
human expert. By using results obtained with sophisticated
noise separation techniques, 272,000 partial discharge (PD)
test results have been analyzed to establish the criteria for
comparing results from different machines and the expected
PD levels. This paper will highlight some of the benefits of
on-line PD testing using these results with case studies and
signal analysis from marine vessel applications.
Index TermsPartial discharge, Marine power plants, Marine
generators, Ambient humidity, Harmonics
I. INTRODUCTION
Partial discharges (PD) are small sparks that are induced
within or on the surface of the insulation systems of high
voltage motors and generators. These sparks or discharges
occur when voids exist in the insulation, or between the
insulation surface and the stator core, or between components
of different phases and hence different potentials. The
discharges occur when the electrical stress across the void is
sufficiently high that under the right conditions, an avalanche
of electrons occurs in the form of a spark crossing the void.
These sparks generate high frequency signals that can be
detected.
Over the past 30 years on-line partial discharge (PD)
monitoring has become the most widely applied method to
determine the condition of the electrical insulation in motor
and generator stator windings rated 3.3 kV or more. Partial
discharges (sometimes also referred to as corona) are known
to occur in deteriorated stator winding insulation systems, as
well as new systems with manufacturing or installation flaws
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Paper to be presented at the Oceans 2012 MTS/IEEE Conference in Hampton Roads, VA 14-19 Oct 2012
10 to 31.6 pps
Subset 8
750
750
500
500
250
250
-250
-500
-500
-750
-750
0
45
90
135
180
225
Phase Angle [deg]
270
315
360
+Qm
163
858
-Qm
160
1710
C (amb)
26
26
RH
36%
36%
Bipolar Machine PD
-250
MW
0
3.9
Bipolar Machine PD
0 to 3.16 pps
kV
6.54
6.6
Offline
Online
1 to 3.16 pps
3.16 to 10 pps
10 to 31.6 pps
Subset 8
750
750
500
500
250
250
-250
-250
-500
-500
-750
-750
0
45
90
135
180
225
Phase Angle [deg]
270
315
360
2
Paper to be presented at the Oceans 2012 MTS/IEEE Conference in Hampton Roads, VA 14-19 Oct 2012
Bipolar Machine PD
1 to 3.16 pps
3.16 to 10 pps
10 to 31.6 pps
Subset 8
3000
3000
2000
2000
1000
1000
-1000
-1000
-2000
-2000
-3000
-3000
0
45
90
135
180
225
Phase Angle [deg]
270
315
360
104
103
Pulse Count Rate [PPS]
102
101
500
1000
1500
2000
Pulse Magnitude [mV]
2500
3000
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Paper to be presented at the Oceans 2012 MTS/IEEE Conference in Hampton Roads, VA 14-19 Oct 2012
600
500
0.25
400
0.5
300
0.75
200
0.9
100
0.95
0
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Manufacturer Comparison
Voltage 6-9kV
600
40
180
35
160
500
30
140
D
400
300
200
100
0
25%
50%
75%
90%
Percentile Rankings
Qm (mV)
700
200
120
25
100
20
80
15
60
40
10
5
20
95%
All
U-Qm+
U-QmV-Qm+
V-QmW-Qm+
W-QmAbs Hum
0
Nov-11
Mar-12
Jul-12
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Paper to be presented at the Oceans 2012 MTS/IEEE Conference in Hampton Roads, VA 14-19 Oct 2012
A. 50/60Hz Signal
Table 3. 50/60Hz Signal Interference
While at dock
there is a clean
50/60Hz signal
104
103
102
101
25
50
75
100
Pulse Magnitude [mV]
125
150
B. Analysis:
The overall levels are considered Typical when at low
absolute humidity and Low at high humidity, in other words
an inverse correlation between PD and humidity. This along
with the positive predominance suggests the predominance of
surface activity due to deterioration of the voltage stress
coatings [Fig. 7]. Recommended action is to test at different
loads as the next stage in failure mechanism development will
be coil movement. And as clearly shown in Fig. 8, the PD
increased at a higher load indicating the onset of coil
movement in addition to the stress coating deterioration.
VIII. EFFECT OF HARMONICS
Since the electrical system on a cruise ship is isolated and
has loads that include VSD motors, there is concern that the
system harmonics and noise will make PD monitoring
difficult. There are three aspects of monitoring the PD activity
that can be heavily influenced by noise:
a. Identification of the 50/60Hz signal so that the
location of the PD pulses can be evaluated based on
their occurrence relative to the AC phase to ground
voltage.
b. Noise signals that have frequency characteristics
which are outside the PD system measuring
bandwidth.
c. Noise signals that have frequency characteristics
which are within the typical PD bandwidth of 50250+MHz.
Typical
harmonic
ranges:
3rd, 7th, 10th,
th
11 , 12th, 13th,
23rd, 24th, 25th
up to the 100th
(6MHz)
Background
noise:
40ns period
25MHz
10.8Vpk
Paper to be presented at the Oceans 2012 MTS/IEEE Conference in Hampton Roads, VA 14-19 Oct 2012
At dock (unfiltered)
Bipolar Machine PD
0 to 3.16 pps
3.16 to 10 pps
10 to 31.6 pps
300
300
200
200
100
100
-100
-100
-200
-200
-300
-300
0
45
90
270
315
360
At sea (unfiltered)
3.16 to 10 pps
10 to 31.6 pps
Subset 8
300
300
200
200
100
100
-100
-100
-200
-200
-300
-300
0
45
90
135
180
225
Phase Angle [deg]
Bipolar Machine PD
270
315
360
At sea (filtered)
1 to 3.16 pps
3.16 to 10 pps
10 to 31.6 pps
Subset 8
300
300
200
200
100
100
-100
-100
-200
-200
-300
-300
0
45
90
135
180
225
Phase Angle [deg]
270
315
360
At sea (unfiltered)
1 to 3.16 pps
3.16 to 10 pps
10 to 31.6 pps
Subset 8
150
150
100
100
50
50
-50
-50
-100
-100
-150
-150
0
180
225
Phase Angle [deg]
1 to 3.16 pps
Background
disturbance:
Variable high
frequencies up
to 5V spikes
135
Bipolar Machine PD
45
90
135
180
225
Phase Angle [deg]
Bipolar Machine PD
270
315
At sea (unfiltered)
1 to 3.16 pps
3.16 to 10 pps
10 to 31.6 pps
Subset 8
150
100
100
50
50
-50
-50
-100
-100
-150
-150
45
90
135
180
225
Phase Angle [deg]
Baseline test
360
150
270
315
Oper load: 12 MW
Oper Voltage 11kV
Amb Temp 28 deg C,
Amb Humidity: 51 %
Oper. Temp 70C
Third test series
360
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Paper to be presented at the Oceans 2012 MTS/IEEE Conference in Hampton Roads, VA 14-19 Oct 2012
IX. CONCLUSIONS
1. With thousands of machines monitored for as long as 30
years with the same method of PD measurement, on-line
partial discharge testing has become a recognized, proven tool
to help maintenance engineers identify which stator windings
need off-line testing, inspections and/or repairs.
2. With over 270,000 test results acquired with the same test
methods, the different magnitudes of discharge activity that
identifies a winding with low, moderate or high PD has been
defined. Table 2 enables test users to easily identify with
some certainty which stators are likely to suffer from
groundwall insulation deterioration, with only a single
measurement on a machine.
3. The practical importance of Table 2 is that if one applies
PD sensors to a machine, and in the first measurement one
obtains a Qm that exceeds the 90th percentile of the relevant
Qm distribution, then one should be concerned enough at the
PD level to take action such as more frequent testing and/or
off-line tests and inspections at the next convenient machine
shutdown.
X. REFERENCES
[1] G.C. Stone, E.A. Boulter, I. Culbert, and H. Dhirani,
Electrical Insulation for Rotating Machines, Wiley
Interscience, 2004.
[2] G. Griffith, S. Tucker, J. Milsom, and G. Stone, Problems
with modern air-cooled generator stator winding
insulation, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, Vol.
16(6), Nov/Dec. 2000, pp. 6-10.
[3] V. Warren, Partial discharge testing: a progress report,
Proceedings of the Iris Rotating Machine Conference, Las
Vegas, June 2012.
[4] C. Maughan, Partial discharge a valuable stator winding
evaluation tool, Proc. IEEE International Symposium on
Electrical Insulation, June 2004, pp. 154-162.
[5] IEC 60034-27: Rotating electrical machines Part 27: Offline partial discharge measurements on the stator winding
insulation of rotating electrical machines
[6] IEEE 1434-2000: IEEE Guide to the Measurement of
Partial Discharges in Rotating Machinery
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Paper to be presented at the Oceans 2012 MTS/IEEE Conference in Hampton Roads, VA 14-19 Oct 2012