Location of Partial Discharges within a Transformer Winding Using Principal Component Analysis

Partial discharge (PD) may occur in a transformer winding due to ageing processes or defects introduced during manufacture. A partial discharge is defined as a localised electric discharge that only partially bridges the dielectric insulator between conductors when the electric field exceeds a critical value. The presence of PD does not necessarily indicate imminent failure of the transformer but it is a serious degradation and ageing mechanism which can be considered as a precursor of transformer failure. PD might occur anywhere along the transformer winding and the discharge signal can propagate along the winding to the bushing and neutral to earth connections. As far as maintenance and replacement processes are concerned, it is important to identify the location of PD activity so any repair or replace decision is assured to be cost effective. Therefore, identification of a PD source as well as its location along the transformer winding is of great interest to both manufacturers and system operators. The wavelet transform is a mathematical function that can be used to decompose a PD signal into detail levels and an approximation. Wavelet filtering is often used to improve signal to noise ratio (SNR) of measured signals, but in this case it is used to identify the distribution of signal energies in both the time and frequency domains. This method produces a feature vector for each captured discharge signal. The use of principle component analysis (PCA) can compress this data into three dimensions, to aid visualisation. Data captured by sensors over hundreds of cycles of applied voltage can be analysed using this approach. An experiment (Figure 1) has been developed that can be used to create PD data in order to investigate the feasibility of using PCA analysis to identify PD source location

Partial Discharge Location within a Transformer Winding using Principal Component Analysis

Partial discharge (PD) may occur in a transformer winding due to ageing processes, operational over stressing or defects introduced during manufacture. The presence of PD does not necessarily indicate imminent failure of the transformer but it will lead to serious degradation and ageing mechanisms which can be considered as a precursor of transformer failure. A necessary step is required in order to prevent degradation due to PD activity which may ultimately lead to failure. PD might occur anywhere along the transformer winding, the discharge signal can propagate along the winding to the bushing and neutral to earth connections. As far as maintenance and replacement processes are concerned, it is important to identify the location of PD activity so any repair or replace decision is assured to be cost effective. Therefore, identification of a PD source as well as its location along the transformer winding is of great interest to both manufacturers and system operators. The proposed method for locating PD sources in windings is based on wavelet filtering and principal component analysis. An experiment has been developed based on a high voltage winding section that has been used to produce PD measurement data and to investigate the feasibility of the proposed approach

Evaluation of a ln tan integral arising in quantum field theory

We analytically evaluate a dilogarithmic integral that is prototypical of volumes of ideal tetrahedra in hyperbolic geometry. We additionally obtain new representations of the Clausen function Cl_2 and the Catalan constant G=Cl_2(\pi/2), as well as new relations between sine and Clausen function values.Comment: 24 pages, no figure

Modelling the Non-equilibrium Electric Double Layer at Oil-pressboard Interface of High Voltage Transformers

In large oil-filled power transformers, cellulose-based pressboard and paper are used throughout for electrical insulation. Microscopic views have shown that pressboard insulation is a fibrous and porous structure with non-homogeneous surface. It has been recognised that the pressboard structure is more porous towards the edge [1]. The pores within the pressboard allow oil absorption during impregnation process and provide paths for oil to penetrate until saturation is reached. The ratio of fibre and oil changes as the material structure changes from a medium of bulk oil-pressboard composite toward the bulk oil medium. The porosity of pressboard can also result in impurities within the oil being drawn into the pressboard. It has also been recognised that physicochemical process of a liquid in contact with solid wall leads to the formation of electric double layer (EDL) in the liquid region [2, 3]. The material properties and geometry of pressboard thus lead to a complex oil-pressboard interface. A 2-D model of oil-pressboard interface has been constructed using Comsol Multiphysics Finite Element Analysis software and this is shown in Figure 1. The mathematical model considers the dissociation of a generic impurity in the oil into positive and negative ions and considers the role of the porous and non-homogeneous wall of pressboard in the formation of the EDL. The pressboard, which is represented by different arrays of fibre, promotes preferential adsorption and desorption processes between ions in the oil and unoccupied fibre surfaces of oil impregnated pressboard. The model studies the non-equilibrium charge density profile in the EDL at the oil-pressboard interface when the oil is in the stationary condition

Investigation of Partial Discharge in Solid Dielectric under DC Voltage

A partial discharge, or PD, is defined as an electrical discharge that is localized within only a part of the insulation between two separated conductors. Recent research on PD mainly focuses on the study of PD characteristics under AC voltage. Compared with DC, PD under AC is more serious and can be easily detected in terms of PD number. As the results of these concentrated research, the understanding of PD under AC condition has been significantly improved and features extracted from PD measurements have been used to diagnose the insulation condition of many power apparatus. Recently, rapid development in HVDC transmission and power grids connection, and widely applied DC cable and gas-insulated switchgear because of their benefit in long distance usage lead to an increasing concern about PD under DC. However, available study for the condition is little and related research is therefore necessary and essential for understanding the lifetime and reliability of apparatus. <br/

Electronic structure and chemical bonding of nc-TiC/a-C nanocomposites

The electronic structure of nanocrystalline (nc-) TiC/amorphous C nanocomposites has been investigated by soft x-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy. The measured spectra at the Ti 2p and C 1s thresholds of the nanocomposites are compared to those of Ti metal and amorphous C. The corresponding intensities of the electronic states for the valence and conduction bands in the nanocomposites are shown to strongly depend on the TiC carbide grain size. An increased charge-transfer between the Ti 3d-eg states and the C 2p states has been identified as the grain size decreases, causing an increased ionicity of the TiC nanocrystallites. It is suggested that the charge-transfer occurs at the interface between the nanocrystalline TiC and the amorphous C matrix and represents an interface bonding which may be essential for the understanding of the properties of nc-TiC/amorphous C and similar nanocomposites.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 1 table; http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.80.23510

The views of parents concerning the planning of services for rehabilitation of families of children with congenital cardiac disease

Background and purpose: Although much previous research has focused on the medical aspects of congenital cardiac disease, there is a growing body of research which suggests that families may need help and support with the wider issues associated with the medical condition. We have previously ascertained from young people with congenital cardiac disease their views on this subject. The purpose of this study was to obtain the views of their parents about the need for, and shape of, services for rehabilitation. Methods: This was a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. We interviewed 17 parents in their own home. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. Results: Parents would welcome more help and support from health professionals to enable them to manage more effectively the condition with their children. Particular areas of concern relate to the information they receive about the condition; communication between themselves and health professionals; establishing safe levels of activity; and managing the condition at school. Conclusions: This is a small study of the experiences and views of parents, which provides some important information on ways in which health professionals. could address the current lack of services for rehabilitation

Laurent series expansion of a class of massive scalar one-loop integrals up to {\cal O}(\ep^2) in terms of multiple polylogarithms

In a recent paper we have presented results for a set of massive scalar one-loop master integrals needed in the NNLO parton model description of the hadroproduction of heavy flavors. The one--loop integrals were evaluated in n=4-2\ep dimension and the results were presented in terms of a Laurent series expansion up to {\cal O}(\ep^2). We found that some of the \ep^2 coefficients contain a new class of functions which we termed the $L$ functions. The $L$ functions are defined in terms of one--dimensional integrals involving products of logarithm and dilogarithm functions. In this paper we derive a complete set of algebraic relations that allow one to convert the $L$ functions of our previous approach to a sum of classical and multiple polylogarithms. Using these results we are now able to present the \ep^2 coefficients of the one-loop master integrals in terms of classical and multiple polylogarithms.Comment: 32 pages, Latex, references added, matches published versio

Partial discharge testing of defective three-phase PILC cable under rated conditions

The ability to accurately monitor the health of power distribution plant is a very attractive prospect for utility companies. This capability would provide a system that engineers could use to assess the real-time state of the network. Analysis of the data produced could allow for more informed decisions to be made in the areas of asset replacement and maintenance scheduling amongst others. It is widely accepted that partial discharge activity is linked with the electrical ageing/degradation of high voltage equipment. Work at Southampton is focused on obtaining a better understanding of the characteristics and trends of partial discharge events associated with medium voltage cables under, 'real life' conditions. An experiment has been developed that allows for service conditions to be applied to defective paper insulated lead covered cable samples. The samples under investigation were exposed to mechanical damage designed to replicate typical problems found on an active circuit. Partial discharge measurement was undertaken during the stressing process