Measurement and Detection of Partial Discharge in Power Systems

Power systems are the life line of the 8.3 billion people who currently inhabit the world. As the population of the world increases the need for power system protection and maintenance and up gradation is of grave importance to both electrical utility companies as well as end consumers. In the context of power system protection, insulation plays a pivotal role in isolating the transmission lines from the external environment in which they were present. This makes the study of insulation or dielectric breakdown even more important because transmission lines run into several hundreds and in some cases thousands of kilometres. Hence we shall be enlisting the need for partial discharge detection devices; so that insulation failure can be detected on line and be given attention by engineers for due replacement and or maintenance. Most incipient faults are due to partial discharge and this phenomenon has many effects on the health of the system, hence measurement and detection are an important step in taking corrective action.