Evaluation on validity of the UHF sensor and their arrangement on GIS

Ultra-high-frequency (UHF) partial discharge detection has become a most important tool for condition maintenance of gas insulated substations (GIS). It is a prerequisite to make full use of the PD detection technology by ensuring the sensitivity and appropriate arrangement of UHF sensors. This paper presents a method for the evaluation on the performance of UHF sensors and their validity of arrangement on GIS. The influences of the typical GIS components to the propagation of UHF PD signals are researched, and then a database containing attenuation of the UHF PD signals in GIS of different nominal voltages and structures is constructed. Based on the calibration results of the effective height of UHF sensors and the attenuation database, evaluation software of UHF PD sensor arrangement for GIS is developed. The function and effect of the software are tested with practical sensor arrangement cases in laboratory.