Analysis of partial discharge signals in medium voltage XLPE cables

The partial discharge measurements have been widely used in the field of insulation diagnostics. The presence of partial discharges inside the cable indicates the degradation of insulation material. This paper deals with the development of insulation diagnostic method based on the partial discharge (PD) measurements. The useful information about the partial discharge activity and insulation defects is extracted by the experimental results. Artificial cavity was introduced inside the medium voltage XLPE cable by using the traditional needleplane configuration. The statistical characteristics formulated with the help of PRPDA technique and ultra-wideband discharge characteristics by using HFCT sensor was studied and analyzed. Paper is related to study about the partial discharge phenomenon in detail. The aim is to interpret the variations in the partial discharge characteristics over the insulation ageing period in terms of physical phenomenon's taking place in PD sources. The results of this work are based on the partial discharge measurements for lifetime tests conducted over the medium voltage (MV) XLPE cable samples at high voltage laboratory.