A Sensor Concept for Direction-Selective Monitoring of Partial Discharges in Medium-Voltage Switchgears

Knowledge about the condition of electrical equipment in energy networks is of great importance to network operators. Partial discharges are a key parameter for evaluating the health of the insulation. While a quantifiable PD measurement for offline tests is state of the art, it is costly and labour-intensive. It, therefore, makes sense to carry out permanent monitoring during operation. At the medium-voltage level in the European interconnected grid, comprehensive monitoring of PD is not implemented. This study presents a novel sensor concept that is used to detect PD in medium-voltage switchgear and cables: the so-called Magnetic Flux Concentrator Sensor (MFCS). It is an inductive sensor concept with high sensitivity in the frequency range of a few MHz, like well-established High-Frequency Current Transformers (HFCTs) but with better magnetic saturation properties in specific use cases. The highly permeable ferrite core of the MFCS is unconventionally shaped, resulting in a higher-saturation field strength. Therefore, this sensor is not driven into saturation by the operating currents of typical MV power cables. Using the MFCS and conventional HFCT in a suitable combination enables direction-selective PD detection. This work presents the sensor concept and the method for directional detection of the PD location, as analysed and evaluated theoretically and practically with laboratory experiments.