An automated classifier for asynchronous diagnosis of partial discharge defects

One of the obstacles to widespread deployment of phase-resolved partial discharge (PD) diagnostics is the complexity of deploying and operating new monitoring systems. Typically, these rely upon synchronization with the electrical system frequency via a power line connection, introducing cost, inconvenience and risk into the system. For utilities to exploit partial discharge monitoring on a wide scale, a new approach is required that can work asynchronously which, looking forward, can be combined with wireless sensor network technology.