Design of a Universal Partial Discharge Simulator

The processes of inception, growth, and propagation of Partial Discharge (PD) along the dielectric are complicated. Their analysis requires a thorough understanding of underlying physics. A software simulation tool has been developed to study typical PD processes. The simulator generates pulses of varying amplitudes, shapes and time of occurrence of pulses observed in practice using National Instruments LabVIEW software as a base platform. The rise time of PD pulses plays an important role in the characterization of PD. The rise time formulation has been attempted based on the approach using the dipole moment development and law of conservation of energy. PD phenomenon is usually studied with the assumption of an air-filled void being energized by parallel plate/ coaxial cylinder electrode configuration. An SF6-filled spherical void inside a dielectric between two coaxial cylinder electrode plates is used as another configuration. Phase-resolved partial discharge (PRPD) pattern and the characteristics of PD pulses simulated are in agreement with results reported in literature. The contribution of this paper is versatility of the simulator for detailed study and comprehensive analysis of PD without the use of high voltage (HV) setup.