A novel system for generation, acquisition and analyses of partial discharges

A typical set of partial discharges (PD) occurring in insulation systems can be characterized by a three dimensional plot of their phase ‘Φ’ on the power line cycle, apparent charge magnitude ‘q’ and the number of pulses ‘n’. A digital acquisition system is developed which can measure ‘Φ’ and ‘q’ values of ‘n’ PD's occurring on a given power line voltage and then plot n (φ, q). The system is developed using the data acquisition card NI-5112, which is a 2-channel high speed digitizer (100 MS/s) with the acquisition and analyses programs written in LabVIEW. The system is being tested using artificially generated PD pulses which have variable ‘Φ’ and ‘q’.