Condition Assessment of High Voltage Insulation in Power System Equipment

The book introduces the reader to the major components of a high voltage system and the different insulating materials applied in particular equipments. During a review of these materials, measurable properties suitable for condition assessment are identified. Analyses are included of some of the insulation fault scenarios that may occur in power equipment. The basic facilities for carrying out tests on the internal and external insulation structures at high and low voltages are described. Tests and measurements according to specifications, on-site requirements and research investigations are considered. Advances in the application of digital techniques for detection and analyses of partial discharges are discussed and methods in use, or under development, for service condition monitoring are described. These include the utilization of new sensors, the solution of online problems associated with noise rejection and the adaptation of artificial intelligence techniques for incipient fault diagnosis.

The subject matter of the book is suitable for final year courses in electrical power engineering, short courses in insulation condition assessment and postgraduate programmes. Power system engineers associated with high voltage equipment should find the book of value in relation to fault investigations, maintenance requirements, insulation testing and condition monitoring.

Ron James SMIEEE, FIEAust, MIMechE, MIET worked for twelve years as a designer and senior insulation development engineer in the high voltage power transformer manufacturing industry in the UK. This was followed by a period at Portsmouth Polytechnic as a principal lecturer during which he was awarded a Ph.D. In 1974 he was appointed as a senior lecturer and later Adjunct Professor at the University of NSW, Australia developing high voltage courses, new insulation research projects and consultancies with industry. He is a pioneer in digital partial discharge detection and has published many technical papers. For a number of years he was active within CIGRE as Convener of the Australian Panel on Insulating Materials and of an international Working Group.

Qi Su SMIEEE, FIET received his M.Eng. from Wuhan University, China in 1981 and Ph.D. from the University of NSW, Australia in 1990. From 1991 to 2002 he worked as a senior lecturer and later Associate Professor at Monash University. He was also head of the HV and Condition Monitoring Group. From 2002 to 2006 he was the chief technologist of SP PowerGrid, Singapore. He is now a Professor at the Petroleum Institute, UAE and is a member of CIGRE SC A2.