Diagnosis of stator winding insulation of large generator based on partial discharge measurement

The Stator winding insulation is aged by exposure to a combination of thermal, electrical, mechanical, and environmental stresses. Diagnosis of stator winding insulation is an important measure of ensuring the safe operation and extending the remaining life of large generator. In the paper, two new parameters are proposed for the diagnosis of stator winding insulation based on the test results of multistress accelerating aging test of stator bars. The test results show that the skewness of partial discharge phase resolved distribution and the high-frequency crest of partial discharge (PD) impulse change much more remarkably with the aging time than do the conventional parameters. Therefore, the two parameters could be considered as characteristic parameters for the diagnosis of stator winding insulation of the large generator. With these characteristic parameters, authors successfully assessed the insulation condition of actual stator bars removed from several large generators.