Partial discharge measurement on three-core belted power cables

It is shown that the partial discharge (PD) characteristics of three-core belted-type cables determined using single-phase testing techniques may differ greatly from the actual discharge performance of the cable when subjected to three-phase voltage conditions in service. To achieve meaningful results concerning the voltage ratio and the life expectancy of the cable, careful considerations must be given to the way of energizing the cable and PD response characteristics of single-phase test configurations. An example of erroneous single-phase testing techniques is a circuit which gave an error of up to 88% lower discharge level as compared with three-phase detection. A novel technique was developed in which single-phase voltage was applied to one core, the other two cores were earthed, and the sheath was left floating. The PD detection used a coupling capacitor connected to the energized phase