Performance evaluation of PD monitoring technique integrated into medium voltage cable network for smart condition assessment

Online condition assessment of medium voltage (MV) cables is a valuable tool to reduce the probability of forced outages in the distribution network. Partial discharge (PD) diagnostics is being used as an efficient methodology to predict the deteriorating insulation of the power components. In this paper a comprehensive condition assessment solution is proposed for cable networks. Low cost non-intrusive devices are installed at each critical location in such a way as to monitor the entire feeder. The Direction of arrival (DOA) technique is used to monitor the PD activity. The idea of a data-base is developed to process the PD data captured by sensors distributed along the cable feeder. The performance of integrated sensors is evaluated using ATP-EMTP simulation. The proposed system can be used for both continuous and periodic monitoring. However in order to overcome the limitations of the conventional periodic and continuous monitoring, a hybrid monitoring system is proposed to be applied for the real networks.