Corona noise as a diagnostic tool

The major electricity utility in South Africa, Eskom has addressed the problem of fire induced faults and in particular, sugar cane fires, in the 275 kV and 400 kV transmission network by means of early detection with the aid of appropriate HF background noise identification. Fires under these lines cause increased levels of conductor corona which generate, inter alia, increased levels of background radio noise detectable in the carrier system communication channels. A brief overview of previous work done is presented followed by Eskom´s latest research and developments related to both a prototype fire detection device and monitoring other deficiencies in the substation and transmission network