An Investigation into Electromagnetic Radiation due to Partial Discharges in High Voltage Equipment

Measuring partial discharge (PD) activity in high voltage plant is a well established technique use to monitor insulation integrity. A partial discharge is a surge of electrons within a dielectric normally caused by insulation degradation or overstressing. This movement of electrons creates electromagnetic radiation. This paper studies the propagation characteristics of this radiation by considering a current transformer as an example. Initial simulations based on the finite difference time domain technique have been conducted. The results obtained have been used together with laboratory experiments to compare and expand the simulations. This paper describes these experiments and draws its conclusions based on their comparison.