Methods for Partial Discharge Calibration in Gas-Insulated Substations for HVDC Power Grids and Charge Evaluation Uncertainty

Driven by the voltage increase in high-voltage direct current (HVDC) gas-insulated substations (GISs), novel methods are needed for partial discharge (PD) detection and monitoring. This article shows a PD calibration method for very-high-frequency (VHF) magnetic and electric sensors in GIS. The calibration method uncertainty is tested in three laboratories using a low-voltage (LV) test bench and a high-voltage (HV) full-scale GIS. In the LV test, the calibration method's linearity, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and pulsewidth were compared against a reference charge, resulting in an error of around ±10%. The HV test consisted of different artificial defects introduced in a full-scale GIS, resulting in errors of around ±30%. The uncertainty is attributed mainly to random noise, which is critical in the charge estimation method. The electric and magnetic sensor combination showed better results, especially in the full-scale GIS, where reflections play an important role. This research has been performed in the framework of the project Future Energy 19ENG02 of EURAMET, resulting in a calibration method with the potential to measure PD pulses and discriminate impulse interferences, giving an advantage over conventional and ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) methods.