Multiple partial discharge source discrimination with multiclass support vector machines

Abstract

The costs of decommissioning high-voltage equipment due to insulation breakdown are associated to the substitution of the asset and to the interruption of service. They can reach millions of dollars in new equipment purchases, fines and civil lawsuits, aggravated by the negative perception of the grid utility. Thus, condition based maintenance techniques are widely applied to have information about the status of the machine or power cable readily available. Partial discharge (PD) measurements are an important tool in the diagnosis of power systems equipment. The presence of PD can accelerate the local degradation of insulation systems and generate premature failures. Conventionally, PD classification is carried out using the phase resolved partial discharge (PRPD) pattern of pulses.