Background. Power facilities are now implementing the concept of smart grid and its essential elements – high-voltage digital current and voltage transformers. However, the implementation of digital technologies is slowed down by the lack of operation experience and reliability indicators. One of the main causes of high-voltage equipment failures is insulation damage. The most informative parameters determined by insulation evaluation are partial discharge characteristics. There are rated values of these characteristics for rotating electrical machines and power transformers measured by external equipment. But the existing method of partial discharge analysis cannot be applied to digital current and voltage transformers as there are no criteria for tripping of the innovative equipment with comprehensive insulation. All this urges us to study the possibility to determine experimentally the characteristics of partial discharges in the insulation of digital current and voltage transformers by using embedded inductive sensors in order to develop a method for condition monitoring of digital current and voltage transformers and improving of their reliability.
Materials and methods. In this work, we have used a model of digital current and voltage transformers, a high-voltage test unit, a digital multi-input oscciloscope and inductive sensors. The experiment includes: detecting partial discharges in the model of digital current and voltage transformers by the external bridge connection, recording the voltage at which partial discharges occur in the simulated fault area, measuring the corresponding value of the apparent charge of the partial discharge, detecting partial discharges in the model of digital current and voltage transformers by a differential method with the help of embedded inductive sensors.
Results. The characteristics of partial discharges in the simulated fault area have been experimentally determined on a model of digital current and voltage transformers. The pulse voltage on the embedded inductive sensor corresponding to the apparent charge of 80 pC was equal to 600 mV at the test voltage of 2,7 kV.
Conclusions. Embedded inductive sensors allow implementing the method of insulation condition monitoring for digital current and voltage transformers in accordance with the partial discharge characteristics both at the stages of production and operation extending the potential of the electronic (microprocessor) module and increasing the reliability of digital current and voltage transformers.