Design and Testing Small Printed Antennas as Internal UHF Sensors of Partial Discharge for High Voltage Transformers

authored by: Irfan Zidny, Behnam Balali, Moritz Kuhnke, Peter Werle, Suwarno
Abstract: Power transformers are crucial and require continuous monitoring to prevent failures. Partial discharge (PD), a significant phenomenon, emits electromagnetic waves, acoustic waves, and light, and causes chemical decomposition of insulation materials. Current technology allows a real-time PD monitoring using the Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) method. This contribution aims to design a small printed antenna for internal UHF sensing within the transformer tank, using low-cost Printed Circuit Board (PCB) materials. A printed antenna less than 4 cm x 4 cm was designed and optimized through parameter sweeps to achieve a proper return loss below 1 GHz. Impedance matching is important to achieve an appropriate return loss, and smaller antennas face high impedance mismatching challenges. Adding a resistive loading can solve the impedance mismatching. To study the impact of the transformer tank model as a cavity resonator on the impedance matching of the printed antenna, the antenna was inserted into the tank model through different valves, and the return loss measurement was conducted. Furthermore, a frequency analysis was performed using a spectrum analyzer to identify the optimal frequency range for PD detection, ensuring a high signal-to-noise ratio. Validation of the performance of printed the antenna in PD detection for different PD models was done through a comparison of the Phase-Resolved Partial Discharge (PRPD) patterns obtained through conventional electrical PD measurements according to IEC 60270 and acquired by the printed antenna using the UHF method. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a small printed antenna for real-time PD monitoring in high-voltage transformers.
Organisation(s): High Voltage Engineering and Asset Management Section (Schering Institute)
Institute of Electric Power Systems
External Organisation(s): Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB)
PT PLN (Persero) Kantor Pusat
Type: Article
Journal: International Journal on Electrical Engineering and Informatics
Volume: 16
Pages: 408-424
No. of pages: 17
ISSN: 2085-6830
Publication date: 09.2024
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Computer Science (miscellaneous), General Computer Science, General Engineering
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.15676/ijeei.2024.16.3.5 (Access: Open)