Investigation of partial discharge mechanism by simultaneous measurement of current waveform and light emission

We observed current pulse waveforms of partial discharge (PD) in SF6 gas so as to investigate the PD mechanism. We also measured light intensity and light emission image of PD simultaneously under different conditions of applies voltage and SF6 gas pressure. From these experiments, we found that the "double-peak current waveform" appeared at high pressure and high voltage conditions. We also analyzed the mutual correlation of waveforms between a single current and the light emission. Moreover, we obtained experimental evidence of filmentlike light image appearing at the PD tip under the same condition with double-peak current waveform. From the electric field analysis around the needle electrode tip, we believe that the filamentlike light image expands beyond the critical electric field of SF6 gas. Thus, we concluded that these current waveforms with double peaks showed evidence of leader-type PD, leading to breakdown. Finally, we could point out that leader-type PD should be distinguished and measured for the diagnosis of GIS insulation performance. (C) 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 129(4): 58-65, 1999.