Implementation and Analysis of a Reference Partial Discharge Measurement System

Partial discharge (PD) detection is based on the measurement of apparent charge originated from PD in test sample. Since the measurement system configuration affects the PD measuring system response, a PD reference calibrator is the most important part of measuring system for the determination of scale factor in measurement system. In this paper, the design and implementation of reference partial discharge measurement system for the calibration of reference calibrator is presented. The reference pulses to be checked in the implemented measuring system are generated by the reference partial discharge generator or calibrator that is constructed for the characterization of the reference measuring system according to the requirement of IEC 60270. Proper correction for known errors and estimation of uncertainty contributions proved that traceable measurement of partial discharge can be made with an uncertainty of less than 1% in the range of between 2 pC and 1000 pC.