ACOUSTIC EMISSION MONITORING FOR HIGH VOLTAGE PLANT

Dr Colin Smith IPEC Ltd 2004

ACOUSTIC MONITORING INTRODUCTION Ultrasound is sound energy at frequencies higher than the human ear cut-off frequency of about 20kHz. Ultrasound can be used as a diagnostic tool for electrical insulation testing using Acoustic emission testing, AE. Acoustic Emission testing Acoustic emission testing involves listening to the sound energy emitted by partial discharge activity, arcing or corona in a high voltage system. The repetition rate, magnitude and frequency characteristics of this emitted energy can be used to help determine the location and nature of the electrical source creating the sound energy. AE Testing in high voltage plant Partial discharge activity in high voltage systems generates both electromagnetic and acoustic energy. Like the electromagnetic, the acoustic energy radiates in all directions form the discharge source. High frequency acoustic transducers can be used to detect this energy and capture it for analysis on an oscilloscope or dedicated system as in figure 1. The transducers must be highly sensitive, tuned piezoelectric crystals. Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) is the most commonly used crystal although the less sensitive polymeric Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride), (PVDF) is a cheap alternative.

Figure 1: Sound energy from a discharge source. The frequency and magnitude of the discharge are dependent on the nature of the source. If the source is an electrically stressed void in an insulating system, the void size and shape affect the characteristics of the acoustic energy generated. As the sound travels through the insulating medium it is attenuated, with the higher frequency components being attenuated at a greater rate. This causes the insulation to act like a low pass filter. The frequency distribution of the acoustic energy created by a partial discharge is therefore a function of the frequency content of the discharge and the length and nature of the transmitting medium. Although the sound emanating from a discharge source may have components from the audible range up to hundreds of MHz, by the time it reaches an accessible monitoring point its spectrum is generally in the low hundreds of kHz range. It is often advisable to disregard lower frequency components due to the high level of interference from external and non-electrical sources. It is generally considered that the most useful inspection range is in the region of 30kHz 300kHz.

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Practical plant testing Although the techniques involved in AE testing are applicable to most types of plant and insulation systems, in practice it tends only to be used for the detection of discharges in oil filled equipment and surface tracking or corona. This is simply because oil, steel, aluminium and air are all good conductors of sound compared to insulators like bitumen compound, Dough Moulding Compounds (DMC), polyethylene and oil impregnated paper.

Oil filled equipment In general, due to their cost and criticality to the distribution system, transformers receive most attention with ultrasound. For 25 years ultrasonic NDT has proven an effect means of detecting and approximately locating discharge activity in transformers [1]. By moving a single probe around the tank of a transformer and registering a signal magnitude at each point, a maximum can be arrived at. If through the course of the test the discharge remained active at approximately the same level, then the point where the highest acoustic signal is recorded can be assumed to have the easiest acoustic path to the discharge source. Internal structure diagrams of the transformer can often give an indication of potential sources of activity. If a radio frequency (RF) signal from the discharge can be picked up, either from an aerial or a current transducer (CT) around the neutral, then this can be used to trigger the scope on which the AE signal is being monitored. As the RF signal will be detected almost as soon as the discharge occurs, the time difference between it and the AE signal being picked up will be representative of the distance between the discharge source and the AE probe. As the AE signal will have travelled mainly through oil to get to the probe, the speed of sound in oil can be used to calculate this distance.

Triangulation Taking the ideas in the previous section one step further, three transducers, positioned at different points on the transformer wall can be used to simultaneously pick up signals from a single discharge source. An absolute distance to the source can then be calculated from each transducer. From these a single point can then be calculated in three dimensions within the transformer to indicate where the source is. An engineer can then determine a remedial course of action, if one is necessary, from what they believe is causing the activity. In practice this can be made more complicated when there are multiple discharge sources. In which case the AE signals must be very carefully studied to try and assess what energy is coming from what source.

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Surface Tracking Tracking is the formation of a permanent conducting path across an insulator surface. Usually the conduction path results from degradation of the insulation. For tracking to occur the insulation must be a carbon based compound. Most high voltage plant is situated outside. In industrial areas, insulators become contaminated with pollution and dirt from the atmosphere. Where substations are situated near the sea, salt very quickly covers the plant. In the presence of moisture these contaminating layers give rise to leakage current over the insulator surface. This heats the surface and through evaporation causes interruption in the moisture film. Large potential differences are generated over the gaps in the moisture film and small sparks can bridge the gaps. Heat from the sparks causes carbonisation of the insulation and leads to the formation of permanent carbon tracks on the surface. These small discharges can be detected using Acoustic Emission. The ultrasonic signals emitted can easily be picked up using sensitive detectors. As discharges that lead to tracking are often related to environmental factors, continuous monitoring is usually required in order to build up a clear picture of this type of PD activity.

Corona Corona is very often present in substations and is not usually considered a problem unless it is detected at very high levels or is contributing to Surface Tracking. Damaged overhead insulators can however lead to flashover and corona detection provides a fairly cheap and easy means for detecting them. In practice it is often caused by cracked porcelain insulators. Sound travels through air at lower frequencies than it does through solids, so corona detection is usually performed at frequencies between 30kHz and 90kHz. A parabolic reflector is used to guide airborne ultrasound to a sensor and the levels recorded are monitored on an analogue scale. When performing tests in a substation, absolute levels are likely to vary considerably with atmospheric conditions. An inspection should therefore concentrate on looking for significant variation in recorded levels between similar pieces of equipment.

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ULTRASOUND IN SOLIDS

Acoustic waves travel by molecular interaction. As the molecules of a solid are displaced from their normal configuration, an elastic force arises. It is this elastic restoring force that allows solids to contain and transmit acoustic energy. In solids there are four forms of ultrasonic propagation.

Longitudinal Waves Shear Waves Rayleigh Waves

Sometimes known as compression waves. Molecules vibrate in the direction of wave propagation, producing adjacent areas of compression and rarefaction. Also known as transverse waves. The molecule vibrations are perpendicular to the direction of the wave propagation These are a complex combination of longitudinal and shear motion with the molecules moving in an elliptical path. This form of propagation can only take place on the surface of a solid. Propagation is again by approximately elliptical molecular motion. These waves occur in sheet material where one dimension is comparable to the sound wavelength.

Lamb Wave

From the above only compression waves can be sustained in liquids and gases as the as the other three require the medium to have relatively high shear modulus. As sound travels through a medium its principle characteristics are particle displacement, particle velocity and acoustic pressure. All three characteristics vary sinusoidally with time according to the following equation;

q = Q cos t

x v

Where; Q = The amplitude of the cyclic change in that variable t = time x = Distance in the direction of propagation v = Velocity of the wave

Absorption When an ultrasonic wave propagates through any homogenous medium, energy is absorbed from the wave and converted into heat. In a uniform medium this constant energy loss creates an exponential decay in the propagating wave energy.

q = Qe x cos t

x v

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Where; = Amplitude absorption coefficient per unit distance. Wave propagation at boundaries Acoustic impedance The ratio, at any one instant, of acoustic pressure to particle velocity is called the specific acoustic impedance and is a characteristic of the medium in which the sound is travelling. For plane progressive waves, specific acoustic impedance has only real components and is called the characteristic impedance, Z, defined by;

Z = c
Where; = Density of the medium c = Velocity of sound in the medium

Reflection and transmission at plane boundaries When sound energy meets a plain boundary separating two media, some of the energy is transmitted forward and the remainder reflected back

Figure 2: Transmission and reflection at a plane boundary. The relative amounts reflected and transmitted are given by the reflection and transmission coefficients.

Reflection coefficient, Ra, = Intensity of reflected wave Intensity of incident wave Transmission coefficient, Ta, = Intensity of transmitted wave Intensity of incident wave

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It can be shown that;

Ra =
and,

Z 2 Z1 Z 2 + Z1

Ta =

2Z 2 Z 2 + Z1

Where; Ra = Reflection coefficient Ta = Transmission coefficient Z1 = Characteristic impedance in first medium Z2 = Characteristic impedance in second medium These are amplitude coefficients; the equivalent intensity coefficients, RI and Ti are

Ri =

(Z 2 Z 1 )2 (Z 2 + Z 1 )2

Ti =

(Z 2 + Z1 )2

4Z 2 Z1

Expansion of these equations shows that conservation of energy is satisfied as;

Ri + Ti = 1
It is this reflection phenomenon that is the basis of ultrasonic non-destructive testing. Refraction When a compression wave is incident on a boundary at some angle other than normal, both compression waves and shear waves are generated at the boundary. Those that are transmitted through the boundary are also refracted.

Figure 3: Refraction at a boundary

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The direction of the refracted compression and shear wave components are calculated using Snells Law;

Compression wave

sin i Vc1 = sin rc Vc 2 sin i Vc1 = sin rs Vs 2

Shear wave

Where; i = angle of incidence rc = Compression wave angle of refraction rs = Shear wave angle of refraction Vc1 = Compression wave velocity in medium 1 Vc2 = Compression wave velocity in medium 2 Vs2 = Shear wave velocity in medium 2 In general compression wave velocities are greater than shear wave velocities, so the compression wave component of the transmitted sound is refracted more than the shear wave component.

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REFERENCES [1] E. Hirronniemi, J. Takala, Location of partial discharges and electrical failures in power transformers by means of automatic ultrasonic method, CIGRE report 12-08, Paris, 1982. [2] P. Langevin, M.C. Chilowski, Procedes et appareils pour la production de signaux sous-marins direges pour la localisation a distance d' obsticles sous-marins., French Patent 502 913, 1916. [3] D.W. Auckland, C.D. Smith, B.R. Varlow, Application of ultrasound to the NDT of solid insulation, IEE, Proc. Sci. Meas. Technol., Vol. 141, No. 1, Jan. 1994.

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