New partial discharge detector puts condition monitoring on the agenda
Power-engineering specialist EA Technology has launched the world’s most effective partial discharge locator for high-voltage open terminal switchyard equipment.
The only instrument of its kind, the rugged, handheld, battery-powered PD HawkTM is straightforward to operate and uniquely fast and accurate. Allowing electrical engineers to scan entire switchyards in minutes and locate partial discharge emissions from a distance, the PD HawkTM offers valuable time and cost savings and needs no specialist training to operate.
EA Technology’s Asset Management Director, Anne McIntosh, said: “The first sign of problems network operators get is usually when an asset fails suddenly, causing costly damage and outage. The unique design of the PD HawkTM enables operators to detect and locate internal partial discharge activity in live assets before they fail.
“Partial discharge is caused by insulation defects, including deterioration, faulty joints, poor terminations and mechanical damage and is a major factor in substation failures. Using the PD HawkTM to detect partial discharge early can help achieve major savings for network operators by preventing these costly failures.
“Beyond detecting and locating partial discharge activity, the PD HawkTM is an invaluable tool for providing information on the condition of switchyard assets for planning maintenance and replacement purposes.”
The PD HawkTM can be tuned to measure emissions in the 47-1000 MHz frequency range – its factory default of around 800 MHz is designed to tune out non-PD emissions including non-destructive corona activity and eliminate false readings from wireless sources such as TV masts and mobile phones.
The operator can safely listen to emissions on the PD HawkTM’s built-in speaker and/or over headphones; signals can also be viewed on the instrument’s menu-driven colour display as magnitude, frequency and pulse timing.
Supplied as a complete kit, including charger and carry case, the easy-to-use PD HawkTM is completely portable and can detect PD in all open terminal assets including circuit breakers, isolators, disconnectors, surge arrestors, cable terminations, current transformers and voltage transformers.
