Cast-resin transformers are widely installed in various electrical power systems because of their low operating cost and low influence on external environmental factors. However, when they have an internal defect during the manufacturing process or operation, a partial discharge (PD) occurs, and eventually destroys the insulation. In this paper, a Rogowski-type PD sensor was studied to replace commercial PD sensors used for the insulation diagnosis of power apparatus. The proposed PD sensor was manufactured with four different types of PCB-based winding structures, and it was analyzed in terms of the detection characteristics for standard calibration pulses and the changes of the output voltage according to the distance. The output increased linearly in accordance with the applied discharge amount. It was confirmed that the hexagon structure sensor had the highest sensitivity, because the winding cross-sectional area of the sensor was larger than others. In addition, as the distance from the defect increased, the output voltage of the sensors decreased by 7.32% on average. It was also confirmed that the attenuation rate according to the distance decreased as the input discharge amount increased. For the application of this new type sensor, PD electrode system was designed to simulate the void defect. Waveforms and PRPD patterns measured by the proposed PD sensors at DIV and 120% of DIV were the same as the results measured by MPD 600 based on IEC 60270. The proposed PD sensors can be installed on the inner wall of the transformer tank by coating its surfaces with a non-conductive material; therefore, it is possible to detect internal defects more effectively at a closer distance from the defect than the conventional sensors.

This paper dealt with a partial discharge (PD) detection method for insulation diagnosis in cast-resin transformers. To detect PD pulse, a planar-capacitive probe was designed and fabricated. The probe has no insulation problem and can be installed on cast-resin transformers even in operation since it does not connect with high voltage conductor. The PD measurement system consists of the capacitive probe, a coupling network of 100 [kHz] low-cutoff frequency, and an amplifier with a gain of 40 [dB] and a frequency bandwidth of 500 [Hz]∼45 [MHz]. A plane-needle and a plane-plane electrode system were fabricated to simulate insulation defects in a cast-resin transformer. Sensitivity of the PD measurement system, which is evaluated by a standard calibrator was 0.35 [mV/pC] for positive and 0.45 [mV/pC] for negative, respectively. The PD detection by the capacitive probe was less sensitive than that by a coupling capacitor according to IEC 60270, but we could analyze the magnitude and the phase distribution of PD pulse.