As engineers, we tend to focus our attention on how things work but pay less attention to the benefits our products bring to end users and the problems they help solve. This leaves the important question of why' our customers needed the solution in the first place; this question is often overlooked, particularly in initial meetings. In this article, we share thoughts about Partial Discharge (PD) and its importance within the Megger portfolio of products and help answer two specific questions concerning asset monitoring solutions: Why PD and why Megger?

Why PD?
Looking at PD from a macro level, the reason why monitoring for PD activity is so important is that it has many uses within the power industry. It is considered by many as one of the earliest indicators of insulation system deterioration found within many critical operating assets such as large rotating machines, transformers, cables, and GIS substations. Detection of PD activity within these systems can be used as an insurance policy against catastrophic failure guaranteeing insulation system integrity and is a recognized early warning phenomenon of insulation condition behavior, often cited by many industry committees and standards organizations, such as IEEE, IEC, and CIGRE.

Although PD has been studied for many decades, mainly for research purposes for dielectric materials development, it often required a deep understanding of mathematics and hardware electronics principles. Today, thanks to the fast evolution of computing power, the process towards an effective diagnostic tool has been enhanced significantly.

PD testing is now a standardized and well-established practice commonly used around the world. This can be found in the following applications:

• OEM development and manufacturing process benchmark
• Power utilities, from generation, transmission, and distribution
• Industrials (mining, oil and gas, transportation, pulp and paper, etc.)
• Research laboratories

Some common PD applications include:

• Quality check
• Asset acceptance and commissioning tests
• On-line monitoring
• Insulation behavior analysis
• Diagnostics and insulation deterioration root cause
• Fundamental tool to transition from timed-based maintenance to condition-based maintenance
• Trending for predictive modeling
• Complement other established diagnostics technology, such as Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA), vibration, temperature, etc.
• Research and development

Why Megger?
Since 1889, Megger has been providing innovative tools used throughout the power industry. From the introduction of the first megohmmeter and the first protection relay test set, Megger has been a pioneer in insulation DFR technology, transformer adaptive demagnetization, Individual Temperature Correction (ITC) algorithms, and cosine rectangular waves on VLF solutions for power cables. Megger was even responsible for the first portable partial discharge detector with  phi-q-n pattern display (ICM system).

As part of Megger's rounded portfolio strategy, we acquired Power Diagnostix in 2019; a company dedicated to providing a wide range of PD solutions for monitoring critical assets. Power Diagnostix have been focused on the insulation deterioration of large rotating machines, transformers, GIS substations, and power cable systems since the mid 1980's. Through this acquisition, Megger can keep meeting the needs of our clients and partners while also continuing to meet the highest level of expectations.

The journey, however, is far from over as the entire industry is continuously developing and learning. We are excited by the trust and confidence that our users have placed on us today and for the past 130 years and we are committed to continuing development and providing the best solutions in the industry. We strive to be your complete solutions provider and trusted partner in the monitoring of all critical assets.

Going to IEEE PES in New Orleans, Louisiana in April?
Visit Megger at booth 8529 to further discuss your application and needs with our staff and learn how we can best serve you on this exciting journey towards critical asset performance management and condition-based maintenance programs using Megger's Partial Discharge solutions.

For More Information Contact
Megger
https://megger.com/