Calibration of Free-Space Radiometric Partial Discharge Measurements

The present study addresses the calibration of four types of partial discharge (PD) emulators used in the development of a PD Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). Three PD emulators have been constructed: a floating-electrode emulator, and two internal PD emulators. Both DC and AC high-voltage power supplies are used to initiate PD, which is measured using concurrent free-space radiometry (FSR) and a galvanic contact method based on the IEC 60270 standard. The emulators have been measured and simulated, and a good agreement has been found for the radiated fields. A new method of estimating the absolute PD activity level from radiometric measurements is proposed.