Final Report: Technical Contributions to the Development of Incipient Fault Detection/Location Instrumentation

摘要

The transmission of electrical energy by use of underground cables is increasing. Fault location techniques have certain limitations; incipient fault detection and location would help reduce the maintenance cost of these lines as well as improve the reliability of service. The report discusses some test results related to RF-probing techniques applied to high-voltage transmission lines. The high frequency losses and attenuation in high voltage cables places certain ultimate limitations on RF-probing techniques for incipient fault detection. Time domain reflectrometry methods were employed to assess the RF-transmission properties of high voltage cables at frequencies as high as 6 GHz. Fast Fourier transform deconvolution were used to obtain loss measurements as a function of frequency. The loss mechanisms were identified. The measurement hardware and methods are discussed as well as analysis approach leading to the conclusions.