A Study on the Algorithm for Detection of Partial Discharge in GIS Using the Wavelet Transform

In view of the fact that gas insulated switchgear (GIS) is an important piece of equipment in a substation, it is highly desirable to continuously monitor the state of equipment by measuring the partial discharge (PD) activity in a GIS, as PD is a symptom of an insulation weakness/breakdown. However, since the PD signal is relatively weak and the external noise makes detection of the PD signal difficult, it therefore requires careful attention in its detection. In this paper, the algorithm for detection of PD in the GIS using the wavelet transform (WT) is proposed. The WT provides a direct quantitative measure of the spectral content and dynamic spectrum in the time-frequency domain. The most appropriate mother wavelet for this application is the Daubechies 4 (db4) wavelet. 'db4', the most commonly applied mother wavelet in the power quality analysis, is very well suited to detecting high frequency signals of very short duration, such as those associated with the PD phenomenon. The proposed algorithm is based on utilizing the absolute sum value of coefficients, which are a combination of D1 (Detail 1) and D2 (Detail 2) in multiresolution signal decomposition (MSD) based on WT after noise elimination and normalization.