Partial Discharge Testing

Automatic test equipment is used to confirm product conformance. In addition to being a leading partial discharge testing company, we are able to test for all the recognised industry standards parameters, we can carry out partial discharge and impulse testing.

What is Partial Discharge?

Partial discharge (PD) is the electrical discharge that happens in a localised part of a transformer. The discharge occurs between two insulated conductive elements, without completely breaking through the insulation material. Although, not identified by standard voltage breakdown test, this discharge will cause long-term problems. The insulation material may deteriorate with age and then the discharge will cause a breakdown, or the discharge may cause premature aging of the insulation material, dramatically shortening the life of the product.

Benefits of Partial Discharge Testing

The design and manufacture of products that have a low PD is becoming more common, this is due to the benefits received from PD testing, including:

• PD monitoring is the best current means available of proving the integrity of a coil’s insulation.
• Low PD gives confidence in the product’s operational life-time.
• Low PD substantially reduces the possible failure from future insulation break-down.

Investing in Partial Discharge testing

We have invested in the development, manufacture and testing of products with PD requirements. We now have automated test equipment, which supplements the existing manually controlled equipment. The equipment is used to confirm of the products have achieved their requirements.

Our team instigates the fundamental design requirements, including the product’s layout, the materials used and maintaining the required clearances.
These features have to be met, but the coil must still achieve its operational function, it is important to achieve this compromise situation.

We also ensure that the manufacturing controls are in place to ensure that during production no degradation occurs. This could be barely perceptible damage to components. Protection and prevention methods must be correctly used. Any slight damage or omission can cause PD problems, as the corona is very searching when trying to create a possible discharge path.

Our partial discharge service includes:

• Partial discharge testing of components
• Manufacturing design service
• PD testing carried out on products that are not, or will not be manufactured by AGW.