Partial discharge measurements and calibration: limits and perspectives for power cables

This paper discusses the limits of partial discharge apparent charge estimation focusing on power cables. In particular, the influence of attenuation and propagation phenomena on partial discharge measurement is highlighted, showing that estimates can diverge significantly from the true apparent charge. Reference is also made on UWB and UHF detectors that do not comply with the IEC 60270, but are becoming very popular due to the high signal-to-noise ratios. It will be shown that, depending on noise and interference, some of them can be calibrated, some of them not.