Here are three of the questions we are asked most often about partial-discharge (PD) detection and online monitoring.
Q1: Online PD monitoring vs. periodic testing — how do I choose?
It depends on asset criticality and outage cost. For assets where downtime is extremely costly — hub-substation GIS, high-tech fab incoming equipment — continuous online monitoring is recommended. General equipment can use periodic live PD testing every 1–3 years. New equipment should receive PD testing at site acceptance to establish baseline data.
Q2: Can UHF readings be converted to IEC 60270 pC values?
No. IEC 60270 measures apparent charge (pC); IEC TS 62478 covers UHF/acoustic signal intensity. They measure different physical quantities and cannot be converted. In practice, IEC 62478’s sensitivity-check procedure verifies detection capability — the two standards are complementary.
Q3: How do cloud platforms handle the huge data volumes of online PD monitoring?
Modern architectures perform signal analysis and feature extraction at the edge, uploading only key parameters — discharge magnitude, repetition rate, phase distribution — which dramatically reduces transmission and storage load. The cloud then focuses on asset-level applications: trend analysis, tiered alarms, and fleet comparison.
