Presco AG

Zürcherstrasse 70, POB 155

8104 Weiningen, Switzerland
Tel . : +41 44 750 63 63 No. 2
Fax : +41 44 750 63 66 June 2005
www.prescoag,com

Partial Discharge Calibration in Presence of

Interference
1. Introduction
According to the Standard IEC60270 it is proposed to calibrate a Partial discharge (PD) system
with a PD level near the expected PD level. This proposal was probably based on old PD
detectors with a bad linearity and/or on PD detectors which have low sensitivity for real PD
because of their too high cut-off frequency at the lower edge of PD detector's filter. Or some PD
detectors from competitors have a built-in so called "dead zone" with which PD signals below a
certain level are suppressed hiding the real noise/interference situation.
However, in almost all cases in an industrial environment there is noise/interference and this
noise/interference is to be considered when calibrating a PD system as also proposed in
IEC60270
2. Calibrating in a noise free environment.
The external calibrator is set e.g. to 5 pC, connected to the test object and then the PD Detector
is started to calibrate at a preset value of 5 pC.
Observing the real analogue PD calibration signal with an oscilloscope one will see the following

5 pC pd signal

ppd
k

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
k

Fig. 1 Calibration signal in a noise free environment

When the calibrator is switched off and removed, the instrument will display approx. 0.3 pC
which is the inherent noise of the input amplifier of the PD detector. With the good linearity of
Presco's PD detectors one would get the same results even if calibrated with 10 pC, 100 pC or
1'000 pC.

PAG_Info2.doc/12.06.2005/PO/KF page 1 of 3
Presco AG
No. 2
June 2005
3. Calibrating in case of external noise or interference.
Supposing now, there is an external interference of 4 pC (could be random or a high frequency
sine or other). Without the calibration signal an oscilloscope would show :
4 pC noise signal

yn 0
k

4
0 20 40 60 80 100
k

If now a 5 pC calibration signal is applied, the PD detector will "see" the calibration impulse
superimposed on the noise signal :
Overlayed noise and signal:

10

6
sm
k

markk
4

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
k

As one can immediately see, the calibration impulse "dances" on the interference signal and the
instrument "sees" a higher calibration impulse than effectively injected (8.5 pC in our case). If
now the calibration is made, the sensitivity of the instrument is reduced because it is set to a
value "calibration magnitude + interference level". If the system is then used after such a wrong
calibration, the PD measurement will be wrong and it also shows a back ground noise level
lower that it is in reality. If after such a wrong calibration the back ground noise level is
measured, the PD detector will show
5
q gdisp 
4  q gdisp 2.353
8.5

These 2.35 pC are wrong, it is a "embelished" back ground noise level leading to wrong PD
measurements.

PAG_Info2.doc page 2 of 3
Presco AG
No. 2
June 2005
4. Recommendations

Use a "honest" PD detector with a correct filter characteristic according the specific
application and without "dead zone" and good linearity.

Improve your PD system regarding grounding (earthing), screeneing, filtering. Our
experienced engineers can help.

Always calibrate your PD system with a high calibration impulse (e.g. 100 pC or even
1'000 pC). The higher the injected pulse for calibration is, the lower the influence of noise
on the calibration is.

With the good linearity of our instruments, after a calibration with a high value you can
easily check the performance of the instrument with the calibrator. Then check the real
background noise level the following way :
Calibrate with 100 pC (normally with gain 10)
Switch off the calibrator
Increase gain to 1000
Read back ground noise level.
5. Presco's PD Detectors
All our PD Detectors are supplied with Coupling Device, Battery Calibrator, Cable between
Coupling Device and PD Detector plus a Test Certificate granting traceability to international
standards

Type PD-4 Type PD-4


diagnosis of high voltage insulation systems 
diagnosis of high voltage insulation systems

fulfils standard IEC 60270 
fulfils standard IEC 60270

real analogue processing 
selectable broad band filters

direct observation of PD activities by analogue 
tuneable narrow band filter
indicator 
combined analogue and digital display

good linearity and reproducibility of measurements 
interference gating with up to 6 individually

Auto calibration adjustable gates

Auto ranging 
Real analogue or digital processing

built-in RS232 interface 
Auto calibration

one cable connection between coupling device and 
Auto ranging
instrument 
Phase resolved pattern in scope mode or fingerprint

including Battery Calibrator and Coupling Device mode

Options : different kinds of multiplexers, remote 
one cable connection between coupling device and
control software instrument

low cost 
including Battery Calibrator and Coupling Device

Options : different kinds of multiplexers and remote
control software, digital signal processing software

PAG_Info2.doc page 3 of 3