Nobel passive signal acquisition system for PD monitoring of very long cables based on optical fibre

Online partial discharge (PD) monitoring in high voltage insulated cables is a predictive method that has proven its effectiveness over several years. It allows for the detection of defects, enabling the anticipation of disruptive failures that can take the cable system out of service. The available systems use sensors that capture the electromagnetic signal for subsequent processing, allowing the distinction of PD pulses of a few tens of picocoulombs mixed with the noise of the installation in service. The pulses undergo significant attenuation as they propagate along the cables; therefore, in long cables spanning several kilometres with multiple grounding boxes, it is necessary to have sensors at different locations to cover the detection of defects throughout the entire insulation,…