Ultra-wide bandwidth measurement of partial discharge current pulses in SF6

This paper presents ultra-wide bandwidth measurements of partial discharge (PD) current pulses. Using a 33 GHz bandwidth oscilloscope together with a direct, matched coaxial connection to the PD source, pulses have been characterized with a greater degree of accuracy than has previously been achieved, with a minimum observed rise time of 24 ps. The PD source consists of a sharp protrusion in pressurized sulfur hexaflouride (SF6) with a tip radius of 25 µm. Both positive and negative corona pulses were recorded, revealing previously indistinguishable frequency content and features such as the appearance of groups of multiple component pulses occurring within a nanosecond time scale.