Characteristics of partial discharges caused by trees in contact with covered conductor lines

Characteristics of partial discharges (PD) caused by trees in contact with covered conductor (CC) lines have been studied. A tree in contact with a CC distorts the electric field around the conductor and causes partial discharges. According to tests conducted in a high voltage laboratory the rise time of the PD current pulses caused by the trees is relatively long, in the order of 60 ns...0.8 mus. The fault impedance and PD magnitude caused by a tree in contact with a CC and the propagation attenuation of PD pulses was studied in different seasonal conditions in September, November and March on a full scale 110 kV CC trial line. In case of an intact CC the fault impedance is several MOmega. After breakdown of the conductor covering the fault impedance collapses in summer to tens and in winter to hundreds of kOmega. The average PD magnitude measured in March was approximately one fifth of that in September. On a 9.3 km line portion the observed propagation attenuation of the PD signal was 0.37...3.7 dB. The variation in the attenuation is attributed to the variation in the rise times of the PD pulses and the modal composition of the PD signal. The results indicate that PD measurements can be used to detect trees fallen on CC lines.