Passive RFID sensor for remote detection of Partial Discharge

A novel approach for non-invasive radiometric Partial Discharge (PD) detection and localization of faulty power apparatuses in switchyards using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based sensor is presented. The sensor is a multi-resonator based passive circuit with two antennas for reception of PD signal from the source and transmission of the captured PD to the base station. The sensor captures PD signal processes it with designated spectral signatures as identification data bits and retransmits the data with PD signals to the base station. Analyzing the PD signal in the base station, both the PD levels and source identifications can be retrieved. The prototype sensor was designed, fabricated, and tested for performance analysis. Results verify that the sensor is capable of identifying different sources at the events of PD.