Catch Cable Faults Before They Fail
AIRES Technology's Partial Discharge (PD) monitoring solution for medium and high voltage cables delivers 1 pC sensitivity and 100 MHz bandwidth — identifying insulation degradation months before breakdown, with both portable offline testing and 7×24 hour online continuous monitoring options.
Advanced patented PD sensors detect insulation degradation at 1 pC sensitivity with 100 MHz bandwidth — identifying developing faults in cable insulation, joints, and terminations at the earliest stages, months before a fault progresses to cable failure.
IP68-rated PD sensors permanently installed on cable surfaces provide round-the-clock monitoring without power outages or service interruptions — feeding real-time data to the management platform with automatic alarm generation.
A portable offline PD testing system enables on-demand inspection with single-person operation — no parameter setting required, no image distortion, accurate diagnosis with ambient noise isolation in minutes.
Both online and offline solutions are installed and operated without requiring cable de-energisation — minimising disruption to power supply and eliminating the scheduling constraints of traditional outage-based testing.
The online monitoring device supports 18–30 channels per unit, covering multiple cables and accessories simultaneously from a single installation — with optical fibre transmission for noise-immune data delivery from the monitoring point to the platform.
PD monitoring integrates with temperature sensor inputs, voltage/current signals, and environmental data — enabling correlation analysis between thermal conditions and PD activity for accurate fault prognosis.
220 kV and above substation cable and GIS monitoring
MV distribution cable inspection and condition assessment
Post-installation acceptance testing after cable joint replacement
Steel mill and industrial facility HV cable management
Port infrastructure underground cable condition monitoring
Annual cable inspection programme automation
Partial discharge is the primary failure mechanism in medium and high voltage cable insulation. Once PD begins in a cable system — in the insulation itself, at joints, or at terminations — the insulation degrades progressively until complete breakdown occurs. The critical window between detectable PD onset and catastrophic failure is typically 4–6 months.
AIRES Technology's PD monitoring solution makes that window actionable — detecting the problem early enough to schedule planned remediation, rather than responding to emergency outages.
PD develops in three main patterns, each with different risk profiles:
| PD Type | Cause | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Self-recovering discharges | Corona, suspended particles | Lower — monitored |
| Briefly self-recovering | Impurities, moisture ingress | Medium — schedule inspection |
| Non-recoverable discharges | Internal/surface void breakdown | Critical — urgent intervention |
The 4–6 month window between non-recoverable PD onset and complete cable failure is the target detection period — identifying faults in this window allows planned outage replacement rather than emergency failure response.
For scheduled inspection programmes, construction acceptance, and post-repair verification:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Sensitivity | Up to 1 pC |
| Bandwidth | 100 MHz |
| Acquisition Rate | 200 MS/s |
| Operation | Single-person, one-button |
| Setup | No parameter setting required |
| Noise Isolation | Ambient noise isolation algorithm |
| Power Outage Required | No |
| Image Distortion | None |
| Acquisition Time | Minutes |
| Output Formats | SPE, HDR, SCP |
| Portability | Fully portable with laptop |
Operation workflow:
Applications: Annual inspection rounds, post-construction acceptance testing, spot-check after reported anomalies, comparison testing before/after repairs.
For permanent installation at high-criticality cable systems requiring continuous monitoring:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Monitoring | 7×24 continuous |
| Sensor Housing | IP68 waterproof |
| Sensor Power | Low voltage <5W |
| Power Outage Required | No — installed live |
| Channels | 18–30 per monitoring unit (typical) |
| Data Transmission | Optical fibre |
| Temperature Input | Yes |
| Voltage/Current Input | Yes |
| Remote Monitoring | Yes — cloud platform |
| Alarms | Real-time with automatic threshold alerts |
Sensor installation: PD sensors are mounted directly on cable surfaces or accessories — joints, terminations, or GIS connections — without de-energisation. The IP68 housing makes them suitable for underground, tunnel, or direct burial installations in wet environments.
Data transmission: Optical fibre transmission from sensor to monitoring unit ensures immunity to electromagnetic interference from the high-voltage environment — critical for signal integrity in substations and cable tunnels.
A long-term deployment at a major cable network demonstrated:
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Inspection cycles conducted | 1,700 |
| Historical accident rate (pre-deployment) | 35 incidents/year |
| Accident points identified | 85 (5% of cables tested) |
| Serious accident points found | 6 |
| Accident rate reduction | 60% upon programme expiration |
The 60% accident reduction demonstrates the solution's effectiveness in converting reactive emergency responses into planned preventive maintenance operations.
The system produces PD images showing:
Pulse classification into three categories (Slow, Medium-Fast, Fast) enables automatic severity assessment alongside amplitude and frequency measurements.
| Application | Solution Type | Typical Channel Count |
|---|---|---|
| 220 kV cable joint monitoring | On-line | 3–6 per joint |
| Substation GIS connections | On-line | 18–30 per feeder |
| MV cable annual inspection | Off-line | Portable |
| Post-construction acceptance | Off-line | Portable |
| Industrial HV cable (steel mills, ports) | Combined | On-line at critical points + off-line inspection |
The online monitoring data feeds a cloud-based management platform providing:
Get in touch with our team for a product demo, pricing information, or to discuss how MV & HV Cable PD Monitoring Solution can be deployed in your organisation.
