Electrical safety and energy conservation are significant concerns in industrial manufacturing. Common issues like partial discharge and compressed air leaks are known to threaten employee safety and machine health; however, traditional methods of identifying these hazards can be time-consuming and inefficient. Ultrasound technology offers a reliable and cost-effective solution for detecting potential hazards early, reducing the risk of equipment failure and worker injury.
What is Partial Discharge?
Partial discharge is a serious problem that can damage machinery and pose a threat to employee safety. Partial discharge (PD) happens when a small area of insulation in a high voltage environment cannot handle the electrical stress and breaks down. It’s referred to as “partial” because it doesn’t span the whole distance between two insulated electrodes. The phenomenon causes insulation to deteriorate over time, which will ultimately lead to failure. If you don’t identify the problem in a timely manner, insulation failure can not only result in loss of power supply but can also endanger staff.
Types of Partial Discharge
There are three distinct types of PD:
- Corona – This common form of partial discharge occurs when discharge emits from the surface of the conductor directly into the air. The electric field at a conductor is greatest where the curvature is sharpest, meaning that corona discharge occurs first at sharp points, corners and edges.
- Tracking – Surface tracking can be one of the most destructive types of PD and occurs when discharge travels along the surface of insulation. Contamination and weather of the insulator surface are the two most common causes of tracking.
- Arcing – Arcing discharge is a prolonged electrical discharge produced by the electrical breakdown of a gas. Plasma is produced when the current flows through air or any other normally non-conductive medium.
Dangers of Partial Discharge
The effects of PD can be highly detrimental by changing the nature of the insulation medium. Left unchecked, the insulation can become unable to withstand the stress of high voltage and a complete failure occurs. This final breakdown is catastrophic, causing large-scale damage to equipment and a danger to personnel.
Damaging partial discharge can cause:
- Downtime
- Fires
- Insulator degradation
- Grid overload
The thing to remember is that these dangers are completely avoidable with the right inspection tools. Advancements in ultrasound technology have allowed us to detect partial discharge before a threat is posed, protecting employee safety and machine health.
Improving Workplace Safety with Ultrasound
With the UltraView acoustic imaging camera, you can protect the invaluable safety of your personnel and efficiently detect issues such as corona, tracking and arcing. These PD emissions produce high frequency sounds that Ultrasound can detect and translate into audible ranges that can be heard and recorded through headphones to determine severity. One of the biggest misconceptions around using ultrasound technology is that it’s difficult or requires extensive training. The UltraView makes it easy—just point the camera at any electrical asset and the partial discharge locations will show on the screen. The camera can even distinguish partial discharge from other ultrasound sources, reducing the number of false positives.
Energy Conservation Made Easy
Aside from ensuring electrical safety, the UltraView can also help conserve energy by detecting air leaks, a serious problem that affects most industrial facilities. If your compressors are having a hard time keeping up with the demand, leaks are most likely the issue. 1 kW of compressed air is 8 times more expensive than 1 kW of electricity, and about 30% of all compressed air is lost to leaks. With the rising energy prices, it can be your most expensive utility.
The UltraView provides an easy way to find compressed air leaks (or any other compressed gas). Simply switch on the camera and watch the leak locations show up on the screen. For each compressed air leak, the UltraView will show you the decibel level, the leak rate, and the estimated leak cost. Not only do compressed air leaks cost money, but they also reduce equipment running hours, add unnecessary wear and tear on equipment, and can be a safety risk for employees. With a simple point and scan, locating and fixing leaks will reduce the concern of rising energy costs, create a safer working environment for employees, and ensure your facility is working at optimal efficiency.
Hear What’s Wrong, Fix It
Thanks to improvements in ultrasound technology, we can catch threats to our equipment and personnel before they turn dangerous. The best part is the UltraView camera is ready to be used right out of the box – its operation requires minimal training, and you can detect partial discharge and leaks without the need for any additional software installation.
