Basic study on calibration using waveform variation in space charge measurement by pulsed electroacoustic method

The pulsed electroacoustic method determines the distribution of space charge in an insulation system by applying a pulse voltage and detecting the acoustic response. It estimates the location and magnitude of charges from time-domain signals. For quantitative analysis, a bias voltage is applied to a specimen with no space charge, and the acoustic signal generated from the electrodes only is used as a reference waveform for calibration. However, a full-scale, extra-high voltage insulation system often already contains space charges in it. Therefore, a method of acquiring a reference signal under such a condition was studied. We studied methods to compare voltage variations and response signal variations. We proposed a method that measures the signal difference at different voltages. In addition, we proposed a method of correlating voltage and signal variations that may allo for more rapid signal acquisition. The feasibility was proved using an 11 mm-thick mimic polyethylene specimen.