Reliable operation of electric power systems is
highly dependent on an insulation system required to safely isolate energized
electrical components of the power system from ground and from each other. With
an average age of 50-60 years, the insulation systems of North America’s power
grid are now under higher levels of stress than they were designed to tolerate.
In addition, emergent renewable electric power sources, e.g. wind and solar energies, use power electronics that introduce
high frequency voltages which accelerate the ageing of the already stressed
electric insulation. These stressed and ageing electric insulators increase the
risk of sudden equipment failure, outage, and disturbance, which cost the North
American economy over $100 billion/year. Condition monitoring (both online and
offline) and diagnostics of electric power systems are required to minimize
failures and the resulting outages and disruptions.

McMath High Voltage Laboratory, one of the
three laboratories housed in Stanley Pauley Centre, is dedicated to research
and training in the area of high voltage and high electric field intensity
studies of electrical insulators and insulations systems. The recent renovation
of the lab as well as the equipment that has been acquired/ordered are enabling
research projects and teaching laboratory experiments related to high voltage
insulation and techniques. The experimental laboratories of two courses, one
undergraduate level (ECE 4360 High Voltage Engineering) and one graduate level
(ECE 7440 Advanced High Voltage Engineering) are held in this lab. The
facilities that have been made available in the lab allow the students to
become familiar with the state-of-the-art technologies in this area. A number
of research projects, both at the M.Sc. and Ph.D. levels, are conducted by the
graduate students in the lab. The research carried out in the lab has allowed
us to extend our collaboration with local industries such Manitoba Hydro, the
local utility company, and CG Power Systems Canada, a world-class high voltage
transformer manufacturer.

Recently, an infrastructure grant application has been submitted to
Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) that has been successful at the
University level and is now being prepared for final submission. The
availability of proper laboratory environment dedicated to high voltage and
equipment that has been purchased using the Pauley Family Foundation donation had
a very positive impact on the success of this application at the University
level.

Research
Activities at McMath High Voltage Laboratory (M²HVL)

A number of research projects are carried out in McMath High Voltage
Lab. A brief summary of two of them are highlighted below.

Wideband partial discharge
measurement in high voltage apparatus

 Partial discharges (PD),
which is a localized breakdown in the insulation system of high voltage (HV)
equipment, can lead to both chemical and physical deterioration of materials
comprising the insulation systems of electrical equipment. PD detection is an
important means of testing the reliability of insulator subjected to high
voltage stresses. The focus of this research project is on remote detection of
partial discharge and applying the pattern recognition techniques for PD source
classification. In remote detection of PD, a wideband antenna outside the high
voltage apparatus will be used to capture the PD signal. The advantage of
remote radiometric detection is that all the measurements will be performed
wirelessly through a non-contact measurement system. Also we investigate the
impact of pulsed power signals on aging and deterioration of insulators.

Novel, wireless, passive electric
field sensors for monitoring high voltage apparatus

The objectives of this research project include
the design and implementation of passive, low cost, small, wireless electric
field sensors based on the variation of the resonance frequency of a
high-frequency transmission-line resonator loaded with voltage-controlled
capacitances. Being passive, the sensors do not require a source of power or
batteries. Low cost of production and small size of these sensors will make it
feasible to distribute these sensors around a high voltage device or system and
form a network of sensors.

In this research, an experimental synchrophasor network and a set of instructions were developed for introducing synchrophasor technology and its applications to graduate and senior undergraduate students. Synchrophasors are representations of the phasor values of sinusoidal currents and voltages in a power system with respective to a common phase angle reference and all measurements are reported with a time tag indicating the measurement time. Thus they are very useful for power system monitoring and control applications because the measurements made at different locations can be time aligned to create a snapshot of the power system. A synchrophasor measurement system consists of phasor measurement units (PMUs), communication network, one or more Phasor Data Concentrators (PDCs) and auxiliary systems such application servers. In the laboratory setup, a power system simulated in a RTDS real-time digital simulator provides analog voltages and currents to phasor measurement units (PMUs). Time synchronizing signals for the PMUs are supplied from a GPS clock. The PMUs send synchrophasor data to a phasor data concentrator (PDC) through Ethernet, and the PDC provides outputs to applications.  Several applications such as phasor data visualization, transmission line parameter monitoring, and fault location can be demonstrated using the experimental setup.

Intelligent Power Grid Laboratory is one of the three laboratories housed in the Stanley Pauley Centre and devoted to research and education in the area of power system protection, automation and control. The laboratory is well equipped with real time power system simulators, modern multifunction protection relays, digital fault recorders with PMU capability, GPS satellite clocks, communication and networking equipment, electrical machine and power system test beds, power system monitoring, analysis, and automation software, merging units, and general purpose testing and measuring equipment. The laboratory can facilitate research and training in emerging areas such as wide area monitoring, control and protection of power systems, power systems dynamics and stability, new substation automation and protection paradigms based on IEC 61850 standards, grid integration of renewable energy systems, etc.