Energy advantages of using damped AC voltage to test electric cables

In electro-energy an important problem is to ensure production and transport of electricity in optimum conditions and safety. In this respect knowing of the degree of aging of electrical equipment (transformers, cables, accessories, etc.) becomes a strategy matter of the maintenance management. Optimized and improved test methods and equipment for HV and MV power cables for the early detection of existing defects in the insulation by assessing the partial discharges (PD) have developed. The news trends in the achievement of the modern electrical equipment for test the electrical cables, on-line or off-line, have objective to increase the sensibility, the diminution of the consumption of power energy, the reproductibility of the test condition, to be easy in use and portable in site etc. This paper presents classical and modern methods of off-line and on-site testing with AC power cables. A comparative study is made on energy consumption required by conventional methods of testing with AC voltage power cables (AC method with line frequency and AC method with series resonant circuit) and the method Oscillating Wave Test System - OWTS using damped AC Voltages (DAC). Calculations have shown a substantial less consumption of the OWTS method comparison with the AC method known and analyzed in this paper, underlining the economical character of the OWTS method.