Unsupervised Monitoring System for Predictive Maintenance of High Voltage Apparatus

The online monitoring of a high voltage apparatus is a crucial aspect for a predictive maintenance program. Partial discharges (PDs) phenomena affect the insulation system of an electrical machine and—in the long term—can lead to a breakdown, with a consequent, significant economic loss; wind turbines provide an excellent example. Embedded solutions are therefore required to monitor the insulation status. The paper presents an online system that adopts unsupervised methodologies for assessing the condition of the monitored machine in real time. The monitoring process does not rely on any prior knowledge about the apparatus; nonetheless, the method can identify the relevant drifts in the machine status. In addition, the system is specifically designed to run on low-cost embedded devices.