Design and fabrication of double layer bowtie antenna with modification of wing edge as UHF sensor for partial discharge detection in air insulation

Abstract

Abstract Partial discharge (PD) has been used as a reliable diagnostic technique for High voltage equipment. UHF methods have been widely applied for the detection of electromagnetic waves emitted from PD source in High Voltage equipment. EM wave propagation produced by PD can be detected by using UHF sensors. This paper discusses the new design of double layer bowtie antenna with modification of the wing edge of the antenna as a UHF sensor for PD detection in air insulation. The double layer bowtie antenna was designed by using FR4-epoxy substrate type and later on printed on PCB. The 3D-HFSS software was used to design the bowtie antenna. Based on simulation results of double layer bowtie antenna, the optimum design for PD measurement was obtained with a minimum return loss (RL) of -34.7 dB, the bandwidth of 560 MHz, and Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) of 1.03. Based on the measurement results for the designed bowtie antenna by using the Vector Network Analyser (VNA), the bowtie antenna has a return loss of -14 dB, the bandwidth of 555 MHz, and VSWR of 1.05. The designed UHF double layer bowtie antenna is capable of detecting PD in UHF range since PD signal have a frequency range of 300 MHz - 3 GHz.