Influence of Sensor Information Accuracy on Condition-Based Maintenance Strategy for GIS/GCB Maintenance

Condition-based maintenance (CBM) is a new maintenance strategy for the reliable operation of aged power equipment. Although CBM has been applied for various equipment, the accuracy of condition information from sensors has not yet been sufficiently discussed. Specifications of reliable information are still not clear and CBM sensors have not widely been applied on actual power substations. The influence of condition information accuracy is treated in this paper. The authors describe results with a comparison of the CBM gas pressure sensor and the existing gas pressure sensor in reference to the problem with SF6 gas leakage detection. As result of the experiment, an SF6 gas leakage of less than 0.1 per year might be detected by using the CBM gas pressure sensor. The authors conclude that a special sensitivity and long-term stability performance of the CBM gas pressure sensor are very important for the reliable operation of power substations under the CBM strategy.