The purpose of an electric railway system contact wire is to supply electric energy to trains through a contacted pantograph. This energy is then converted into mechanical energy. Recent developments in overhead contact lines include the increase in the tension force up to 34 kN according to train speeds that reach up to 400 km/h with a verified safety. Rigid conductor catenary (R-Bar) for high speeds of up to 250 km/h have been developed in tunnels to save on construction costs. This is significant because minor defects in R-bars in aspects, such as height and stagger affect installation conditions. In this study, we propose the use of a detector that measures the static characteristics to reduce the R-bar installation errors. This detector has been developed to measure the height and stagger of the contact wire using video images.

As a ZnO varistor is subjected to electrical and environmental stresses, it degrades gradually, which may result in power interruption by short circuit. This study investigates changes in the electrical characteristics of ZnO varistors due to deterioration owing to energy absorption, and determines the optimal parameters for on-line diagnosis of the varistor. Two types of varistors were used for an accelerated aging experiment involving the application of the 8/20 μs standard lightning impulse current. The electrical characteristics in terms of the reference voltage, total leakage current, resistive leakage current, and third-harmonic component of the total leakage current were measured, and their change rates were analyzed. The results revealed that the total leakage current increased slightly with an increase in the varistor absorbed energy, while the resistive leakage current and the third-harmonic component increased apparently. Therefore, the third-harmonic component of the total leakage current was proposed as the optimal parameter for on-line monitoring of ZnO varistor conditions.

This paper dealt with the measurement and analysis of electromagnetic waves radiated from a partial discharge (PD) source in insulation oil to apply condition monitoring of oil-immersed transformers. Two types of narrow-band monopole antennas with the resonant frequency of a 500 MHz and a 1 GHz were designed and fabricated. Also, a needle plane electrode system was manufactured to simulate PDs and the curvature radius of the needle is 10 pm and the diameter of the plane is 60 mm. Electromagnetic wave was measured by the PD measurement system with the monopole antennas. Detection sensitivity of the fabricated antenna was compared for the same P1) magnitude; 620 mVpeak for the 500 MHz antenna and 960 mV1,t for the 1 GHz antenna to the PD magnitude of 74 pC. Consequently, the 1 GHz monopole antenna is more effective to detect PDs in oil immersed transformers.