Paper

On-line Partial Discharge Measurement of Hydrogenerator Stator

Windings using Acoustic Emission Detection Techniques
Tadamitsu Kaneko∗ Member
Akito Takemura∗∗ Student Member
Osamu Takenouchi∗∗∗ Member
Youl-Moon Sung∗∗ Member
Masahisa Otsubo∗∗ Member
Chikahisa Honda∗∗ Member
Yoshio Tsuruta∗∗∗∗ Non-member
Kazuhiro Tanaka∗5 Non-member

The on-line partial discharge testing has been used to provide useful information to diagnose and moni-
tor the integrity of stator winding insulation of hydrogenerators. We are aiming for the establishment of a
method of on-line diagnosis of insulation deterioration on hydrogenerator stator winding by acoustic emission
(AE) detection method. We have developed a new AE measuring system that is controlled by output signal
of hydrogenerator. In this paper, it was clarified that the insulation deterioration of hydrogenerator stator
winding depended remarkably on the temperature of stator winding during a starting operation period.

Keywords: on-line insulation diagnosis, partial discharge, hydrogenerator stator winding insulation, acoustic emission
sensor

providing early warnings and preventive maintenance

1. Introduction actions. Condition-based maintenance (CBM) will be
Nowadays electricity companies have as main drivers overviewed for plant and substation high voltage equip-
the need of cost savings and the increasing liability ment, e.g. in case of generator, GIS and cable insulation
awareness. Power apparatuses are significant infrastruc- diagnosis. The maintenance technology of a hydrogen-
tures that support society today. In such a situation, erator is trending toward the introduction of CBM (1) .
we must manage many hydrogenerators effectively over The PD testing is a promising method of stator wind-
holding reliance of power supply. So gravity of techni- ing insulation of hydrogenerator conditions monitoring.
cal business, which contains supervising of driving con- Therefore, the on-line PD testing has been used to pro-
dition, driving support, conserving and diagnosis, has vide useful information to diagnose and monitor the in-
been increasing. Especially, a demand of life-prolonging tegrity of stator winding insulation of many hydrogen-
driving and diagnosis of life on hydrogenerators have erators.
been driving for 30 years tend to increase. Further, Recently, the on-line PD measurements have been
in tendency of society, for example environmental pro- made on the stator winding of hydrogenerators with
tection, pursuing economy and deregulation of power many kinds of PD detection methods (2) . The on-line
supply, establishment of technology is needed on effi- PD measurements are accompanied by several physical
ciency conserving of hydrogenerator. The on-site mea- manifestations: electrical pulses and resulting radio fre-
surements and on-line monitoring of trends in partial quency pulses, acoustic pulses, light, as well as chemical
discharge (PD) patterns is already of great value in reactions within the cooling gases that are either air or
hydrogen (3) .
∗ Faculty of Humanities, Miyazaki Municipal University The electrical detection methods are very sensitive to
1-1-2, Funatsuka, Miyazaki 880-8520 the electromagnetic interference. Also, the sensitivity
∗∗ Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineer-
of electrical PD detection methods decreases with in-
ing, Miyazaki University
1-1, Gakuenkibanadai-Nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192
creased capacitance of the test object. Thus, it is well
∗∗∗ Civil Aviation College known that these methods are not very sensitive when
562-2 Aza Hieda, Oaza Akae, Miyazaki 880-8580 applied to capacitors and other large power apparatus
∗∗∗∗ Kodensya Co., Ltd.
where the capacitance are very high. As well, the electric
221-1, Hama-machi, Nobeoka 882-0862
∗5 Miyazaki Branch, Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. partial discharge detection methods rarely provide a ba-
4-2-23, Tachibanadouri-Nishi, Miyazaki 880-8544 sis for location of the partial discharge in the case of large

274 IEEJ Trans. PE, Vol.124, No.2, 2004

 On-line Partial Discharge of Hydrogenerator using AE Techniques

(a) Top of view (b) Side of view

Fig. 1. Schematic diagrams of experimental apparatus using an acoustic emission detection tech-
niques in a field test

test objects with complex structure such as power trans- Table 1. Specifications for 3.5 kV, 6.6 kV and
formers, switchgears, etc. In such situations, the AE de- 11.0 kV class hydrogenerators
tection method for on-line hydrogenerator stator wind- Voltage class 3.5 kV 6.6 kV 11.0 kV
ings insulation has some advantages over the electrical Capacity[kVA] 1,250 6,250 20,700
PD detection methods (4) . The AE detection method Rated Power[kW] 980 5,000 18,600
Insulation material Epoxy Epoxy Epoxy
is immune to electromagnetic noise, which can greatly Insulation type B B B
reduce the sensitivity of electrical methods, especially Rated voltage[kV] 3.5 6.6 11.0
when, applied under field conditions. The sensitivity Rated current[A] 207 547 1,087
of AE detection method does not vary with test object Poles 20 12 24
Rated revolution[rpm] 360 600 300
capacitance hence these methods are widely applied to Recoil[year] 1974 1977 1968
large capacitors and other apparatus having large capac-
itance. Also, the acoustic PD detection methods can be
extended to facilitate PD location in many situations (2) . hydrogenerator, the off-line the measurement of loss tan-
In some situations, the combination of acoustic and elec- gent was carried out as a function of voltage up to 6.6 kV
trical PD detection has been very effective in avoiding in voltage together with AE signal measurement.
false alarms of on-line PD monitoring apparatus. Thus,
the on-line insulation diagnosis system using AE sensor 2. Experimental Apparatus and Proce-
techniques is also most useful to stator winding insula- dures
tion of hydrogenerator conditions monitoring (5) . The specifications for three kinds of class hydrogener-
We have already investigated that the on-line PD mea- ators were shown in Table 1. The 3.5 kV class hydrogen-
surements can be useful for assessing the conditions of erator was manufactured in 1928; afterwards the stator
complete stator winding with AE sensors as well as of winding was recoiled in 1974. The 6.6 kV class hydrogen-
individual form-wound coils and bars (5) . Noise reduc- erator was manufactured in 1940; afterwards the stator
tion is a major issue when performing on-line testing winding was recoiled in 1977. The 11.0 kV class hydro-
because rotating hydrogenerators are not operated in generator was manufactured in 1968. Figure 1 shows
an ideal environment for measuring these signals. The the schematic diagrams of experimental apparatus for
on-line PD measurements testing need to separate the a filed test. The three AE sensors were directly set on
AE signal generated by the PD from the AE signal in- the iron core of stator windings as shown in Fig. 1(b).
cluding the machine noise. We have succeeded that the An AE sensor was used: type-703 (NF Electric Instru-
AE signal could be separated in to the machine noise ments, Model AE-703S, Resonance frequency : 70 kHz).
level and the AE signal level produced by the PD (6) . The AE signals were amplified enough to analyze with
In this paper, we have developed a new AE measur- the preamplifier (NF Instruments, Model 9917, Band
ing system that is controlled by output signal of hy- width of frequency: 2 kHz∼1.2 MHz).
drogenerator. We have measured the AE signals by Measurements for three kinds of hydrogenerators were
many AE sensors, and analyzed the AE signals by Fast performed from 2000 to 2002 at interval time of vari-
Fourier transform and Wavelet analysis. The field test able measurement time using developed an automatic
was performed on three class hydrogenerators for 3.5 kV data collecting AE measuring system. These data of
and 6.6 kV and 11.0 kV in rated voltage. Using this AE signals were analyzed using the FFT, the envelope
new system, it was found that insulation deterioration processing techniques and Wavelet analysis (5) . Simulta-
of hydrogenerator stator winding was very high at the neously, the stop time of hydrogenerator (stop time) and
starting operation period. In particular, for 6.6 kV class the temperature of stator winding (coil temperature)

電学論 B，124 巻 2 号，2004 年 275

 Fig. 3. Relationship between tanδ and intensity of
AE signal as a function of voltage at u-phase for
6.6 kV class hydrogenerator

Fig. 2. Flow chart of AE measuring program con-

trolled by output signal hydrogenerator

were measured together with the AE signals. A temper-

ature detector is usually a resistance temperature detec-
tor (RTD). Fig. 4. Sample of measured AE wave (upper)and
For 6.6 kV class hydrogenerator, at the same time off- analyzed AE wave (bottom) with an AE measuring
line the measurement of loss tangent, that is tan δ, was system for 6.6 kV class hydrogenerator
carried out as a function of voltage up to 6.6 kV in volt-
age. Then, the AE signals were investigated with the wave (cut-off frequency: 10 kHz) that was investigated
loss tangent testing. Measurement of loss tangent was as machine noise (6) ) and the bottom graph shows plots
carried out by means of a Schering bridge method. of intensity of AE signal by PD at each time. Therefore,
We have developed an AE measuring system to mea- we can display the on-line measurement results of AE
sure the AE signals at starting period of operation of signals on the monitor of a Personal Computer at real
hydrogenerator. As a result, an AE measuring system time.
were developed to measure AE signals at shorter inter- Conception of the wavelet transform has been used
val at starting period of operation and longer interval for AE signal analysis in the field of exploration for par-
at normal operation period of operation using a Lab- tial discharge (5) . The wavelet transform is effective for
VIEW software. Figure 2 shows a flow chart of an AE the analysis of the varying signal, e.g. AE signal. The
measuring system program controlled by output signal wavelet transform of a signal y(t) is defined by
hydrogenerator. As a result, we could investigate the
characteristics of PD versus time for starting hydrogen-
L
− 2ω +t0
ω
erator with this system in detail. Y (ω, t0 ) = y(t)g(t)dt · · · · · · · · · · · · (1)
L L
2ω +t0
3. Experimental Results and Discussion
The function of Fourier transform is given by
We have already published that the relation between ⎧
the intensities of AE signals according to applied volt- ⎨cos ωt + j sin ωt L L
− <t<
age and electric charges of partial discharge was inves- g(ω, t) = 2ω 2ω
⎩0 otherwise
tigated, it was found that the AE amplitude increased
significantly over 6.4 kV for 11.0 kV in rating voltage hy- · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · (2)
drogenerator and was proportional to the value of the
electric charges (4) . It was confirmed that the wavelet transform was very
Figure 3 shows the relationship between tanδ (open useful to analyze the varying AE signal.
circle symbols) and intensity of AE signals (closed circle Typical AE signals resulting from PD, filtered AE
symbols) as a function of voltage at u-phase for 6.6 kV waves, spectral distribution of FFT transforms and dis-
class hydrogenerator. As seen in this figure, it was found tribution of Wavelet transformed waves using three AE
that the characteristics of intensity of AE signal are sensors for 3.5 kV, 6.6 kV and 11.0 kV class hydrogener-
closely connected with the tan δ. Figure 4 shows a sam- ators are shown in Table 2. As shown in this table, it
ple of measured AE wave and analyzed AE wave with was found that the measured AE signal by using AE sen-
an AE measuring system for 6.6 kV class hydrogener- sor is very important for monitoring the stator windings
ator. In this window, the upper graph shows filtered insulation of hydrogenerators.

276 IEEJ Trans. PE, Vol.124, No.2, 2004

 On-line Partial Discharge of Hydrogenerator using AE Techniques

Table 2. Typical AE signals resulting from PD, filtered AE waves, spectral distribution of FFT
transforms and distribution of Wavelet transformed waves for 3.5 kV, 6.6 kV and 11.0 kV class
hydrogenerators

Fig. 6. Time dependence for intensity of AE sig-

Fig. 5. Conceptual model of correlation between nals, coil temperature and output percent for
output and coil temperature of hydrogenerator ver- 3.5 kV class hydrogenerator at on-line measurement
sus time

Figure 6 shows time dependence for intensity of AE

Figure 5 shows a conceptual model of correlation be- signals (open circle symbols), coil temperature (open
tween output and coil temperature of hydrogenerator square symbols) and output percent (open triangle sym-
versus time (7) . Although properties of output and coil bols) for 3.5 kV class hydrogenerator at on-line measure-
temperature change with cooling method and system ment. From this figure, it was found that the intensity of
of each hydrogenerators, the coil temperature may in- AE signal reaches at 40 dB in maximum with increasing
crease suddenly at the starting operation period of hy- coil temperature at the starting operation period and
drogenerator and may be stabilized at high temperature after that is stabilized at 33 dB in average at the normal
at normal operation period of hydrogenerator as shown operation period.
in Fig. 5. In this case, the property of coil temperature Figure 7 shows time dependence for intensity of AE
is remarkably affected by the temperature of circum- signals, coil temperature and output percent for 6.6 kV
stance and stop time of hydrogenerator. The coil tem- class hydrogenerator as a function of stop time of hydro-
perature variation ∆T , as shown in Fig. 5, of the 3.5 kV generator at on-line PD measurement. Fig. 7(a) shows
class hydrogenerator change from room temperature to the case of longer stop time of hydrogenerator (stop
approximately 40◦ C, on the other hand, of the 6.6 kV time : 204 hours), intensity of AE signal reaches at
class hydrogenerator change from room temperature to 43 dB in maximum with increasing coil temperature at
approximately 85◦ C. Also, the coil temperature of the the starting operation period of hydrogenerator and af-
11.0 kV class hydrogenerator change from room temper- ter that is stabilized at 30 dB at the normal operation
ature to approximately 40◦ C. period of hydrogenerator. This property is similar to

電学論 B，124 巻 2 号，2004 年 277

 (a)Longer stop time: 204 hours

Fig. 9. Characteristics for intensity of AE signal

versus temperature of stator winding as a function
of stop time for 6.6 kV class hydrogenerator
(b) Shorter stop time: 0.3 hours
Fig. 7. Time dependence for intensity of AE sig-
nal, coil temperature and output percent for 6.6 kV corresponds to the averaged PD magnitude in normal
class hydrogenerator as a function of stop time of operation period and PDs corresponds to the maximum
hydrogenerator at on-line measurement
PD magnitude during starting operation period (7) .
Figure 9 shows the characteristics of AE signals ver-
sus coil temperature as a function of stop time for 6.6 kV
class hydrogenerator. It can be said from the figure that
AE signal increases at first with increasing coil temper-
ature, reach a maximum and indicate a decreasing ten-
dency thereafter. When the stop time is longer, the dif-
ference in coil temperature between stop of hydrogener-
ator and operation of hydrogenerator become large, and
the effect of moisture absorption of stator windings and
Fig. 8. Time dependence for intensity of AE sig- humidity appears to be large. As a result, it was found
nals, coil temperature and output percent of the AE signal increase abruptly. On the other hand,
11.0 kV class hydrogenerator at on-line measure-
when the stop time is shorter, it was found the AE sig-
ment
nal decrease with increasing coil temperature. When
the stop time is shorter, the difference in coil temper-
the characteristics shown in Fig. 6. On the other hand, ature between stop of hydrogenerator and operation of
Fig. 7(b) shows the case of shorter stop time of hydrogen- hydrogenerator become small, and the effect of moisture
erator (stop time: 0.3 hours), at stop time the coil tem- absorption of stator windings and humidity appears to
perature is about 55◦ C. In this case, as stator winding be small. From a series of experimental results, it was
temperature is very high within starting operation pe- recognized the AE signal, that is, the partial discharge
riod, intensity of AE signals may be stabilized instantly remarkably depends on the operating conditions. A de-
even at the starting operation period of hydrogenerator. gree of insulation deterioration of the generator windings
Figure 8 shows time dependence for intensity of AE was influenced the characteristics of temperature, load,
signals, coil temperature and output percent for 11.0 kV humidity (3) and moisture absorption (8) , etc. In the case
class hydrogenerator at on-line measurement. From this of longer stop time in 6.6 kV class hydrogenerator as
figure, it was found that the intensity of AE signal shown in Fig. 7(a), as the effect of coil temperature, hu-
reaches at 30 dB in maximum with increasing coil tem- midity and moisture absorption may become large, it
perature at the starting operation period and after that would seem that the PD activity is remarkable. On the
is stabilized at 28 dB in average at the normal operation other hand, in the case of shorter stop time in 6.6 kV
period. class hydrogenerator as shown in Fig. 7(b), as the effect
It is proposed that the new conceptual model of crite- of coil temperature, humidity and moisture absorption
ria for judging the insulation deterioration in epoxy-resin may become small, it would seem that the PD activity
insulated stator windings taking characteristics of PD in is not remarkable.
starting and normal operation conditions of hydrogener- Figure 10 shows the characteristics of intensity of AE
ator into consideration. As a result, it is seemed that the signal versus coil temperature at starting operation pe-
trend of the relationship insulation withstand of stator riod with measuring time at less than 30 minutes for
windings and signals of PD are necessary to assess char- 3.5 kV, 6.6 kV and 11.0 kV class hydrogenerator in de-
acteristics of not only PDn but also PDs , where PDn tail. It will be seen from the figure that AE signal

278 IEEJ Trans. PE, Vol.124, No.2, 2004

 On-line Partial Discharge of Hydrogenerator using AE Techniques

evaluation method of insulation deterioration in hydro-

generator stator windings by PD characteristics. To
establish an on-line PD monitoring of hydrogenerator
winding require the machine data, operating data of the
machine and winding data for further study.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported in part by cooperative re-
search funds from Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. and
Kodensya Co., Ltd.
(Manuscript received Feb. 27, 2003,
revised Aug. 5, 2003)

References

(1) M. Hikita: “Trend of Sensing, Monitoring, Diagnostics

and Maintenance Technology in Electric Power Apparatus”,
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versus coil temperature starting operation period Japanese)
with measuring time at less than 30 minutes (2) A. Wilson, R.J. Jackson, and N. Wang: “Discharge detection
techniques for stator windings”, IEE Proc., Vol.132, Pt.B,
No.5, pp.234–244 (1985)
(3) Electrical Machinery Committee of the IEEE Power Engineer-
increases at first with increasing coil temperature, reach ing Society: “IEEE Trial-Use Guide to the Measurement of
a maximum and indicate a decreasing tendency there- Partial Discharges in Rotating Machinery”, IEEE Std 1434-
2000 (2000)
after. Therefore, it was found that the PD depended on (4) O. Takenouchi, M. Otsubo, C. Honda, Y.M. Song, T. Kaneko,
the coil temperature, and the maximum of PD magni- T. Tsuji, K. Tsurugida, H. Nieda, and Y. Harada: “Observa-
tude occurs within 30 minutes at starting operation. tion of Partial Discharge on Water-Wheel Generator using Ul-
Completely explanation for effect of output of hydro- trasonic Wave Sensors”, J. IEIE Jpn, Vol.20, No.10, pp.820–
827 (2001-10) (in Japanese)
generator on intensity of AE signal measured in the (5) T. Kaneko, A. Takemura, O. Takenouchi, T. Tsuji, Y.M. Sung,
present work requires the further study. M. Otsubo, C. Honda, and K. Tanaka: “On-Line Monitoring
of Stator Winding Insulation on Hydrogenerator Using Acous-
4. Conclusions tic Emission Sensors”, 2001 Japan-Korea Joint Symposium on
Electrical Discharge and High Voltage Engineering, pp.173–
For the purpose of establishing a deterioration crite- 176, Miyazaki, Japan (2001-11)
rion required for diagnosing the insulation deterioration (6) T. Tsuji, T. Kaneko, Y.M. Sung, M. Otsubo, C. Honda, O.
Takenouchi, K. Yamatsu, and K. Tanaka: “On-line Partial
of epoxy-resin insulated stator windings of hydrogenera-
Discharge Detection for Water-Wheel Generator using Acous-
tor, we have investigated and analyzed data concerning tic Emission Sensor”, T. IEE Japan, Vol.122-B, No.4, pp.513–
AE signals in operation for 3.5 kV, 6.6 kV and 11.0 kV 519 (2002-4) (in Japanese)
class hydrogenerators using developed an AE measuring (7) A. Takemura, T. Kaneko, O. Takenouchi, Y.M. Sung, M.
Otsubo, C. Honda, H. Yamaguchi, and K. Tanaka: “On-line
system. An AE detection method for on-line hydrogen- Measurement of Partial Discharge of Hydrogenerator Stator
erator stator windings insulation has some advantages Windings using Acoustic Emission Sensor Method”, Proc. of
over the electrical PD detection methods. The AE de- the Thirteenth Annual Conference of Power & Energy Society,
IEE of Japan, No.313, pp.145–146 (2002-8) (in Japanese)
tection method is immune to electromagnetic noise, and
(8) A deterioration criterion for diagnosing the insulation deteri-
it can be extended to facilitate PD location in a hydro- oration in stator windings of hydrogenerator committee: “A
generator. deterioration criterion for diagnosing the insulation deteriora-
Typical AE signals resulting from PD, filtered AE tion in stator windings of hydrogenerator”, Research Labora-
tory Report, No.67001 (1967) (in Japanese)
waves, spectral distribution of FFT transforms and dis-
tribution of wavelet transformed waves were investigated
for each hydrogenerator.
As a result, it was found that the intensity of AE sig-
nals for on-line monitoring of stator winding was remark- Tadamitsu Kaneko (Member) was born on October 12,
ably influenced by the characteristics of the temperature 1954. He received his B.S. degree from
of stator winding. Then, the AE signal increases at first Miyazaki University and his M.S. and D.Eng.
degrees from Kyushu University in 1978, 1980,
with increasing coil temperature, reaches the maximum and 1987, respectively. He served at Kyushu
and indicates decreasing tendency thereafter. Also, it University as a research associate from 1980
was found that the PD depends on the coil temperature, to 1988. He moved to Civil Aviation College,
and the maximum of PD magnitude occurs at starting Ministry of Transport as an associate profes-
operation within 30 minutes. sor. In 1993, he moved to the Faculty of Hu-
manities, Miyazaki Municipal University as an
We have proposed the taking the characteristics of
associate professor. Since 1999, he has been a professor. His re-
change of PD with years of service into consideration, search interests include monitoring, diagnostics and maintenance
the trend of PD produced at the start and normal op- technology in electric power field. He is a member of the Electrical
eration period of hydrogenerator are necessary to an Engineers of Japan and the Institute of Electrostatics Japan.

電学論 B，124 巻 2 号，2004 年 279

 Akito Takemura (Student Member) was born in Miyazaki, Chikahisa Honda (Member) was born February 12, 1943.
Japan, on January 5, 1980. He graduated from He graduated form the Department of Electri-
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engi- cal Engineering, Kyushu University, in 1965.
neering, Faculty of Engineering, Miyazaki Uni- He then joined the Department of Electrical
versity in 2002 and currently studying in the Engineering as a research associate in 1965
Graduate School of Miyazaki University. His and became an associate guest professor in the
subject of research is development of diagnosis Department of Energy Conversion Engineer-
of insulation deterioration on hydrogenerator ing, Graduate School of Engineering Sciences,
stator windings using acoustic emission detec- in 1989. Since 1993, he has been a profes-
tion techniques. sor in the Department of Electrical and Elec-
tronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Miyazaki University.
He holds a D.Eng. degree. He is engaged mainly in research on
Osamu Takenouchi (Member) was born in Kumamoto, laser-aided plasma diagnostic. He received a Society Award from
Japan, on December 15, 1966. He received a the Japan Society of Applied Physics in 1987. He is a member of
D.Eng. in Graduate School of Marine Science the Electrical Engineers of Japan.
and Engineering from Nagasaki University in
1997, and is presently an assistant professor
at Civil Aviation College. He has worked on Yoshio Tsuruta (Non-member) was born on August 1,
surface discharge on electrolyte. The Institute 1956. He graduated form the Department of
of Electrostatics Japan, the Japan Society for Electrical Engineering, Miyakonojo National
Aeronautical and Space Sciences member. College of Technology in March 1977. Now,
he is a president of Kodensya Co., Ltd.

Youl-Moon Sung (Member) was born on November 2,

1966. He graduated from Pusan National Uni-
versity in Feb. 1992, Korea. Obtained his M.S.
and Ph.D. from the same university in Feb.
1994 and Aug. 1996 respectively. Undertook
a post-doc. from Aug. 1997 to Jul.1999 in Kazuhiro Tanaka (Non-member) was born on August 5,
Kyushu University. He is a research associate 1947. He joined the Kyushu Electric Power
from Aug. 1998 to Jul. 1999 in Kyushu Uni- Co., Inc. in 1966. He became a group man-
versity. Currently is a research associate in ager of the department of power generation
Miyazaki University. and transformation in Miyazaki branch July
2000. Now, he is mainly engaged in a com-
prehensive planning of hydrogenerator power
Masahisa Otsubo (Member) was born on January 10, stations and substations, a survey of new tech-
1947. He received his B.E. degree in electrical nology and a design of hydrogenerator power
engineering from Miyazaki University in 1969 stations.
and his D.Eng. degree from Kumamoto Uni-
versity in1993. He became a research associate
in electrical engineering of Miyazaki Univer-
sity in 1970, and has been an associate profes-
sor in the Department of Electrical and Elec-
tronic Engineering since 1993. Since 2003, he
has been a professor. His research interests in-
clude the dielectric insulation of polymers, insulation diagnostics
of electric power installation, and discharge plasma phenomena.
He is a member on the Electrical Engineers of Japan and the
Institute of Electrostatics Japan.

280 IEEJ Trans. PE, Vol.124, No.2, 2004