Localisation of partial discharges sources using acoustic transducers arrays

This paper concerns the issue of the partial discharge (PD) sources location using acoustic emission transducer arrays technique and the high resolution direction of arrival estimation technology. In addition to the theoretical assumptions of both techniques, the simulation result, in which an uniform linear array (ULA) was used for registration of the acoustic emission signals generated by defects in power transformer insulation system were shown. To estimate the direction of arrival (DOA) of acoustic signals, that propagate from the discharge-generating defect to the transducer array installed on transformer tank, Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) algorithm was chosen. With the ability to locate multisource discharges (even at very low signal-to-noise ratio - SNR), the adopted solution has advantages over conventional techniques.