Mandrel-Based Fiber-Optic Sensors for Acoustic Detection of Partial Discharges—a Proof of Concept

Abstract

Acoustic emission monitoring is often used in the diagnosis of electrical and mechanical incipient faults in high voltage apparatus. Partial discharges are a source of failure in power transformers and the differentiation from other sources of acoustic emissions is of the utmost importance. This paper reports the development of a new sensor concept -mandrel-based fiber optic sensors -for the detection of incipient faults in oilfilled power transformers, taking direct measurements inside a transformer. These sensors can be placed in the inner surface of the transformer tank wall, not affecting the insulation integrity of the structure, and improving fault detection and location. The applicability of these acoustic sensors in air, water and oil is investigated and the paper presents the promising results obtained, which will allow the industrial development of practical solutions.

Review on fiber-optic sensing in health monitoring of power grids

“…The experimental results showed its feasibility to monitor high-frequency acoustic pressure to 300 kHz. 81 FBG sensor [82][83][84] is also used widely because of its multiplexing capability and small size. Due to impulsive acoustic pressure generated during partial discharge, detecting the wavelength shift of FBGs is a solution for partial discharge monitoring.…”

“…FBGs combined with FPI configuration can improve the sensitivity of detecting the weak pressure. 84 Another method to improve the sensitivity is to use a phase shift FBG (PS-FBG). 85,86 Because the PS-FBG exhibits a sharp resonance, the ultrasonic sensitivity is improved compared with the FBG.…”

A Fiber-Optic Sensor for Acoustic Emission Detection in a High Voltage Cable System

“…Therefore, acoustic sensors based on optical fiber interference are presented, which have the property of immunity from electromagnetic interferences [10]. Recently, a number of fiber optic sensors with various structures have been developed to detect acoustic emission signals from PD, including Faber-Perot interferometer sensors [11,12,13], fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors [14,15], Sagnac interferometer sensors [16,17], and the interference sensor based on fiber lasers [18,19]. …”

Advanced fiber-optic acoustic sensors

“…Currently, numerous works in this field can be found, many of these following interferometric configurations such as Mach-Zehnder [4], Michelson [5], Sagnac [6], and Fabry-Pérot [7], while others explore the possibilities offered by fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors [8]. A comprehensive review paper in this area until 2008 was written by Graham et al [9], and another work comparing three different types of fiber-optic acoustic sensors was published in 2010 [10]. This review summarizes these sensing technologies, with particular emphasis on works reported recently in the field of advanced fiber-optic acoustic sensing.…”