Localization of Partial Discharge in Electrical Transformer Considering Multi-Media Refraction and Diffraction

Partial discharge (PD) is a widely adopted method for the internal insulation detection of electrical transformers. The impact of the refraction and diffraction of the ultrasonic signal in the oil, winding, and core in the transformer makes the localization of the PD source inside the transformer a nontrivial task. The refraction and diffraction factors can introduce additional complexity to the localization equations that can hardly be solved. This article proposes an algorithmic solution based on the time difference of arrival algorithm and semidefinite relaxation convex optimization to improve the PD source localization accuracy. The refraction and diffraction error, measurement error, and their relationship in the process of PD signal propagation are fully considered. The proposed solution is extensively assessed through simulation, testbed, and field experiments, and the results confirm that the proposed solution outperforms the Chan and particle swarm optimization algorithm with the localization error of about 0.1 m.