Partial Discharge Detection and Localization in Power Transformers based on Acoustic Emission: Theory, Methods, and Recent Trends

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the acoustic method used for partial discharge (PD) localization in power transformer. The paper outlines the partial discharge mechanism, basic principle and properties of the acoustic emission (AE), advantages and limitations of the acoustic method compared to the electrical method, and different AE based PD localization techniques along with their algorithms used in power transformer. Most of the algorithms proposed in the literature for PD localization in power transformer are based on the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of AE signals. Thus, this paper would help researchers, academicians, and engineering communities working in the area of AE based PD localization in power transformer to avoid insulation damage.