Optics & Laser Technology 33 (2001) 305–311

www.elsevier.com/locate/optlastec

Optical ber sensor-based detection of partial discharges

in power transformers
Jiangdong Denga; ∗ , Hai Xiaob , Wei Huoa , Ming Luob , Russ Maya ,
Anbo Wanga , Yilu Liua
a Photonics Laboratory, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0111, USA
b Lucent Technologies, Optical Ampli*er Development Group, 9999 Hamilton Blvd, Breinigsville, PA 18031-9359, USA

Received 15 April 2000; received in revised form 25 November 2000; accepted 23 December 2000

Abstract

In this paper, a ber optic acoustic sensor system is designed and tested for on-line detection of the partial discharges inside high voltage
power transformers. The ber optic sensor uses a silica diaphragm and a single mode optical ber encapsulated in a silica glass tube to form
an extrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometer. Test results indicate that the developed ber optic sensors are capable of detecting the acoustic
signals propagating inside the transformer oil with high resolution and high frequency.  c 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Optical ber sensors; Acousto-optics sensors; Power transformers

1. Introduction
laboratory conditions, but it is diCcult to be applied in the
eld on in-service transformers because of the high envi-
Power transformers are the most critical and costly com-
ronmental noise level and lack of accurate calibrations. The
ponent in power transmission systems. Catastrophic failures
current chemical approach detects PDs in transformers by
of power transformers can occur without warning, result-
taking gas or oil samples from the transformer. More recent
ing in serious oil spills, res, extensive damage to adjacent
research includes the development of gas sensors and apply-
equipment, and major disruption of service. The cost of fail-
ing them in on-line gas monitors [3–5]. Problems associated
ures can easily drive the total cost of a single transformer
with chemical methods are the fact that there can be a long
failure into the tens of millions of dollars [1]. Dielectric
time delay between the initiation of a PD source and the
breakdown is a major cause of power transformer failures,
evolution of enough gas to be detectable. For the electrical
and very often, partial discharges (PDs) are involved in those
and chemical methods, a further limitation of them is that it
dielectric breakdowns by degrading the insulation property
is generally not possible to allocate the exact location of a
of the transformer oil [2]. Hence, it is important that the par-
detected PD source. Generally speaking, a PD results in a lo-
tial discharge activity being studied and monitored to detect
calized, nearly instantaneous release of energy. It produces
incipient insulation problems, to prevent catastrophic fail-
ultrasonic waves propagating through the insulate medium.
ures, and to prevent extensive costs.
By placing a suitable sensor, the acoustic wave can be
In general, three approaches can be used to detect partial
detected to generate information relevant to the PDs
discharges inside the power transformer including electri-
[6 –8]. One obvious advantage of the acoustic methods is
cal, chemical and acoustic methods. The electrical method
that the site of a PD can be located by studying the phase
can provide accurate recordings of partial discharges under
delay or the amplitude attenuation of the acoustic waves.
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-540-231-4355; fax: +1-540-231- Furthermore, acoustic methods have the potential advan-
4363. tage of better noise immunity for on-line PD detection
E-mail address: jdeng@vt.edu (J. Deng). applications.

0030-3992/01/$ - see front matter
c 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 3 0 - 3 9 9 2 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 2 2 - 6
306 J. Deng et al. / Optics & Laser Technology 33 (2001) 305–311
Acoustic PD detection can be realized by mounting piezo-
electric acoustic sensors externally on the walls of the power
transformer, and very often a suitable couplant is used to
ensure good transmission of the acoustic waves. The exter-
nally mounted piezoelectric acoustic sensor method oJers
the advantage of easy installation and replacement. How-
ever, the piezoelectric sensor suJers from corruption of the
signal from environmental noises such as electro-magnetic
interference (EMI). Another problem associated with the ex-
ternally mounted piezoelectric sensor is that the multi-path
of the acoustic wave transmission makes it diCcult to locate
the exact site of the partial discharges [9,10]. It is thus desir-
able to have such sensors that can be reliably operated inside
a transformer, even deep within the transformer windings,
to pick up clean PD-induced acoustic signals. These sensors
need to be chemically inert, electrically non-conducting, op-
erating passively, and small in size.
Optical ber-based sensors have been shown to be at-
tractive to measure a wide range of physical and chemical
parameters because of a number of inherent advantages,
including small size, light weight, high sensitivity, high
frequency response, and immunity to electromagnetic inter-
ference. These advantages make optical ber sensors an ex-
cellent candidate for transformer PD detection. Fiber optical
acoustic sensors have shown useful in many applications,
such as under water hydrophones [11–14], material prop-
erty analysis, and civil structure non-destructive diagnosis
[15,16], vehicle detection and traCc monitoring [17]. The
earlier methods of acoustic signal detection were based on
ber optic intrinsic interferometers like all- ber Michelson
interferometer and Mach–Zehnder interferometers. These
intrinsic ber sensors usually use single mode ber and co-
herent sources, such as lasers. The light from the source is
split into two bers with equal intensity by a 3 dB ber cou-
pler. One ber, referred to sensing arm, is exposed to the
acoustic signal while the other, referred to reference arm,
is shielded from the impact of the acoustic wave. The light
beams propagating in the two arms are recombined either
by their reMections (Michelson) or transmissions (Mach–
Zehnder) to generate interference signals which are modu-
lated by the acoustic waves. The intrinsic ber interferomet-
ric sensors have shown very high sensitivities when a long
ber in the sensing is used. However, they suJer from the
fringe fading problems resulting from the random polariza-
tion rotation. They are also unstable because of the source
wavelength and the temperature-induced changes in the path
length diJerence.
More recently, ber optic extrinsic Fabry–Perot interfer-
ometric (EFPI) sensors are under development for the ap-
plications of acoustic signal detection [18 –21]. Fiber EFPI
sensors are implemented on a very small sensing element
known as Fabry–Perot cavity which is formed by two reMect-
ing surfaces. Compared to Michelson and Mach–Zehnder
ber sensors, EFPI sensors are compact in size and there-
fore realize virtually single point measurement. More impor-
tantly, those polarization rotation and phase changes, which
Fig. 1. Illustration of the principle of ber optic acoustic sensor.
are environmentally induced in the ber connecting, the op-
tical source, the sensor head and the detectors, are common
mode and therefore do not aJect the signal phases.
In this paper, we demonstrate a ber optic EFPI prototype
sensor system for inside detection of partial discharges in
power transformers.
2. Principle of operation
The basic principle of the ber optic acoustic sensor is
illustrated in Fig. 1. The system consists of a sensor probe,
a laser diode, an optoelectronic signal-processing unit,
and a single mode ber linking the sensor probe and the
signal-processing unit. The light from a distributed feedback
(DFB) laser diode is launched into a 2×2 ber coupler and
propagates along the ber to the sensor head (to reduce the
optical feedback eJect to DFB laser, an anti-reMection con-
nector is used after DFB laser). As shown in the enlarged
view of the sensor head, the lead in=out ber and the thin
silica glass diaphragm are bonded together in a cylindrical
silica glass tube to form a Fabry–Perot sensing element.
The incident light is rst partially reMected (∼ 4%) at the
endface of the lead in=out ber due to the Fressnel reMec-
tion at the glass–air interface. The remainder of the light
propagates across the air gap to the inner surface of the
diaphragm. Because the inner surface of the diaphragm is
coated with gold which reMects nearly all the incident light
(∼ 96%), the ber sensor is thus optically self-contained in
any environments. This means that the optical signal is only
a function of the length of the sealed cavity, and is immune
to the diaphragm outer surface contamination resulting from
the contact with transformer oil. The two reMections travel
back along the same lead-in ber through the same ber
coupler to the photodetection end. The interference of these
two reMections produces sinusoidal intensity variations,
referred to as interference fringes, as the air gap is continu-
ously changed. One period of fringe variation corresponds
to an air gap change of one-half of the optical wavelength,
 J. Deng et al. / Optics & Laser Technology 33 (2001) 305–311
Fig. 2. Illustration of a linear operating range of the sensor response curve.
which in our case is about 0:66
m. As indicated in the en-
larged view of the sensor head, the diaphragm is tilted at an
angle with respect to the lead-in ber endface so that only
about 4% of the second reMection is captured by the ber
to ensure a maximum visibility of the interference fringes.
Fig. 2 illustrates the output interference fringes typically
obtained from the ber optic EFPI sensor. In principle, con-
tinuous tracking of phase changes in the interference fringes
can yield information about air gap changes in the sensor
element. The acoustic signal generated by partial discharges
causes the deformation of the diaphragm and modulates the
sealed air gap length. The sensor therefore gives outputs
that correspond to the acoustic signals. Like regular interfer-
ometers, the measurement will have ultra-high sensitivity.
However, the measurement would suJer from the disadvan-
tages of sensitivity reduction and fringe direction ambigu-
ity when the sensor reaches peaks or valleys of the fringes.
Sensitivity is reduced at the peak or valley of a fringe since
at that point the change in optical intensity is nearly zero
for a small change in the air gap. Fringe direction ambigu-
ity refers to the diCculty in determining whether the air gap
is increasing or decreasing by detecting the optical inten-
sity. If a measurement starts with an air gap corresponding
to the peak of a fringe, the optical intensity will decrease,
regardless of whether the gap increases or decreases. One
of the key successes of our sensor is that a controlled bond-
ing technique is used to fabricate the sensor so that the sen-
sor operates only over the linear range of a half fringe. As
shown in Fig. 2, the initial operating point is chosen to be
the central point of the interference fringe, and the thickness
of the diaphragm is designed in such a way that the imposed
acoustic signal only deforms the thin diaphragm within the
linear part of the sensor response curve. On the other hand,
since the maximum amplitude of acoustic wave depend on
the PD source and the damaged oil properties, the sensitiv-
ity of the sensor is selected carefully for matching diJerent
amplitude of the PD acoustic wave. Therefore the sensitiv-
ity reduction and fringe direction ambiguity problems can
be completely avoided.
307
3. Sensor frequency response and sensitivity design
As shown in the enlarged view of Fig. 1, the sensor head
is fabricated by bonding the ber, ferrule, silica tubing and
silica diaphragm together to form a sealed ber optic extrin-
sic Fabry–Perot interferometer. The diaphragm vibrates at
the presence of an acoustic wave which imposes a dynamic
pressure on the diaphragm. It is very important to design
the sensor head to ensure high enough frequency response
and sensitivity to achieve optimum detection of partial
discharges.
In the partial discharge detection, the sensitive frequency
of the sensor system is suggested to be in the range of
20 –200 kHz [6 –10]. This is basically due to the fact that
magnetostriction-introduced noise of transformers usually
exists in the low frequency range below 60 kHz, and the
acoustic emission frequency of PD is mostly around 150 kHz
[8]. According to Ref. [22], the frequency response fn of
the sensor in terms of dynamic pressure load is given by the
following equation:


 Dg
fn = × ; (1)
2R2 hw
where  is a constant related to the vibrating modes of the
diaphragm, and takes a value of 10.21 for the fundamental
mode (n = 0); R is the eJective radius de ned by the inner
diameter of the silica sensor-housing glass tubing; h is the
thickness of the diaphragm; g is the gravitational constant;
w is the speci c weight of the diaphragm material; and D is
the Mexural rigidity of the diaphragm de ned by
Eh3
D= ; (2)
12(1 − 2 )
where  is the Poisson’s ratio ( = 0:17 for silica glass
material at 25◦C); E is the Young’s modulus of the silica
glass material (E =73:73 GPa or 7:49×109 kg=m2 at 25◦C):
For a fused silica glass diaphragm at 25◦ C; w is 2:202 ×
103 kg=m3 . The frequency response of the sensor can thus be
calculated by combining Eqs. (1) and (2) into the following:
h
fn = 2:749 × 109 2 (Hz); (3)
R
where h and R are in microns. As indicated by Eq. (3), the
frequency response is proportional to the thickness of the
diaphragm and inversely proportional to the square of
the eJective diaphragm radius. In practice, the diaphragm
fundamental frequency is usually designed larger than
200 kHz to ensure the sensor have relative uniform response
for the PD acoustic wave.
The diaphragm will be deMected when there is a diJeren-
tial pressure p between the inside and outside sealed cavity.
The out-of-plane deMection of the diaphragm y is a function
of the pressure diJerence at any radium position r. The ratio
between the deMection and the pressure diJerence is de ned
as the sensitivity of the sensor, which can be expressed as
y 3(1 − 2 )
= = × (R2 − r 2 )2 : (4)
p 16Eh3
308 J. Deng et al. / Optics & Laser Technology 33 (2001) 305–311
Fig. 3. Predicted sensor sensitivity (
m=Psi) versus diaphragm thickness
at R = 0:5 mm.
In our sensor con guration, the ber is positioned to the cen-
tral part of the diaphragm so that only the center deMection
y0 is of interest, which is given by
y0 R4
= = 1:71 × 10−8 3 ;
p h
where y0 is in microns, and p is in the pounds per square
inch (psi), so  is in
m=psi. Fig. 3 shows a typical sensor
sensitivity curve at R = 0:5 mm.
Based on these equations, the sensitivity and the fre-
quency response of the sensor can be designed to t diJer-
ent application requirements either by choosing diaphragm
materials with diJerent  and E or by changing the ge-
ometric parameters of the sensor head with desired eJec-
tive diaphragm size R and thickness h. In general, a di-
aphragm with a larger radius and a smaller thickness will
render more sensitive detection of the acoustic signals. How-
ever, as indicated above, the operating range of the EFPI
sensor head needs to be limited within the linear range,
which is a fraction of an interference fringe to avoid the
sensitivity reduction and fringe direction ambiguity prob-
lems. This imposes a limitation on the thickness of the silica
diaphragm.
4. Experiments and results
A prototype ber optic sensor system was built and tested
to demonstrate the feasibility of on-line detection of partial
discharges in power transformers. The prototype system uses
9
a DFB laser at 1315 nm pigtailed with standard 125 single
mode ber as the source. A high speed InGaAs detector
is used to detect the optical signal from the sensor, and
its output is fed to a low noise high gain trans-impedance
ampli er. The frequency response of the electronic circuit
is limited within a range from 30 to 300 kHz, de ned by an
additional band-pass lter.
The analysis described above provides a clear guideline
to the design of the ber optic acoustic sensor for partial
discharge detection. The inner diameter of the silica glass
Fig. 4. Image of the ber optic acoustic sensor head.
tubing is chosen to be 1 mm, which limits the eJective
diaphragm radius to be 0:5 mm. To satisfy the frequency
response requirement, we choose the diaphragm thickness
to be 20
m, which provides a upper frequency response of
220 kHz, therefore, the sensor provides a response of about
(5)
0:134
m=psi.
Several sensor heads were made by bonding a single mode
ber, a silica glass ferrule, a silica glass tubing and a thin
silica diaphragm together as shown in to Fig. 1. The ferrule
used has an inner diameter of 127
m and outer diameter
of 995
m; the tubing used has an inner diameter of 1 mm
and outer diameter of 6 mm. The sensor head is nished by
polishing the diaphragm to the thickness of 20
m, as shown
in Fig. 4. In the sensor fabrication, the initial air gap between
the ber and the inner surface of the silica diaphragm was
adjusted to obtain the highest interference fringe visibility.
The initial operating point was also adjusted to the central
point of a fringe for linear operation and the highest detection
sensitivity.
To validate the feasibility of using the designed ber optic
sensors for the detection of partial discharges inside power
transformers, a eld test was performed at J.W. Harley, Inc.,
in Twinsburg, Ohio, where a specially designed testing fa-
cility (Fig. 5) is available to study the partial discharge
phenomena power transformers. The testing facility is basi-
cally a simulated partial discharge environment inside high
voltage power transformers, where a controlled needle-plate
partial discharge generator (PDS) is immersed in the trans-
former oil.
The ber optic acoustic sensor (OFS) was immersed in the
transformer oil with the diaphragm towards the needle-plate
partial discharge generator, as shown in Fig. 5. The sensor
probe was connected to the signal demodulation unit through
a single mode ber cable and an FC connector. After the
photo-detection and the signal processing, the output data
were digitized and recorded through a digital oscilloscope.
Fig. 6 shows the typical acoustic signal output from the ber
optic sensor at the events of partial discharges.
A comparison test was performed between the Physical
acoustic sensor (PZT shown in Fig. 5) and the ber sensor,
 J. Deng et al. / Optics & Laser Technology 33 (2001) 305–311 309

Fig. 5. Partial discharge test setup at J.W. Harley Inc. at Twinsburg, Ohio, U.S.A. OFS: Optical ber sensor, PZT: physical acoustic sensor, PDS: partial
discharges sources, HVT: high voltage transformer.

Fig. 6. Typical PD acoustic signals from ber optic sensor.

arranged side by side. Their typical output signals upon par-

tial discharges are given in Fig. 7, where, (a) is the output
from the Physical acoustic sensor and (b) is the output from
the ber sensor. The two sensors’ outputs resemble each
other in details. Both the outputs indicate that the acoustic
signal generated by a partial discharge comprise of sinu-
soidal pulses with a gradually decreasing amplitude. Fig. 7
also shows that the two acoustic signal pulses detected by
the two sensors have the same time period of about 8
s.
This means that both sensors detected the partial discharge
acoustic signal at a frequency of about 120 kHz, which is
the typical frequency of partial discharge acoustic waves, as
indicated by the literature [6 –10].
When an acoustic wave generated by the partial discharge Fig. 7. Typical partial discharge acoustic signals detected by the ber
travels in the insulation medium of a transformer, its am- optic sensor and the physical acoustic sensor. (a) Physical acoustic sensor
plitude will attenuate over distance. Therefore, one of the output, and (b) ber optic sensor output. Both sensors are located at a
possible methods to locate the site of the partial discharge distance of 10 cm away from the partial discharge source.
310 J. Deng et al. / Optics & Laser Technology 33 (2001) 305–311
facilities. The reported research work is funded by the Elec-
trical Power Research Institute (EPRI) and National Science
Funding (NSF).
References
Fig. 8. Amplitude dependence on the distance between sensor location
and the PD source.
source is to monitor the amplitude attenuation of the re-
ceived acoustic signals. We measured the amplitudes of
the acoustic signals detected by the ber sensor at diJer-
ent distances away from the needle-plate partial discharge
generator. The results are shown in Fig. 8, which indi-
cate that the amplitude of the acoustic signal has a strong
dependence on the location distance between the sensor
and the PD source. The largest distance tested was 55 cm
which is limited by the size of the oil tank of the testing
facility.
5. Conclusions
In conclusion, this paper has presented the develo-
pment and testing of ber optic acoustic sensor for inside-
transformer partial discharge detection. The test results
clearly demonstrated the feasibility of the developed ber
sensor for the detection of partial discharges inside electri-
cal power transformers. Compared with the conventional
acoustic sensors, the ber optic sensor has the advantages
of non-electrically conducting, high frequency response
(220 kHz), immunity to the electro-magnetic interference
(EMI), chemical inertness, and small size, and the capabil-
ity of multiplexing more than one sensor in a single ber,
enabling on-line monitor of many power transformers at
low cost.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank John W. Harley at J.W.
Harley Inc, Twinsburg, OH, for the useful discussions and
kindly oJering the access to the partial discharge studying
[1] An international survey on failures in large power transformers in
service. Final Report of Working Group 05 of Study Committee
12 Transformers, ELECTRA, No.88, May 1983.
[2] Kogan VI, Fleeman JA, Provanzana JH, Shih CH. Failure analysis
of EHV transformers. IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery
1988;3(2):672–83.
[3] Inoue Y, Suganuma K, Kamba M, Kikkawa M. Development of
oil-dissolved hydrogen gas detector for diagnosis of transformers.
IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery 1990;5(1):226–32.
[4] Pledger WA, Pyke SC. Gas monitor update: review of progress
in the development of a microelectronic in-situ transformer
fault gas analyzer. Third EPRI Substation Equipment Diagnostics
Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1–3 November 1994.
[5] Abbott JW, Chu D, Diamond AE, ElBadaly HA, Slemon CS
Development of an automated transformer oil monitor (ATOM).
Third EPRI Substation Equipment Diagnostics Conference, New
Orleans, Louisiana, 1–3 November 1994.
[6] Lundgaard LE. Partial discharge—part XIII: acoustic partial
discharge detection—fundamental considerations. IEEE Electrical
Insulation Magazine 1992;8(4):25–31.
[7] Lundgaard LE. Partial discharge—part XIV: acoustic partial
discharge detection—practical application. IEEE Electrical
Insulation Magazine. 1992;8(5):34.
[8] Kawada H, Honda M, Inoue T, Amemiya T. Partial
discharge automatic monitor for oil- lled power transformer.
IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems
1984;PAS-103(3):422–28.
[9] Howells E, Norton ET. Location of partial discharge sites in on-line
transformers. IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems
1981;PAS-100(1):57.
[10] Eleftherion PM. Partial discharge XXI: Acoustic emission-based PD
source location in transformers. IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine
1995;11(6):22.
[11] Dakin J, Culshaw B. Optical ber sensors: principles and
components. Norwood (MA): Artech House, Inc., 1988.
[12] Bucaro JA, Dardy HD, Carome E. Fiber optic hydrophone. J Acoust
Soc Am 1977;62:1302.
[13] Dandridge A. Acoustic Sensor Development at NRL. Acoustic
Society of America Annual Meeting, Miami, Florida, November
1987.
[14] Dandridge A. Kersey AD. Overview of Mach–Zehnder sensor
technology and applications. SPIE Proceedings 985, Fiber optic and
laser sensor VI, Boston, September 1988.
[15] Gunther MF, Wang A, Fogg BR, Murphy KA, Claus RO. Fiber
optic impact detection and location system embedded in a composite
material. Proceedings of the SPIE OE=FIBERS’92, Fiber Optic
Smart Structures and Skins V, Boston, vol. 1798, September 1992.
p. 262–9.
[16] Greene JA, Tran TA, Bhatia V, Gunther MF, Wang A, Wang KA,
Claus RO. Optical ber sensing technique for impact detection and
location in composites and metal specimens. J Smart Mater Struct
1995;4:93–9.
[17] Furstenau N, Schmidt M, Horack H, Goetze W, Schmidt W.
Acoustic sensor system for airport ground traCc monitoring. IEE
Proceedings of the Optoelectronics 1997;144(3):134.
[18] Claus RO, Gunther MF, Wang A, Murphy KA. Extrinsic Fabry–
Perot sensor for strain and crack opening displacement measurement
◦
from −200 to 900 C. J Smart Mater Struct 1992;1(3):30.
 J. Deng et al. / Optics & Laser Technology 33 (2001) 305–311 311

[19] Wang A, Ridraraju S, Murphy KA, Claus RO. Detection of
acoustic emission location using optical ber sensors. SPIE, Smart
Materials and Structures 1994: Smart Sensing, Processing, and
Instrumentation, February 1994.
[20] Wang A, Miller MS, Plante AJ, Gunther MF, Murphy KA,
Claus RO. Split-spectrum intensity-based optical ber sensors for
measurement of microdisplacement, strain and pressure. Appl Opt
1996;35(15):2595–601.
[21] Wang J, Zhao W, Xiao H, Wang A. Self-calibrated
interferometric=intensity-based optical ber sensors. SPIE
Conference on Sensors and Controls for Advanced Manufacturing,
Pittsburgh, PA, 14 –15 October 1997.
[22] Mario Di Giovanni, Flat and corrugated diaphragm design
handbook. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1982.