Evaluation of Envelope Detection for Partial Discharge Source Localization

This paper presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of envelope detection in ultra high frequency to locate partial discharge sources in high voltage equipment. Traditionally, this is carried out by the time difference of arrival method, which requires a high sampling A/D converter to acquire the instants that the signals reach the antennas. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to investigate whether envelope detection is sufficient for this purpose. Experimental tests were performed in oil cell, and four bio-inspired antennas were used to detect the phenomenon. Envelope simulations with different diode models were performed to evaluate the best model for this purpose. The results demonstrate that the envelope detection approach is promising for reducing the sample rate while maintaining acceptable accuracy in localizing PD sources.