Optical Sensing Technology for Acoustic Detection of Partial Discharges: A Review

Partial discharge (PD) causes different physical processes in different mediums, exciting acoustic signals with wide-frequency distribution. And the attenuation and catadioptric process of the acoustic signal caused by the propagation medium weaken the acoustic signal and further complicate the characteristics. As a result, the characteristics of PD acoustic signals are closely related to the properties of insulating mediums. Therefore, it is necessary to select an appropriate acoustic sensor based on the characteristic of the PD acoustic signal. The optical acoustic sensing technology has high sensitivity, fast response speed, and strong anti-interference ability, which is the most potential PD detection sensor, ensuring the safe and stable operation of power equipment. However, the response characteristics of the sensor limited the accurate characteristic analysis of acoustic signals in the previous research. This article reviewed the characteristics of PD acoustic signals in typical insulating mediums obtained by previous research and analyzed the optical acoustic sensor suitable for PD detection, which aims at selecting the sensors suitable for the PD detection of different types of power equipment based on the current sensor technology and prospecting the development direction of the optical acoustic sensor for PD detection.