Patent ID: 7161873
Filing Date: 2007-01-09
Classification: G01R,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method of detecting and localizing a source of partial discharge in an electrical apparatus placed in an enclosure including an acoustically-conductive fluid, the method including: positioning against the outside of the enclosure N acoustic detectors configured to detect an acoustic wave emitted by the source of partial discharge, and acquiring positions of the N acoustic detectors; defining P groups of acoustic detectors from the N acoustic detectors with P=Z!/3!(Z−3)!, each of the P groups comprising at least three detectors, and Z being equal to N or to N−1; performing a first check to verify whether each group is free from any triangle having vertices embodied by three acoustic detectors in which at least one angle lies outside a range of angles, and otherwise eliminating the group; first calculating an approximate position for the source of partial discharge, for each group that is not eliminated after the performing the first check, from the positions of the acoustic detectors of the group and the instants the acoustic wave emitted by the source of partial discharge is received by each of the detectors of the group; performing a second check to verify whether that each group that is not eliminated after the performing the first check is free from any triangle having vertices embodied by two of the detectors of the group and by the approximate position of the source of partial discharge with at least one angle lying outside the range, and otherwise eliminating the group; and second calculating the looked-for position of the source of partial discharge by averaging the approximate positions calculated for the at least one group that are not eliminated after the second check.