Patent ID: 7668412

Claim:
A distributed sensing system for detecting partial electric discharge along the length of an extended object or objects on which a single line of silica core optical sensing fiber is deployed in close proximity comprising: a. a optical sensing fiber comprising: i. a silica core; ii. a cladding surrounding said core; iii. wherein a luminescent material is integrated into the cladding surrounding said core; iv. and wherein said luminescent material is selected to interact with the photons of any electric discharge so that the photons are converted to near UV to visible light when exposed to electric partial discharge of said extended object or objects; v. and wherein said optical sensing fiber is coated at a first end to provide a mirror reflecting surface for any specific emission light; vi. and wherein a transparent protection layer is coated over the cladding; vii. and wherein said silica core of said optical sensing fiber is less than 500 micro-meters in diameter. b. a photo detector positioned at a second end of said optical sensing fiber for receiving and measuring a first emission light from an electric partial discharge event and a second emission light reflected from said first end of said optical sensing fiber; and c. a signal processor for receiving outputs from said photo detector for determining partial discharge location and magnitude.