A Fiber-Optic Sensor for Acoustic Emission Detection in a High Voltage Cable System

Tongzhi Zhang; Fufei Pang; Huanhuan Liu; Jiajing Cheng; Longbao Lv; Xiaobei Zhang; Na Chen; Tingyun Wang

doi:10.3390/s16122026

A Fiber-Optic Sensor for Acoustic Emission Detection in a High Voltage Cable System

Sensors (Basel). 2016 Nov 30;16(12):2026. doi: 10.3390/s16122026.

Authors

Tongzhi Zhang¹, Fufei Pang², Huanhuan Liu³, Jiajing Cheng⁴, Longbao Lv⁵, Xiaobei Zhang⁶, Na Chen⁷, Tingyun Wang⁸

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Specialty Fiber Optics and Optical Access Networks, Shanghai University, 149 Yanchang Road, Shanghai 200072, China. clove@shu.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Specialty Fiber Optics and Optical Access Networks, Shanghai University, 149 Yanchang Road, Shanghai 200072, China. ffpang@shu.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Specialty Fiber Optics and Optical Access Networks, Shanghai University, 149 Yanchang Road, Shanghai 200072, China. hhliu@shu.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Specialty Fiber Optics and Optical Access Networks, Shanghai University, 149 Yanchang Road, Shanghai 200072, China. jiajingcheng@i.shu.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Specialty Fiber Optics and Optical Access Networks, Shanghai University, 149 Yanchang Road, Shanghai 200072, China. lvlongbao@i.shu.edu.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Specialty Fiber Optics and Optical Access Networks, Shanghai University, 149 Yanchang Road, Shanghai 200072, China. xbzhang@shu.edu.cn.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Specialty Fiber Optics and Optical Access Networks, Shanghai University, 149 Yanchang Road, Shanghai 200072, China. na.chen@shu.edu.cn.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Specialty Fiber Optics and Optical Access Networks, Shanghai University, 149 Yanchang Road, Shanghai 200072, China. tywang@shu.edu.cn.

Abstract

We have proposed and demonstrated a Michelson interferometer-based fiber sensor for detecting acoustic emission generated from the partial discharge (PD) of the accessories of a high-voltage cable system. The developed sensor head is integrated with a compact and relatively high sensitivity cylindrical elastomer. Such a sensor has a broadband frequency response and a relatively high sensitivity in a harsh environment under a high-voltage electric field. The design and fabrication of the sensor head integrated with the cylindrical elastomer is described, and a series of experiments was conducted to evaluate the sensing performance. The experimental results demonstrate that the sensitivity of our developed sensor for acoustic detection of partial discharges is 1.7 rad / ( m ⋅ Pa ) . A high frequency response up to 150 kHz is achieved. Moreover, the relatively high sensitivity for the detection of PD is verified in both the laboratory environment and gas insulated switchgear. The obtained results show the great potential application of a Michelson interferometer-based fiber sensor integrated with a cylindrical elastomer for in-situ monitoring high-voltage cable accessories for safety work.

Keywords: GIS; acoustic emission; fiber-optic sensors; interferometry; partial discharge.