Diagnostics of electric power components: An improvement on signal discrimination

This paper focuses on the analytical procedures aimed at identifying different perturbation sources in the diagnostic of power equipment and structures that may be exposed to a variety of upsetting phenomena. Sources placed on individual parts of a jointed structure affected by both natural and designed stimuli generate signals that are transmitted to sensors through source-sensor transmission channels whose characteristics depend on the type of the structure and the assembly of its parts. The proposed method allows to discriminate different signals acquired by sensors and coming contemporarily from different sources. A subsequent recognition technique based on signal processing procedures is then applied to identify any anomalies in the different parts of the structure. The method can be applied to diagnose a number of different electromechanical structures such as power transformers, circuit breakers, power cables, electrical and mechanical railway structures. In the appendix an example concerning vibro-acoustic signals is described, where the procedure is applied for the discrimination of two different sources stimulating a power transformer.