The article presents the results concerning the use of clustering methods to identify signals of acoustic emission (AE) generated by partial discharge (PD) in oil-paper insulation. The conducted testing featured qualitative analysis of the following clustering methods: single linkage, complete linkage, average linkage, centroid linkage and Ward linkage. The purpose of the analysis was to search the tested series of AE signal measurements, deriving from three various PD forms, for elements of grouping (clusters), which are most similar to one another and maximally different than in other groups in terms of a specific feature or adopted criteria. Then, the conducted clustering was used as a basis for attempting to assess the effectiveness of identification of particular PD forms that modelled exemplary defects of the power transformer’s oil-paper insulation system. The relevant analyses and simulations were conducted using the Matlab estimation environment and the clustering procedures available in it. The conducted tests featured analyses of the results of the series of measurements of acoustic emissions generated by the basic PD forms, which were obtained in laboratory conditions using spark gap systems that modelled the defects of the power transformer’s oil-paper insulation.

Topics of this article concern the study of the fundamental nature of the sonoluminescence phenomenon occurring in liquids. At the Institute of Electrical Power Engineering at Opole University of Technology the interest in that phenomenon known as secondary phenomenon of cavitation caused by ultrasound became the genesis of a research project concerning acoustic cavitation in mineral insulation oils in which a number of additional experiments performed in the laboratory aimed to determine the influence of a number of acoustic parameters on the process of the studied phenomenona. The main purpose of scientific research subject undertaken was to determine the relationship between the generation of partial discharges in high-voltage power transformer insulation systems, the issue of gas bubbles in transformer oils and the generated acoustic emission signals. It should be noted that currently in the standard approach, the phenomenon of generation of acoustic waves accompanying the occurrence of partial discharges is generally treated as a secondary phenomenon, but it can also be a source of many other related phenomena. Based on our review of the literature data on those referred subjects taken, it must be noted, that this problem has not been clearly resolved, and the description of the relationship between these phenomena is still an open question. This study doesn’t prove all in line with the objective of the study, but can be an inspiration for new research project in the future in this topic. Solution of this problem could be a step forward in the diagnostics of insulation systems for electrical Power devices based on non-invasive acoustic emission method.