The 19th International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, Pilsen, Czech Republic, August, 23 – 28, 2015

A NOVEL TECHNIQUE FOR PARTIAL DISCHARGE LOCALIZATION IN

TRANSFORMER WINDING BASED ON ARCHIMEDEAN COPULA
Mithun Mondal1 and G. B. Kumbhar2*
1,2
Electrical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee, India
*Email: <gkumbfee@iitr.ac.in>

Abstract: Partial discharge (PD) is the primary source of insulation degradation in power
transformer and accurate determination of the PD location in transformer winding is
important for maintenance and preventing catastrophic failure at an early point. The
precise position of PD in transformer winding is quite hard due to extremely complex and
non-uniform structure of the transformer winding. A copula-based technique is proposed
to find the exact location of PD in transformer winding. The winding response for voltage
pulse of known pulse width is applied across various sections in lumped transformer
winding model which is taken as reference data. Likewise, the winding response obtained
from voltage pulse with different pulse width applied across various winding sections is
taken as test data. The different Archimedean copulas are studied and the parameters of
the copula are obtained. Then the best fit copula to the PD data is obtained. With the help
of best-fit copula, the log-likelihood is determined between the reference data and the test
data. The maximum log-likelihood gives the location of PD. The results of proposed
method are then compared with time-domain correlation techniques. The simulation
results demonstrate that the proposed approach is capable of achieving accurate
prediction of location of PD source. The copula method is advantageous in examining the
scale-free dependence while saving the dependence during simulation.

1 INTRODUCTION In this work, a novel technique based on

The power transformer is one of the costliest
equipment in the power system. Hence, condition
monitoring of power transformer is the prime
concern for the power engineers. Most of the
failures of the transformer are due to insulation
degradation and partial discharge (PD) is one of
the most important sources of insulation
degradation. Due to the highly complex structure
and non-uniformity in the transformer winding,
finding the exact location of PD is a challenging
task. Few methods based on digital filtering,
capacitive component extraction and zero location
in the frequency domain have been offered for the
localization of PD in transformer winding [1]–[3].
However, these methods suffer from noise
problems and not reliable for PD localization.
Recently, S. Jayalalitha and V. Jayashankar
has proposed a time domain correlation method [4].
This method involves pulse excitation of the
winding and correlating reference and test signals.
The maximum value of the correlation gives the PD
location. However, the time domain correlation
method fails to turn up the PD source when the
pulse width of test voltage is different from that of
the pulse width of the reference voltage which is
used for correlation. On the other hand, frequency-
domain correlation proposed by V. Jeyabalan and
S. Usa [5] overcomes the earlier limitation and
locate the PD source quite accurately. However in
some instances the effect is so nearby that it’s
difficult to distinguish between two parts.
Archimedean copula is used to localize the PD
source. Initially, reference PD data with known
locations was used to find the best-fit Copula
among various Archimedean copula. With the help
of best-fit copula, the log-likelihood is determined
between the reference data and the test data. The
maximum log-likelihood gives the location of PD.
The proposed method is compared with the time-
correlation technique of PD location [4]. The
proposed technique not only differentiates the PD
location clearly from the rest of the sections, but
also is advantageous over the normal Correlation
technique. A simulation results are presented with
different random pulse width from one nanosecond
to few microsecond to test the efficacy of the
proposed method.
2 EQUIVALENT LADDER WINDING MODEL
Ladder network equivalent circuit [6]–[8],[9] has
been widely used for studying high frequency
behaviour of transformer, winding deformation,
fault and PD localization etc. As shown in the
Figure 1, the ladder network model of transformer
consists of internal winding Capacitance (Cs), the
Stray Capacitance (Cg), the Resistance (Rs) and
the Inductance (Ls). The values of the circuit
parameters used for the simulation studies are
given in Table 1. The simulation work is carried out
on eight sections of the lumped parameter model
by Orcad PSPICE software.
 a copula such that

C(u,v ) = H ( x, y ) = C(F ( x ),G( y )) (1)

Copula is used in this paper because it gives scale

free dependence while preserving the dependence
during simulation.

Archimedean copulas are the most popular

form of copula as they model dependence using
Figure 1: Lumped parameter model of only one parameter. Kendall’s tau (τ), which is
transformer winding with PD signal applied defined as the difference between probability of
across Section 2. concordant and discordant pairs, is used for scale
free measure of association between random
Table 1: Transformer Circuit parameters [5] variables (i.e. test signals and reference signals).
The concordant and discordant pair sample is
Rs Ls Cs Cg explained later. A copula is defined as
Parameter Archimedean copula if Copula can be expressed
(Ω) (mH) (pF) ( pF)
Value 18 2.5 150 850
as C(u, v) = φ[-1] (φ(u) + φ(v)), where φ(.), is the
generator of the copula and φ[-1](.),is the ‘pseudo-
inverse’ of the generator function, and is given as:

3 PD LOCALIZATION BY PROPOSED
APPROACH ϕ −1(t ), 0 ≤ t ≤ ϕ (0)
ϕ [ ] (t ) = 
−1
(2)
0, ϕ (0) ≤ t ≤ ∞
In this work, a copula based technique is proposed
to locate the PD source. The method is
successfully applied in various fields such as The different types of Archimedean copula along
finance, reliability and civil engineering, weather with their generator function and Kendall’s tau is
research, etc. A brief introduction of the method is given in Table 2. The Population version of
presented to understand its theoretical Kendall’s tau can be estimated by
background.
1
ϕθ ( t )
3.1 Theory of Copula τ = 1 + 4∫ dt (3)
0 ϕ 'θ ( t )
Copula was first proposed by Sklar in 1959 [10]. In
this section, a brief introduction of Copula is 3.2 Methodology Used
presented to understand its theoretical
background. Copula (C) is a function that couples A. Estimation of nonparametric probability
or joins multivariate distribution function in their density:
one dimensional marginal Distribution function [10], Kernel density estimator is used to find the
[11]. Let, X and Y are a pair of random variables nonparametric probability density. For a real
with distribution functions F (x) = P [X ≤ x] and G valued time series Xi, where i = 1, 2, 3L n. The
(y) = P [Y ≤ y], respectively. If their joint distribution Kernel density is estimated by
function is H(x, y) = P[X ≤ x, Y ≤ y], then there exist

Table 2: Different types of Copula along with their generator functions φ (.) [12]
Copula Cθ(u,v) Generator Dependence Kendall’s tau (τ)
family (ϕθ(t)) parameter (θ)
Frank
1  (e −θ u − 1)(e−θ v − 1)   e −θ t − 1  ( −∞, ∞ ) \ {0} 4 a
− ln 1 +  − ln  −θ  1− [D1( −θ ) − 1]
θ  (e −θ − 1)   e −1 θ
Clayton −1
1 −θ [1, ∞ ) \ {0} θ
max u −θ + v −θ − 1,0  θ
 (  ) θ
( t − 1) θ +2
Gumbel
 
θ
1
( − lnt ) [−1, ∞) θ −1
exp  − ( − ln u )θ + ( − ln v )θ  θ 
  θ
θ
1 t θ
x ∫0 e t − 1
a
D1,first order Debye function; D1(θ ) = dt for θ > 0; D1( −θ ) = D1(θ ) +
2
 1 n All the above steps are repeated for each
f (x) = ∑ Kh ( x − X i )
n i =1
(4) Archimedean copula given in the Table 2.

1 w  E. Selection of the Most Appropriate Copula:

Where, K h (w ) = Kr in which h is the
h  h  To select the most appropriate copula, Akaike
smoothing parameter and Kr is the Kernel function. Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian
The Cumulative Density Function is then estimated Information Criterion (BIC) is used. AIC and BIC
from the corresponding probability density. are given by

B. Estimation of Kendall’s Tau (τ): AIC = −2Ln(L ) + 2K (6)

Let (x1, y1),(x2,y2),L(xn,yn) are the set of
observations for joint variables X and Y. Two pairs BIC = −2Ln(L ) + KLn(N ) (7)
(xi, yi) and (xj, yj) are concordant if (xi –xj)(yi – yj) >
0 and discordant if (xi – xj)(yi – yj) <0.The kendall’s
tau is determined as follows: Where, K is the number of parameters, L is the
maximized log-likelihood value, and N is the
number of data points in the observations. The
(No. of concordant pairs) − (No. of discordant pairs) (5) Archimedean copula with the least AIC and BIC is
τ=
1 selected as the most appropriate copula.
n ( n −1)
2
F. PD Localization using Log-likelihood:
Where, n is the number of paired samples in the Log-likelihood is determined as:
observations.
N

C. Estimation of Dependence Parameter for LN (θ ) = ∑ logC ( F ( x ),G( y );θ ) (8)

i =1
Different Copula:
The dependence parameter of the Archimedean
The maximum value of Log-likelihood estimate
copula is determined by putting the sample
between the test and reference signals gives the
estimate of Kendall’s tau (τ) in the population
source of PD location.
version of Kendall’s tau given in equation (3).
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
D. Simulation Using Different Copulas:
This step contains following sub-steps:
To test the efficacy of proposed approach
1. For Archimedean copula the different simulated PD responses are used. In this work, the
functional forms φ[-1](.), φ’(.), and φ’(-1)(.) are lumped parameter model of eight sections, shown
[-1] (-1)
obtained. In these φ (.),and φ’ (.) are obtain in the Figure 1, is used to simulate the response of
from Equation (2).Then,φ’(.) is obtain by taking winding for PD signals. In general, pulse-width of
the derivative of the generator function of PD signals lies in between 1 ns to few µs. To study
particular copula given in the Table 2. PD responses, reference voltage (Vref) pulses of
2. Two independent uniformly distributed (U(0,1)) different pulse widths are applied across the
random variables u and q are generated. sections of transformer winding and the response
3. Two more variables z and w are generated (Si (t)) are recorded across the load resistor (RL).
such that z = φ’ (u)/q and w = φ’(-1)(z). For example, the Figures 2(a), 2(b) and 2(c) show
4. Thereafter, one more variable v is obtained the response (Si(t)) on application of reference
[-1]
where v = φ ((φ(w) – φ(u)). The pair’s u and v voltage Vref of pulse-width 5µs across section 2, 5
are in the range [0, 1] and they preserve the and 8, respectively.
dependence.
5. The simulated pairs are back transformed by In [4], time-domain correlation based method is
inverse cumulative distribution function to map used for localization of PD source. It requires a set
to their original scale. of reference winding responses obtained by

2 1 1
Winding response (V)

Winding response (V)

Winding response (V)

0.5 0.5
1
0 0
0
-0.5 -0.5

-1 -1 -1
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (seconds) x 10
-4 Time (seconds) -4
x 10 Time (seconds) -4
x 10
(a) (b) (c)

Figure 2: Winding response Si (t) for Vref across (a) section 2, (b) section 5, and (c) section 8.
 Table 3: Simulated PD localization using correlation technique [4]
Test signal
pulse Sec-1 Sec-2 Sec-3 Sec-4 Sec-5 Sec-6 Sec-7 Sec-8
widths
0.1 µs 0.67 0.61 0.39 0.29 0.23 0.04 -0.12 -0.08
Sec-2 0.5 µs 3.23 3.05 1.87 1.40 1.12 0.13 -0.57 -0.40
1 µs 6.44 6.28 3.79 2.80 2.21 0.11 -1.09 -0.80
5 µs 28.35 33.61 20.11 15.75 11.26 -1.13 -1.02 -2.62
0.1 µs 0.24 0.38 0.30 0.34 0.35 0.22 0.18 0.02
0.5 µs 1.10 1.82 1.46 1.74 1.71 1.04 0.85 0.03
Sec- 4 1 µs 2.13 3.57 2.95 3.72 3.43 2.03 1.65 -0.06
5 µs 13.28 15.74 16.90 21.45 14.92 9.33 6.85 -0.35
0.1 µs 0.06 0.03 0.25 0.23 0.22 0.33 0.38 0.25
Sec-6 0.5 µs 0.30 0.08 1.14 1.06 1.07 1.70 1.62 1.89
1 µs 0.63 0.02 2.17 2.03 2.19 3.72 3.85 2.34
5 µs 4.90 -1.13 7.28 9.33 12.24 22.08 13.79 9.86

applying voltage pulse of known pulse-width at

known locations. The reference winding responses Table 4: Selection of best copula using Test-
Reference signal
(Si) are then correlated with the random test
winding response (tx) to find the location of its Frank Clayton Gumbel
source. Since the locations corresponding to the Copula Copula Copula
reference signals are known, the maximum Log L 238.92 164.47 281.40
correlation between reference and test signal AIC -477.84 -328.95 -562.8
BIC -477.84 -328.94 -562.8
indicates the PD location or the location of test
signal. The correlation is computed using

N simulated case of test and reference signal of

Vi = ∑ Si [n]t x [n] (9)
i =1
Where, n is the number of samples in the signals,
and N is the number of sections in the winding.
Table 3 shows the results of correlation method
[4]. The results are obtained with reference signals
of pulse- width 5µs, and test signal of different
pulse widths applied at different sections. The bold
and underlined data show the predicted location of
PD. It can be observed that the correlation method
works well when the pulse widths of the test and
reference signals are equal. However, if the pulse
widths of test signal and reference signals are
different, then it falsely indicates the location of PD.
For example, when test signal of pulse width 0.1
µs or 0.5 µs is applied at section 2, the time
domain correlation method falsely indicates section
1 as PD location. However, if the pulse widths of
reference and test signal are equal to 5µs, then it
correctly indicates the location of PD. Similar
incorrect indications of PD locations are observed
in many cases (see Table 3).
In the case of Archimedean Copula based
technique, the best fit Copula is used to find the
log-likelihood between the reference and test
signals. The minimum AIC and BIC values
measure the goodness of fit for the likelihood
function. Table 4 presents AIC and BIC values of a
pulse-widths 1µs and 5µs, respectively, applied
across the section 2. It is found that Gumbel
Copula gives minimum AIC and BIC values for this
particular case and thus it is chosen as the best fit
copula. Similar simulations are done for other
cases to find the best fit. The results of proposed
approach based on Archimedean Copula are given
in Table 5. The maximum log-likelihood computed
using the best fit copula gives the location of PD. It
can be observed that the locations predicted are
fairly accurate. Moreover, the accuracy of the
method is independent of pulse widths.
5 CONCLUSIONS
In this work, a novel technique of PD localization in
transformer winding based on Archimedean
Copula has been proposed. The paper introduces
the concept of Copula and discusses steps in the
proposed algorithm for PD localization. Initially, to
explain the concept, simulation results are
obtained using eight section model of transformer
winding. The reference signals are obtained by
exciting each section and measuring the response.
All the reference signals are obtained with the PD
pulse of width 5µs. Similarly, test response is
acquired by applying the pulse of random width
and at any arbitrary section. Using this reference
and test data, best fit copula and corresponding
maximum log-likelihood is obtained. The maximum
 Table 5: Simulated PD localization using proposed technique based on Archimedean Copula
Test signal
pulse Sec-1 Sec-2 Sec-3 Sec-4 Sec-5 Sec-6 Sec-7 Sec-8
widths
0.1us 105.32 157.41 98.42 59.18 0.10 19.18 10.32 30.40

Sec-2 0.5us 105.67 166.34 100.94 61.98 1.99 22.36 8.23 25.81
1us 102.10 177.14 102.35 64.51 4.20 27.22 6.43 21.30
5us 98.94 325.63 126.85 91.47 30.14 30.16 3.31 9.44
0.1us 58.84 97.93 117.01 123.62 73.69 37.33 1.46 50.15

Sec- 4 0.5us 59.92 95.84 117.55 124.21 77.10 41.05 0.67 50.40
1us 59.68 95.26 118.60 137.52 80.31 42.35 1.65 49.93
5us 70.33 91.31 134.90 323.29 99.56 58.47 20.02 9.94
0.1us 4.21 6.76 50.44 50.54 67.92 102.42 37.29 35.40

Sec-6 0.5us 4.27 8.05 49.62 50.97 67.70 110.61 35.91 34.53
1us 2.50 12.84 46.26 51.87 66.68 123.13 36.44 33.29
5us 3.51 30.25 19.28 58.46 63.17 210.81 51.81 29.40

log-likelihood between test and reference data
gives the position of PD. The obtained results are
compared with the time-domain Correlation
techniques. The proposed method provides scale
free measure of association to give robust
prediction of location of PD source.
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