This paper describes the application of an approximate realization algorithm to dynamical systems with a time delay. First, a well-known algorithm is presented to obtain an approximate realization from an impulse response sequence. Then the limitation that a time delay imposes on the accuracy of this algorithm is discussed, and it is pointed out that time delays should be explicitly taken into account. Therefore, a time delay estimation method is proposed that utilizes the presented approximate realization algorithm. Simulation results show that the method is likely to provide an accurate estimate for the time delay in a dynamical syste