International Journal of Electronics and Computer Science Engineering

Available Online at www.ijecse.org

896

ISSN- 2277-1956

Effect of Stress on Transformer Insulation

Kapil Gandhi 1, Prof. Yog Raj Sood 2, Dr. Raj Kumar Jarial 3
Electrical Engineering Department, National institute of Technology, Hamirpur (HP)
1
Email- kapilkiet@gmail.com
2
Email- yrsood@gmail.com
3
Email- jarial0@gmail.com
Abstract-

Power transformers use Kraft paper as insulation in the electrical windings present in the core, which is
immersed in oil. In service, the temperature of the windings of core will go to 750C to 850C. If the transformer is over
loaded, then the temperature can exceed upto 100C causing the cellulose chains in the paper to cleave at an accelerated
rate, which results in the degradation of mechanical strength and performance of the insulation. The Degree of
Polymerization (DP) will also decrease. If proper action will not take, this can lead to failure of the transformer and
disruption to electricity supply and large economic losses to the operating utility. Transformer condition should be
maintained because of its importance to electricity network. The life of transformer depends on the life of the oil
impregnated paper insulation system to greater extent. Degradation of the cellulose insulation is an irreversible process.
After thermal degradation of the paper winding, Furfuraldehyde (FFA) is the chemical compound, which is released into
the oil from paper. The concentration of FFA has been directly related to the condition of the paper insulation.
In the present paper an experimental investigation has been made to evaluate the degradation of transformer oil
contaminated by nano-particles of pine wood under accelerated thermal and electrical stress and results are correlated
with breakdown strength, density & interfacial tension of the pure oil. The contaminated oil samples are tested at electric
stress of 2.0 kV, 3.0 kV, 4.0 kV & 5.0 kV for 24, 48, 72 & 96 hours simultaneously.
Keywords Transformers, Insulation degradation, paper insulation, electrical stresses, properties of oil.

I. INTRODUCTION
Transformers are one of the most important but also expensive components of any power system utility [1].
Research experience shows that High rating power transformers can have service lives in excess of 50 years. For the
user, the concern is to be able to identify the onset of unreliability as the end of life approaches [2]. In India approx
30% of power transformers are more than 25 years old. So, primary attention should be directed to research into
improved diagnostic techniques for determining the condition of insulation in aged power transformers [3]. There
are a variety of electrical, chemical and physical conditions monitoring and diagnostic techniques which can be
applied. The basic method is a regular analysis of an oil sample to detect the transformer condition [2]. Mostly, Bulk
oil equipments are using impregnated paper as the solid insulation between their windings and conducting parts [4].
Insulation grade paper is made by the delignification of wood pulp by the Kraft process. It contains about 90%
cellulose, 6-7% lignin and the balance is hemicelluloses. The natural humidity of paper is 4-5% by weight and the
insulation is dried after winding to less than 0.5%. [5]. Mineral oil impregnated paper (OIP) is the insulation which
is used in transformers and more often this system deteriorates rapidly at accelerated electrical and thermal stresses
occurring single and in combination of both [6].
Cellulose insulation is the most effective and economic solid insulation for oil-cooled power transformers, despite
some disadvantages which cannot be neglected. Aging is one of them; another common fact that the dielectric
strength of oil-paper systems is dependent on the thermal, oxidative, hydrolytic, electrical and mechanical condition,
which the transformer experiences during its lifetime. The paper strength depends on the fiber strength and more
importantly, the strength of inter-fiber bonds. [3, 7]
In this paper, it is shown when thermal and electrical stresses are increased on paper insulation in the transformer,
the paper starts to degrade and transformer can be burn out.

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Effect of Stress on Transformer Insulation
II. AGING OF CELLULOSE
The effects of temperature, water, and oxygen are significant factors in the aging of the paper insulation (cellulose)
and oil. Cellulose is a linear polymer of glucose; consisting D-anhydroglucopyranose units joined together by
glycosidic bonds (refer Figure 1). A single cellulose fiber is formed from a number of these chains held together by
hydrogen bonds. [8]

Figure 1: Structural formula of cellulose

Degree of Polymerization (DP) is the measurement of average number of glucose units per molecular chain. Paper
insulation with greater than 1000 DP, exhibits high tensile and dielectric properties, where as DP value less than 300
shows a paper with poor dielectric and mechanical properties. Presence of water and oxygen in the insulation system
accelerates the aging phenomenon. Hydrolysis, Pyrolysis and Oxidation are the three mechanisms, acting
simultaneously. The aging mechanism affects the electrical and mechanical properties of the dielectrics. (9)
III. FURANIC COMPOUNDS
When the cellulosic insulation materials within a transformer undergo degradation some of the products formed are
derivatives of the aromatic compound called furan. Furan is a heterocyclic aromatic system consisting of four
carbons and one oxygen in a five membered ring with each of the carbons having hydrogen attached; the class of
compounds containing such rings is also referred to as furans. Hence the molecular formula is C4H4O.
Furan is a colorless, flammable, highly volatile liquid with a boiling point close to room temperature. It is toxic and
may be carcinogenic. Furan is used as a starting point to other specialty chemicals [11]. The five most prevalent
derivatives of furan that arise from the degradation of the cellulose and that are soluble in the oil to an appreciable
degree are the following: Furfuryl alcohol; 2-Acetylfuran; 5-Methyl-2-furaldehyde; 2-Furaldehyde and 5Hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde [10].
IV. TEST SETUP AND PROCEDURE
The dielectric breakdown voltage of insulating oil is a measure of its ability to withstand voltage stress without
failure. If given the prescribed test conditions, then, this is the voltage at which the breakdown occurs between the
two electrodes. This oil is contaminated with many electrically conductive matters like water, dirt, moist cellulosic
fibres or other particulate matter, and the prime reason to conduct this test is to investigate the presence of such
matters in the oil. A high dielectric breakdown voltage does not indicate the absence of all contaminants, however.
The electrodes described in ASTM D877 are thin flat disks, which do not represent the electrodes in the
transformers. However, the rounded electrodes described in ASTM D1816 do not duplicate the characteristics of
insulated electrodes in transformers; they more closely approximate transformer applications. Moreover, the
electrodes described in ASTM D1816 are more responsive to particles and dissolved water in oil, both of which are

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Kapil Gandhi et al.
detrimental to the electrical strength of oil in transformers. We preferred ASTM D1816 because the test results in
ASTM D1816 furnish a better evaluation of changes that may occur in the oil from transformers. [11].
The experimental testing approach is based on small test models aged at stresses slightly above normal operating
values for a different time period with temperature and voltage as the accelerating parameters [12].
The paper insulation used in transformer as solid insulation is the polymer of cellulose. All type of wood consists of
cellulose. When solid insulation degrades under continuous electrical and thermal stress of two to three weeks, it
releases cellulose particles in the transformer oil. Due to this, the physical and thermal properties of oil may vary.
To perform this experiment in the laboratory, a special test cell has been design in which an accelerated thermal and
electrical ageing treatment on oil contaminated with nano particles of pine wood takes place. The capacity of the test
cell is 3 liters. A mild steel plate of 3.5 mm thickness has been used. The inner surface of the test cell is polished
with high resistance temperature paint. The silicon sealing has been provided in between the top cover plate in order
to reduce the effect of environment [3].
The pine wood must be moisture free. The Ball Mill is being used to create nano particles of pine wood. These nano
particles create same environment for transformer after electrical stress of 24 hours. The transformer oil is subjected
to the electrical stress of 2.0 kV, 3.0 kV, 4.0 kV & 5.0 kV for duration of 24, 48, 72 & 96 hours. After every 24
hours, we measure the dielectrical strength of the mineral oil. This dielectrical strength decreases with the increase
in time period of the stresses.
V. RESULTS
When new oil sample tested, the breakdown voltage, density and interfacial tension are 41 kV, 0.817 gm/cm3 and 39
mN/mm. The effect on physical and electrical properties of oil sample after the electrical stress of 2 kV, 3 kV, 4 kV
and 5 kV on the oil sample, have been shown by black, red, green and blue line respectively.
2 kV
3 kV
4 kV
5 kV

42
40
38
36

BDV (kV)

34
32
30
28
26
24
22
0

24

48

72

96

Time (hours)

Figure 2: Degradation of Breakdown Voltage with time

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Effect of Stress on Transformer Insulation

2 kV
3 kV
4 kV
5 kV

0.88

Density (gm/cm )

0.86

0.84

0.82

24

48

72

96

Time (hours)

Figure 3: Degradation of Density with time

2 kV
3 kV
4 kV
5 kV

Interfacial Tension (mN/mm)

45

40

35

30

25

20
0

24

48

72

96

Time (hours)

Figure 4: Degradation of Interfacial Tension with time

VI. CONCLUSIONS
The electrical and physical properties of transformer oil contaminated by particles of pine wood have been measured
under accelerated electrical & thermal stress. When electrical stress increased, the oil starts grabbing the properties
of cellulose which leads to the acceleration of oil ageing and decomposition. The formation of oxygen by-products
get started in oil. Due to this, the physical and electrical properties of oil get degraded. So, it becomes necessary to
protect the solid insulation of transformer. When solid insulation gets affected by high electrical or thermal stress, it
becomes crisp and fragile. When the particles of solid insulation get mixed with oil, it also degrades within a week
and transformer becomes faulty or can burn out.
VII. REFERENCE
[1]. R. Schwarz, M.Muhr, Diagnostic Methods for Transformers, 2008 International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis,
Beijing, China, April 21-24, 2008.

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Kapil Gandhi et al.
[2]. Dr B Pahlavanpour and Dr A Wilson, Analysis of transformer oil for transformer condition monitoring, IEE Colloquium on An
Engineering Review of Liquid Insulation (Digest No. 1997/003), P- 1/1 - 1/5, Jan 1997.
[3]. P.Verma, D.S.Chauhan and Preetinder Singh, Effects on Tensile Strength of Transformer Insulation Paper under Accelerated Thermal and
Electrical Stress, 2007 Annual Report Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena, P 619-622.
[4]. P Verma, M Roy, R.K. Tiwari and S. Chandra, Generation of Furanic Compounds in Transformer Oil under Accelerated Thermal and
Electrical Stress,
[5]. Piyush Verma, Condition Monitoring of transformer oil and paper, Ph.d Thesis, Department of Electrical and Instrumentation
Engineering, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Ch-5, P 146-147.
[6]. M. K. Pradhan, T. Ramu, Diagnostic Testing of Oil-impregnated Paper Insulation in Pro- rated Power Transformers under Accelerated
Stress, Conference Record of the 2004 IEEE International Symposium on Electrical Insulation, Indianapolis, IN USA, 19-22 September
2004.
[7]. Ch. Krause, P. Brupbacher, A. Fehlmann, B. Heinrich, Moisture Effects on the Electric Strength of Oil/Pressboard Insulation used in
Power Transformers, IEEE International Conference on Dielectric Liquids, 2005, 26 June-1 July 2005 , P- 369 372.
[8]. Hannah Ahmad Rosli, Mohd Aizam Talib, Condition and life assessment of transformers with specific application to power station
transformers, Organized by Universiti Tenaga Nasional, BANGI, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA; 28-30 AUGUST 2006.
[9]. Muhammad Arshad, Syed M. Islam and Abdul Khaliq, Power Transformer Aging and Life Extension, SL International Conference on
Probabilistic Methods Applied to Power Systems, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa September 12-16.2004.
[10]. http://www.nttworldwide.com/furan.htm
[11]. IEEE C57.106 Standard, IEEE Guide for Acceptance and Maintenance of Insulating Oil in Equipment, 2006.
[12]. D. Couderc, Long term electrical and thermal behavior of transformer oil/paper insulation under simulated service conditions, Second
International Conference on Properties and Applications of Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials, 1988, 311 - 314 vol.1.

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