SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONICS

AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

MSc POWER DISTRIBUTION ENGINEERING

POST MODULE ASSIGNMENT ON

DIAGNOSIS OF FAULT IN A FAMILY OF TRANSFORMERS.
MODULE LEADER: Prof D J ALLAN

SUBMITTED BY
NAME: SATHEESH KUMAR NATARAJAN
STUDENT NO: 099120124
DATE: 11TH JAN’ 2010
Mineral oil performs two important functions in transformers primarily provides electrical
insulation separately and also in combination with cellulose additionally it also provides
cooling. If there is any deterioration in oil can lead to malfunctioning of the equipment.
When the mineral oil is subjected to high thermal and electrical stresses, it decomposes
and generates different gases.
Different types of faults will generate different gases, and the chemical analysis of these
gases, performed through a procedure called DGA (Dissolved Gas Analysis), will
provide useful information about the condition of the oil, and help to identify the type of
fault in the transformer.DGA can give an early indication of abnormal conditions. [1]

Gas present in the transmission and distribution transformer belonging to a large

overseas utility was collected to carry out the dissolved gas analysis test.

According to the Dissolved gas Analysis of the gas collected from Buchholz relay of
transformer 2 at site E, transformer 2 experiences severe problem with overheating of
cellulose and thermal fault in oil which has drew the engineers to carry the analysis on
all ten units in five substations.

By analyzing the result of the dissolved gas analysis conducted on the ten units reveals
that most of the transformers experiencing the same problem i.e. over heating of
cellulose (except transformer 2 and 3 in substation C transformer 1 at substation D) and
thermal fault in transformer 1 at substation E.

The major problem undergone by most of the transformer is the overheating of cellulose
which is represented by the ratio of CO2 with respect to CO and thermal fault in oil
which is confined to transformers at substation E conformed by ethylene with respect to
ethane ratio.

When the transformer is overloaded the insulation may experience severe temperature
under which carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide gases generates and when the
temperature exceeds 170̊C there will be clear indication that the transformer insulation
is subjected to rapid aging which is indicated by hot spot in transformer insulation. It is
difficult to service the transformer which suffers deterioration of cellulose, one way is to
replace the insulating oil and damaged cellulose even if the damaged part has been
replaced it will not be providing good quality in service when compared with when fully
replaced or a new transformer. It may still get worse when the fault is ignored and
overloaded continuously. The worst case scenario might happen when the transformer
oil is diluted with the deterioration of cellulose causing insulation and cooling failure,
which will be more complicated to handle under abnormal operating conditions.

The amount of loss due to a overheating of cellulose of a transformer depends on a

number of factors primarily the circuit in which it was connected for instance
When the transformer which has to be reconditioned, when disconnected to repair,
because as it was connected in parallel circuit in a system, the adjacent transformer will
be overloaded and it may be inception point for another transformer failure.
When the transformer was disconnected for repair works we need to provide backup for
uninterrupted supply costing backup transformer or disconnection of line associated
with that transformer resulting in blackout for respective period until the reconditioning
work gets over.
There is also chance of loss of life and equipment if the transformer blows because of
the unattended problems due to poor maintenance.
If we do not quickly react to the problems associated with the transformer immediately
after pin pointing the problems the aging of the respective transformer equipment will be
accelerated in such a way that reconditioning will cost more than or approximately equal
to the new one without the quality which the new transformer can offer.

The different types of gases present in the transformer oil represent different types of
fault in the transformer, as follows.
Hydrogen (H2) Corona or low energy electrical discharges
Methane (CH4) Corona or overheating /partial discharge
Acetylene (C2H2) low energy sparking
Ethylene (C2H4) Severe localized overheating or high energy arcing
Ethane (C2H6) Thermal fault in oil / Electrical discharge
Carbon Monoxide (CO) Cellulose overheating/Degradation of cellulose
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Cellulose overheating/Degradation of cellulose [2]
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is considered, and the ratio of CO2 to CO (Cellulose Insulation)
is evaluated to understand the condition of the cellulose components (woods and
papers). Nitrogen (N2) and Oxygen (O2) are also considered. [2]
From the result of dissolved gas analysis if the amount of gases present in the
transformer oil exceeds a certain value then we need to follow gas ratio method which is
based on the work of CIGRE .By calculate gas ratio types of fault present in the
transformer can be detected.
Over heating of Cellulose and thermal fault in oil are detected from the gas ratio method
using the details from DGA
Cellulose is normally used to insulate transformer windings. If a transformer becomes
overloaded for any reason, the windings will generate excessive heat and deteriorate
Cellulose. A DGA test can identify an overloaded transformer when high carbon
monoxide, high carbon dioxide detected. If a transformer is operated in an overloaded
manner for a long period of time, the deteriorating condition of the cellulose will shorten
its life. At extreme temperature above 170̊C the hot spot is formed in the insulation
generating ethylene which represents rapid aging of transformer insulation.

The result of DGA associated with remaining transformers, most of the transformer
suffer same type of problem i.e. overheating of cellulose and thermal fault in confined to
transformer-1 at substation E .Transformer 2 and 3 at substation C and transformer 1 at
substation D do not suffer any problem at present but it may suffer overheating of
cellulose in future as it is the developing problem in these transformers at present.

In general after confirming that the transformer suffers the respective problems, the
responsible person should decide whether the transformer needs to be disconnected for
service immediately or later depend upon the severity of the fault. But we need to
pinpoint the position of the fault or part which is affected. We need some dedicated
method precisely to confirm the overheating of cellulose and thermal fault in our case
and to pinpoint its position.

One of the method to detect this overheating of cellulose of problem is The degree of
polymerization (DP) has traditionally been used as the primary indicator of the condition
of insulation paper in electrical transformers The paper deteriorates with age, leaving
the insulation vulnerable to stresses generated by thermal, mechanical and electrical
transients. Water, heat and oxygen all contribute to the degradation process, reducing
the DP of the paper and with it, the mechanical strength. Degradation of the paper can
cause the transformer to fail by several mechanisms: the brittle paper can break away
from the transformer windings and block ducts; water is a product of degradation and
builds up in the paper, reducing its resistivity; in the extreme, local carbonizing of the
paper increases the conductivity to cause overheating and conductor faults
The thermal fault in oil can be detected visually as it forms the hot spot in the
transformer insulation.

The transformer cannot be always mounted on the transformer friendly environment it

may be installed at any point on the grid to transmit the power up to its costumers .The
place where the repair work will be carried totally depend on the place where the
transformer has been installed. For instance If the transformer has been installed in
mountain then it is not advisable and to repair at site as it will not be safe so recondition
work has to be carried out in a place where the condition is normal i.e. condition similar
to workshop. In that case the transformer can be serviced in the workshop within the
utility. But it is not always possible to find the transformer utility near to the place where
the transformer has been installed in that case we can seek support from third party
repair workshop.

Reference

1)Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolved_gas_analysis

2) Dissolved Gas Analysis of Alternative

Fluids for Power Transformers

Imad-U-Khan, Zhongdong Wang,

And Ian Cotton
Electrical Energy and Power System, University
Of Manchester, Manchester M60 1QD UK

http://www.google.co.uk/search?
hl=en&source=hp&q=Dissolved+Gas+Analysis+of+Alternative+Fluids+for+Power+Trans
formers+&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=&oq=