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http://www.cigre.org 12-110 Session 2002

© CIGRÉ

Experienced-based Evaluation of Economic Benefits of On-line

Monitoring Systems for Power Transformers
by

S. Tenbohlen∗ , T. Stirl G. Bastos

ALSTOM Schorch Transformatoren GmbH FURNAS
(Germany) (Brazil)

J. Baldauf, P. Mayer M. Stach, B. Breitenbauch R. Huber

ALSTOM ELEC E.ON Energie AG EnBW Regional AG
(Brazil) (Germany) (Germany)

Abstract - To increase availability and to achieve opti- times the revenue for the first 5 hours of a non sched-
mised operating management on-line condition monitoring uled outage, and 10 times the revenue for the subse-
for power transformers is useful and necessary. Based on quent hours. These heavy fines forced the utilities to re-
the experiences with a considerable amount of systems in view their processes to reduce the number of scheduled
operation a generally applicable set-up of sensors is pro- outages and, more than that, to decrease the number of
posed. Furthermore the way of data acquisition, analysis non-scheduled outages. In order to adapt to the new de-
and distribution by using a modern monitoring system mands and to become competitive, Furnas took some
connected to the internet is described. By means of measures with the objective to reduce outage time.
mathematical models the acquired measured data are con- Among the measures taken is the installation of intelli-
verted to useful information for a reliable condition diag- gent systems capable to monitor power transformers on-
nosis. The evaluation of data acquired on-site shows the line.
capability to detect problems within active part, bushings, The German utilities are facing deregulation since sev-
on-load tap changer and cooling unit before they develop eral years. Beside availability and reliability now addi-
into major failures. Especially algorithms for the calcula- tional requirements have to be met. Cost reduction led
tion of overload capacity are of increasing importance. to a cutback of new investments. Because of the in-
Dependent on size, importance and condition of a power creasing age of the transformer population, the question
transformer the savings achievable by an on-line moni- of remaining lifetime has to be answered now. For this
toring system are analysed. These savings can be divided
purpose on- and off-line technologies have been devel-
into strategic and direct benefits.
oped to use power transformers in the optimum techni-
Keywords: On-line Monitoring, Power Transformer, cal and economical manner and to give directives for
Internet, Condition Assessment, Overload Calculation, the extension of lifetime (life management).
Economic Benefits On-line monitoring systems are used continuously dur-
ing the operation of transformers and offer in that way a
1 INTRODUCTION possibility to record different relevant stresses which
The deregulation of the Brazilian electric system led the can affect the lifetime. The automatic evaluation of
Brazilian utilities, private or public, to adapt themselves these data allows the early detection of oncoming fail-
to reality. All the new electrical installations, such as ures and performing conditioned based maintenance. In
substations or overhead lines, are bid by ANEEL, the order to enable a consistent utilisation of the technically
national regulating agency of the Brazilian system. In possible load capacity of the transformer, statements
this way the electrical market became very competitive. regarding the current overload capacity can be made.
Legislation created by the agency foresees heavy penal-
ties for unavailability of electrical equipment. In the last 2 DESCRIPTION OF MONITORING SYSTEM
biddings for concession of transmission facilities done In order to prevent outages and save maintenance ex-
by ANEEL, penalties corresponding to 10 times the penditures Furnas decided to install on-line monitoring
revenues are foreseen for scheduled outages and of 150 systems not only in transformers but also circuit breaker
and disconnectors. The system designed is detailed be-
∗ low.
Rheinstr.73, D-41065 Mönchengladbach,
[email protected]
2.1 Sensor Set-up displaying HTML documents are standard equipment
A multitude of different measurable variables can be for free on every computer. HTML is widely recognised
collected for on-line monitoring /1/. However, it is very industry standard and is globally proven performer in
rarely useful to use the entire spectrum. Therefore, sen- flexibility and reliability. Regarding these facts a web
sor technology must be adjusted to the specific require- server based on the monitoring system MS 2000 was
ments of a particular transformer or transformer bank, developed. The user expects from a monitoring system
depending on their age and condition. From the experi- an easy and safe access to all necessary information
ence of more than 100 monitoring systems the following about the installed electrical equipment. . The operation
general set-up of sensors for example is proposed for and maintenance department should perform condition
the use at a 400 kV power transformer: assessment and plan maintenance procedures exactly
1. PT100 for measurement of top oil temperature (Fig. 1). Allowing to follow the transformer operation
2. PT100 for measurement of ambient temperature remotely is of particular importance in case of non as-
3. C.T. for measurement of load current (single phase) sisted substations. Another possibility is to supply op-
4. Measurement of voltage at measurement tap of erators with information about loading capacity that
bushing (three phase) could allow them to decide overload criteria.
5. Measurement of oil pressure of bushing This wide distribution of information can be done by a
6. Sensor for measurement of oil humidity web-based solution. An additional module installed on
7. Sensor for measurement of gas-in-oil content the monitoring server allows to generate HTML-based
8. Tap changer position web pages, which show both on-line and historical data
9. Power consumption of motor drive (Fig. 2). As the monitoring server is connected to the
10. Digital inputs for switching status of fans and pumps local area network (Intranet) of the utility, all depart-
ments will receive the necessary information. Therefore
2.2 Architecture the number of users directly connected to the monitor-
The outputs of the above mentioned sensors are wired ing server is practically unlimited. Password protection
onto field bus terminals in the monitoring module in- gives only specific users the right of data access. By use
stalled at the transformer. Within these data acquisition of a firewall it is also possible to have access to the
units the analogue signals are digitised and send via a complete substation by use of the Internet.
field bus to the monitoring server. By means of this in-
dustrial proven technology it is possible to monitor all
transformers in one substation with a single system
which is extremely cost effective. The erection of the
server in an operating building offers the advantage that
the ambient conditions (e.g. temperature, vibrations) are
much more suitable for a PC. The connection to the
protection and control system can be done either by dry
relay contacts or a digital protocol according to IEC
60870-5-101 /1,2/.
2.3 Distribution and visualisation of monitoring data
According Furnas requirements the monitoring data
should be accessed by remote PC located at the main
offices by means of a standardised platform which is the
Internet Explorer. This prevents that on each desktop
PC individual software has to be installed. Internet Fig. 2: Web-based visualisation of transformer condition
technology alone provides the underlying foundation for
web-based visualisation. Browsers and other tools for
3 PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
During the last years the monitoring system MS 2000
was installed world-wide at power transformers of all
major manufacturers. In the beginning utilities started to
test the system with grid-coupling transformers of minor
importance. Due to the good experience it is now oper-
ating at such strategical important points as nuclear
power stations, pumped storage power stations, coal
power stations and aluminia industry. Most of these in-
stallations were retrofitted on-site at already aged trans-
formers. Normally the installation of sensors requires no
welding at the transformer and takes about two days.
The transformer has to be taken out of operation only
for half a day to install the voltage sensors and the tap
Fig. 1: Data access by use of the Internet
changer monitoring module.
Operating data recorded by monitoring systems show assumed to be the temperature increase during summer.
the capability for an optimisation of the operation and A DGA performed in August revealed a CO content of
maintenance of power transformers /1,2,4/. Here, an at- 427 ppm of CO and 27 ppm of H2 which is in accor-
tempt is made to document the possibilities to detect dance with the output of the Hydran sensor (108 ppm).
problems and avoid failures depending on the monitored So the reason for the increased gas-in-oil content was
part of the transformer. the increased value of CO, which was generated be-
cause of the normal increase of oil temperature. Thus
3.1 Active Part
for exact interpretation of the Hydran signal the know-
For early failure detection, the monitoring of the active
ledge of load and temperature is needed.
part is of particular importance. It is fundamental to
measure the electrical variables load current and oper- 3.1.2 Oil humidity
ating voltage directly at the transformer. A bushing- A capacitive thin film sensor is used for the detection of
type current transformers is used for load current meas- moisture in oil. There are several causes for an increase
urement. The load current and top oil temperature are of water-in-oil content. for example, improper shipping
the starting variables for calculation of hot-spot tem- and erection of the transformer on-site or absorption of
perature according to IEC 60354 and ageing rate of moisture by conservator oil breathing . Due to the fact
active part insulation /5/. This enables the evaluation not that water is a result and also an origin of paper degra-
only of information regarding lifetime consumption but dation the water-in-oil content is an important indicator
also of the temporary overload capacity of the trans- for the condition of winding insulation. It is reported
former /4/. that 4 % water content in paper for example increases
For the assessment of the mechanical condition of the the ageing rate by a factor of about 20 /7/. So measure-
windings the knowledge of number and amplitude of ment of oil humidity is recommended in particular for
short circuit currents is of tremendous importance. transformers which are already aged or operate usually
These are detected and evaluated by using a high sam- at high oil temperatures, because accurate calculation of
pling rate for the load current signal. ageing rate requires the input of moisture content. Up to
now the transformers equipped with a sensor for oil
3.1.1 Gas-in-oil amount
humidity are uncritical regarding moisture in oil. So
For the gas-in-oil detection a Hydran sensor is used
practical experience in detecting moisture problems on-
which reads a composite value of gases in ppm (H2
line is limited, but nevertheless the sensors are needed
(100%), CO (18%), C2H2 (8%), C2H4 (1,5%)). As hy-
for accurate calculation of ageing rate.
drogen is a key gas for problems in the active part, an
As the transformer warms up, moisture migrates from
increase in the output signal of the sensor is an indica-
the paper into the oil. From this so called equilibrium of
tion for irregularities such as partial discharge or hot
moisture in oil and paper also the water content in the
spots /6/. The evaluation of this measuring signal, to-
paper can be calculated by the monitoring system /8, 9/.
gether with the analysis of the temperature of the oil and
This value is needed for the calculation of the emer-
the load current, provides a reliable basis for the con-
gency overload time. Moisture in paper restricts the
tinuous operation of the transformer. In the event of an
loading capacity because of the risk of bubble emission.
increase of gas-in-oil content, an immediate reaction can
Also the release of water drops from winding paper to
be effected via an off-line dissolved gas analysis (DGA)
oil can occur. So the acceptable limit for the hot spot
to determine the concentration of the other components
temperature is dependent on the water content in the pa-
dissolved in the oil in order to clarify the cause of the
per /10/.
potential damage.
3.2 Bushings
3.2.1 Detection of overvoltages
The voltage applied to the transformer is acquired at the
measuring tap of the capacitor bushing by means of a
voltage sensor. It acts with the capacitance of the bush-
ing as a voltage divider. This enables not only the
measurement of the operational voltage but also the de-
tection of overvoltages, because due to its design the
voltage sensor has a bandwidth up to some MHz. The
measuring error of the sensor is less than 3% deter-
mined by comparing with the output of a calibrated high
voltage divider in the test field. The output of the volt-
age sensor is connected to a peak sampler to detect the
Fig. 3: Gas-in-oil amount dependent on load and top oil tem- amplitude of overvoltages by the monitoring system.
perature of a 80 MVA grid transformer
Overvoltages represent an essential risk potential for
In Fig. 3 the gas-in-oil amount of a 80 MVA grid cou- the insulation of transformer windings. Taking into ac-
pling transformer for an aluminia plant is shown for the count the volume of noxious gases which are dissolved
time interval of one year. The monitoring system de- in oil, deductions can be drawn about the possible dam-
tected an increase of gas-in-oil content. The reason was
age to the insulation of the active part after the occur- cess normally has a considerable longer time constant.
rence of overvoltages. This triggers an alarm and a warning
An additional module allows surveillance of the three In Fig. 5 the change of capacitance of a 400 kV grid
phase voltage signal with a sample rate of 1 MSa/s. coupling transformer is shown for a time interval of two
Using different trigger conditions the system detects month. It can be seen that variations due to unbalanced
transient events and stores simultaneously the data from voltages and temperature variations is in the range of
all channels. In Fig. 4 the voltage of all three phases and 0.4 %. The signal to noise ratio is therefore sufficient to
the neutral of a 400 kV generator step up transformer is assess the insulation condition reliably. At a warning
shown after a single pole earth fault due to lightning level of 1 % the monitoring system triggers a message
flashover at a distance of 61 km. This short circuit on for inspection of the bushing.
Phase L1 was interrupted by the circuit breaker after
95 ms. The very steep front at the beginning can cause
resonances within the winding. This information is es-
pecially important for transformers connected to GIS or
HVDC switchgear. As the amplitude and form of over-
voltages are often unknown equipment failure may oc-
cur which could have been avoided by well-aimed pre-
ventive measures. Also this information is very valuable
in case of performing a root case analysis (RCA) after a
failure.

Fig: 5: Voltage and change of capacitance of 400 kV bushings

By measurement of the phase angle between the three
phases also the detection of a variation of the power loss
factor (tan δ) could be possible, but because of the very
small change of this value and the uncertainties due to
unbalanced voltages this is up to now a more or less
theoretical approach and not proven technology.
3.2.3 Pressure in oil-immersed bushing
A decrease of oil pressure in oil-immersed bushings can
Fig. 4: Single pole earth fault on Phase L1 of a 400 KV gen-
lead to a breakdown of the internal insulation. This can
erator transformer
be prevented by measurement of the pressure /11/. Be-
3.2.2 Change of capacitance cause oil pressure is dependent on the temperature, the
Failure of condenser bushings occurs often because of pressure of each phase is compared with the other two
partial flashover of the metallic foils which are used for phases to eliminate this influence. If there is a leakage at
controlling the electrical field within the bushing. Such bushings with gas filling as secondary insulation, the
partial flashovers do not lead to a sudden failure of the normal internal overpressure will decrease and thus
bushing, but they are growing from layer to layer until generates a warning by the monitoring system.
the voltage stress of the remaining layers is so high that
complete breakdown occurs. If a partial flashover of one 3.3 On-load Tap Changer
layer occurs, the capacitance of the bushing will be in- An important component of a power transformer and
creased according to table 1 by ∆C. also a frequent reason for severe failures is the on-load
tap changer /12/. Therefore the monitoring of this highly
Voltage [kV] Number of foils ∆C stressed element is a necessity.
123 28 3.6 % 3.3.1 Tap changer position
245 42 2.4 % Recordings of the tap changer position and the oper-
400 60 1.7 % ating current help to determine the number of tap
550 70 1.4 % switching operations and the total switched current.
Tab. 1: ∆C for partial flashover of one layer for oil- As the contact wear of the diverter switch contacts is a
impregnated bushings /9/ function of the switched load current this information is
The change of the capacitance ∆C of the bushings can needed for performing a condition based maintenance
be detected by the monitoring system by comparing the for the diverter switch. If an excessive wear situation is
output of one voltage sensor with the average value of undetected, the contacts may burn open or weld to-
the other two phases. The result is processed by aver- gether. To avoid these problems limiting values for the
aging algorithms to eliminate imbalances of the grid time in service, number of operations and total switched
voltage and variations due to temperature changes. This load current, can be pre-set in accordance with the
is assumed to be possible, because the deterioration pro- maintenance instructions of the OLTC manufacturer.
3.3.2 Assessment of mechanical condition Because tap changing process C differed significantly
OLTC failures are often dominated by mechanical faults from a normal tap changing, the parameters for total
in nature. Such defects can be for example broken link- switching time, maximum sector 2 and 3 and power
age, failure of springs, binding of contacts, worn gears consumption index showed abnormal variations. Based
and problems with the drive mechanism /13/. Mechani- on this the monitoring system sent an alarm message to
cal and control problems can be detected by measure- the responsible engineer.
ment of the power consumption of the OLTC drive, be- The root cause analysis revealed that during the tap
cause additional friction, extended changer operation changing process C the handcrank was inserted into the
times and other abnormalities have a significant influ- drive mechanism which interrupted the process and
ence on the drive current. An event record of the power therefore triggered the warning message. So this prob-
consumption is captured during each tap changing proc- lem was caused by incorrect operation and not an inter-
ess and analysed by evaluation of 6 characteristic pa- nal problem, but this event illustrates the capabilities as
rameters which are: an early warning system for mechanical anomalies.
1. Time of inrush current:
The inrush current flows during a period of about 3.4 Cooling Unit
300 ms. It is related to the static friction and backlash in The thermal resistance Rth describes the efficiency of
the linkages. the cooling unit. For air-cooled power transformers the
2. Total switching time: actual thermal resistance Rth,act can be calculated by di-
Variation of time required for a tap changing process viding oil temperature rise and actual losses P:
indicates problems with the control of the OLTC. ϑ oil − ϑ air
Rth, act =
3. Power consumption index: P0 + Pk , n ⋅ k 2
The energy consumed by the motor drive during a tap
changing process divided by the total switching time is The result has to be averaged to eliminate variations due
represented as the power consumption index. This value to the dynamic behaviour of load factor oil and ambient
is dependent on the operation temperature and charac- temperature. Furthermore the number of fans and pumps
terises the average running conditions. in operation has to be taken into account to calculate the
4. Maximum sector 1 (S1): nominal thermal resistance Rth.
During the motion of the selector contacts, the ampli-
tude of the power consumption is monitored. This value
represents the maximum during opening and moving of
the selector contacts.
5. Maximum sector 2 (S2):
This value is the maximum during the closing of the
selector contacts.
6. Maximum Sector 3 (S3):
The amplitude of the power consumption is recorded
during diverter switch action.
These six parameters characterise each tap changing
process and in case of deviations warning messages are
generated. In Fig. 6 such a situation is presented for
three successive tap changing processes recorded during Fig 7: Calculation of nominal thermal resistance Rth of cool-
maintenance of the OLTC. The first two signatures (A, ing unit
B) show a regular tap changing process. The peaks on Fig. 7 demonstrates the change of thermal resistance
the curves are caused by the friction of opening, revolu- after the failure of one out of six fans. Although the
tion and closing of selector switch /2/. pump related to the failed cooler was kept in operation
the nominal thermal resistance increased by about 18 %.
Because failure of one fan does not lead directly to ex-
cessive oil temperature, this problem would not be de-
tected without monitoring. The same applies to pollu-
tion of the coolers. So monitoring offers the advantage
to perform in these cases a condition-based mainte-
nance.

4 OVERLOAD CALCULATION
Overloading can become necessary in open electricity
markets due to economic reasons or simply to ensure
continuous energy supply. During an overload cycle ac-
celerated ageing and damages have to be strictly
avoided. By measurement of environmental and loading
Fig. 6: Faulty tap changing process conditions the monitoring system delivers continuously
information on the maximum continuous and possible ments show a reduced variation of oil level within the
short time overload considering the actual preload of the conservator. Subsequently the breathing of the trans-
transformer and the ambient temperature according to former and consequently water within the conservator is
IEC 60354 /4, 5/. Based on a two-body equivalent cir- reduced. Furthermore the intelligent control of cooling
cuit thermal modelling is performed and the continuous unit provides the opportunity for a significant reduction
overload capacity is determined by the monitoring sys- of noise emission of the fans.
tem. The loss of life due to this type of overloading can
be prevented, if the transformer is overloaded during 6 ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF MONITORING
ambient temperature below rated conditions. Phases A cost/benefit analysis for a monitoring system requires
with high load and high ageing rate must be compen- hypothesis of many individual parameters which are dif-
sated in the long term by periods of low load with slow ficult to assess. For a general approach not all of these
ageing rate. This long-term monitoring of ageing rate is items can be calculated exactly. In any case the preven-
also implemented in the system and gives a warning in tion of major failures can be counted. The other savings
case of excessive ageing or other problems in case of have to be taken into account dependent on the specific
overloading. So on-line monitoring is highly recom- situation.
mended during this critical state of operation.
In Fig. 8 the results of thermal modelling and overload 6.1 Prevention of failures and downtimes
calculation are presented for an OD-cooled single phase This part covers the cost benefits achieved by the avoid-
333 MVA auto-transformer. For top oil temperature cal- ance of failures and downtimes of the transformer itself.
culated and measured values are shown. Although the These so-called strategic benefits are based on the
oil temperature varies strongly because of load varia- ability to prevent major failures. Also avoidance of col-
tions the deviation between measured and calculated lateral damages mentioned in the next chapter is part of
value does not exceed 2 K and proves thereby the accu- strategic benefits. The failure rate (f = 1.63%) of power
racy of the thermal model. Even in summer for this transformers with a nominal voltage higher than 200 kV
transformer a maximum continuous overload capacity is taken from the failure statistic of german utilities of
of 1.3 is possible. 1998 /14/.

45 1,4
HV-Voltage [kV] Number of units f
Max. Overload 123 3,674 0.35 %
°C k
245 419 1.19 %
40 1,2 400 258 2.33 %
Oil Temp. ∅ 245 + 400 677 1,63 %
Tab. 2: Failure rate of power transformers in Germany (west)
35 1
1998 /14/
The failure risk (rn) of each component of the trans-
former are according to the Cigre survey on failures of
30 0,8
large power transformers in service /12/.
To calculate the decrease of failure rate by on-line
Load
25 0,6
monitoring the detection rate of major failures must be
taken into account. This value is difficult to assess, be-
cause only monitoring of a considerable population for
20 0,4 several years can give a reliable result. So at the mo-
ment only assumptions based on the actual experience
can be made. According to /15/ this value is given with
15 0,2 71%. Here an attempt is made to estimate the detection
Ambient Temp.
rate of a comprehensive monitoring system for each
component of the transformer. It has to be considered
10 0 that without monitoring many failures seem to be in-
10.7. 12.7. 14.7. 16.7. 17.7.
stantaneous. But a close supervision would reveal a
Fig 8: Top oil temperature and max. overload capacity slow development into a major failure.
dependent on ambient temperature Because of the continuous supervision of fault gas gen-
eration, accelerated ageing due to moisture in oil or ab-
5 CONTROL OF COOLING UNIT normal heating due to malfunction of cooling unit, it
An intelligent control of the cooling unit by the moni- seems to be realistic to assume a detection rate of major
toring system allows to increase the overload capacity failures in the active part (dAP) of 70 %. The evaluation
and optimize the hot-spot temperature. Depending on of internal oil pressure and the detection of early insula-
ambient temperature, a specific number of fans will be tion deterioration leads to the assumption that the rate of
switched on to dissipate the current losses. Due to this detectable failures due to oil-immersed bushings (dBu) is
individual switching of fans controlling occurs with about 80 %. Due to the extensive supervision of me-
lower temperature variations than with conventional chanical and electrical condition, the detection rate of
controlling by a fixed temperature threshold. Measure- failures in the OLTC (dTC) is estimated to be about 75%.
The thermal model implemented in the monitoring sys- lateral damages (e.g. penalties for non-supplied energy)
tem gives a warning in case of problems with the cool- and direct benefits the available budget for monitoring
ing unit (e.g. failure of fans and pumps, pollution of will be higher.
coolers, closed valves). This could lead to a failure de-
6.2 Avoidance of collateral damages
tection in the cooling unit (dCo) of almost 100%.
Collateral damages of a transformer failure can be
Component rn /12/ dn caused due to several reasons:
Winding + Core 35% 70% ∗ Direct damages caused by a major failure (e.g. ad-
OLTC 40% 75% ditional destruction of equipment or injuries of
Bushing 14% 80% people),
Tank 6% n.a. ∗ Indirect damages caused by loss of energy (e.g. de-
Auxiliary 5% 100% struction due to stop of processes in chemical
Tab. 3: Reasons for outages with downtimes > 1 day and de- plants),
tection rate by comprehensive on-line monitoring
∗ Loss of production capacity of a power station.
The total probability of detecting oncoming faults by a ∗ Penalties due to not delivered electrical energy.
comprehensive monitoring system can be calculated by A general applicable calculation of these collateral
multiplying failure rate, risk of each part (rn) and detec- damages cannot be performed, because this value is of
tion rate of each part (dn): course strongly dependent on the specific technical and
ptot = f ⋅ (rn ⋅ dn) economic situation of the individual power transformer
= 1.63%/y ⋅ (35% ⋅ 70% + 40% ⋅ 75% + 14% ⋅ and the utility respectively. In the case of Brazil for ex-
80% + 5% ⋅ 100%) ≈ 1.63%/y ⋅ 71% ≈ 1.15%/y ample, a 5 hours non scheduled outage of a new in-
So on-line monitoring can reduce the failure by stalled transformer means loosing 750 hours of revenue.
1.15 %/y to a value of 0.48 %/y. As a further example the calculation of the economic
To calculate the savings achieved by failure prevention losses due to a failure of a generator step-up transformer
this probability must be multiplied with the cost for a is analysed. This scenario happened at a German power
failure. The costs of such a failure (partly rewinding) is station. The nominal rating of this power station is
assumed to be half of the price of a new transformer 1,400 MVA. Two power transformers with a rating of
(PT). The yearly savings can therefore be estimated as: 1,100 MVA each in parallel step up the voltage on a
level of 400 kV. After 15 years of service one trans-
S = ptot ⋅ Failure costs
former had a severe internal failure and had to be
= 1.15% ⋅ 0.5 ⋅ PT /year = 0.58 % PT /year
brought back to the factory for repair. The direct costs
Dependent on the age and condition of the transformer of this repair were covered by an insurance company,
the assumed failure rate of 1.54% can be higher which but it took 19 days to install a spare unit. This time was
will increase the savings. so short, because the spare unit was already on-site. If a
Taking into account only the savings achieved by pre- transport of the spare unit had been necessary, the out-
vention of major failures (ptot) a cost-benefit analysis age time would have been considerable longer. During
for a monitoring system can be performed. Based on the this time the generator could operate with 1,100 MVA
assumptions that the useful lifetime of the monitoring only. So the loss (Len) of generated electrical energy was
system is expected to be 10 years the savings are: in this case:
S10y = ptot ⋅ Failure costs ⋅ 10y = 5.8 % ⋅ PT Len = 300 MW ⋅ 19 days = 136.8 GWh
So within ten years 5.8% of the price of a new trans- Applying simple mathematics one can determine the
former can be saved. This statement is independent of loss of revenues from this incident by multiplying Len
the strategical importance of the transformer. Consid- with the price per kWh which results in a loss of several
ering avoidance of collateral damages and savings due million Euro. In case of detected problems which cannot
to condition-based maintenance which are also valid for be prevented by corrective maintenance the outage time
the complete transformer population the financial bene- and therefore costs can be reduced by early placing of a
fits are increasingly positive. spare unit at disposal additionally. The transformer can
The evaluation of costs for the installation of a compre- be corrected on-site or in the factory with less expenses.
hensive monitoring system shows that the percentage of
the value of the monitored transformer is in the range of 6.3 Use of condition-based maintenance instead of
1 to 7.4%. The lowest value is achieved for an installa- time-based maintenance
tion in a power station where several G.S.U. transform- Direct benefits are cost savings achieved by changing
ers are monitored by one system. The highest value the maintenance strategy. They include reducing ex-
(7.4%) apply to an installation for three 40 MVA units. penses by reduced frequency of equipment inspections,
It has to be considered that the costs are strongly de- and reducing or delaying active interventions (e.g. re-
pendent on the sensor set-up and expenditures for spe- pair) on the equipment. For power transformers differ-
cial functionalities. ent maintenance strategies are used. So here only possi-
For all projects the savings exceed the costs, although ble reductions in maintenance efforts are mentioned.
only the strategic benefits of preventing damages to the Active part: Because of the additional information of
transformer were taken into account. Considering col- the Hydran sensor the time interval for taking oil sam-
ples and performing a dissolved gas analysis (DGA) can the benefits of modern IT-technology the distribution of
be extended. information about the condition of the equipment can
Bushings: The monitoring system detects changes of easily be done by means of standardised web browser
the capacitance of the bushings. Therefore off-line technology.
measurement of power loss factor can be stopped. When considering the installation of on-line monitoring
Cooling unit: By thermal modelling of the power trans- systems size, importance and condition of a power
former the thermal resistance of the cooling unit is cal- transformer have to be analysed. Especially for aged
culated. In case of pollution or failure of the coolers the transformers and in general at strategic locations in the
thermal resistance is increasing which leads to a warn- electrical network on-line monitoring is necessary and
ing signal. So the cleaning intervals can be extended. valuable, because by the prevention of major failures
On-load tap changer: A revision of the tap changer is costs for outages, repair, and associated collateral dam-
normally done every seven years. By the monitoring ages can be saved.
system the number of operations and the sum of
switched load current are calculated. The sum of current 8 REFERENCES
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7 CONCLUSION uid-Immersed Transformers and Components, IEEE
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