Detection of moisture content in transformer oil using platinum coated on

D- shaped optical fiber

Ms.G.Kanimozhi1Mr.S.Syed Musthafa Gani2, Mr.A.Mohamed Ifthikar
Ali3,Mr.M.AmanullaKhan4

PG Student, Department of EEE, Mohamed Sathak Engineering College, Kilakarai,TN,India1

Assistant Professor, Department of EEE, Mohamed Sathak Engineering College, Kilakarai,TN,India 2
Associate Professor, Department of ECE, Mohamed Sathak Engineering College, Kilakarai,TN,India 3,4

The presence of moistures in transformer deteriorates transformer insulation. These

effects decrease both electrical and mechanical strength of the transformer. Water in
transformer oil also brings the risk of bubble formation when desorption of water increases
the local concentration of gases in the oil. The water content in the insulating oil (or
transformer oil) needs to be less than 10 ppm at normal temperature or contradictory, it will
affect the efficiency of the power transformer system. Here, we report a D-shaped optical fiber
sensor coated with a platinum thin layer with a thickness of 25 nm was designed to detect
the response of transverse electric field (TE) power towards the content of moisture in the
insulating oil. A Simulative based investigation using COMSOL Multiphysics has also
been carried out to study the relation between analyte on the materials at different
refractive index and the simulation study follows the finite element method (FEM). Four
samples of aged oil were tested from actual transformer oil with different values of water
contents of 15 ppm, 16 ppm, 18 ppm, and 21 ppm. The oil samples were dropped on the
sensing region of the fiber and resulting in the drop of TE power from the initial value. It
was observed that higher values of water percentages in the oil caused large fluctuations in
TE power. On top of that, the changes in TE power show that the sensor is having fast
response and good sensitivity.