2008 International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis, Beijing, China, April 21-24, 2008

New Tools for Diagnostic Measurements on Power

Transformers
Michael Krüger, Maik Koch, Alexander Kraetge and Kay Rethmeier
Omicron Electronics, Oberes Ried 1, A-6833 Klaus
*E-mail : michael.krueger@omicron.at

showed a significant increase compared to the original meas-

Abstract-- With the advancing age of power transformers, a
regular check of the operating conditions becomes more and
more important. The Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) is a proven
and meaningful method such that if increased proportions of H2
and hydrocarbon gases are found in the oil, the fault must be
located as soon as possible.
In order to find out the reason for high gas values, further
tests have to be performed for the transformer. Common test
methods are: Winding resistance measurement, On-Load Tap
Changer (OLTC) test, turns ratio and excitation current meas-
urement, measurement of leakage reactance, Frequency Re-
sponse of Stray Losses (FRSL), Frequency Response Analysis
(FRA), Capacitance and Dissipation factor measurement and
Partial Discharge (PD) measurement
Index Terms – Power transformers, Static and dynamic resis-
tance measurement, OLTC test, FRSL measurement, Capaci-
tance and dissipation factor measurement, FRA measurement,
Partial discharge measurement, Diagnosis
ured values. The differences are up to 10 % or, in absolute
values, up to 70 mΩ (figure 1). The deviations between
switching upwards and switching downwards are likewise
clearly significant. This shows that the high contact resis-
tances are actually caused by the course and fine contacts of
the tap selector. No silver-plated contacts were used and the
copper contact surface was now coated by oil carbon. After a
full maintenance of the tap selector, no significant difference
to the values measured at the factory in 1954 could be ob-
served. To examine the results in more detail, it is recom-
mended to graph the difference between "UP" and "DOWN"
values (figure 2). The difference before contact maintenance
was up to 30 mΩ ⇔ 5% and after it was below 1mΩ ⇔
0.18%.

I. WINDING RESISTANCE MEASUREMENT

W inding resistances are measured to check for loose

connections, broken strands and high contact resistance
in tap changers.

Fig. 2. Resistance difference "UP"-"DOWN"

Fig. 1. Winding resistance measurement H1-H0
Figure 1 shows the winding resistance values for the differ-
ent taps of a transformer which had conspicuously high
quantities of gas in the oil, from which the conclusion was
drawn of inner overheating. Except for the middle tap all taps
To date, only the static behavior of the contact resistances
has been taken into account in maintenance testing. With an
analysis of the transient test current, the dynamic behavior of
the diverter switch can be diagnosed (figure 3).
Comparison to "fingerprint" results, which were taken
when the item was in a known (good) condition and to the
other phases, allows for an efficient analysis. The peak of the

978-1-4244-1622-6/08/$25.00 ©2007 IEEE

ripple (Imax–Imin) and the slope (di/dt) of the test current are
important criteria for correct switching. If the switching
process is interrupted, even for less than 500us, the ripple and
the slope of the current change dramatically.

Fig. 6. Aged diverter switch contact

II. FREQUENCY RESPONSE OD STRAY LOSSES

The frequency response measurement of stray losses is a

Fig. 3. Record of the transient current during switching
Figure 4 shows a ripple measurement on a diverter switch
in a good condition, whereas the three phases in figure 5 show
differences of the ripple values.
tool to determine short circuits of parallel strands on Continu-
ously Transposed Conductors (CTC). The resistive part of the
short circuit impedance is measured over a frequency range
from 15Hz up to 400Hz. The resistance curves of the three
phases are compared. The 15Hz values are very similar to the
DC values of the primary winding resistance plus the resis-
tance of the secondary winding multiplied by the square of the
ratio. If the curve of one phase is more than 2-3% different
from the other phases a short circuit fault between parallel
strands can be the reason for this behavior (figure 7). Local
overheating can cause dangerous breakdowns (figure 8).

Fig. 4. Ripple of good diverter contacts

Fig.7. FRSL measurement Parallel strands without

transposed conductors

Fig. 5. Aged diverter switch contacts

This indicates an advanced ageing of the diverter switch

contacts, which are shown in figure 6. Although those con-
tacts are still in service these results show, that the measure-
ment principle is very sensitive to any changes of the contact
surfaces.

Fig.8. Shorted parallel strands

III. CAPACITANCE AND DISSIPATION FACTOR

High voltage bushings are critical components of the power

transformer and particularly, capacitive high voltage bushings
need care and regular tests to avoid sudden failures. An
increase of C1 (capacitance between the inner conductor and
the measuring tap) indicates partial breakdowns of the internal
layers. Most of the bushing failures may be attributed to
moisture ingress. The dielectric dissipation factor (tan delta) is
an important parameter to detect insulation problems. Figure 9
shows the dissipation factor of Resin Impregnated Paper (RIP), Fig. 11. TanDelta @ 50Hz = f(T) [1]
Resin Bonded paper (RBP) and Oil Impregnated Paper (OIP)
bushings in a good condition. The frequency response is were measured on three aged OIP bushings with high water
rather flat over the frequency and shows low values for the content in the insulation. The three lower curves (green) were
dissipation factor particularly at low frequencies. measured on new OIP bushings of the same type. The large
differences of the tan delta can be seen very clearly particu-
larly at low frequencies.

Fig. 9. RIP, RBP and OIP bushings in good condition

Fig. 12. TanDelta @ 30°C = f(frequency)

Figure 10 shows the frequency response of the dissipation
factor of a 245kV RIP bushing which was stored outside. The
lowest curve (blue) was measured directly after the bushing IV. FAULT LOCATION ON A FURNICE TRANSFORMER
was removed from the transformer, the middle curve is the
response after 3 ½ months, the upper curve was measured The furnace transformer shown in figure 13 was switched
after about six months. The influence of the moisture can be off by the Buchholz relay. The overpressure valve had spitted
seen very clearly particularly at low frequencies. out about 200 liters of oil.

Fig. 10. TanDelta curves of RIP bushings stored outside

b hi
High humidity can be detected by measuring the dissipa-
tion factor at 50/60Hz and high temperatures (figure 11). In
the field it is not so easy to heat up bushings before measure-
ment. Figure 12 shows the tan delta frequency response of six Fig.13. Fault location on a 25 MVA furnace transformer
bushings. The three upper curves (red, orange and yellow)
 The excitation current was about eight times higher in the
V phase than in U and W phases. This is a clear indication for
shorted turns.
U, W
Fig. 14. FRA measurement
Figure 14 shows the Frequency Response Analysis (FRA)
results. Here also the V phase was totally different from U and
W. In the lower frequency range between 50 Hz and 5 kHz the
damping is much lower in V compared to U and W. The
behavior is similar to a transformer with a short circuited
winding on the same limb.
Figure 15: Partial discharge measurement
A Partial Discharge (PD) measurement (with OMICRON
mtronix MPD600) showed charges up to 4.5 nC at very low
test voltages (figure 15). A complete breakdown occurred at a
test voltage of 2 kV.
The transformer was opened and the fault was obvious
(figure 16). The clamping bolts had been getting loose and
touched the core. Due to high eddy currents the local heat
melted the screws. Some drops of the melt fall down into the
HV winding and shorted two turns.
Figure 16: Burned clamping bolts caused the short circuit
V. SUMMARY
The analysis of the gas in oil is a well-proven method of
analysis but must be complemented by efforts to locate any
faults indicated by excess hydrocarbon gases in the oil. This
way important maintenance can be performed in time to avoid
a sudden total failure. The fault location can be successfully
performed using simple electrical methods, such as resistance,
winding ratio, short circuit impedance and C-tan δ measure-
ments. Modern power amplifiers, enabled for measurements in
wide frequency ranges can be used for new diagnosis methods
[2].
Particularly comparing DF frequency response curves to
fingerprints it will be possible to detect degradation in insula-
tion at a very early stage with a more detailed analysis. Addi-
tionally, excellent suppression of electromagnetic interference
is guaranteed.
VI. REFERENCES
[1] ABB, "Dissipation factor over the main insulation on high voltage
bushings", product information, ABB 2002
[2] Hensler, Th., Kaufmann, R., Klapper, U., Krüger, M., Schreiner: S.,
2003, "Portable testing device", US Patent 6608493