Technical note ALL15012en.

docx

Transformer Control
Sales Asia Pacific
Stefan Karl
Phone +49 941 40 90-7275
Fax +49 941 40 90-7201
St.karl@reinhausen.com
ALL15012en.docx

Regensburg, 2015-12-21

Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) for MR On-Load Tap-Changers – Summary of Key

Factors

1. General

®
OILTAP On-Load Tap-Changers:

High-speed resistor type On-load tap-changers (OLTCs) using conventional arcing contacts under oil
– like MR’s OILTAP® type OLTCs – generate combustible gases by switching arcs at the arcing
contacts of the diverter switch insert as well as by heating of the transition resistors during the tap
change operation. While in case of OILTAP® MR does not consider DGA to be an applicable
diagnostic method, it seems to be appropriate for VACUTAP® OLTC.

®
VACUTAP On-Load Tap-Changers:

®
VACUTAP OLTCs encapsulate the switching arcs inside their vacuum interrupters. With this, the
® ® ® ®
DGA results of OLTCs type VACUTAP VV , VM & VR show very low gas generation which must
be considered as normal.

® ® ®
For OLTCs type VACUTAP VR and VV the heating gases result from the thermal load of the
transition resistors in the course of a tap change operation. These OLTCs may additionally produce
some (low energy) arcing/sparking gases which are caused by commutation processes of the current
carrying contact or shunt contact. Thus the occurring gases are a mixture of heating and arcing or
sparking gases.

® ®
For OLTCs type VACUTAP VM only thermal gases (from the thermal load of the transition
®
resistors) are generated, as there are no current commutation processes in oil. Thus VACUTAP
®
VM is an “acetylene-free” OLTC.

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For OLTCs type VACUTAP RMV-II the by-pass switch causes low amounts of arcing or sparking
gases. As there is no transition resistor used for a reactor type OLTC, no thermal gases are
expected.

®
Fig. 1 shows all gas sources and typical gassing patterns for VACUTAP OLTCs.
Fig. 2 gives further explanation on different gas sources.
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Typical gas patterns in OLTC oil

OLTC (vacuum type) Gassing Sources (schematic)
compartment

Sparking
Pattern

VAC
H2 C2H2 CH4 C2H6 C2H4 CO
® ®
VACUTAP VR R

Heating
Pattern <300°C

H2 C2H2 CH4 C2H6 C2H4 CO

Sparking
Pattern

VAC
H2 C2H2 CH4 C2H6 C2H4 CO
® ®
VACUTAP VV R

Heating
Pattern <300°C

H2 C2H2 CH4 C2H6 C2H4 CO

VAC

® ® Heating
VACUTAP VM R
Pattern <300°C

H2 C2H2 CH4 C2H6 C2H4 CO

® VAC Sparking
VACUTAP RMV-II Pattern

H2 C2H2 CH4 C2H6 C2H4 CO

X
Page 3 of 4 / ALL15012en.docx
®
Fig.1: Gassing sources for VACUTAP OLTCs
Symbol Description Gas Pattern Determining Parameters

Vacuum interrupter None Sealed system

Commutation processes on
main contacts, Arcing / Inductance / resistance of
sliding selector contacts and Sparking internal wiring
by-pass contacts
Step voltage,
Heating
Transition resistors through-current,
<300°C
R design
Transition reactor (preventive auto-
X None Losses negligible
transformer)
Fig. 2: Legend to Figure 1

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2. Key parameters for gas generation of VACUTAP OLTCs
The main influencing parameters for gas generation and cumulated amount of gases depend on the
actual load of the transformer, the operating frequency and the total number of OLTC operations. In
addition the number of consecutive switching operations may have an influence with regard to the
equilibrium between gas generation and gas release.
Further specific influencing factors are oil type (brand), air saturation (OLTC breathing behavior),
transformer design (free-breathing or sealed systems with conservator, nitrogen blanket, etc.) as well
as the average oil temperature, as it defines the thermal activity and degree of thermal ageing of the
oil and so the formation of H2, CO and CO2.
®
As gas levels of OLTCs type VACUTAP are quite low, they can be covered by self-gassing
processes of the oil (“stray-gassing”; mainly H2)

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3. Product surveillance for VACUTAP OLTCs / Typical gas patterns
®
MR has supplied more than 40,000 VACUTAP OLTCs as of September 2015. These OLTCs are
successfully in service, many of them already for more than 15 years. Nevertheless MR does not
have a general access to DGA data of those OLTCs, as they are property of the users all over the
world.
In isolated cases MR is contacted by users with regard to interpretation of DGA of OLTC oils. From
those cases in combination with our laboratory tests MR’s operating experience can be summarized
as follows:

 heating of transition resistors only causes minor amounts of CH4 and C2H6
 typical acetylene (C2H2) generation rates during normal operation in network service for
 VACUTAP® VV : <2 ppm/1000 ops
 VACUTAP® VR: <4 ppm/1000 ops
 VACUTAP® VM : 0 ppm/1000 ops
 VACUTAP® RMV-II: <3 ppm/1000 ops
 MR should be informed if acetylene contents in the range of 50 ppm and more for OLTCs
type VACUTAP® VV®, VR® and RMV-II in network application are detected.
Page 4 of 4 / ALL15012en.docx

®
The quantitative composition of various dissolved gases differs with the specific type of VACUTAP
OLTC; a qualitative overview is given in Fig. 3.

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Fig. 3: DGA gas patterns of different types of VACUTAP OLTCs (qualitative)

4. Conclusion / interpretation of results

®
It is not possible to evaluate DGA results of VACUTAP OLTC oils without additional information and
it is currently extremely difficult to determine a reasonable limit value as there is no known weak point
that would need detection by DGA. Without tracking a particular potential problem the suggested
method is to compare the development of amounts of individual gases over a certain period of time
and number of operations (trend analysis). An additional method is to compare identical units that
operate under identical conditions.

From MR perspective the essential requirements for the quality of the OLTC oil are breakdown
voltage and water content, stated in the relevant operating instruction. There are no further criteria
defined. Nevertheless, there were cases where end users presented their DGA results showing a
trend change or a significant difference of comparable units which were not conclusive. A
precautionary check of the tap-changer insert will be recommended in such cases.

In order to avoid confusion it is essential to ensure that the procedure of taking (according to IEC
60567) and analyzing the oil sample does not influence its condition. According to IEC 60599 the
individual gas amounts should be sufficiently high in order to achieve a reliable interpretation. It also
needs to be ensured that there is a reference DGA available from the time of commissioning of the
transformer (first commissioning or commissioning after maintenance), thereby contamination of the
DGA, caused by other influences, can be excluded.

Additional relevant information for evaluating OLTC DGA data are the OLTC serial number, the
current number of operations and the time in service. In addition any information about inspection or
maintenance measures involving oil draining, filtration or replacement is of importance. Last but not
least the oil temperature when taking the oil sample, the transformer average load and its application
(network, power station, industrial process,…), the breakdown voltage of the OLTC oil and its water
content are of relevance.

In case of unexpected high acetylene amounts without the information described above and without
DGA history MR usually will recommend a precautionary visual inspection of the concerned OLTC. It
needs to be understood that MR cannot make a proper evaluation based on a single DGA without
further background information. However, in case of comprehensive background information more
distinguished recommendations are possible.

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