18th

IndiaDoble Power Forum

12-13 December 2023 | New Delhi, INDIA

HEALTH INDEXING OF POWER

TRANSFORMERS - AN OVERVIEW

B N De Bhowmick
 Introduction
Background
Transformers are critical components in power
systems that require regular monitoring to ensure
their reliable and efficient operation.

Objective
This presentation will highlight the significance of
transformer health monitoring and discuss various
techniques used for assessing the health condition of
power transformers.
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 WHY Transformer Health Monitoring
Transformer health monitoring is crucial for ensuring the reliable and efficient
operation of power transformers in electrical power systems

Transformers play a vital role in the transmission and distribution of electrical energy

It is the most expensive equipment in a substation

A transformer failure can cause severe power disruptions, downtime and economic
losses

By monitoring the health of transformers, utility operators can proactively identify

potential issues and take preventive measures to avoid costly failures
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 CHALLENGES IN FLEET MANAGEMENT OF
TRANSFORMERS
Diversity of Transformers w.r.t Manufacturers, design, age and Technologies

Aging Infrastructure
Data management – Manual data management may cause missing of the warning
signals of transformers
Monitoring Technology Integration
Predictive maintenance challenges – Requires advance analytics, accurate data
needed for successful integration of predictive tools
Resource allocation, remote locations, varying environmental conditions and budget
constraints
Cyber Security Risks

Training and skill gaps

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 Effective Fleet management
Holistic and proactive approach

Advanced Monitoring Technologies

Ensure Data accuracy

Prepare effective maintenance strategies based on data analytics

Effective Data Analytics with predictive tools facilitates informed

decision-making, resource allocations and risk mitigations
Regular assessment and adaptation of management practices lead
to optimal performance and longevity of the transformer fleet.
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 Usefulness of Transformer Health Monitoring for
Utility Operators

Transformer • Early detection of potential failures: Monitoring allows operators to

identify developing faults and take preventive actions before they
health escalate
• Increased reliability: Regular monitoring helps ensure that
monitoring transformers operate within optimal conditions, reducing the risk of
unexpected failures
offers several • Extend Lifespan : Early detection and resolution of issues can extend
the operational life of transformers.
benefits to • Cost savings: By addressing issues proactively, utility operators can
avoid costly downtime and repair/replacement expenses
utility • Improved asset management: Health monitoring data aids in
optimizing maintenance strategies, extending the lifespan of
operators transformers, and maximizing return on investment

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 Common Diagnostic Techniques
• Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) • OLTC – BDV and C2H2/H2
ratio
• Bushing Tan Delta and
• Polarisation Index (PI) –
Capacitance
Insulation Res 600s/60s
• Winding Tan Delta and • Core Insulation Tests
Capacitance • SFRA – SOS
• Oil Parameters • LV tests
• Furans Analysis • PD tests
The list is not exhaustive and can vary from utility to utility
based on their operational experience
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Health Indexing for Large Power Transformers

Quantitative assessment of the condition of power transformers

A numerical value or index to indicate the health status of a

transformer
Utility operators can prioritize maintenance actions and allocate
resources efficiently based on criticality
The index is commonly based on the routine maintenance test results
of the transformers

Numeric health index can sometimes mask the actual criticality

The system should be able to unmask such critical conditions even if

the
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Doble Engineeringscores
Company. Allare
Rights good
Reserved.
 OBJECTIVE OF HEALTH INDEXING

• that determines the current health status of the equipment

by means of a hybrid health indexing scheme and to
diagnose abnormalities in equipment.
• wherein the hybrid health index helps in ranking
To provide transformers/reactors fleet and optimizing the scheduling of
a system maintenance activities
• that incorporates diagnostics feature such as Dissolved Gas
and Analysis (DGA), trend analysis and worst- case analysis
• that address the challenges related to centralized
method monitoring, diagnostics and maintenance planning activities
for a large fleet of Transformers and Reactors by assessing
their health
• that is simple in design, easy to use/handle and economical
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CIGRE Brochures

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 Types of indices
The various types of indices can be used depending on the purpose
• Reliability / Health Index - to rank transformer based upon likelihood of failure or
expected time to failure, and those that have degraded from their original condition
• Replacement Index - used to identify the transformers that most need to be replaced
• Repair Index - to rank transformers that would most benefit from repair or non-
essential maintenance
• Refurbishment Index - to rank transformers based upon their need and / or technical
feasibility for refurbishment
• Composite Index - combines the outcomes of the replacement and refurbishment or
repair requirements. It includes a technical assessment and generic financial
considerations to allow it to decide the best solution, considering the maintainability of
failure modes in the transformer
• Mitigation Index/Score - the approach can be adapted to assess the technical
feasibility of a refurbishment or repair
©2022 Doble Engineering Company. All Rights Reserved.
 Steps to develop AHI
4.Design a
1.Determin
calibrated
e the 2.Identify 3.Determin 5.Calculate
system for
purpose of the failure e how each a TAI Score
categorising
the modes to failure for each
failure
Assessment be included mode will Transforme
modes
Score and in the TAI be assessed r
(scoring
Index
matrix)

Those with smaller fleets, or those performing a detailed assessment on a single

transformer, may not want or need an index to allow transformers to be ranked. In this case
Steps 1-4 can be followed. This will result in the relevant failure modes of each transformer
being assessed and categorised in a consistent way
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 DATA ACQUISITION
Field Data - direct or through ERP

Laboratory Data - Direct or through ERP

On line sensor data - Direct

All Data to dedicated AHI Server

AHI Dashboard and Application

Remote Users
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DATA VISUALISATION

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 Features of AHI
• Categorisation of conditions based on numeric score – Excellent, Good,
Satisfactory, Poor, Critical with colour codes
• Test data Trend analysis
• Ranking of fleet of transformers
• Numeric and non-numeric scores
• Complete DGA analysis of individual transformers
– IEEE C57.104
– IEC 60599
– Duval triangles and pentagons
– Trend analysis
• Severity analysis using Normalized Energy Intensity (NEI) of oil and paper (Ref IEEE
C57.104-2019)
– NEIOIL=(77.7*(CH4)+93.5*(C2H6) + 104.1 *(C2H4) + 278.3(C2H2))/22400
– NEIPAPER = (101.4*(CO)+30.2*(CO))/22400
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 Numeric and Non-numeric Scores

Features Numeric Non-Numeric (Colour coding

only)
Ranking of transformers Possible Not Possible
Colour Coding Possible Possible
Worst case failure probability Not possible Possible
determination

Combining of Numeric and non-numeric scores is a smart

move and utilities are now adopting this practice to unmask
a critical transformer with a good numeric score
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Combining Colour codes with numeric scores
an example

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DATA VISUALISATION EXAMPLES

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FLEET STATUS AT A GLANCE

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 INDIVIDUAL TRANSFORMER SCORE

Health Score
excellent, but still the
transformer is critical
due to other
consideration

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21
/06/
2023,14:
0 2 Smar
tPow erD G A Repor
t

DGA Analysis report for Transformer STATION 1_AT1

ONE PAGE DGA ANALYSIS REPORT G eneratedb
Dat
y
e
:
_
:
_
_
_
USE R
D ATE

Tr a n sf o r m e r d e t a i l s Op e r a t io n a l I n f or m a t io n
La b e l STATI ON 1 _
AT1 Ad d r e ss P u r ch a se d a t e
St a t ion STATI ON 1 Ci t y H YD ERA BA D Co m m i ssi o n
2017-
03-
17
Fe e d e r AT1 St a t e dat e
Co u n t r y I
ND
Co mmi sione da nd
M a ke TELK PI N /Z I P N one St a t u s
ope rati
o nal
M ode l 315 MVA
O v e r a l l S co r e 9.09
Sl. n o 140060
G oodc o ndi
tion. Rou ti
ne
Ra t i n g 400/220
mo nitoringt ocont i
nu e .
H e a lt h I n d e x
Ho w everc ertai
na c ti
o n may
bene ed edb asedon D G A .

Ta b l e 1 : Ga s co n t e n t Te st 2022-
09-
Ga s t r e n d l i n e s
( l a t e st ) date: 1 8 H y d r og e n ( H 2 ) A ce t y l e n e ( C2 H 2 )

Ga s Re su l t ( p p m )
H yd r og e n ( H 2 ) 1 8 .0 0
Ace t y l e n e ( C2 H 2 ) 0 .0 0
M e t h a n e ( CH 4 ) 1 1 5 .0 0
Et h y l e n e ( C2 H 4 ) 1 2 2 .0 0
Et h a n e ( C2 H 6 ) 3 9 .0 0
Ca r b o n m o n o x i d e ( CO ) 2 8 5 .0 0
Ca r b o n d i o x i d e ( CO 2 ) 4 6 2 8 .0 0 M e t h a n e ( CH 4 ) Et h y l e n e ( C2 H 4 )
Oxy g e n ( O2 ) 1 .3 9
N it r og e n ( N 2 ) 5 .8 2
N EI O i l ( k J/ k L) 1 .1 3
N EI Pa p e r ( k J/ k L) 7 .5 3
D GA An a l y si s r e su l t s

D GA Te st Re su l t
D G A ST atu s 3:H ig hg a s
l
e v e l
s a nd /o rpr ob ab l
ea cti
v e Et h a n e ( C2 H 6 ) Ca r b o n m o n o x o i d e ( CO )
D GA S t a t u s
ga ssi ng . (Prob a blys u s pici
ou s
DG A)
Oi lov e r
h ea tingw i th
Ke y Ga s An a l y si s
ce llulos ei nv olv eme nt
I EC T2 - Th erma lfa ult30 0C < 1
I n t e r p r e t a t io n < 7 00C
Ro g e r s Ra t i o Th e rma l> 7 0 0C
D oe r n e n b e r g
Te s tis notv ali
d
Ra t i o
D u v a l Tr i a n g l e 1 T3 - Th erma lfa ult,t> 7 00C
N oc onc l
u sivef a ult
D u v a l Tr i a n g l e 4
i
d e nt if
i cation
C - Pos s i
b l
ec arb oniz a tion of
D u v a l Tr i a n g l e 5
pa pe r
Fa u l t S e v e r i t y
N or ma l
( N EI )

Ta b l e 2 : Ga s co n t e n t h i st o r y ( 1 0 l a t e st r e a d i n g s)
Ca r b o n Ca r b o n
Te st H y d r og e n Ace t y l e n e M et hane Et h y l e n e Et h a n e O x y g e n N i t r o g e n N EI O i l N EI Pa p e r
m o n ox id e d iox id e
Dat e H2 C2 H 2 CH 4 C2 H 4 C2 H 6 CO CO 2 O2 N2 ( k J/ k L) ( k J/ k L)
2 0 2 2 -0 9 -1 8 18 .
00 0 .00 115. 00 122. 00 39.0 0 28 5. 0 0 4628 .
0 0 1 .39 5. 8 2 1 .1 3 7 .
53
2 0 2 2 -0 6 -1 4 14.00 0 .00 137 .00 144. 00 43.0 0 326. 0 0 59 04.0 0 1 .59 6. 37 1 .32 9 .
44
2 0 2 2 -0 3 -1 5 12.00 0 .00 120 .00 140 .00 38.0 0 25 9 .0 0 58 24.0 0 1 .1 3 4. 59 1 .23 9 .
0 2
2 0 2 1 -1 2 -2 3 14.00 0 .00 111 .00 116. 00 32.0 0 27 4. 0 0 437 9 .
0 0 0 .48 2. 25 1 .0 6 7 .
1 4
2 0 2 1 -0 9 -2 6 14.00 0 .00 108 .00 117 .00 36.0 0 265 . 0 0 447 6.0 0 0 .32 1 .8 2 1 .0 7 7 .
23
2 0 2 1 -0 6 -0 5 21 .
00 1 .30 138 .00 157 .00 43.0 0 330 .0 0 58 61 .
0 0 0 .8 5 4. 0 2 1 .40 9 .
40
2 0 2 1 -0 3 -0 4 23.00 0 .00 102. 00 115. 00 31.0 0 247 .0 0 4228 .
0 0 0 .8 9 3. 7 2 1 .0 2 6.8 2
2 0 2 0 -1 2 -0 4 25 .
00 0 .00 140 .00 148 .00 38.0 0 330 .0 0 50 87 .
0 0 0 .9 9 4. 64 1 .33 8 .
35
2 0 2 0 -0 9 -0 3 20 .
00 0 .00 123. 00 130 .00 33.0 0 41 3. 0 0 49 15.0 0 0 .60 3. 22 1 .1 7 8 .
50
2 0 2 0 -0 8 -2 9 10 .
00 0 .00 6. 00 0 .00 6.0 0 50 .0 0 20 8 .
0 0 0 .9 6 3. 0 4 0 .0 5 0 .
51

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about:
b l
a nk 1
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Conclusion
Transformer health monitoring, fleet management and the use of
diagnostic techniques are essential for utility operators to ensure the
reliability and optimal performance of power transformers.

Proactive monitoring enables early fault detection, cost savings, and

improved asset management.

By leveraging techniques such as DGA, bushing/winding Tan Delta and

capacitance, oil parameter analysis, and furans monitoring, utility operators can
gain valuable insights into the health condition of power transformers.

Implementing robust health monitoring practices is crucial for the

efficient operation of power grids and maintaining a reliable power
supply
Health index is an important tool, which can immensely benefit the
fleet managers and topCompany.
©2022 Doble Engineering management
All Rights Reserved.
©2022 Doble Engineering Company. All Rights Reserved.