based oil have focused the industrys atten- tion on renewable alternatives. The T&D sector has re-discovered the benefits of n..u:.| es.e: c||s .|cse e.:..ec :cm :.e- seec sc,. .nc sunc.e: 0:||n.||, .|nc- ings were immersed in vegetable oil before the introduction of petroleum products at the beginning of the 20th century. We are now witnessing an increasing trend in their use |n c|s.:||u.|cn .:.nsc:me:s D |e || |.||ene |s .c e.enc .|e use c n..u:.| ester oils to high voltage power transform- e:s .|e:e e|e.:|.| .nc .|e:m.| stresses are much more pronounced. Today, only about 100 PT are insulated and cooled by vegetable oil, but research is going strong in order to ensure high reliability in service. Alstom Grid is participating in a whole series of research projects at several European universities, says Christophe Perrier, Research Engineer of the Power Transformer Technology and Innovation Center. N..u:.| es.e: c||s |.ve ee||en. :een :e- dentials. With their high flash and fire points, the fire hazard is significantly reduced. They are biodegradable and have |c. c: nc .c||., sc s|||.es |.ve :..|- cally no impact on the environment. In .cc|.|cn vee..||e c||s e.enc .|e se:v|e life of the composite transformer insulation system utilizing oil-impregnated cellulosic materials. Technically speaking, natural ester oils really come into their own with their high water solubility20 to 30 times higher than that of mineral oil at the ambi- ent temperature, before saturation, says Perrier. As the cellulose-based solid insula- tion is highly hygroscopic, a related advan- tage is that the oil draws moisture out and absorbs it, thus keeping the insulating mate- :|.| c:, .nc e.enc|n |.s ||e s.n Nat ur al est er oi l s: a pr omi si ng sol ut i on Natural esterscommonly called vegetable oilsrepresent a credible option as . :een |nsu|..|n ||,u|c |n c.e: .:.nsc:me:s |e, :cv|ce cen|.e env|:cnmen..| .nc s.e., gains. Research, though, continues, as we need to reach the same level of knowledge and understanding as we presently have for mineral oil. N atural ester oils for transformerscommonly called vegetable oils- are extracted mainly from rapeseed (see illustration 1 ) soya and sunower Alstom G rid R &D is increasingly studying different types of natural ester oils such as rapeseed and soya bean oils but also blends of mono and tri ester (see illustration 2). Unt|| now a|| |stom 6r|d power transformers were ||ed w|th natura| ester o|| based on soya beans such as the Luton 90 M VA, 1 32 kV transformer installed in the U .K . (see illustration 3). 1 2 3 22 AlstomGrid///Summer 2010 MAI N FEATURE CHAPTER I RESEARCH WITH AN EYE ON THE FUTURE Interrelated advantages and drawbacks Technologically, the minimum set of prop- erties to be checked to evaluate any trans- former oil includes dielectric strength, heat .:.nse: e|en, .nc .e|n s..||||., vee..||e c||s .:e e,u|v.|en. .c m|ne:.| oils under AC voltage conditions, and the dielectric strength of paper impregnated with vegetable oil is broadly the same as that of paper impregnated with mineral oil, s.,s e::|e: Mc:e |nce.| |nves.|..|cns are ongoing to determine dielectric strength under lightning impulse conditions, more particularly through the study of electric streamer generation and propagation. vee..||e c||s .|sc cncu. |e.. mc:e ee- tively thanks to their higher thermal conductiv- ity. However, they have higher viscosity, which impacts the coolant velocity through the trans- former active part and consequently may affect the overall heat transfer performance. This aspect is effectively controlled by transformer designers through an optimum choice of the oil pumps in the forced oil cooling circuit. One of the biggest technical challenges is .c :ecue .|e cu: c|n. .|e .eme:..u:e .. .||| .|e c|| cces nc. c. .||| |s presently a limiting factor for the minimum restart temperature of transformers from the cold condition. Two options are possible, either to act directly on the oil chemistry or to optimize the energizing procedure. The very biodegradability that makes vege- table oils an environmentally attractive pros- e. .|sc |nuenes .|e|: .e|n s..||||., . m.kes .|em s|||.|, mc:e :cne .c c|c..|cn causing them to age faster. Nevertheless, this minor issue can be mitigated by the combined action of vegetable oil suppliers and trans- former manufacturers see s|ce|.:. A cry for standards While there are data and international stan- dards galore for mineral oils, there are as yet no IEC standards addressing the composition or testing of the natural ester oils with their different chemical composition. This lack of standards could be seen as one of the limit- ing factors with regard to the initial rate of implementation of vegetable oils in PT. Insulating oil in PT is like blood in humans, says Perrier. It can tell you about the state of their health if you have access to effective means for dissolved gas in oil analysis and diagnostics. Developing such capability is e..|, .|.. .|e |ncus.:, |s cc|n .|.| Alstom Grid in the forefront. With such credentials Alstom Grid is actively dealing with all environmental challenges. THE CASE FOR STANDARDS Natural ester oils are fully biodegradable, which makes themmore sensitive to oxidation than petroleum-based oils. Vegetable oil suppliers therefore add oxidation inhibitor packages (at low concentrations to remain in a green rcduct classicaticn and translcrmer manufacturers propose sealed systems. Even better, AlstomGrid has patented a hermetically sealed design for PT. Jc date the dilculty is that nc international standards govern additive content and oxidation stability tests for natural esters. AlstomGrid participates actively in IEC and CIGRE working groups (WG) dedicated to the subject of vegetable oils. lL J is develcinq an internaticnal standard as well as oxidation stability tests dedicated to natural ester oil applications. Jhe nal dralt is exected sccn l6PL W6 is establishinq the state of the art of alternative liquids and esecially ester cils Jhe nal technical brochure is planned for this year. Meanwhile research teams are running accelerated aqeinq tests cn J lled with different ester oils. The performance of each oil type is monitored at regular intervals with a view to collecting data for further development. Christophe Perrier M OR E 0 20 40 60 80 100 TEST CURRENTLY USED 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 B r e a k d o w n
V o l t a g e
2 , 5
m m
g a p
V D E
( k V ) S t a n d a r d
d e v i a t i o n
( % ) Mineral oil specimen C Mineral oil specimen B Mineral oil specimen A Natural ester oil specimen C Natural ester oil specimen B Natural ester oil specimen A AC BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE (BDV) WITH STANDARD DEVIATION (SD) BDV after ageing BDV before ageing SD after SD before
Electrical Engineering Volume 64 Issue 6 1945 (Doi 10.1109/EE.1945.6441080) Clarke, Edith - Impedances Seen by Relays During Power Swings With and Without Faults