Dissolved Gas Analysis of Oil Filled Condenser

Bushings –A More Definitive Test

By John Stead - AltaLink

Abstract

The use of Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) is widely known for transformers and more
recently tapchangers. DGA has been used in assessing the condition of bushings in
Europe for several years. National Grid of the United Kingdom has approximately 4000
samples taken from high voltage bushings. This paper will discuss Altalink’s experiences
with DGA analysis of bushing oil and some of the weaknesses and the strengths of
applying this condition assessment tool to bushings.

Introduction
Typically, bushing condition has been assessed by visual inspections, infrared scanning
(thermovision), and the most popular power factor and capacitance measurement.
Bushings have posed several problems when considering DGA as an assessment tool.
They are:

• Bushings are hermetically sealed and have been considered as maintenance free
devices similar to instrument transformers
• They have small volumes of oil so sample rates must be limited.
• It is not possible to inspect the primary components of a bushing. There failures
can be very damaging to the units they are mounted to.
• Old school says we should not disturb the seal.
• Some statistics indicate 80% of bushing failures occur between 12-20 years (mid
life of our transformer population).
• Bushing failures initiate 30% of transformer failures

Failure Rate Characteristics Typical Electrical Equipment

Infant
Wear-out
Mortality
Random Failures Region
Failure
Rate

Useful Life

Time
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Wear-out Region
• Time.
• Material quality.
• Workmanship.
• Family of components show wear at the same rate.

Random Failure Region

• Serious material defects.
• Serious workmanship defects.
• Anomalies having shorter useful life expectancy.
• External effects (contamination, lightning, etc.).

Failure Mechanisms of Condenser Oil Filled Bushings

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of DGA in determining the serviceability of a
bushing, we must first understand the failure mechanisms. The typical failure
mechanisms that has been observed in the past are:

• Moisture ingress due to leaking or deteriorated gaskets.

• Overheating of connections due to the use of dissimilar metals.
• Partial discharge due to internal deficiencies
• Design problems (type U ink migration)
• Improper storage of spare units

Partial Discharge
• Inadequate impregnation of paper by oil
• Deteriorated oil
• Porcelain contaminated with semi-conducting sediment
• Discharge at foil ends

Observations on Serviced Age Bushings

• Pressure has been lost.
• Substantial numbers have leaks.

Intrusive and Non-intrusive testing

In order to maximize the life expectancy of a bushing; the manufacturer has hermetically
sealed the bushing chamber to insure the oil is not exposed to light or oxygen. Since the
oil to paper ratio in a bushing is small it is critical that the oil be of excellent dielectric
strength. However, due to the failure mechanisms above we are concerned more with the
unexpected and catastrophic failure of our bushings. We must prevent the premature
failing of bushings in order to provide reliable service to our customers and insure the

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safety of our employees. I am sure we would all sacrifice some longevity of life to
prevent a catastrophic failure of a bushing that could cause a transformer fire.

Since bushings are hermetically sealed at the factory; intrusive maintenance tasks such as
DGA must be performed with consideration to external contamination entering the oil
chamber while sampling. During the process of performing condition based testing we do
not want to introduce additional failure mechanisms through improper maintenance
methods. The most predominant non-intrusive condition tests now performed on
bushings are the power factor test and infrared scanning. These tests are effective for
several of the failure mechanisms identified above; however, neither is very effective in
determining a partial discharge condition. Since the presence of hydrogen is an indicator
of corona or partial discharge DGA would be an effective tool to determine any failure
mechanism producing hydrogen.

Due to the fact bushings have no movable parts and are very simple devices the
question is: are the majority of failures (80%) during the twelve to twenty year period
random failures or is this the actual wear out region for bushings? If this is so, then if we
have transformers lasting thirty to forty years we should expect to replace the bushing
once during the lifetime of the transformer. Another observation form the Europeans is
that manufacture defects are the main cause of bushing failures, that would indicate most
bushing failure are random. If in fact bushing failures are random then knowing and
understanding the condition of all bushings in your system is critical to preventing
failures.

The condition of the bushings on the Altalink system in the past have been
assessed primarily through the analysis of the power factor, capacitance readings and
infrared scanning. We now have some limited experience with DGA analysis to confirm
both power factor and capacitance readings, which have indicated serious problems. We
have also had success in determining test instrument deficiencies and human error in test
procedures.

Weaknesses Condition Assessment Tools

Infrared Scanning
• Difficult to pick up internal problems below flange.
• Load and weather condition effect readings.
• Bright sun inhibits effectiveness.

Power Factor Testing

• External conditions such as humidity, temperature and contamination effect
readings.
• Due to the bushing being mounted in the transformer, an overall reading is
impossible to obtain.
• Certain types of internal problems will be indicated by negative readings, which
can sometimes make analysis confusing.
• Different bushing types and manufacturers have varying levels of acceptance.
• C2 readings can be influenced by insulation not within the bushing cavity.

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 • Partial discharge within the bushing is difficult to pick up.

DGA
• Limited amount of oil.
• Secondary failure mode can be introduced during sampling.
• Not a lot of data to compare readings.

Strengths of Condition Assessment Tools

Infrared Scanning
• In most cases results are very definitive and can pin point problem areas above
flange.
• Non-intrusive unit in service while assessment is being made.

Power Factor testing

• Most companies have a large database of previous readings, making trending
easy.
• With proper understanding of the theory of the UST readings, analysis can be
relatively easy.
• Can detect both carbon and moisture as failure mechanisms.

DGA
• Test is performed under repeatable conditions (laboratory).
• Sampling is quite simple as long as precautions are taken.
• Done in conjunction with PPM of H2O all types of failure mechanisms are
identified (partial discharge, carbon tracking, water ingress).

115 KV Type COB Bushing Case Study

Component Gas Serial # 25610 Serial # 25600 Serial # 15940 Serial # 19147

Hydrogen 49,945 6.5 1705 19,131

Methane 6523 <0.1 146 1256
Ethane 2185 29 71 409
Ethylene 2291 <0.1 1.8 11
Acetylene 542 TRACE <0.1 0.2

Serial # 25610 Nameplate 1979 1985 1989

C1 Power Factor .575 .857 .599 .136

C2 Power Factor .721 .453 1.56

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 Serial # 25600 Nameplate 1979 1989 1991

C1 Power Factor .30 .593 .309 .261

C2 Power Factor .45 .246 .248

Serial # 15940 Nameplate 1989 1993 Shop

C1 Power Factor .31 .44 1.23 .40

C2 Power Factor .21 .20 .24
Serial # 19147 Nameplate 1989 1993 Shop

C1 Power Factor .29 .31 1.14 .77

C2 Power Factor .25 .27 .27

Observations during Disassembly Serial # 25610

• Large region of severe carbon tracking observed lower end of bushing core.
• Inner surface of lower porcelain weathershed showed carbon tracking.
• Small amount of carbon tracking had penetrated to within 1 turn of potential tap
layer.
• Considering the condition, it was extremely fortunate that this bushing had not
failed in service.
• Overall test (GST-Ground) at 10 kV was 8.80% power factor.
• Water content was measured at 6 PPM.

Observations during Disassembly Serial # 25600

• Oil contained small flakes of discolored paper.

• Water content was measured at 3.5 PPM.
• Dielectric strength measured by ASTM Method D1816 was 27 kV.
• No carbon tracking was observed on either the bushing core or the weathershed.

Observations during Disassembly Serial # 19147

• Odor of burnt oil and paper was noticed approximately half way to the core
during the unwrapping process.
• Paper was of a lighter color as we moved inward to the core and did not appear to
be saturated with oil as in the outer wrappings.
• X-wax was observed on the copper draw lead tube.
• Power factor improved after removal from unit

Bushing serial number 15940 was not disassembled due to time constraints.

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500 KV CGE Type U Bushing Results

Dissolved Gas Values for

Component Gas Serial # Serial # Serial # Bushings IEC 60599
289484 289482 289483

Hydrogen 31 25 16 140
Methane 4 12 6 40
Ethane 3 3 0 70
Ethylene 0 0 0 30
Acetylene 0 0 0 2

The above units are mounted on 3 single-phase reactors used for voltage control on our
500 KV system. You can see consistent results across all 3 bushings and the results are
well below the IEC standard for maximum normal limits for key fault gases.

240 and 138 KV CGE Type U Bushing Results

Serial # Serial # Dissolved Gas Values for

Component Gas 232854 252816 Bushings IEC 60599

Hydrogen 230 30 140

Methane 54 6 40
Ethane 15 0 70
Ethylene 3 3 30
Acetylene 2 0 2

The above 240 KV bushing was sampled after inconsistent power factor readings were
obtained. Some of our test crews now take samples when power factor readings show
suspicious result.

Summary

The decision to sample bushings for DGA analysis needs to be addressed on an

individual basis. In the case of Altalink, I believe the risk of not knowing the condition of
our bushings is greater than the risk of taking samples from the bushing cavity.