SL International Conference on Probabilistic Methods Applied to Power Systems, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

September 12-16.2004

Power Transformer Aging and Life Extension

Muhammad Arshad, Syed M. Islam and Abdul Khaliq
plays an important role in the degradation and failure of insulation chain. Water content and its movement between cellulose and oil is temperature dependent. Constant monitoring of fault gases, hotspot temperature and water content (WC) helps in detecting faults types, intensity and, up to a good extent, its location. Thermal condition monitoring of transformer (including load tap changer) stands vital for transformer operational planning in particular at peak load and at emergency loading. Accelerated aging occurs due to increase in moisture and oxygen level in the oil. Moisture and oxygen levels are temperature dependent and increase with the increase in temperature humidity index (THI). Higher level of moisture and oxygen can lead to a bubble formation that can cause catastrophic failure. Increased reliability of a transformer requires an operational criterion that is based on acceptable moisture limits according to load and temperature. It is vital to identify the sources of gassing with their respective severity and impact on the asset remnant life. Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) with accurate interpretation is one of the methods for identifying the type and severity of the fault [I], [2]. Online DGA, PD and diagnostics such as frequency response analysis (FRA) for winding movement, recovery voltage measurement (RVM) are important to establish asset's overall integrity [3]. Transformer diagnostics and monitoring data are important to decide on the operational criteria, asset management and reliability centered maintenance (RCM) strategies for life ex+msion. Better asset management can be achieved with online condition monitoring and effective diagnostics (41. End of life assessment with accuracy is essential for an asset to serve for its extended life.
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Power transformer is a critical and expensive asset for any power utility. Many transformers around the world arc serving close to or beyond their designed lie. There is an increasing focus on maintenanee and l i e extension of existing transformers to maximiu the return on investment. Transformer failure statistics exhibit that most of the failures have occurred before reaching their rated lie. Transformer failures due to dielectric problems are reported as high as 75%. Fnranic compoonds presence in oil provide an indication of solid dielectric deterioration. It is important to identify the deterioration stages of dielectrics and its degree of sensitivity towards aging. Ageing is also strongly dependent on temperature, oxygen and water levels in the transformer. The transformer life can be maximized by controlling these variables. This paper presents a fuzzy logic based approach to estimate the age of a power transformer using key indicators such as moisture and furanic compoonds.
Abstrad-

Inder Terms-Transformer Reliability

Age Assessmcnt, L i e Extension,

I. INTRODUCTION O W R transformer's aging population has reached a p c r i t i c a l level. Existing assets that are close to their expected life are being considered for further utilization in order to reduce capital expenditure as the replacement cost of these transformers i too high. Since many of these s transformers are operating beyond their rated life, asset reliability under peak load can't be ensured. Transformer failures are increasing in number and having serious impact on forced outages, blackouts, revenue and environment. Transformer insulation degradation, accelerated aging and catastroohic failures occur due to manv reasons such as extreme operational conditions, adverse ambient conditions (high temperature and humidity index), through faults, surges (switching/ lightning) and geomagnetic storms [l]. Transformer aging is also accelerated due to lack of maintenance and proper fault diagnosis. The degradation of insulation system is accompanied with the phenomenon of changing physical parameters or its behavior. Insulation paper and oil degradation produce moisture and firran which are responsible for normal and accelerated aging. Gases are released in the insulation system due to overheating, partial discharge (PD) and arcing. Also, the presence of moisture

It is difficult to determine the asset's condition and aging process as it involves many variables acting at the same time in a complex manner. The aging process in the oil/cellulose insulation system under thermal stress and their measurable effects are due to chemical reactions in the inseparable dielectric system. The dielectric temperature is a critical aging parameter that causes a change in the mechanical and electrical properties of the material. Paper insulation is composed of approximately 40% cellulose. Degree of ~ ~ w~ ~ l ~ " ~ ;~ ~ ~ m ~ ~ :pea^. n o l o g y ,Polymerization (DP) is a measurement of average number of n ~ ~ ; f ~ ~ h glucose units per molecular chain. Paper insulation, with DP (e-mail:mhad&uus.ac.ae) Syed M. Islam: C u n h Uriversity of Technology, Pcnh W. Aushalia. greater than 1000, exhibits high dielectric and tensile (e-mail: S.Islamhece.cuitin,edu.au) properties, where as DP value less than 300 shows a paper AMul Khaliq: American University of Sharjah (e-mail:&halia@aus.ac ae). Copyright Iowa State University, 2004

498

with poor dielectric and mechanical properties [5]. Presence of water and oxygen in the insulation system accelerates the aging phenomenon. Moisture is a good indicator to determine the aging, reliability and safety of the transformer. Hydrolysis, Pyrolysis and Oxidation are the three mechanisms, acting simultaneously [6]. The aging mechanism affects the electrical and mechanical properties of the dielectrics.
111.

transformer should be repaired, rewound or scrapped. Temperature, oxygen and moisture are the key factors in accelerating the aging process. Operating temperature and ambient temperature exists throughout the life of the transformer, affecting the insulation life. Studies and field experience show that gradual increase in temperature reduces the peak load insulation life of the asset. A rise of 7' Celsius above normal operating temperature decreases asset's life by
50%.

END OF LIFEASSESSMWT

Residual life of identical transformers, with same period of service, may vary because of its insulation behavior. Insulation behavior depends on temperature, moisture content and oxygen ingress. Operating environment (altitude, ambient conditions, sunshine and airflow), dynamic loading, system impedance, switching and lighting surges (over voltages), through faults and contaminations are the major factors towards asset's accelerated aging. Economic and end of life assessment are essential for the existing aged assets to plan for the maintenance, relocation or retirement. Furanic compound and moisture contents are the key indicators for life assessment. Furanic compounds are generated due to insulating paper (cellulose) degradation with normal aging as well as due to incipient faults [7]. Due to degradation process, paper tensile and dielectric strength decreases. Electromagnetic forces due to through fault current have serious impact on the paper life by lowering its tensile strength 161, [7]. Good correlation can be obtained between furanic compound and degree of polymerization (DP). Therefore the furanic compound quantity present in the oil is a good indicator for life assessment. The transformer age characteristics based on firranic compound present in different age groups is shown in Figure 1.

Moisture (water content) in insulation chain is produced due to thermo-kinetic degradation of the paper as well aging of the oil. Moister present in the atmosphere penetrates through weak sealant with the change in the pressure gradient. The water solubility in the transformer mineral oil increases with the increase in temperature. The moisture influences the decomposition of the molecular chain, accelerates the cellulose aging process, affecting the tensile and dielectric properties of the insulation system. Dielectric breakdown strength decreases with increase in moisture. Based on the moisture presence in the insulation chain, transformer risk assessment is essential for its effective life extension and better asset management, Table 1 [8].
TABLE I

lnsuhtion Average Moishlrc Coateat

4%

Arsasmrat
Entcnng Risk Zone

5%-6% 7%

ConsiderableFailure Risk
Failure Imminent

Moisture is exchanged between paper and oil and its dynamics are highly temperature dependent. Moisture dynamics from paper to oil increases with increase in the temperature, but with the decrease in temperature the moisture moves back to the paper slowly. The standard method for measuring the moisture in oil is Karal Fischer reaction test (ASTM D 1533). This test is highly recommended and is widely used due to its high selectivity and sensitivity. Water content in the insulation system should be kept to a minimum to maintain the required dielectric properties. The transformer age characteristics based on moisture contents, present in different age groups is shown in Figure 2

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20

Jo

40

50

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Figure 1 Transformer aging charade"stic with respect to Furan (C&<

Furan increases due to insulation degradation with age.

Furans are generated due to over all rise in temperature as well as due to the heat produced hy active fault in any localized area. Based on the analysis, asset could be identified for furans produced due to normal aging or localized fault. Asset operating with poor paper strength may result in catastrophic failure with serious threat to environment and collateral damages. To monitor the paper degradation trend, Furan analysis can play key role in the over all assessment. It is a very useful diagnostic for assessing whether a failed

10

20

33

40

E a

Remnant Life (Years)

Figure 2 Transformer aging c h t e r i n i c s with increase in moisture content : due to aging and thermo-kinetic degradation.

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IV. LIFE ESTIMATIONMODEL USING FUZZY LOGIC

a, = PI,," (4 " D
Where

PI","( Y )

(3)

Usually furan and moisture are generated simultaneously in a very complex manner and are key factors in identifying asset's remnant life. Presence of both has serious impact on the asset performance and life, ignoring one could mislead the estimation. The fuzzy logic modeling and analysis has been carried out to get better asset's remnant life estimation. Figure 3 & 4 represents the moisture and furans as input variables for the life estimation fuzzy logic model. Figure 5 represents the asset's age as an out put variable of the model.

PIX? (x)

is the membership value of x in the Ix,"

fuzzy set and PI,- ( y ) is the membership value of y in the Iy." fuzzy set.
Minor Low Med MiddMedH High
Old

Void

TOOOld

10

^^

C: L

30 4 <: ." otdput variable "Age"

50

m ,=~.

Figure 5: Output v-ble

age (membership functions)

0.5

q.5

25

inpul variable "Moilure" Figure 3: Input variable "Moisture" (membership functions) for transformer
age model.

Defurrifirarion: For crisp output (asset life), center of gravity algorithm is used to calculate the area Ai and center of area M for each i member function (MF).

Med taw

V LaWw

L Him

AvHlah

inptd variable "Furan" Figure 4: Input variable "Furan" (membership functions) for uansfomr age m0del.

Using the above model, the crisp output "transformer age" with respect to moisture and furan is determined and is represented in Figure 6 .

Mamdani's fuzzy inference method is applied to estimate the asset's life.

U D ( X , Y )= Y I ( 4 w & m ) )

(1)

Where x is AI and y is B,or x is Az and y is Bz and so on as a conjunction of implications. IF x is lr,n AND y is I*.. THEN z is On

(2)
3

Where x represents the moisture, y represents furan as inputs (variables) and r the age of the transformer and is the output variable. I,," , ly,nand 0" represent their respective membership functions [9]. The extent to which a rule is activated:

Furan

Moisture

Feure 6 Transformer age model, based on moisture and F variables)

m as input

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V. LIFEEXTENSION

Life ex-ension of existing transformer population is an important issue for the utilities. There is an ample safety and environmental risk involved in operating aged units close to loading limits with out surveillance and assessment. Aging process can be controlled with accurate in time assessment, RCM application and proper operational criteria implementation Extended residual life with acceptable safely and improved reliability can be achieved with better costeffective utilization. Good diagnostics with realistic interpretation and accordingly RCM stands vital for the assets exqended life. The existing aged assets utilization can he improved by implementing proper operational criteria (dynamic loading) and efficient/ effective maintenance to maintain/ upgrade the insulation system. Better results can he achieved with RCM as it emphasis on the failure consequence by defining the root causes of failure. With RCM assets life extension can be achieved effectively as given in the flow chart i Figure 7.RCM facilitates cost effective maintenance, n better operation, enhanced safely and reduced environmental risk. Based on online monitoring and diagnostics, RCM strategies for life extension can be better achieved provided

availability can he ensured with improved system performance. Premature failures risk can be minimised. Asset timely refurbishment, replacement or relocation can he planned. Correct operational and maintenance strategies can be developed and implemented to have maximum retum. Collateral and environmental damages can he restricted to minimum.
REFU(ENCE.5
S. M. Islam, T.Wu and G. Lcmvich, A Novel Funy Logic Approach ta Transformer Fault Diagnostics. EEE Transaction on Dielectrics & Electrical Insulation Vol. 7 no.2 April 2WO. Q.Su,C. Mi, L. L. Lai & P. AUSWA F w Dissolved Gas Analysis Method for the Diagnosis ofMulUple Incipient Faults in a Transformer. IEEE Transaction on Power Systems, Vol. IS, No. 2, May 2000. S. M. Islam, Power transformer condition monitoring. Pacific Power Inmonal and University ofNnucsstle Dtvelopments. M. Arshad, S. Islam Transformer reliability enhaneemcnt using onllnc dissolved gas m n t r n and diagnostics. IPEC, Singapore,2W3 oioig R E James, lnucduetion ta Panid Discharge Phenomena Chmderistics, MeaSmment and Interpretation. 19% ESAA Course on Elcctrical Plant Condition Monitohg. Advance Technology Centre ~1the University of Newcastle.

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Assets critical components and their respective function are fully known. Assets possible failures and their consequences including over all system are known such as output, forced outages (blackouts), revenue, repair, refurbish, replacement cost, safety and environmental I collateral damages.

TransmissionPlant H. S u and A. Selenschtschikow, .Automatic generation of fuw logic rule bases Examples I. R c of thc NF ZOO2 %s intrmatiod ICSC o.
~~-ccrmN~~FuuyT~hnolo~icqPP75,CUBA 16-19JAN.2002

[IO] B. T. Kuhnell: Reliability Centered Maiatenance. M o m h University,

Melbourne, Australia.

Aged Pureet

Dla?aonastlos

1
Remnant L D Estimation H

Ll

Ex-ntlon

RCM

k a e t Manaeement

Figure 7: Transformcr life extension and management flow chan

VI. CONCLUSIONS In this paper transformer age has been predicted using fuzzy model with moisture and furanic compound as input variables. Life estimation will help in achieving maximum practicable operating efficiency. System reliability and plant

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