Copyright 2013 TNB Research

Diagnostic And Condition Assessment Of

High Voltage Instrument Transformer in
TNB Transmission Substation
SlideNo. 1
Mohd Aizam Talib
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 2
1.0 Background
High voltage instrument transformers form an integral part
of the power utility control circuits to monitor load currents
and voltages for protection and measurement purpose

Inexpensive components and require minimal
maintenance

Failure and explosion of instrument transformer - loss of
assets, revenue and safety issue
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 3
0
1
2
3
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5
6
7
N
o
.

o
f

F
a
i
l
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r
e
s

Year
Failure Cases of High Voltage
Instrument Transformer
Over 36 failures and explosion of instrument transformers
has been recorded at TNB Transmission substations from
year 2001 until 2010.

There is a need to assess the condition of in service high
voltage instrument transformers
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 4
visual inspection
cleaning of the porcelain
Thermography hot spot
detection
Routine maintenance
practices
Limitations
Provide partial
information on the
condition of instrument
transformers
Unable to detect
abnormal degradation
Off-line and on-line
diagnostic techniques
Verify the condition of
in-service instrument
transformer
Guarantee the reliability
of instrument transformer
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 5
2.0 Diagnostic of In-Service Instrument
Transformer
Degradation of insulation system will increases the
probability of instrument transformer failures

Important to assess the condition of
in-service instrument transformer

Used of nonintrusive diagnostic tools to
improve the maintenance practices for
instrument transformers

Diagnostic techniques; dielectric dissipation
factor, dielectric response analysis & on-line
partial discharge measurement
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 6
Dielectric Dissipation Factor / Power Factor
Ratio of the resistive current to the capacitive current
under an applied AC voltage

Good insulation usually has a very low loss and
increases in dielectric loss may indicate problems in the
insulation structure.
I
R
<<I
C
for most insulation
system, as a result I
C
~I
T
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 7
Dielectric dissipation factor of new instrument transformer
should not exceeded 0.5% and for in-service age units
the measurement should less than 1.0%

Periodic measurement during the service life can indicate
either the insulation is aging normally or deteriorating
rapidly
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 8
Dielectric Response Anal ysis
Used to estimate moisture and ageing state of oil-paper
insulation from dielectric properties like polarization
currents and dissipation factor.

Dielectric response techniques
o Frequency domain ; Frequency Dielectric
Spectroscopy (FDS)
o Time domain ; Polarization Depolarization Current
(PDC) & Recovery Voltage Measurement (RVM)

Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 9
Frequency Dielectric Spectroscopy
Measures the tangent delta over wide frequency range

An applied alternating voltage polarizes the molecules in
the dielectric

As the frequency is increased, some of the molecule
cannot follow the imposed fast change of polarity and
stop their participation in polarization process

Display as dissipation factor or complex permittivity;
which decrease with frequency

Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 10
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 11
Polarization Depolarization Current
A dc voltage is applied to the
insulation for a time. The current
arising from the activation of the
polarization process measured.

Then, the voltage is removed and
the object is short-circuited. Thus,
the discharging current jumps to a
negative value, which goes
gradually towards zero.

Both kinds of currents called
polarization and depolarization
current
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 12
On-line Partial Discharge Measurement
All dielectric defects are accompanied by the presence
of partial discharges

PDs are in general are always generate electromagnetic
signals and often accompanied by emission of sound,
light, heat, and chemical reactions

Thus PD measurements (chemical, electrical and
acoustic) are technically able to detect dielectric defects,
even identify the presence of a specific defect.

When a PD occurs inside instrument transformer, an
electromagnetic wave is radiated and can be detected
using HF sensors.
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 13
HFCT
fibre optical cable
BNC Cable
Analysis
software
Instrument
Transformer
under test
USB 2.0
B
a
t
t
e
r
y

Test circuit for on-line partial discharge detection on current transformer
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 14
3.0 Field Measurements
132kV current transformer was tested during routine
maintenance testing

Tan delta test results
Power Factor and Dielectric Response Measurement
No Phase % tan delta
1 Red 0.5913
2 Yellow 0.5704
3 Blue 6.5288
Further analysis using dielectric response measurement
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 15
FDS response of current transformer
* higher response at B phase
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 16
The increasing of the responses at low frequency
ranges indicated higher moisture content in blue phase
of the instrument transformer

Moisture estimated in cellulose insulation






The instrument transformer was decided to replace


No Phase % moisture
1 Red 2.4
2 Yellow 2.6
3 Blue 4.3
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 17
Newly diagnostic techniques adopted by TNB for
condition assessment of in-service instrument
transformers

Preliminary work in the laboratory using the technique
showed encouraging results

Partial discharge measurement was carried out on in-
service 132kV oil-filled high voltage current transformer.
On-line PD Measurement
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 18
PD laboratory experimental set-up
HV Source
Test
Vessel
HFCT
MPD600
Phase resolved PD pattern of void
inside the pressboard sample
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SlideNo. 19
HFCT
MPD600
External hardware
gating
On-line PD measurement at site
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SlideNo. 20
PD pattern for instrument transformer
with high PD activity, 800pC
PD pattern for instrument transformer
with low PD activity, 100pC
Copyright 2013 TNB Research
SlideNo. 21
4.0 Conclusions
The condition of the instrument transformer can be
accurately assessed by various off-line and on-line
diagnostic measurements

TNB has employed advanced diagnostic dielectric
response measurement and on-line partial discharge
testing as parts of their condition based maintenance
strategies

Condition assessment of in-service instrument
transformers - assess the reliability of aged units, and
planning for the replacement to avoid any catastrophic
failures occurs.

Copyright 2013 TNB Research
Thank You
Mohd Aizam Talib

Contact:- mohdaizam@tnbr.com.my


TNB Research Sdn. Bhd.
No. 1, Lorong Ayer Itam,
Kawasan Institusi Penyelidikan,
43000 Kajang, Selangor, MALAYSIA

Tel: +603-89225000 Fax: +603-89268828 / 29
SlideNo. 22