Moisture Measurement of Transformer Oil Using

Thin Film Capacitive Sensor

Tarikul Islam*, Md Firoz A. Khan1, Shakeb A. Khan* and Mathew Shaji Thomas2

*Professor, 1PhD research scholar, Electrical Engineering Department, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University), New Delhi2

110025, India.
B. Tech. Student, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu-600036, India
tislam@jmi.ac.in, firozamu@rediffmail.com, skhan3@jmi.ac.in and mat.st19@gmail.com

AbstractPresent work deals with the development of an

online moisture measurement scheme in a transformer using
thin film parallel electrode capacitive sensor. The fabrication of
the sensor is done with a capacitive porous alumina (-Al2O3)
dip coated by sol gel technique having two parallel gold
electrodes on a substrate of alumina. The execution, analysis,
results and applications of the scheme is discussed. The
electrical characteristics of the thin film capacitive sensor with
change in temperature and moisture in transformer oil is
studied. The proposed scheme has the potential to determine
the online moisture in transformer at various temperatures.
Keywordstransformer oil; power transformer; thin film
capacitive sensor.

I.

INTRODUCTION

Transformer is one of the most significant and highly priced

equipment in a power system. It is very important to
continuously monitor the efficient and reliable working of
the transformer. The majority of power transformers use
mineral oil because of its excellent dielectric, oxidation
stability and cooling properties. The reduction of dielectric
performance and the acceleration in aging of the mineral oil
is mainly due to presence of moisture in the transformer oil.
In general for each doubling of moisture concentration, the
mechanical life of the insulation is reduced to half [1].
Moisture can ingress in a transformer from atmosphere or
from internal sources, which is due to chemical reactions that
are always active in an energized transformer. In a
transformer, the paper insulation may contain much more
moisture than oil. A typical 150MVA, 400KV transformer
with about seven tons of paper for insulation can contain as
much as 223 Kg of water. The oil volume in a typical power
transformer is about 80,000 liters. Assuming a 20 ppm
moisture concentration in oil, the total mass of moisture is
about 2 kg, much less than in the paper [2]. Hydrogen, a
natural gas is liberated when the transformer is under
operation, and the ever-present oxygen in the oil, causes the
natural formation of moisture. Paper insulation is the most
vulnerable material to moisture in a transformer. The paper
insulation has natural pores due to which it has affinity to
moisture absorption as a result from the time the transformer
is manufactured one has to deal with moisture [2, 4]. Added
to this, paper and oil degradation produces water. Moisture
accelerates the deterioration of both the insulating oil and the
paper insulation, liberating more water in the process. This is
a never ending cycle and once the paper insulation has been
degraded, it can never (unlike the oil) be returned to its

original condition [3, 4]. At higher temperature, moisture has

a tendency to migrate from oil to paper and vice versa [5].
Also the moisture solubility in the transformer oil rises with
rise in temperature [6]. Because of the above mentioned
reasons typical life expectancy of a transformer is about 40
years [7]. Hence to predict the future failure of the
transformer, online monitoring of the oil temperature and
moisture content in the transformer is very essential. Various
methods of moisture measurement in transformer oil
reported in various literatures including detection of
dissipation factor (tan), interfacial tension, acidity and
dielectric strength, which give erroneous results for moisture
estimation in oil and paper. In comparison, certain
mathematical formulae and equilibrium charts provide
comparatively accurate results. The different mathematical
models are used for the calculation of the moisture content
[8]. Apart to these, there is certain equilibrium charts from
which at a certain temperature, paper moisture can be
estimated when oil moisture values are available. Most of the
works reported are based on offline and do not give correct
value of moisture level [6, 8]. In this work a simple
technique has been proposed to measure real-time moisture
content of transformer oil using thin film metal oxide based
capacitive sensor. The sensor has been fabricated in the lab
by employing a low cost sol-gel method. A simple
experimental setup has been developed in laboratory. The
experimental methods and experimental results are reported.
II.

SENSOR FABRICATION

The structure of thin film parallel electrode capacitive sensor

fabricated by sol-gel technique is shown in Fig. 1. The
fabrication processes began with, properly cleaning of an
alumina substrate of dimension 19mm X 19mm and then
screen printing of gold electrode of dimension 16mm X
16mm using metal paste. The electrode was heated at 9000C
for 1 hour. A thin film of nearly 5m thickness has been
deposited on the gold electrode by dip coating method. A
second macro porous electrode having dimension of 14 mm
X 13 mm has been formed on the sensing film. The film was
sintered in a programmable furnace with accuracy of 20C.
The sample was heated at 4500C for 1 hour and 9000C for
another 1 hour. The resulting film has a distribution of micro
pores (<30 nm). Finally two silver wires are soldered on the
electrodes to make electrical connections. The details of
fabrication are reported elsewhere [9].

III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

The block diagram and the photograph of the experimental
set up are shown in the Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 respectively. It
consists of a sealed oil container having 250ml of
transformer oil, placed on hot plate. The moisture content of
the oil was approximately 20 ppm at room temperature
(250C). Transformer insulation paper strips impregnated
with moisture was placed in the oil container in order to
simulate the transformer environment. A thermometer was
placed in the container to monitor the change in temperature
of the transformer oil. The temperature of hot plate was
controlled precisely by regulator. The nitrogen gas supplied
to the oil container acts as a carrier gas which carries the
moisture from the oil container. The gas containing the
moisture was passed through long copper tube to the sensor
chamber. The sticky oil material liberated from the oil gets
trapped on the walls of the long copper tube. The sensor
chamber is cylindrical having diameter of 5cm and height of
10 cm. Valves are provided to control the flow of the
nitrogen gas and so the moisture of the oil. To measure the
moisture in the oil container valves-1, 3 and 4 are opened
and valve-2 is closed while to dry the sensor valves-2 and 4
are opened and valves 1 and 3 are closed. The fabricated
thin film capacitive sensor was placed in the sensor chamber
to sense the change in moisture by change of its capacitance.
The leads from the electrodes of the sensor were connected
to the precision impedance analyzer (Agilent 4294A).

Gold Electrode
(14mm X 13mm)

Al2O3 Coating
(5m thick)

Gold Electrode
(16mm X 16mm)

Alumina
Substrate
(19mm X 19mm)

Fig. 1. Structure of thin film parallel electrode capacitive sensor.

Fig. 2. Block diagram of the experimental set up

Shaw
Sensor

Thermometer

Impedance
Analyzer

increase abruptly. This abruppt increase in the electrical

parameters of the sensor iss due to large increase in
concentration of water vapoor causing large change in
dielectric constant as well as conductance
c
of the sensor. At
high temperature, the water contents
c
trapped in the paper
insulation is liberated vigorouusly in the free space of the
container leading to abrupt chaange in concentration of vapor
as shown in Fig. 4.

Exhaust
Oil Container
Transformer Oil

Sensor
Chamber

Heater
Copper
Tubes

Paper Strips
.

Fig. 3. Photograph of the experimentaal set up.

First the fabricated sensor response has been determined

with commercial dew point meter by varrying the moisture
content of dry nitrogen gas. Nitrogen gas of different
moisture content has been obtained by mixing
m
water vapor
from bubbler with dry nitrogen gas. A callibration curve has
been developed between capacitance veersus moisture in
ppm.
To measure the moisture content of transformer oil, the oil
container with paper strips has been put on hot plate. The
temperature of hot plate was controlled precisely by
regulator. When oil is heated, the moisturre content in paper
comes out initially from paper to oil then as vapor forms at
the free space of the container. The moistuure level in the oil
and the free space varied according to tempperature of the oil.
The water vapor in the free space of thee container is then
carried away with dry N2 gas to the sennsor chamber and
exposed to the sensor. The electrical chaaracteristics of the
sensor were recorded with the help of impeedance analyzer.

Fig. 4. Evolution of water bubbbles between 900C to 1000C.

RESULTS

In the beginning the sensor was exposed to moist nitrogen

gas (valve 1 and 3 closed) and the moisture
m
level was
monitored by dew point meter. The cappacitance variation
with the variation of moisture is shownn in Fig. 5. The
capacitance value increases with increasee in moisture. The
change in dissipation factor with moisturee content is shown
in Fig. 6. The dissipation factor increases with increase in
moisture. Fig. 7 shows the variation off phase shift with
increase in moisture. The phase shift increeases with increase
in moisture concentration. Based on the experimental data
with pure moist N2 gas, the response of the sensor is
calibrated in terms of moisture in ppm.
Now dry nitrogen gas is mixed with the moisture
m
liberated
from the oil kept in the container at diffe
ferent temperature,
the capacitance variation of the senssor with rise in
temperature is shown in Fig. 8. The calibrated curve
between variations of moisture with rise in temperature is
shown in Fig. 9. The moisture increasess with increase in
temperature. The variation of dissipationn factor and phase
angle shift with rise in temperature is shown in Fig. 10 and
Fig. 11 respectively. Initially the electricall parameters of the
sensor increase gradually then above 90C parameters

2500
2000
Capacitance (pf)

IV.

Evolution of
water bubbles

1500
1000
500
0
0

100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Mo
oisture (ppm)

Fig. 5. Capacitance change of the thinn film sensor with variation of

moisture.

600
Moisture (ppm)

Dissipation Factor (mu)

700

2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0

500
400
300
200
100
0
30

60
70
80
0
Temperature ( C)

90

100

Fig. 9. Calibration curve between Moisture (ppm) and temperature (0C)

0
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70

Dissipation Factor (mu)

700

-10 0

Phase angle ()

50

100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Moisture (ppm)

Fig. 6. Dissipation value of the thin film sensor for different moisture
concentration.

600
500
400
300
200
100
0

-80

30

-90
-100

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Temperature (0C)

Moisture (ppm)

Fig. 10. Dissipation value of the thin film sensor for different temperature.

Fig. 7. Change in phase angle with the variation of moisture.

1000

-50
30

900
800

Phase angle ()

Capacitance (pf)

40

700
600
500
30

40

50

60

70

80

90

40

50

60

70

80

90

-60

-70

-80

100

Temperature (0C)

Fig. 8. Capacitance change of the thin film sensor with variation of

temperature.

-90

Temperature (0C)

Fig. 11. Change in phase angle with the variation of temperature.

100

V.

CONCLUSION

Present work proposes a capacitive porous alumina based

moisture sensor fabricated by simple sol-gel technique for
online moisture measurement scheme in a transformer. The
sensor based on thin film parallel-electrode is very fast,
highly reproducible, low hysteresis and mass producible. It
can withstand several harsh environmental conditions. The
device has been fabricated by a very simple low cost
technique. The device has been successfully employed to
determine the moisture content in oil in a simulated
environment. The proposed scheme provides an alternative
method as compared to the conventional offline techniques
which has certain well known limitations. The experimental
set up is also simple.
REFERENCES
[1]

[2]

[3]

F. M. Clark, Factors Affecting the Mechanical Deterioration of

Cellulose Insulation, Transactions of Electrical Engineering, Vol. 61,
pp. 742-749, October 1942.
G. Beer et al., Experimental Data on the Drying-Out of Insulation
Samples and Test-Coil for Transformer, CIGRE Paper No. 135,
1966.
J. Fabre and A. Pichon, Deteriorating Processes and Products of
Paper in Oil. Application to Transformers, 1960 International
Conference on Large High Voltage Electric System (CIGRE), Paris,
France, Paper 137, 1960.

[4]

H. P.Moser, Transformerboard, Special print of Scientia Electrica,

translated by EHV-Weidmann Lim., St., Johnsbury, Vermont, USA,
Section C, 1979.
[5] A. J. Morin, M.Zahn, and J.R. Melcher, Fluid Electrification
Measurements of Transformer Pressboard/Oil Insulation in a Couette
Charger, IEEE Transactions on Electricallnsulation, Vol. 26, No. 5,
pp. 870-901, October 1991.
[6] Y. DUI, A. V. Mamishev, B. C. Lesieutre, M. Zahn and S. H. Kang,
Moisture Solubility for Differently Conditioned Transformer Oil.
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 8 No.
5, pp. 805-111, October 2001
[7] T. 0. Rouse, Mineral Insulating Oil in Transformers, Electrical
Insulation Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 6-16, May/June 1998.
[8] P. Pahlavanpour, M. Martins, and Eklund, Study of Moisture
Equlibrium In Oil-Paper System With Teperature Variation, in
Proc.7th Int. conf. on Properties and Application of Dielectric
Materials, Nagoya, pp. 1124-1129, June 2003.
[9] T. Islam, L. Kumar, S A Khan, A novel sol-gel thin film porous
alumina based capacitive sensor for measuring trace moisture in the
range of 2.5 to 25 ppm, Sensors and actuators B, 173, pp. 377 384,
2012.
[10] D.D. Saha, K. K. Mistry, R.Giri, A. Guha, K. Sengupta, Dependence
of moisture absorption property on solgel process of transparent
nanostructured -Al2O3 ceramics, Sens. and Actuators B 109, pp.
363366, 2005.
[11] R. Fenner, E. Zdankiewicz, Micromachinised water vapor sensor, a
review of sensing technologies, J. IEEE Sensors 1 (4), pp. 309-317,
2001.