4PowerTransformerProtectionDevices

ExplainedInDetails

4PowerTransformerProtectionDevicesexplainedindetails(onphoto:ABBs115kVoutdoortransformer)

OilTransformerprotection
Thepowertransformerprotectionisrealizedwithtwodifferentkindsofdevices,namelythedevices
thataremeasuringtheelectricalquantitiesaffectingthetransformerthroughinstrument
transformersandthedevicesthatareindicatingthestatusofthephysicalquantitiesatthe
transformeritself.
Anexampleoftheformercouldbecurrentbaseddifferentialprotectionandofthelatteroil
temperaturemonitoring.

ProtectionDevices//
Thefollowingdiscussesprotectiondevicestypicallydeliveredasapartofthepower
transformerdelivery.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Buchholz(Gas)Relay
PressureRelay
OilLevelMonitorDevice
WindingThermometer

Thepowertransformerprotectionasawholeandtheutilizationofthebelowpresented
protectiondevicesarenotdiscussedhere.

1.Buchholz(Gas)Relay
TheBuchholzprotectionisamechanicalfaultdetectorforelectricalfaultsinoilimmersed
transformers.TheBuchholz(gas)relayisplacedinthepipingbetweenthetransformermaintankand
theoilconservator.Theconservatorpipemustbeinclinedslightlyforreliableoperation.
OftenthereisabypasspipethatmakesitpossibletotaketheBuchholzrelayoutofservice.

InstalledBuchholzgasrelay

TheBuchholzprotectionisafastandsensitivefaultdetector.Itworksindependentofthenumber
oftransformerwindings,tapchangerpositionandinstrumenttransformers.Ifthetapchangerisofthe

ontank(container)type,havingitsownoilenclosurewithoilconservator,thereisadedicated
Buchholzrelayforthetapchanger.
AtypicalBuchholzprotectioncomprisesapivotedfloat(F)andapivotedvane(V)asshownin
Figure1.Thefloatcarriesonemercuryswitchandthevanealsocarriesanothermercuryswitch.
Normally,thecasingisfilledwithoilandthemercuryswitchesareopen.

Figure1Buchholzrelayprincipal
construction

Whenminorfaultoccurs
Hereisassumedthataminorfaultoccurswithinthetransformer.Gasesproducedbyminorfaults
risefromthefaultlocationtothetopofthetransformer.Thenthegasbubblespassupthepipingto
theconservator.ThegasbubbleswillbetappedinthecasingoftheBuchholzprotection.
Thismeansthatthegasreplacestheoilinthecasing.Astheoillevelfalls,thefloat(F)willfollowand
themercuryswitchtiltsandclosesanalarmcircuit.

Whenmajorfaultoccurs
Itisalsoassumedthatamajorfault,eithertoearthofbetweenphasesorwindings,occurs
withinthetransformer.Suchfaultsrapidlyproducelargevolumesofgas(morethan50cm3/(kWs)
andoilvaporwhichcannotescape.
Theythereforeproduceasteepbuildupofpressureanddisplaceoil.Thissetsuparapidflowfrom
thetransformertowardstheconservator.Thevane(V)respondstohighoilandgasflowinthepipeto
theconservator.Inthiscase,themercuryswitchclosesatripcircuit.Theoperatingtimeofthetrip
contactdependsonthelocationofthefaultandthemagnitudeofthefaultcurrent.

Testscarriedoutwithsimulatedoperatingconditionshaveshownthatoperationinthetime
range0.0500.10secondsispossible.Theoperatingtimeshouldnotexceed0.3
seconds.

Thegasaccumulatorrelayalsoprovidesalongtermaccumulationofgassesassociatedwith
overheatingofvariouspartsofthetransformerconductorandinsulationsystems.Thiswilldetectfault
sourcesintheirearlystagesandpreventsignificantdamage.

Figure2AtypicaloutlookofaBuchholzrelaywith
flangesonbothsidesforpipeconnections

Whenthetransformerisfirstputintoservice,theairtrappedinthewindingsmaygiveunnecessary
alarmsignals.Itiscustomarytoremovetheairinthepowertransformersbyvacuumtreatment
duringthefillingofthetransformertankwithoil.
Thegasaccumulatedwithoutthistreatmentwill,ofcourse,beair,whichcanbeconfirmedbyseeing
thatitisnotinflammable.

Inaddition,theBuchholzrelaycandetectiftheoillevelfallsbelowthatoftherelayas
aresultofaleakagefromthetransformertank.

OthertechnicalarticlesrelatedtoBuchholzrelay//
1. ProtectingOilTypeTransformerwithBuchholzRelay
2. ThePurposeOfTransformerGasRelay
GobacktoIndex

2.PressureRelay
Manypowertransformerswithanontanktypetapchangerhaveapressureprotectionforthe

separatetapchangeroilcompartment.Thisprotectiondetectsasuddenrateofincreaseof
pressureinsidethetapchangeroilenclosure.
Figure3showstheprincipleofapressurerelay.

Figure3Pressurerelay

Whenthepressureinfrontofthepistonexceedsthecounterforceofthespring,thepistonwillmove
operatingtheswitchingcontacts.Themicroswitchinsidetheswitchingunitishermeticallysealedand
pressurizedwithnitrogengas.

Aninternalfaultinanoilfilledtransformerisusuallyaccompaniedbyoverpressureinthe
transformertank.

Thesimplestformofpressurereliefdeviceisthewidelyusedfrangibledisk.Thesurgeofoilcaused
byaheavyinternalfaultburststhediskandallowstheoiltodischargerapidly.Relievingandlimiting
thepressurerisepreventexplosiveruptureofthetankandconsequentfire.
Also,ifused,theseparatetapchangeroilenclosurecanbefittedwithapressurereliefdevice.

Figure4Principleconstructionofapressurereliefdevice

Thepressurereliefdevicecanbefittedwithcontactunit(s)toprovideasignalforcircuitbreaker(s)
trippingcircuits.

Figure5Apressurereliefdevicewithcontactunits

Adrawbackofthefrangiblediskisthattheoilremaininginthetankisleftexposedtothe
atmosphereafterarupture.Thisisavoidedinamoreeffectivedevice,thepressurereliefvalve,
whichopenstoallowthedischargeofoilifthepressureexceedsthepreadjustedlimit.

Byprovidingthetransformerwithapressurereliefvalve,theoverpressurecanbelimited
toamagnitudeharmlesstothetransformer.

Iftheabnormalpressureisrelativelyhigh,thisspringcontrolledvalvecanoperatewithinafew
millisecondsandprovidefasttrippingwhensuitablecontactsarefitted.Thevalveclosesautomatically
astheinternalpressurefallsbelowacriticallevel.
GobacktoIndex

3.OilLevelMonitorDevice
Transformerswithoilconservator(s)(expansiontank)oftenhaveanoillevelmonitor.Usually,the
monitorhastwocontactsforalarm.Onecontactisformaximumoillevelalarmandtheothercontact
isforminimumoillevelalarm.

Figure6Atypicaloutlookofanoillevelmonitordevice

Thetopoilthermometerhasaliquidthermometerbulbinapocketatthetopofthetransformer.
Thethermometermeasuresthetopoiltemperatureofthetransformer.Thetopoilthermometercan
haveonetofourcontacts,whichsequentiallycloseatsuccessivelyhighertemperature.

Withfourcontactsfitted,thetwolowestlevelsarecommonlyusedtostartfansorpumps
forforcedcooling,thethirdleveltoinitiateanalarmandthefourthsteptotripload
breakersordeenergizethetransformerorboth.

Thefigurebelowshowstheconstructionofacapillarytypetopoilthermometer,wherethebulbis
situatedinapocketsurroundedbyoilontopofthetransformer.Thebulbisconnectedtothe
measuringbellowinsidethemainunitviaacapillarytube.Thebellowmovestheindicatorthrough
mechanicallinkages,resultingintheoperationofthecontactsatsettemperatures.

Figure7Capillarytypeoftopoiltemperaturemeasurementdevice

Thetopoiltemperaturemaybeconsiderablylowerthanthewindingtemperature,especiallyshortly
afterasuddenloadincrease.Thismeansthatthetopoilthermometerisnotaneffectiveoverheating
protection.
However,wherethepolicytowardstransformerslossoflifepermits,trippingontopoiltemperature
maybesatisfactory.Thishastheaddedadvantageofdirectlymonitoringtheoiltemperatureto
ensurethatitdoesnotreachtheflashtemperature.
GobacktoIndex

4.WindingThermometer
Thewindingthermometer,showninthefigurebelow,respondstoboththetopoiltemperatureand
theheatingeffectoftheloadcurrent.

Figure8Capillarytypeofwindingthermometer

Thewindingthermometercreatesanimageofthehottestpartofthewinding.Thetopoil
temperatureismeasuredwithasimilarmethodasintroducedearlier.Themeasurementisfurther
expandedwithacurrentsignalproportionaltotheloadingcurrentinthewinding.
Thiscurrentsignalistakenfromacurrenttransformerlocatedinsidethebushingofthatparticular
winding.Thiscurrentisleadtoaresistorelementinthemainunit.Thisresistorheatsup,andasa
resultofthecurrentflowingthroughit,itwillinitsturnheatupthemeasurementbellow,resultinginan
increasedindicatormovement.

Figure9Topoilthermometerandwindingthermometermainunitsfittedonthesideofa
powertransformer

Thetemperaturebiasisproportionaltotheresistanceoftheelectricheating(resistor)element.
Theresultoftheheatrunprovidesdatatoadjusttheresistanceandtherebythetemperaturebias.
Thebiasshouldcorrespondtothedifferencebetweenthehotspottemperatureandthetopoil
temperature.Thetimeconstantoftheheatingofthepocketshouldmatchthetimeconstantofthe
heatingofthewinding.
Thetemperaturesensorthenmeasuresatemperaturethatisequaltothewindingtemperatureifthe
biasisequaltothetemperaturedifferenceandthetimeconstantsareequal.

Thewindingthermometercanhaveonetofourcontacts,whichsequentiallycloseat
successivelyhighertemperature.

Withfourcontactsfitted,thetwolowestlevelsarecommonlyusedtostartfansorpumpsforforced
cooling,thethirdleveltoinitiateanalarmandthefourthsteptotriploadbreakersordeenergize
thetransformerorboth.
Incaseapowertransformerisfittedwithtopoilthermometerandwindingthermometer,thelatterone
normallytakescareoftheforcedcoolingcontrol.
GobacktoIndex
Reference//DistributionAutomationHandbookABB