PAC history

70

History is the tutor of life

115/21/10,5-kV-Transformer, 40/20/20 MVA, EBG or 400/110 kV Transformer ALSTOM

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by Walter Schossig

Protection

71

History

Transformers are the most expensive assets

in the substation.

Transformers and its Protection

According to the patents of Kroly Zipernowski, Miksa Dri
and Ott Blth, the first transformers were produced in 1885
by the company Ganz & Co.. They were small alternating
current ring-transformers or shell-form transformers. The
magnetic circuit was closed jointless. The patentees used the
word "transformer" for the first time.
Five years later Dolivo-Dobrowolsky invented the
3-phase-transformer. A new, improved A.C.-system for
"3-times diametric voltage" was his intention. A paper
published in the German ETZ in 1891 "Transmission of force
with alternating currents in different phases [rotating current]"
includes the first usage of the German word "Drehstrom" for
"rotating current". This paper has been translated into different
languages and since then the term rotary currents has been
accepted. To use oil for isolation purposes was proposed
by Schwinburne in 1889. The company "Maschinenfabrik
Oerlikon" (Switzerland) delivered in 1889 the first
transformers for the utility EW Reichenhall (Germany).
With the new century several companies started to
produce high power and high voltage transformers. SiemensSchuckertwerke transformers with 12500 kVA (shell-form)
and Westinghouse's 100 kV are examples of leading edge

Biography

Transformer
Protection
Next Steps
transformers at this time. With the invention of transformers,
the development of transmission grids could start. Rapidly
increasing demand for power forced this development in the
1920's. Huge transmission grids have been connected, the
amplitudes of the short-circuit current reached substantial
values, several failures in windings occurred. Due to the
dynamic impact of the initial symmetrical short-circuit
currents windings, arresters and bushing broke down.
Short-circuit proof windings have been developed later.
First Protection Devices for Transformers
The lack of protection devices resulted in fires and
blackouts. The fuse, invented by Blathy,O.T. (Germany)
and the American Wurts, A., in 1890 ("cell fuse") allowed
fast interruption of the short circuit. At first the fusible link
was sufficient for the protection of lines, generators and
transformers. It starts operating if the current at the location
of a fault was higher than the nominal values. This works fine
in case of small nominal values. With the increasing nominal
values of power this was not sufficient anymore, leading to the
development of tripping devices and relays.
The first switchgears have been "air-arm-"; mercuryand tube-breakers. First oil circuit breakers with fuses have
been proposed in 1895. Brown,C.E.L., BBC, proposed in the

PAC.WINTER.2009

Walter Schossig
(VDE) was born
in Arnsdorf (now
Czech Republic) in
1941. He studied
electrical engineering in Zittau
(Germany), and
joined a utility in
the formerEastern
Germany.After the
German reunion
the utility was
renamed as TEAG,
now E.ON Thueringer Energie AG in
Erfurt. There he received his Masters
degree andworked
as a protection
engineer until his
retirement. He was
a member of many
study groups and
associations. He is
an active member
of the working
group Medium
Voltage Relaying
at the German
VDE. He is the
author of several
papers, guidelines
and the book
Netzschutztechnik
[Power System Protection]. He works
on a chronicle
about the history
of electricity supply, with emphasis
on protection and
control.

1 Thermal

models with:

Thermostat or quicksilver
remote thermometer
(left) or
Platinum-resistance
Thermometer (right),
alongside Protective pipe

companys headquarters "Porta Volta" in Milan in 1897 to put

the 5 kV circuit breaker directly into an oil drum. This test was
performed successfully, and so a new 16 kV breaker was built
for Paderno in the same year.
Kalamazoo's survey in 1901 showed the predominance
of oil breakers. The first 2 kV oil-circuit breakers (50 A) with
direct release was produced in 1902 by S & H. Brown, C.E.L.,
BBC, applied in 1902 for a patent on current-dependent
timing relay (D.R.P. Nr. 143556). The heating of the
transformer was supervised with thermal relays - a good base.
Thermal Relays
To utilize transformers efficiently, short overloads have to
be accepted (up to a multiple of nominal values). To achieve
this permanent supervision of the heating of the transformer
is necessary in order to avoid aging of the windings and their
isolation. The German utility Ostpreuenwerk tested thermal
relays (v. Wiarda) with transformers in 1928. The idea was to
clarify how the oil absorbs the heating and releases it.
In 1930 V.M.Montsinger investigated the behavior of
isolating material at higher temperatures. He demonstrated
the coherence of the aging of paper-oil isolation systems. The
rating life will be cut in half if the temperature of the asset
increases with an amount of 8 Kelvin above the maximum
operating temperature ("8-K-formula"). To avoid exceeding
the temperature of 115 C in supervised substations, these
devices are set up with a value of 80 C (warning) and 90 C
(trip) (Fig. 3).
Due to difficulties in measuring the temperature of the
windings directly, a thermal model emulates the winding
temperature. This thermal relay is outside the transformer
and closes a contact at a certain level of temperature. Bimetals
are used for thermal replicas of motors, generators and
transformer windings. An example is a bimetal relay produced
by SSW in 1932 (Fig. 2).
Another example is OERLIKON's Limitherm- Relays (Type
BIT, 1950) (Fig. 4) which is equipped with a bimetal tripping
device in a "thermal block". This device allows delay times
between 15 and 80 minutes. Due to safety reasons the delay
time was selected smaller to ensure that the temperature of the

3 Estimation of residual lifetime

2 Bimetal relay, SSW, 1932

4 Limitherm - relays, BiT, OERLIKON, 1950

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operating condition

PAC history

72

overload
rated load

new

Residual
Lifetime
actual age

expected
lifetime

winding is not going to reach a critical value. The calculated

temperature was higher than the real one. A compensating
winding considers ambient temperature.
The thermal models could be used to protect against
overload. The difference to previously mentioned thermal
relays was especially that these devices are dipped into
the isolation oil - now the functionality depends on the
temperature of the oil. The higher the temperature, the earlier
the device will trip. Of course this takes into account the
changes of temperature of oil - at lower temperatures a higher
load is possible. An advantage of these thermal models was
that it only considers the difference of temperature between
winding and oil, but not between oil and air. The thermal
replica of the winding was mounted on protective pipes that
have been dipped into the oil (Fig.1 - Thermal Models with
Thermostat or Quicksilver Remote Thermometer (bottom)
or with Platinum-Resistance Thermomenter (up), alongside
Protective Pipe).
Measurement and supervision was the task of a
thermostat, a resistive element with measuring instrument
for measurement of temperature or the quicksilver remote
thermometer. The thermostat was used for annunciation of
an increased winding temperature. Well known are "stick
thermometers", system "Horn".
Oil-air cooling systems have been equipped with oil flow
controllers that immediately detect the failure of an oil pump.

73

Max Buchholz figured out

that the big heat of the arc
destroys insulation
material and
delivers gas.
This was necessary because the rough walls of the tank do not
get even the capability to purge no-load losses for a longer
time. Without a circulating pump, these transformers had to
be switched off as fast as possible. Very important stations have
been equipped with two circulating pumps for safety reasons.
They have been connected in parallel with stop valves.
A typical example for overload protection for oil
transformers is the thermal relay RN1-CIT (Fig. 7) by
SPRECHER ENERGIE (1992). This device was a combination
of statical overcurrent protection with immediate tripping
and thermal overload. The part "T" contains a special circuit
that models warming and cooling of the transformer using the
voltage proportional to the current. It contains two delay times
which could be set up in such a manner that the behavior of
the transformer could be modeled. Now the transformer was
safely protected against overheating. The short time delay
(5 min) was for high overcurrents; the longer one for small
overcurrents (temperature of oil). The nominal currents of the
current transformers had to be adapted to the nominal current
of the transformer. This device could be used in small stations
without batteries as well. It could be supplied by AC with its
tripping capacitor and trip with the measurement transformer
current. Mechanical bi-stable indicators showed the indication
even in the case of loss of power supply.
Buchholz Protection and Relays for Supervision of
Oil
Using oil for transformer isolation was an important
milestone in the development of transformers. Implementing
expansion tanks (since 1910) decreases the aging of

transformer oil. These devices were at first mounted on the

wall (Fig.5) and later above the tank. Change of volume in case
of change of load or change of temperature could be adjusted.
Since it was possible to adapt the overcurrent protection to
local needs, there still remains the disadvantage that at the fault
location the current has to be bigger than the nominal current
of the apparatus.
Additionally, for selectivity reasons, the time delay was
very long near the source and in some complicated cases the
system was not usable. Overcurrent protection was only
used for assets, where the impact of electric arcs was limited
- for instance at transmission lines. This is different for
transformers. The material selected is not robust and the value
of the asset is very high.
If a transformer is separated from the grid in case of a
thunderstorm, it does not show on the outside if it is damaged
or not. Until the 1920's it was the decision of the operator
whether to switch the asset on after a failure. This was more
a decision depending on the character of the operator and less
on his knowledge. If he was a careful guy, he would take the
transformer out of service and start opening and disassembling
it. After two or three days he would learn that the transformer
is OK or damaged. This wastes a lot of time if the transformer
was without damage. Some brave engineers decided to switch
on the transformer without approval - it could happen that the
transformer explodes.
Ma x Buchholz (Fig.6), while working in the
Elektrizittsamt Kassel (Germany) later Preussische
Kraftwerke AG examined transformer damages. He figured
out that the big heat of the arc destroys insulation material and
delivers gas. What to do with this important, but rudimental
awareness was probably unclear to Buchholz at this time. Some
say that an experience in the bath tub was helpful for him. He
performed the first experiments in his son's aquarium. The
idea was to lead the gas bubbles under the transformer cover to
an appropriate place. There the quality and quantity of the gas
can be estimated. After a lot of trials he found the solution. The
gas could be collected with a light inclination of the cover. A
disposed pipe should lead the gas to the expansion tank. Here

5 A Buchholz relays in a 6 1875-1956 7 Transformer protection

separated expansion tank

Max Buchholz,

RN1-CIT, Sprecher Energie, 1992

8 Buchholz
relay,

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1925

PAC history

74

9 Buchholz relay, SSW, 1927

The Buchholz protection

is the first device that does
not detect the difference of
a current, voltage or power
from a certain level.

its color could be observed. In case of an explosion the huge

amount of gas produces a blast wave. Color and Quantity of
the gas could be estimated outside the expansion tank, it could
be checked if it is flammable or not. This was sufficient to
decide what happened in the transformer. Buchholz received
his first patent in 1921(DRP 386629)- and his name is the
name of the device until today.
The Buchholz protection is the first device that does not
detect the difference of a current, voltage or power from a
certain level - this device uses mechanical action. Now the

changes in the quality of oil could be detected easily and very

early. The company Max Buchholz AG was founded in Kassel
and later Elektrokustos AG was established in Zurich. These
two companies have been responsible for the sales outside
Germany. The main business was the production under license
at AEG and Siemens in Berlin and at Micafil in Zurich for BBC.
Figures 8; 9 and 10 show Buchhol- relays made in the 1920's.
The Buchholz relay (some non German speaking countries
use the name Buchholtz or Buchhulz) was produced in 3
varieties (1, 2 and 3 inches). This was a possibility to diversify
the price according to the size of the transformer.
In the mid 20's the lower floater was realized in such a
manner that even in case of strong flow the floater moves
the connected contact. Experience had shown that in case
of serious failures, the time from creation of the gas bubbles
until reaching the relay was too long to limit the danger of
destroying the transformer. In the mid 30's the lower floater
was connected to a flow flap to achieve a higher sensitivity
on flow. Tests performed by AEG with the BEWAG (Berlin)
showed that the startup speed was 100 cm/s. After 1945
Buchholz relays with small height have been developed and
standardized in DIN 42566 in 1961.
In 1934 Konrad Tuber proposed to implement a throttle
control in the pipe between the tank and the expansion tank.
If the temperature of the gas increases, the increase of pressure
could be measured and a warning or tripping provided. A
simple principle of the Tuberprotection is shown in Fig. 11.
This differential pressure measuring device measured the
dynamic pressure (due to flow of oil) and the static pressure

10 Buchholz relay, AEG, 1927

11 Tuber protection principle, 1934

Buchholz

2
3

received his
first patent
DRP 386629,

in 1921.

1 Measuring Orifice 2 Pressure Chamber

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3 Differential Pressure

75

12

(due to oil on the installation location). The Esti-cartridge

"Electronic Buchholz relay" University
should be mentioned. It consists of a small crystal ball with a Hannover, Messko and SIEMENS, 1998
mandrel. Apart from a small gas bubble the ball is filled with
a liquid which expands during a raise in temperature and
compresses the gas bubble until the inner overpressure blasts
the ball at a certain level of temperature and trips a contact.
This device was built into a thermometer case.
After transformer explosions in the USA Dann, Walter.M.
und Hill, Leland,H., at Westinghouse (US Patent 1605026)
developed a pop valve for rise of pressure in 1927.
After false tripping of the Buchholz relay during earth
tremors or start of oil circulating pumps several further
developments started. Aigner (Germany) reported a new
development in 1960- a shock-proof Buchholz device (up to
1 g). Reliability discussions in the 1960's proposed redundant
Buchholz relays (in series). Failures above the transformer
cap should be detected by fast differential protection. At
the Hannover Fair 1998 an "electronic Buchholz protection"
was presented by the University of Hannover, Messko and
SIEMENS (Fig. 12). Huge transformers are equipped with
further Buchholz relays, e.g. for bushings (Fig. 13).
Differential Protection
Transformer, 400/120/32 kV, 300/300/60
The last issues of PAC World covered in detail the
"differential protection story". To mention again the first MVA, YN yn 0 d5
application in South Africa at Victoria Falls and Transvaal
ALSTOM
Power Co. Ltd. in 1908 (plant Brakpan 6 MW and 3x3,75
and 2x4,5-MVA-Transformers, 40/10 and 2/10 kV)
transformer,
1909/10 (Simmerpan, 18 MW and 3x3,75 and 4x4,5-MVAtransformers, 40/10 and 2/10,5 kV); 1911 (Rosherville, 68
with Buchholz
MW and 5x12,5 and 2x4-MVA-transformers, 5/42 and
20/42 kV) and 1912 (Vereeniging, 44 MW and 2x12,5 and
main tank,
4x9-MVA-transformers, 5/42 kV).
Petersen coils have been used for zero sequence current
diverter
compensation since 1930 (Fig. 14). The special case of a
differential protection of a Scott-circuit transformer is shown
switch and
in Figure 15
Bushings.
Residual current elimination during the grounding of
the transformer's star point was realized with interposing
transformers with delta windings or with a filter in numerical
relays. The disadvantage of this solution was a reduced
Double pole differential
Differential protection
sensitivity for single phase short circuit current by a value of protection with Petersen coil
with Scott-circuit
2/3. Transformer failures are more critical because the startup
value decrease is not linear (Fig. 16).
A solution for this issue was the Restricted Earthfault
Protection (REF) that allows a more sensitive setup. In
English speaking countries the high-impedance principle
for measurement is quite popular. This is not valid for the
German speaking countries where REF and low-impedance
principle do not play a major role. One of the reasons is the use
of Petersen coils in the neutral-point connection in the grids
with voltages less then 110 kV. Due to this, the unbalanced
residual current is quite small.
In 1992 SPRECHER Energie developed a static differential
relay RN1-DT (Fig. 17) that allows usage without interposing
transformers for adaptation of transformers ratio and vector
group (except for YNyn0 and YNyn6 solid earthed).

13

14

15

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PAC history

76

16

Zero sequence differential protection

(REF), OERLIKON, 1954

The 1941 AIEE Transactions paper "Prolonged Inrush

Currents with Parallel Transformers Affect Differential
Relay" by Hayward,C.D. discusses the "sympathetic inrush"
phenomena. This happens very seldom and maybe due to
this the experts sometimes have no idea what happened when
sometimes during switching on of one transformer another
transformer (in operation) trips.
Frame Ground Protection
Differential protection does not work well in grids with
isolated star point or utilizing Petersen coils due to the small
currents in case of an earth fault. The isolated assembly of a
transformer and a current transformer with connected overcurrent protection, is known as a frame ground protection (See
Figure 18).
In 1947 the French EdF decided to avoid using differential
relays for transformer protection. Frame ground protection
combined with Buchholz was selected as the solution. This was
discarded later on.
German Rail for instance still uses as default solution for
protection of their 110/15-kV-transformers (16,7 Hz) Buchholz- , differential and frame ground protection relays.

17 Differential relays RN1-DT, Sprecher

Energie, 1992

Overcurrent and Distance Protection

Overcurrent and later more and more distance protection
is used as a backup protection for the Buchholz and the
differential protection, as a busbar protection or as a backup
protection of a line protection on the lower and higher voltage
winding. In 1934 Walter,M., AEG, proposed to extend the
overcurrent protection with a high-current stage and created a
fast backup protection for a big part of the transformer. This is
also possible with a distance protection on the higher-voltage
winding.
In several countries distance protection with raised tripping
time is also used to utilize a busbar protection in transformer
feeders. This is a fast backup protection for faults on the line
as well. Magyar Trszt Budapest (Hungary) developed in
1974 a stand-alone backup protection AZT. This overcurrent
protection was located directly on the transformer that is
why the connecting wires are very short. Redundancy was
guaranteed as far as possible by connecting to the measuring
core of the current transformer and to a second coil of the
circuit breaker.
The power supply of the relay and the tripping was realized
with the higher-voltage current transformer using energy
stored in a capacitor. The operating time was dependent on
the pre-load and the type of failure.
Transformer Protection Applications
The application of transformer protection depends on
multiple factors and has changed significantly through the
years with the changes of both transformer and protection
technologies. It is also affected by the philosophy of the users,
the importance of the substation where the equipment is
located and the available resources.
Different national and international industry organizations
had produced guidelines on the application of transformer
protection which will be covered together with the protection
of unit transformers in power plants in a later issue of PAC
World.

walter.schossig@pacw.org
www.walter-schossig.de

18 Frame ground protection

3
1 Current Transformer

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2 Relay

3 Ground