Presentation 2.

Asset Management of Power Transformer Optimization of Operation and Maintenance Costs

Thanapong Suwanasri, The Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering, King Mongkuts University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract
This paper proposes asset management of power transformer in order to diminish operating and maintenance costs. The strategy for the asset management consists of failure statistic analysis, assessment on power transformer condition and importance, and inventory management of power transformer spare part. To determine the critical components and failure causes, the failure statistics of power transformer are analyzed. The failure data is used for estimating lifetime of main power transformer components by Weibull distribution technique. To manage maintenance tasks of power transformer, risk-based maintenance is developed by a combination of condition and importance assessment of each transformer. The condition assessment is performed by analysis of electrical test, insulating oil test and visual inspection. The importance is evaluated from load criticality, impact on system stability, possibility of failure, failure consequence, damage to property, as well as social impact and environmental concern. Subsequently, risk-based maintenance in form of risk matrix is developed for evaluating the risk of each transformer. The transformer with high risk will be focused firstly. To optimize spare parts and minimize inventory cost, inventory management strategies are applied to components of power transformer by using Statistical distribution technique and economic order quantity. Therefore, a suitable time period for reordering and optimum ordering quantity are determined. Besides, computerized webapplication program is developed for practical use. Finally, maintenance of power transformer fleet can be effectively managed. The proposed method will be further applied to other high voltage equipments.

Introduction
Nowadays, the demands on high system reliability, power quality and cost benefits from electrical asset in power system have forced many utilities to focus on the better asset management. To gain more benefit with the limitation of revenue, the cost reduction is now of prime concern, especially maintenance costs. According to high acquisition and maintenance cost as well as catastrophic failure consequences, risk assessment for power transformer should be firstly focused. Power transformer is gradually deteriorated over

chronological time such as shortened lifetime due to oxidation, moisture and temperature, acidity and contamination of insulating oil, seal and gasket deterioration. If the maintenance cannot detect and fix the problem in time, the catastrophic failure will occur, which leads to tremendous damage and outage cost to electric utility. Therefore, high voltage equipment must be maintained its satisfactory operating condition by applying an effective maintenance strategy. Maintenance, availability and reliability are closely related so that a level of maintenance should be specified to ensure an acceptable level of transformer reliability. Maintenance strategies are mainly classified into corrective, preventive, condition-based and risk-based. The preventive maintenance is routine and basic maintenance in fixed intervals for inspections and maintenance. Advantages are lifecycle increasing and fault inception detecting. However, disadvantages are that if some parts of the equipment might be lately maintained, damages might occur before the maintenance. If the parts are too early maintained, it will be expensive due to such maintenance and unnecessary shutdowns. The condition-based maintenance is performed according to its known condition. All major parameters such as diagnostic methods are considered in order to determine the condition with maximized accuracy. Advantages are that the maintenance is done when needed; and costs as well as manpower are saved. Disadvantages are that experienced people and suitable data are required. The risk-based maintenance considers the condition as well as the importance of equipment. It evaluates priority for maintenance actions and ranks the replacement and refurbishment activities. Even if the risk-based maintenance is cost optimizing method based on risk and unnecessary shutdown but disadvantages are complicated for the complex power system with lots of numbers of equipment and data required. However, the riskbased maintenance provides the most accurate actual condition of equipment and the highest system reliability comparing to other maintenance strategies. Therefore, this paper proposes an innovative riskbased maintenance strategy for power transformer in order to maintain the best condition of power transformer. This risk-based maintenance is a formal and systematic method, which includes the condition and importance of power transformer. For condition assessment, several diagnostic tests of

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Presentation 2.2

power transformer components such as windings, insulating oil, bushing, arrester, on-load tap changer, tank and protective devices are evaluated. Similarly for important assessment, different criteria such as loading criticality, impact on system stability, possibility of failure, failure consequence, damage to property, as well as social and environmental impacts are evaluated. The combination of condition and importance criteria creates the risk-based maintenance in form of risk matrix. Then, the risk of each power transformer is evaluated and identified. Subsequently, the maintenance task is effectively managed. To optimize spare parts and minimize inventory cost, inventory management strategies are applied to components of power transformer in ABC classes categorized by using Pareto analysis. Statistical distribution technique comprising Normal and Poisson distributions is applied for Class A items. Economic Order Quantity is applied for Class B items, while two-bin policy is applied for Class C items. Therefore, a suitable time period for reordering and optimum ordering quantity are determined.

Failure statistics
Failure events of power transformers should be systematically recorded and analyzed in order to determine critical components and failure causes. The components of power transformer are classified into seven categories e.g., active part, insulating oil, bushing, arrester, on load tap changer, tank and protective devices. For accurate failure analysis and forecasting as well as aging and reliability assessment, the well-known Weibull distribution method is applied [1]. The three main Weibull parameters are Beta, Eta, and Gamma. Beta parameter () indicates type of failure modes as burn-in, random or wear-out period. Eta parameter () is Weibull characteristic life as a measure of the scale or spread in data distribution. Gamma parameter () is the location parameter indicating the time shift from the origin of the distribution. According to these parameters, Weibull statistical properties in terms of probability distribution, cumulative distribution functions, reliability, failure rate, as well as Mean Time between Failure (MTBF) or expected life time can be calculated as follows.

Probability Distribution Function (PDF) 1 t The asset management process of power t transformer is shown in Fig. 1. Historical test = f (t ) ,t e records are analyze to determine the actual condition of power transformer, while network data is used to evaluate the importance of transformers Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) in the system. The transformer risk is obtained t from combining the condition and the importance. F (t ) = 1 e ,t In addition, economic aspect regarding financial information should be taken into account. Reliability; R(t) Subsequently, the decision with the most cost t effective task can be made; and the asset R (t ) = 1 F (t ) = e ,t management strategies are finally planned appropriately. Failure Rate; (t)
Asset management strategies Asset information Network data

Working Procedure

(t ) =

f (t ) t = R(t )

Condition assessment

Importance assessment

Mean Time between Failures (MTBF)

MTBF = + .[1 +
Financial information Risk management

Economic risk management Optmized maintenance strategies Decisions

1 is the gamma function evaluated at ] the value of [1 + 1 ] .

where [1 + Power transformers in Thailand are mainly used in transmission system as tie-transformer in 500 kV and 230 kV levels; whereas loading transformers are used in 115 kV. Failures and their causes of each main component are calculated and shown as a percentage for tie transformer rated 230/115

Fig. 1 Power transformer asset management

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Presentation 2.3

kV, 200 MVA and loading transformer rated 115/22 kV, 50 MVA. The number of the tie transformer population is 117 units with 30 failure records, whereas a loading transformer population is 186 units with 59 failure records. Thus, the total 89 failure events of 303 power transformers are systematically recorded and analyzed for the critical component and failure causes. The largest proportion of the 200 MVA tie transformer as shown in Fig. 2 is tank with 40%, while the smallest proportion is selfprotective devices or protection with 3.3%. However, active part and arrester have not failed during the last 10 years. For the 50 MVA loading transformers as shown in Fig. 3, the largest proportion is OLTC with 25.4%, while the smallest proportion is insulating oil with 1.7%.

Fig. 4 Database management program It is separated into client and server parts. To achieve the aims of power transformer risk assessment, the historical records of routine diagnosis test and measurement during inspection and overhaul together with visual inspection as well as some technically significant data of electrical network are migrated into database for risk-based maintenance. Key parameters are clearly defined to manage only useful data and prevent duplicated tasks. Database was developed by using Microsoft SQL Server program while JAVA was used as the system programming language for supporting the database, dynamic link library, graphics and visual interface. Database management system was based on access database, which is the connection of access database using Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) to interface between client side and server side. The JAVA Persistence API (JPA) provides an Object Relational Mapping (ORM) facility to Java developers for managing relational data in Java applications. The web application is developed for risk-based assessment for maintenance system of power transformer in order to retrieve the information from database for analyzing and backrecording the data. Then, the condition and importance data of power transformer can be online recorded and analyzed. Web application is created by using Spring MVC framework with JAVA language application.

Fig. 2 Defective components of tie-transformer 230/115 kV, 200 MVA

Fig. 3 Defective components of loading transformer 115/22 kV, 50 MVA

Condition Assessment
To assess the overall condition of power transformer, the condition of transformers component is firstly evaluated. The components include active part as winding and magnetic core, OLTC, bushing, insulating oil, arrester, protective device, and main tank. The condition is calculated in terms of Health Index of Component (HIC) of each component based on the important of test results of diagnostic tests. Subsequently, the percentage of component health index is ranked within the determined intervals in order to indicate the component [2]. The component health index can be interpreted in form of color indicators: green, yellow and red, which stands for good,

Database management
It is necessary to develop a decision support tool for risk-based maintenance of power transformer. The tool consists of database management system for a convenient and systematic data record in the central database server, analytical process and user interface module via web application. Therefore with this decision support tool, the maintenance can be effectively planned. The database management program and software development are presented in Fig. 4.

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Presentation 2.4

suspect and poor conditions, respectively.

Risk Assessment
The risk-based maintenance is an optimized strategy based on risk for unnecessary shutdown, but it is a complicated strategy with lots of data and experienced analyst required [3]. Risk Matrix The risk-based maintenance is created in form of risk matrix from the relationship of condition and importance assessment of power transformer as shown in Fig. 5. In the risk matrix, the condition is classified into three levels that each level is suggested to maintain the tasks as inspection, maintenance and replacement, respectively. Similarly, the importance is also divided into three levels and suggested for corrective maintenance (CM), time-based maintenance (TBM), and lastly time-based maintenance together with condition-based maintenance (TBM+CBM), respectively. Therefore, the risk can be totally differentiated into nine categories. In addition, the risk can be measured by using distance d technique with respect to 45 degree reference line, which specifies the equal weighting between condition and importance. The transformer with longer distance d encounters higher risk and should be firstly maintained. By using this method, the systematic maintenance task of transformer fleet can be scheduled.

and adjust the weighting factor of each criterion according to the actual condition of power transformer.

Fig. 6 Risk of power transformers

Spare Part Management

Pareto diagram is a general method to classify spare parts or item listed in the inventory into A, B, C classes according to the cost of items and amount of usage [4]. Using Pareto analysis in Fig. 7, the components of power transformer can be classified into ABC classes.

Fig. 7 ABC Classes in Pareto Diagram Fig. 5 Risk matrix with maintenance strategy. Class A items are account for 80% of the total inventory cost but about 20% of total inventory items. This class needs a high capital investment and requires a close control. Then it will be ordered based on calculations of the most economic order quantities by using statistical techniques comprising Normal and Poisson distributions [5]. Due to high cost of these items, a minimum safety stock is maintained. The components of power transformer classified as class A are busing, arrester and on-load tap changer. Class B items are account for 20% to 30% of the total cost but about 20% to 30% of total items. Compared to class A, the larger safety stocks may be maintained and do not need a special control.

Risk Assessment for Power Transformers

The risk of total 598 power transformers in 115 kV, 230 kV, and 500 kV Thailands transmission network is assessed based on the condition and importance of individual power transformer. However, the setting of scoring and weighting factor depends on the individual judgement of each utility. The transformers in red and orange zones will be thoroughly investigated to mitigate the risk. The investigation results will be also used to verify

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The class B item of power transformer is insulating oil. Class C items are account for 20% of the total cost but about 80% of total items. This item has the cheapest price and needs a minimal control, e.g. seal, gasket, bolt and nut. After the items are classified into three different ABC classes, different inventory policy has been applied for each class. For class A, it needs a close control and number of spare parts is based on minimum safety stock with acceptable stock availability the statistical distribution techniques are applied to this class. Economic order quantity is usually employed with class B item to minimize inventory cost, while class C item is managed by a simple two-bin policy. The procedure is summarized in Fig. 8.
High voltage equipment Determination of major or critical components and auxiliary components Component classification by Pareto diagram

Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge Transmission System Maintenance as well as Research and Development Division at Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand supporting this work. the the the for

Literature
[1] Jongen, R.; Gulski, E.; Smit, J.; Statistical analysis of diagnostic and life time data of high voltage components, Power Engineering International Conference, IPEC 2007. Brian Sparling; SMIEEE; Jacques Aubin; Determination of Health Index for Aging Transformers in View of Substation Asset Optimization, Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis, Japan G. Balzer; K. Bakic; H.-J. Haubrich; C. Neumann; C. Schorn; Selection of an Optimal Maintenance and Replacement Strategy of H.V. Equipment by a Risk Assessment Process, Cigre Session B-103, 2006 Waters D., Inventory Control and Management, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2003. D. Louit, R. Pascual, D. Banjevic, Optimization Models for Critical Spare Parts Inventories Reliability Approach, Journal of the Operational Research Society, 2010.

[2]

[3]

Class A

Class B

Class C

Statistical distribution techniques

Economic order quantity

Two bin policy

[4] Fig. 8 Spare Part Classification and Inventory Control Method [5]

Conclusion
The condition-based maintenance strategy of power transformer management is achieved by the condition evaluation using scoring and weighting technique, which is verified by accessing the actual condition of transformer. The importance of each transformer in the network is also assessed. The combination of condition and importance develops the risk-based maintenance in form of risk matrix. Since there are a large number of power transformers in the utility network, the computerized web-application program was developed as a tool to facilitate the maintenance tasks. In this paper, only 19 transformers are presented as examples. The obtained risk of each transformer is useful information for risk-based maintenance. Moreover, the spare part management by classifying the component into 3 classes with different inventory policy is proposed. Therefore, the effective maintenance tasks can be setup, which results in high availability, low risk of failure, lower overall maintenance costs and ability to extend the useful lifetime. Finally, this method can be applied for other high voltage equipment in the system.

Authors
Thanapong Suwanasri received his B.Eng. from King Mongkuts Institute of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand in 1993, M.Sc. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY, USA in 1995 and Dr.-Ing. in High Voltage Technology from RWTH Aachen University, Germany in 2006, all degrees in electrical engineering. Currently he is an Assistant Professor and Head of Electrical and Software System Engineering department at the Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering (TGGS), King Mongkuts University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand. His research interest includes power transformer, power circuit breaker, asset management, condition based maintenance and maintenance strategy.

OMICRON electronics Asia Limited 2013 Conference on Electrical Power Equipment Diagnostics, Asia-Pacific