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Presentation 18.

1
OMICRON electronics Asia Limited 2013 Conference on Electrical Power Equipment Diagnostics
Diagnostic and Condi ti on Assessment of High Voltage Instrument
Transformer i n TNB Substati on

Mohd Aizam Talib, A.Sufian.A.Bakar, S.Gobi Kannan


Abstract
Determining the incipient faults in high voltage
apparatus is important because failure can occur
without warning and result in damage to adjacent
equipment, personnel injures, customer
dissatisfaction and disruption to economic activity.
The failure of several high voltage instrument
transformers during in-service prompted Tenaga
Nasional Berhad (TNB) to identify more effective
diagnostic tools to predict insulation breakdowns.

This paper presents the techniques that are
currently being used by TNB to determine the
condition of in-service high voltage instrument
transformer in TNB Transmission substation.
Presently, TNB is using various off-line and on-line
diagnostic techniques to verify the condition of in-
service instrument transformers such as off-line
power factor (or dissipation factor) and capacitance
measurement, dielectric response analysis and on-
line partial discharge analysis. In this paper, the
results of dissipation factor, dielectric response and
partial discharge tests that have been carried out
on in-service high voltage instrument transformers
are presented.

Introducti on
High voltage instrument transformers form an
integral part of the power utility control circuits to
monitor load currents and voltages for protection
and measurement purposes. The instrument
transformers are inherently reliable devices that
have relatively low cost. There is a drive, however,
to implement appropriate condition monitoring for
the large number of these components installed in
modern transmission systems as concern arises
over the disruptive effects of violent failure through
expelled porcelain, especially damage to adjacent
equipment and danger to personnel.

Currently, the routine maintenance applied for high
voltage instrument transformer is visual inspection
and cleaning of the porcelain, besides tightening
the connection when hot spots are detected.
However, these only provide partial information
about the condition of in-service instrument
transformer and the utility must monitor the
condition of the HV insulation to detect abnormal
degradation. [1,2,3]

In order to guarantee the reliability of in-service
instrument transformers, beside the normal routine
maintenance, TNB is using various off-line and on-
line diagnostic techniques to verify the condition of
instrument transformers such as off-line power
factor (or dissipation factor) and capacitance
measurement, dielectric response analysis and on-
line partial discharge analysis. The condition
assessment of in-service instrument transformer
has allowed TNB to determine the reliability of
aged units, planning for the replacement, improved
maintenance practices and better asset utilization.
The result of a large number of instrument
transformers also has helped TNB to prioritize
resource commitments.

Diagnostic of In-Service
Instrument Transformers
The deterioration and contamination of the
insulation system is one of the possible causes of
instrument transformer failures. Even the insulation
in instrument transformer is designed to withstand
both the steady state and transient electrical
stresses; however, over time the insulation will
degrade due to breakdown in the insulation
characteristics of the overall insulating media. This
will greatly affect the performance and operation of
the instrument transformers. To prevent these
failures, it is important that the condition of the
instrument transformer to be monitored so that the
units can be repaired or replaced before they fail.
Other than basic routine maintenance, TNB has
used non-intrusive diagnostic and monitoring tools
to assess the internal condition of the in-service
instrument transformers.
Power Factor Testing
The measurement of the dissipation power factor
or dielectric loss is an important source data in
monitoring the condition of the instrument
transformers. Good insulation usually has a very
low loss and increase in dielectric loss may
indicate problems in the insulation structure.
Generally, the insulation dissipation factor is the
ratio of the resistive current to the capacitive
current under an applied AC voltage, and power
factor is the ratio of current to the total current flow
through the insulation as illustrated in Figure 1.
Presentation 18.2
OMICRON electronics Asia Limited 2013 Conference on Electrical Power Equipment Diagnostics
Both quantites are very similar for most
applications involving high voltage insulation [4].











Fig. 1 Vector diagram of power factor testing

The 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%. A meaningful evaluation also includes
comparison to previous test results and periodic
measurement during the service life of the
instrument transformer can indicate either the
insulation is aging normally or deteriorating rapidly.
Dielectric Response Measurement
The dielectric response method is a useful tool to
estimate moisture and evaluate the ageing state of
oil-paper insulation systems. The technique either
in frequency domain, frequency dielectric
spectroscopy (FDS) measurements or time
domain, polarization depolarization current (PDC)
and recovery voltage measurement (RVM) are
initially used to assess condition of power
transformers, but can also be applied to other oil-
paper/pressboard insulation like bushings, cables
or instrument transformers [5,6]. The different
effects about the insulation condition, moisture in
solid insulation and oil conductivity can be
determined from the wide range measurements in
time (1s to 10000s) and frequency (1mHz to 1 kHz)
[7,8], as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3
respectively.










Fig. 2 Dielectric response in frequency domain










Fig. 3 Dielectric response in time domain

Figure 4. shows a typical measurement circuitry for
instrument transformer i.e. Current Transformer
(CT). The test is done between HV termination and
secondary winding or tank [9]. To avoid
nonsensical results and to obtain healthy and
successful measurement, the ground reference of
the dielectric response analyser should have the
same potential as the ground terminal of the CT,
and in some cases a guarding connection is
required from the top terminal of the CT to the
ground terminal to prevent any surface leakage
current.








Fig. 4 Dielectric response measurement setup for
Current Transformer (CT)

On-line Partial Discharge Measurement
Under normal operating voltages, the deterioration
of insulation or presence of any defect in the
insulation system will cause incipient discharges or
partial discharges and release of certain amount of
energy in the form of burst or impulsive pulses that
radiate in all directions from the discharging source
[10,11]. The signal generated can be detected
using electrical method by placing the high
frequency current transformr (HFCT) at the
grounding terminal of the units. The external
disturbance pulses which are not correlated to the
partial discharge activities can be excluded in the
analysis either through external hardware gating or
software filtering system [12]. Figure 5. shows the
measurement setup used to detect partial
discharge activities in high voltage instrument
transformers.

V - Applied voltage
IT =Total current
IR =Resistive current
IC =Capacitive current
Dissipation factor (tangent ) - IR/IC
Power factor (cosine ) - IR/IT
Presentation 18.3
OMICRON electronics Asia Limited 2013 Conference on Electrical Power Equipment Diagnostics












Fig. 5 Test circuit for on-line partial discharge detection
on current transformers

Fiel d Measurement Resul ts
A case study of dielectric dissipation factor,
dielectric response measurement and on-line
partial discharge testing on selected instrument
transformer at site were presented in this paper.
The findings demonstrated that the condition of in-
service instrument transformers can be assessed
and monitored using these diagnostic tools.
Power Factor and Dielectric Response
Measurement
During normal routine testing maintenance, it was
found that the blue phase of 132kV instrument
transformers has higher dielectric dissipation factor
value as compared to other phases. The measured
of the loss angle were 0.5913% for red phase,
0.5704% for yellow phase and 6.5288% for blue
phase. A detailed investigation was carried out
using Frequency Dielectric Spectroscopy (FDS)
measurement in order to determine the possible
causes. The dielectric response of the respective
units is shown in Figure 6.











Fig. 6 Dielectric spectroscopy response of the
instrument transformers

The higher response at lower and higher frequency
ranges on blue phase of the instrument
transformer indicated that the unit has higher
moisture content. The estimated moisture content
in the instrument transformers is approximately
2.4% at red phase, 2.6% at yellow phase and 4.3%
at blue phase. The decision was to replace the unit
in order to avoid any catastrophic failure in the
future.

On-line Partial Discharge Measurement
Preliminary work in the laboratory using this
technique showed encouraging results. A research
using insulating pressboard paper sample
immersed in oil under different artificial faults
condition demonstrated that high frequency current
transformer (HFCT) clamp on the ground
connection is able to detect generated discharge
signal. The experimental test set-up and example
of the partial discharge signal due to void in the
pressboard sample is shown in Figure 7 and
Figure 8 respectively.












Fig. 7 Laboratory experimental test set-up










Fig. 8 Phase resolved PD pattern of void inside the
pressboard sample.

Presently, the on-line partial discharge
measurement is being conducted on several in-
service instrument transformers at TNB
transmission substation with the objectives to
establish the partial discharge pattern and its
magnitude level. Figure 9 shows the test
HFCT
fibre optical cable
BNC
Cable
Analysis
software
Instrument
Transformer
under test
USB 2.0
B
a
t
t
e
r
y

HV Source
Test Vessel HFCT
MPD600
Presentation 18.4
OMICRON electronics Asia Limited 2013 Conference on Electrical Power Equipment Diagnostics
connection of on-line partial discharge
measurement at site.















Fig. 9 On-line PD measurement of in-service 132kV oil-
filled high voltage current transformer

Figure 10 and Figure 11 shows an example of the
phase resolved PD pattern of the current
transformer installed in the substation with low and
high PD level. It was found that the level was
around 100pC for unit with low PD activities and
800pC for unit with higher PD activities.











Fig. 10 PD pattern for instrument transformer with low
PD activity










Fig. 11 PD pattern for instrument transformer with high
PD activity
Concl usi ons
The condition of the insulation system of the
instrument transformer can be accurately assessed
by various off-line and on-line diagnostic
measurements. Other than traditional dielectric
dissipation factor testing, TNB has employed
advanced diagnostic dielectric response
measurement and on-line partial discharge testing
as parts of their condition based maintenance
strategies. This has allowed TNB to determine the
condition of in-service instrument transformers and
assess the reliability of aged units, and planning
for the replacement to avoid catastrophic failures
from occuring.

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge the support
of TNB for funding the research work and
Transmission Division of TNB for their assistance
during on-site measurement.

References
[1] Sokolov, V.; Bulgakova, V.; Berler, Z (2001),
Assessment Of Power Transformer Insulation
Condition, Electrical Insulation Conference
and Electrical manufacturing & Coil Winding
Conference , pp. 605-613
[2] J A Lapworth, P N J arman and I R Funnel1
(1995), Condition Assessment Techniques
For Large Power Transformers, 2nd
International Conference on the Reliability of
Transmission and Distribution Equipment, pp
85-90
[3] Wang, M.; Vandermaar, A.J .; Srivastava, K.D.
(2002), Review Of Condition Assessment Of
Power Transformer In Service , IEEE
Electrical Insulation Magazine, Vol 18, Issue 6,
page 12-25
[4] IEEE C62-1995: IEEE Guide for Diagnostic
Field Testing of Electric Power Apparatus Part
1: Oil Filled Power Transformers, Regulators,
and Reactors
[5] Fourmigue, J .-M.; Parpal, J .-L.; Seguin, J .-N.
(1992), Dielectric Spectroscopy of XLPE
Cable Insulation: Comparison Between Time
Domain And Frequency-Domain Methods,
IEEE International Conference on Conduction
and Breakdown in Solid Dielectric, pp 235-240
[6] Farahani, M.; Borsi, H.; Gockenbach, E.
(2004), Dielectric Spectroscopy in Time and
Frequency Domain on Insulation System of
High Voltage Rotating Machines, IEEE
International Conference on Solid Dielectric,
pp. 60-63
HFCT
MPD600
External
hardware
gating
Presentation 18.5
OMICRON electronics Asia Limited 2013 Conference on Electrical Power Equipment Diagnostics
[7] Walter S. Zaengl (2003), Dielectric
Spectroscopy in Time and Frequency Domain
for HV Power Equipment, Part I: Theoretical
Considerations, IEEE Electrical Insulation
Magazine, Vol 19, Issue 5, page 5-19
[8] Gafvert, U.; Adeen, L.; Tapper, M.; Ghasemi,
P.; J onsson, B. (2000), Dielectric
Spectroscopy in Time and Frequency Domain
Applied to Diagnostics of Power
Transformers, IEEE 6th International
Conference on Properties and Applications of
Dielectric Materials , pp 825-830
[9] Stephanie Raetzke,Alan McGuigan
(2011),Measuring and Analysing the Dielectric
Response of Current Transformer, OMICRON
Product Manual, v1.0
[10] B.R.Varlow, D.W.Auckland, C.D.Smith and
J .Zhao (1999), Acoustic Emission Analysis of
High Voltage Insulation, IEEE Proceeding on
Science Measurement Technology, Vol 146,
Issue 5, pp 260-263
[11] V.R. Garcia-Colon, R.Lifih-Garcia and M.A.
J acob (2004), On-line Condition Assessment
of High Voltage Current Transformers, IEEE
International Symposium on Electrical
Insulation, pp 182-185
[12] OMICRON MPD600 Product User Manual,
Version AE2

About the Author
Mohd Aizam Talib received
his Bachelor in Electrical
Engineering from the
University of Portsmouth, UK
in 1997, and Master degree in
Electrical Engineering from
Universiti Tenaga Nasional
(UNITEN), Malaysia in 2001.
Upon graduation in 1997, he
worked with ABB Transmission and Distribution
Sdn Bhd as a Design Engineer. Since 1998, he
has been employed by TNB Research Sdn Bhd as
a Research Engineer. His research interests are in
transformer condition monitoring, insulation
diagnostic and dielectric measurements. Presently,
he is Senior Researcher at High Voltage
Diagnostic Research Group, TNB Research Sdn
Bhd.







Abu Sufian Abu Bakar
received his Bachelor in
Electrical Engineering from the
Universiti Tenaga Nasional
(UNITEN), Malaysia in 2009.
Upon graduatiaon, he worked
with TNB Research Sdn Bhd
as a Test Engineer at High
Voltage Testing Laboratory. His
research interests are in transformer condition
monitoring, insulation diagnostic and dielectric
measurements. Now, he is pursuing Masters
degree in Electrical Engineering at Universiti
Tenaga Nasional.


Gobi K. Supramaniam was
born in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, in 1977. He obtained
his BSc degree in electrical
engineering with Cum Laude
from Western Michigan
University, Michigan, USA in
1999 and Masters Degree in
power engineering from
Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Selangor,
Malaysia in 2008. He has worked with the
Malaysian Electricity Utility Company (TNB) since
1999, being in charge of operations and
maintenance works on high voltage substation
installations in the transmission division. Currently,
he is the Technical Expert in charge of EHV
Transformers, looking specifically on new
technology studies and improvements in power
and instrument transformer design and diagnostic
improvements in TNB System.

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