article · High Voltage
Monitoring transformer insulation condition is vital for electrical utilities, but conventional dissolved gas analysis suffers from limited accuracy during initial degradation, requires specialised interpretation, and cannot provide real-time monitoring. This study evaluates infrared spectroscopy as an alternative diagnostic method for identifying early faults in pure paraffinic mineral oil. Using two custom laboratory test cells, researchers simulated high-energy electrical discharge faults and thermal faults between 300 and 700 degrees Celsius. Six degraded oil samples and an unfaulted control sample were analysed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to monitor chemical changes under each fault condition. Results were cross-checked using conventional dissolved gas analysis and dielectric dissipation factor measurements. The experimental verification showed that the optical technique effectively detected inception faults and demonstrated strong potential as a superior replacement for traditional fault diagnosis methods.
Power transformers are critical grid assets, and unexpected failures can cause massive electrical blackouts. Standard oil monitoring approaches can be slow and require specialist interpretation. Proving that infrared spectroscopy detects early-stage faults improves diagnostic accuracy and could eventually support faster, simpler maintenance practices for power grid operators.
This work is relevant to electrical utilities and condition-monitoring service providers seeking alternatives to manual laboratory gas analysis. As the method has been demonstrated only in laboratory-crafted test cells on mineral oil samples, it remains at an early, applied experimental stage. Substantial engineering development and on-site testing would be required before it could be integrated into commercial diagnostic instruments or real-time substation monitoring systems.
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Abstract Condition monitoring of the insulating system within power transformers has a massive importance according to the electrical utilities. Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) is frequently used for this purpose. However, DGA lacks the necessary level of accuracy to identify all equipment faults, particularly in their initial stages of degradation. Also, it does not have the capability for real‐time monitoring and relies on manual sampling and laboratory testing, causing potential delays in fault identification. Additionally, the interpretation of DGA data necessitates specialised expertise, which may pose difficulties for smaller entities that have limited access to resources. Therefore, the contribution of this research is to use infrared spectroscopy measurements as a new effective technique substituting the DGA method for fault diagnosis in insulating oil. The inception faults that were considered in this study were the electrical fault (discharges of high energy) and the thermal fault (300°C < Temperature < 700°C). Regarding that, two test cells were crafted especially for serving the simulation processes inside the laboratory for both types of inception faults. Subsequently, six samples of pure paraffinic mineral oil were taken to be degraded in the laboratory. Following that, all of them besides another sample that were not subjected to any kind of faults were taken to be examined by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to obtain an overview of the oil's behaviour in each fault case. After that, the FTIR analysis was initially verified utilising the DGA method. Then, for further affirmation, the dielectric dissipation factor (DDF) for all samples was measured. In the final analysis, the verification tests provide experimental evidence about the outperformance of this new optical technique in detecting the transformer's inception faults in addition to proving its potential for being a superior alternative to the well‐known traditional diagnostic techniques.
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DOI: 10.1049/hve2.12405
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