Andre Bourgault - GF Syprotec Canada

Power transformers are critical components of electric power systems. Failures, when catastrophic, will generate substantial costs in terms of peripheral equipment destruction and environmental damages. Managing and extending the life of critical power equipment require reliable and continuous monitoring. The early detection of incipient faults in transformers will greatly reduce unplanned power outages and improve the reliability of the power and service supplied to customers. Monitoring a fast-developing fault and evaluating its progress provide the necessary information to marshal all the essential resources to react on time and reduce the overall damages. Monitoring creates the opportunity to strategically plan and schedule outages and to manage equipment utilization and availability. Electrical faults developing in power transformers are always associated with the formation of gases. The large majority of insulation faults will generate gases in a quantity sufficient to be detected by a HYDRAN® instrument. If a serious fault is detected on a transformer but the network operating conditions do not allow the unit to be removed from service, a TRANSFORMER NURSING UNIT® may be the right choice. Case studies for both types of online gas monitoring systems are presented.

Transformer, monitoring, diagnostic, dissolved gas