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Thermally Upgraded Insulation in Transformers

Thomas A. Prevost, Member IEEE EHV Weidmann Industries Inc. Abstract- This paper will review the development of thermally upgraded paper. It will discuss the various chemical modifications developed and give the current processes used today. It will review current standards activities which deal with thermally upgraded insulation systems and their impact on the recommended loading practices of transformers. It will also review the effect of thermal upgraded insulations on diagnostic techniques such as gas-in oil analysis of furanic compounds and their indication of insulation degradation. Finally recent aging tests will be presented which correlate aging rates as a function of the degree of thermal upgrading measured by the nitrogen content of the paper.
1. INTRODUCTION

The life of a transformer is limited to the life of its solid insulation. For most mineral oil filled transformers the solid insulation material used is cellulose. In the late 1950's several transformer manufacturers introduced thermally upgraded cellulose insulation. In 1962 the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) officially recognized the improved insulation in standard TR- 1-1962 by establishing another temperature rise limit of 65 C for oil-immersed transformers using treated paper. Prior to that the norm was a 55 C average winding rise transformer. This additional 10 degrees allowed the manufacturer to increase the load by 12%. The use of thermally upgraded insulation became the norm in transformers by the mid 1960's with most units rated at 65 C rise. It should be noted that at that time there were no industry standards to qualify the treated insulation for the new rating.(l)
The thermal limit of transformer windings is the insulation on the conductor at the winding hot spot. The average winding rise is calculated as follows:

developed a system called Thermecel. General Electric developed a system called Permalex. Westinghouse developed a system called Insuldur. Although 65 C rise transformers have been referenced in the IEEE transformer standards there has not, up until now, been a requirement written into C57.12.00 "Standard General Requirements for LiquidImmersed Distribution, Power, and Regulating Transformers" for verification of a thermally upgraded insulation system for 65 C rise transformers. (2) The IEEE transformers committee has started this standards process. The first step was to develop a definition for thermally upgraded paper. This definition was officially approved by the Insulation Life Subcommittee during the Spring 2004 meeting in San Diego. The next step is to include wording in C57.12.00 for the requirement of thermally upgraded insulation. The requirement must be concise enough to assure the user that he is getting the insulation system which he expects while being flexible enough so as not to put un-needed burden on the manufacturer to verify that he has utilized a thermally upgraded insulation system.
11. BACKGROUND

Thermally upgraded cellulose insulation was developed in the late 1950's by the major manufacturers of that time. There are basically two types of thermal upgrading processes that were developed.
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Modification of the cellulose chains specifically at OH groups by cyanoethylation and acetylation. Addition of chemicals to protect the cellulose from oxidation: this is primarily achieved with nitrous compounds such as urea, melamine, dicyandiamide, and polyacrylamide.

Ambient

558 C Rise 308 558 Average Wndg Rise Hot Spot Differential 108 Hot Spot Temperature 958

658 C Rise 308 658 158 1108 * FIGURE I Cellulose Molecule

Only attainable with thermally upgraded insulation.

Various methods for thermally upgrading paper were patented by the leading manufacturers of the time. McGraw Edison

In cyanoethylation the cellulose is chemically modified with some of the less-stable water-forming hydroxyl groups in the cellulose chain being replaced by more stable cyanethyl

0-7803-9145-4/05/$20.00 2005 IEEE

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groups. (see Figure 2). (3) This process must be done in the pulping stage of paper manufacturing. The replacement of some of the hydroxyl groups also reduces the number of hydrogen bridges between the molecules. This reduces mechanical strength. However, it does lower water absorption and shrinkage.

(5)

combination of dicyandiamide, melamine and polyacrylamide.

Because all of the thermal upgrading processes utilize nitrogen based chemicals and nitrogen is not part of the cellulose chemical structure the amount of thermal upgrading agent in the paper can be determined by measuring the amount of nitrogen. Various upgrading technologies will have various degrees of nitrogen content which is sufficient to upgrade a paper so that it meets the criteria necessary for a 65 IC insulation system.

III. MEASUREMENT OF NITROGEN CONTENT

Nitrogen content can be determined by a number of different methodologies. The most prominent method is determined in accordance with ASTM D-982 "Standard Test Method for Organic Nitrogen in Paper and Paperboard". (6) This method uses the Kjeldahl method. The method can be broken down into three main steps.(7) I. Digestion The sample is boiled in concentrated sulfuric acid. The end result is an ammonium sulfate solution. II. Distillation Excess base is added to the acid digestion mixture to convert NH4' to NH3 followed by boiling and condensation of the NH3 gas in a receiving solution. III. Titration To measure the quantity of ammonia in the receiving solution. The amount of nitrogen in a sample can be calculated from the quantified amount of ammonia ions in the receiving solution. ASTM has successfully balloted a current version of D-982 which should be available this year.

Single Glucose Ring

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ACRYLIC NITRILE

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CELLULOSE CHAIN

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B- PARTIAL CYANOETHYLATED CELWLOSE CHAIN (2.6 %N)

TSe CyKaoKthylaaOn

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Reaction of CeKluKo.

FIGURE 2 Cyanoethylation (4)

In amine addition nitrous compounds such as dicyandiamide are added to the paper to act as stabilizing agents. The addition of stabilizers suppresses the self-catalyzing character of the aging process by a chemical reaction with the aging products during which the additives are consumed. The stabilizing agents consume water by reacting chemically with it. They also contain organic bases which partially neutralize the acids which are also a by-product of aging. (4) The changes in the initial mechanical properties of the cellulose product are negligible. The manufacture of such stabilized types of cellulose is relatively simple in comparison with chemically modified cellulose. The stabilizing agents can be applied to the finished paper or as component in the final stages of the papermaking process (sizing press). The advantage from an economic and environmental aspect is that all of the stabilizing agent is contained, being either absorbed into the paper or remaining in the sizing press or other application equipment. The most common process incorporating this methodology is the Westinghouse/ABB process known as Insuldur. The Insuldur process utilizes a

Another method to determine nitrogen content utilizes a combustion type instrument. The design employs the combustion chemistry of the classical Dumas and Liebig method. The samples are combusted in a pure oxygen environment where the products of the reaction include water, carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and free nitrogen. The nitrogen oxides are reduced and they are subsequentially measured along with the free nitrogen.(8)

Correlation of Kieldahl and Combustion Type Nitrogen Analyzer

A round-robin test series was performed at three Weidmann laboratories to determine if there was any difference in the measured amounts of nitrogen in various samples of thermally upgraded and non-thermally upgraded paper samples. The results of the analysis are shown graphically in figure 3. The Kjeldahl method did give a result approximately 5% higher than the result given by the direct combustion method. (For example 1.9 based on direct combustion versus 2.0 for Kjenldahl method).

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Test method/Lab Comparison of Nitrogen Determination Methods M
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.* Kesidahl (Lab2) a Kjeldahl (Labl) * Combustion

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Because the thermal upgrading chemicals used today contain nitrogen, which is not present in Kraft pulp, the degree of chemical modification is determined by testing for the amount of nitrogen present in the treated paper. Typical values for nitrogen content of thermally upgraded papers are between 1 and 4 percent when measured in accordance with ASTM D982. (l0)

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0.5

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1.5

2.5

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............................................................

Upon completion of the definition, the task force is now working on adding a requirement in C57.12. 00 "Standard General Requirements for Liquid-Immersed Distribution, Power, and Regulating Transformers" for verification of a thermally upgraded insulation system for 65 C rise transformers.
V. VERIFICATION OF 65 OC RISE INSULATION

FIGURE 3 Results ofRound-Robin Test on Nitrogen Determination

IV.

STANDARDS ACTIVITY ON THERMAL UPGRADING

At this time there is standards activity in the IEC and IEEE which involve thermally upgraded insulation.

IEC Loadiny Guide

IEC is presently working on project # 14/60076-7 in which they are revising the standard "IEC 60076-5 Power Transformers-Part7:Loading Guide for Oil-Immersed Power Transformers'"9). In this new revision IEC is incorporating the definition for thermally upgraded paper developed by the IEEE and given below. For the first time the IEC is recognizing the higher temperature rating of thermally upgraded paper and is adapting this rating in the loading guide. Up until now, thermally upgraded paper has only been recognized in the North American market.
IEEE Task Force on the Definition of Thermally

In order to verify that insulation meets the criteria defined by the IEEE to be used as insulation in transformers rated at 65 C winding rise the tests defined in IEEE C57.100 "IEEE Standard Test Procedure for Thermal Evaluation of LiquidImmersed Distribution and Power Transformers" should be used. This standard contains a sealed tube aging procedure in a normative annex, Annex A. The intention of Annex A is to provide a low cost test to verify a new material or a new vendor. IEEE C57.100 states " When this procedure is utilized for qualifying cellulose insulation for substitution in transformers rated in accordance with IEEE C57.12.00-1993 65 IC average rise, 80 C hottest-spot rise, the tested life shall be equal to or exceed the life expectancy curve displayed in figure Al, which is defined by equation A2"

Life = Exp ((15000/T+273)- 28.082)

Life = Life in hours T = Aging temperature in IC EQUATION A2 (IEEE C57.100 ANNEX A)

Because sealed tube aging tests can be expensive and time consuming, it is not practical to expect that every lot of thermally upgraded paper will be certified by this method. It is for this reason that nitrogen content has been chosen as the quality criteria. Each thermal upgrading process will have nitrogen quantities associated with it which establish limits of acceptability. As an example the Insuldur process has a nitrogen specification of 1.3 % to 2.6% as measured by ASTM D-982. As long as the thermal upgrading process and the chemical formulation do not change then the measurement of nitrogen content can be used to confirm the thermal upgrading. The paper manufacturer should have access to test data which validates this correlation.

Upgraded Paper

During the spring 2004 meeting of the IEEE PES Transformers Committee the Insulation Life Subcommittee approved the following definition: Thermally Upgraded Paper Cellulose based paper which has been chemically modified to reduce the rate at which the paper decomposes. Ageing effects are reduced either by partial elimination of water forming agents (as in cyanoethylation) or by inhibiting the formation of water through the use of stabilizing agents (as in amine addition, dicyandiamide). A paper is considered as thermally upgraded if it meets the life criteria as defined in ANSI/IEEE C57.100; 50% retention in tensile strength after 65,000 hours in a sealed tube at 110 C or any other time/temperature combination given by the equation:
Time (hrs)= e (15,0001 (T+273)-28.082)

VI. CORRELATION OF NITROGEN CONTENT WITH AGING

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Test were conducted by Weidmann and published in 2004 which varied the amount of Insuldur added to crepe conductor wrap paper.(12) The paper was then aged at 170 C for 323 hours which is equal to the life expectancy for thermally upgraded paper as given in IEEE C57.100 equation A2. The end of life criteria for this test is 50% or lower tensile strength retention.
In this test series the amount of thermal upgrading in the paper was determined by measuring the nitrogen content. The goal was to bracket the Insuldur specification of 1.3% to 2.6% in order to validate these criteria. Table 1 shows the nitrogen content and Insuldur content of the various papers tested.

they modeled a medium power transformer (20 mVA ). These are given in Table 4.

Material Oil Paper Copper

Weight/Volume % by weight 400 mL(352 gms.) 48.2 3.8 28 gms 48.0 350 gms
TABLE 4 Material in Aging Test

Aging Test of Crepe Conductor Paper Aged at 170 C

Nitrogen Content TU Agent Content

Type I Type 2Type 3 Type 4-

0% 1.1% 2.5% 3.4%

TABLE 1 Sample Nitrogen Content

0% 1.7% 3.8% 5.1%

-+- B (N2=0.32%) -- A (N2=0.38%)

C(N2183%) j

Sample (% N)
0

1.1 2.5 3.4

Tensile Strength % Retention 43.0 53.8 71.1 76.3

100

200

300

400

500

Aging Time (Hours)

FIGURE 4 Results ofAging Test (% Tensile Retention)

TABLE 2 Results of Aging Test (Tensile)

The lower specification of 1.3% nitrogen content correlated quite closely to the end of life criteria of 50% tensile retention. See table 2.
New Aging Study Another aging test was recently completed which supported this test program. During routine checks of competitive material, Weidmann found that some of the thermallyupgraded crepe conductor wrap paper in the market had low nitrogen content. This paper was tested along with crepe conductor paper which met the nitrogen specification for Insuldur thermal upgrading.

The results of the aging test can be seen in Figure 4. The results support the values given in the specification for Insuldur Content. Low Insuldur content, which can be determined by low nitrogen levels, does not provide adequate thermal performance of the paper. For reference the IEEE definition of thermally upgraded paper gives a value of at least 50% tensile retention at 323 hours.
VII. EFFECT OF THERMAL-UPGRADING ON FURANS

Because it is very difficult to obtain paper samples from in service transformers to determine insulation life, an alternative method has been developed. In this method the insulating oil is analyzed for furan content. Furanic compounds are produced during the breakdown of the cellulose insulation in transformers. There have been many studies which correlate the furan content in the oil to the degree of aging of the cellulose insulation. (13)
Cellulose is a linear polymer of glucose molecules held together by glycosodic bonds. The average length of the cellulose polymer, measured as the average number of glucose molecules in the polymer, is referred to as the degree of polymerization (DP). New electrical insulating papers have a DP of 1000-1200. Following the processing which occurs during the transformer manufacturing process the paper has a DP in the range of 800-1000. The IEEE loading guide, IEEE C57.91-1995 (14), has defined the end-of-life for insulation to be a DP of 200.

Material A B

Nitrogen Content (%) Thickness 0.32 .003" 0.38 .003" 1.83 C .003" TABLE 3 Nitrogen Content of Crepe Conductor Materials

The paper was aged at 170 C for various time periods. The paper was aged in a sealed tube which was covered with nitrogen gas. The content of the test vessel along with the relative quantities of each material were calculated so that

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5 As the cellulose insulation ages the polymer chain breaks down. Each splitting of the chain liberates a glucose monomer which undergoes further chemical reaction and becomes one of several furanic compounds. Measurement of the furanic compounds, which are partially soluble in oil, can then give an estimate of the DP.

Non-Upgraded versus Thermally-Upgraded Paper

The correlation between furan content and DP has been developed by the analysis of actual data in thousands of transformers.!5) It needs to be noted that most of these studies were done on European transformers which in most cases do not contain thermally-upgraded paper. Studies done looking at the transformer database based on thermally upgraded insulation and non upgraded insulation support a theory that the thermal upgrading chemicals react with the furans breaking them down. (16) This was further verified in laboratory studies. (17)
The prediction of DP based on the furanic compounds in the oil is not an exact science. It is based on actual transformer and laboratory data. It has been proven, however, that the presence of thermally-upgraded paper does effect the presence of furans present in the oil. It has been proposed that there should be two different equations used to predict DP based on furan content . One equation for transformers with thermallyupgraded insulation and one for transformers without

standard. None of the acceptance tests for transformers specified in C57.12.00, "Standard General Requirements for Liquid-Immersed Distribution, Power, and Regulating Transformers" would indicate whether the insulation system is capable of handling the thermal stresses without excessive aging. The transformer owner would only learn this many years later when the transformer fails prematurely.
The IEEE Transformers Committee is developing a requirement in C57.12.00 for verification of the thermal capability of the insulation. A method of validation is the nitrogen content of the insulation. Tests done earlier as well as new tests reported in this paper support the use of nitrogen content as verification of the thermal capability of insulation as determined by short-term, high temperature aging tests. Low levels of nitrogen content in paper did not meet the aging criteria defined in the definition for thermally upgraded paper.
The presence of thermally upgraded paper in a transformer will change the relationship between the amount of furans and the DP. It is important that the transformer owner know whether or not the transformer contains thermally upgraded paper. If a transformer owner assumes that his transformer has thermally upgraded paper and it does not, then the life of the insulation based on furan content in the oil could be under estimated.
IX. REFERENCES

upgraded insulation.('8)

Based on the equations presented by Stebbins et al, (18) who give different equations for transformers with and without thermally upgraded papers, the following DP will be predicted based on a 2FAL measurement of 3000 ppb (by weight):
Without TU Paper DP 2FAL(ppb) 310 3000 Table 5 Prediction of DP based on Furans

With TU Paper DP 192

If a transformer owner assumed that he had thermally upgraded paper in his transformer and it actually did not contain this paper, then he could predict the end of life

prematurely.

1. Morrison, Earl, "Evaluation of the Thermal Stability of Electrical Insulating Paper" IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation, Vol. EI-3, No. 3, August 1968 2. IEEE C57.12.00-2000, "Standard General Requirements for Liquid-Immersed Distribution, Power, and Regulating Transformers" 3. Raab, E.L., Permalex- A New Insulation System for Sealed, Liquid-Immersed Apparatus, General Electric Company Sec, 6-312 "Transformers" 27AC60. 4. Lundgaard, Lars; Hansen, Walter; Linhjell, Dag; Painter, Terence; "Ageing of oil-immersed paper in power transformers" IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Volume 19, Issue 1, Jan. 2004 Page(s):230 - 239 5. "Insuldur: A Proven Insulation System", Publication Of Westinghouse Electric Company. 6. ASTM D-982-65 (Reapproved 1971), "Standard Test Method for Organic Nitrogen in Paper and

VIII. CONCLUSION

Thermally upgraded insulation has been used in transformers in North America for over forty years. The primary method of thermal upgrading used today is the addition of dicyandiamide and often other amine salts. The accepted method for quantifying the amount of these amines in the paper is by measuring the nitrogen content.

Presently there is no means of verifying whether a transformer has insulation which meets the thermal requirements of the

Paperboard" 7. "A guide to Kjeldahl Nitrogen Determination Methods and Apparatus" Publication of Labconco. 8. "Introducing the PE2410 Series II", Publication of Perkin Elmer Company. 9. IEC 60076-5 "Power Transformers-Part7:Loading Guide for Oil-Immersed Power Transformers". 10. IEEE PES Transformers Committee Insulation Life Subcommittee minutes, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 8, 2002.

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IEEE C57.100 1999 "IEEE Standard Test Procedure for Thermal Evaluation of LiquidImmersed Distribution and Power Transformers" 12. Prevost, T. "Correlation of Nitrogen Content with Aging Rate in Thermally Upgraded Conductor Insulation", Minutes of the Seventy-first Annual International Conference of Doble Clients, Doble Engineering Company, 2004, Section IM-5. 13. Chendong, "Monitoring Paper Insulation Aging by Measuring Furfural Contents in Oil", Seventh International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, Dresden, August 1991. 14. IEEE C57.91-1995,"IEEE Guide for Loading Mineral Oil-Immersed Transformers".
I. ,

where he has been employed since 1985. Prior to that he worked at Tampa Electric Company as an engineer in distribution and production. Thomas received his BSEE from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Thomas is also active in ASTM D-9 Committee on Solid Insulating Materials. He has written several technical papers on the subject of Electrical Insulation Materials.

15. De Pablo A., "Recent Research Relating to the Usefulness of Furanic Analysis to Transformer Condition Assessment:,CIGRE, paris, 1998, WG 1501. 16. Griffin, P.J., Lewand, L.R., Finnan, E., Barry, J., "Measurement of Cellulosic Insulation Degradation", Minutes of the Sixtieth Annual International Conference of Doble Clients, Doble Engineering Company, 1993, Section 10-3. 17. Bigin, K.M., Shkolnik, A.B., Kelly, J.J., "The Effect of Dicyandiamide in Insulation on 2-Furaldehyde Concentrations in Transformer Oil" Minutes of TechCon 99, TJ H2B, 1999, PP207-216. 18. Stebbins, R.D., Myers, D.S., Shkolnik, A.B., "Furanic Compounds in Dielectric Liquid Samples: Review and Update of Diagnostic Interpretation and Estimation of Insulation Ageing", Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials, 2003. Volume 3, 1-5 June 2003 Page(s):921 926 vol.3
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X. BIOGRAPHY

Thomas A. Prevost is an active member of IEEE. He is currently the secretary of the IEEE PES Transfromers Committee. He is a past-chair of the IEEE PES Standards Coordinating Committee and served on the IEEE-SA Board of Govemors from 2002 2004. Thomas is the Vice President of Technical Service at EHV Weidmann Industries in St. Johnsbury, Vermont
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