6th International Conference on Large Power

Transformers- Modern Trends

Benefits of SFRA - Case Studies

B B Ahir
Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited

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Outline
 Condition Monitoring in GETCO

 Why SFRA ?

 Case study (1):SFRA - How it helped to find a fault in winding

 Case study (2): SFRA - How it helped to find a fault in core

 Case study (3): SFRA - How it helped to find a fault in core

 Conclusion

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Condition Monitoring in GETCO
Transformer
Technology / Tool Online Offline
Insulation Resistance and Polarisation Index √
Routine Low Voltage tests √
Capacitance & Tan δ measurements √ √
(Bushing)

Infrared Thermograph √
Measurement of Moisture in Oil √ √
DGA √ √
SFRA √
Acoustic Partial Discharge √
Measurement moisture content in active parts of Transformer √
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Why SFRA ?
 To assess mechanical integrity of a transformer

 To detect core displacement and winding deformation

due to :
 Large electromagnetic forces from fault current
 Transformer transportation and relocation
 Winding shrinkage causing release of clamping structure

 To detect broken or loosened clamping structure

 Hoop Buckling

 Shorted turns and open winding

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Case study (1):

Location : 220 kV Kapadwanj S/s

Rating : 220/66kV, 100 MVA
Date : 22.01.2012

OSR relay operated due to LV side Isolator support insulator flash over

Initially SFRA along with Low Voltage Test and DGA

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Case study (1):
LV MAGNETIC BALANCE ( Post fault – Abnormal )
APPLIED Tap 1 Tap 17
VOLTAGE r-n y-n b-n r-n y-n b-n
r–n 255 V 255 0 0 255 0 0
y–n 251 V 174 251 74 175 251 68
b–n 256 V 27 225 256 24 226 256

DGA Results ( Post Tripping )

H2 O2 N2 CH4 C2H2 C2H4 C2H6 CO CO2

119 3657 14212 11 36 27 1 169 570

Nature of incipient fault Major Key Minor Key
Gas Gas
Arcing C2H2 , H2 CH4, C2H4

Low voltage magnetic balance test found abnormal in R phase and DGA indicates arcing
Case study (1):
HV – N at Tap No.1 ( Post fault - Abnormal)

500Hz to 2MHz with +/- 3

dB: Tap and Main winding

HV R
Phase

HV R phase shifted -3dB with reference to other phase in main and tap winding portion

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Case study (1):
LV – N at Tap No.17 ( Post fault - Abnormal)

500Hz to 2MHz with +/- 3

dB: Tap and Main winding

20Hz – 10KHz – Core

deformation/open ckt./
LV R
Shorted turns / residual
Phase magnetism

LV R phase shifted widely with reference to other phase in main and tap winding portion.
It seems like open circuit. 8
Case study (1):
Analysis

 SFRA LV R phase found abnormal – defect in

tapped winding ( 500Hz to 2 MHz) and open
winding ( 5Hz to 100kHz ) with +/- 3 dB
variation.

 Problem reflected in low voltage magnetic

balance and DGA ( Arcing ) also.

 Based on above abnormal results, decided to

internal inspection of this transformer.

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Case study (1): Internal Inspection
 LV R phase connecting leads of preselector switch of OLTC and its fixing
assembly burnt.

Burned connecting leads

 Burnt link and fixing assembly replaced

 Re-insulation of leads
 Drying process with oil filtration
 Take SFRA and other supporting test 10
Case study (1):
HV – N at Tap No.1 ( Normal – After rectification )

HV R
Phase

All phases are identical after rectification of problem

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Case study (1):
LV – N at Tap No.17 ( Normal – After rectification)

LV R
Phase

All phases are identical after rectification of problem

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Case study (1):

LV MAGNETIC BALANCE ( Normal – After rectification )

APPLIED Tap 1 Tap 17

VOLTAGE
r-n y-n b-n r-n y-n b-n

r–n 255 V 255 224 30 255 225 25

y–n 252 V 176 252 76 175 252 69

b–n 255 V 28 226 255 26 226 255

Low voltage test found normal after rectification

Case study (1):

Cause of failure

 The heavy fault current due to flash over of LV side

isolator support insulator caused R phase pre-selector
switch LV connection two nos. of leads between
position 3 & 12 to burn.

 SFRA plays a role as a supporting test to confirm the

fault with other test.

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Case study (2):

Location : 220kV Khanpur Substation

Rating : 220/66kV , 100 MVA
Date : 21.04.08

High key gases in routine DGA test

Low voltage test - √ 15

Case study (2):
DGA Results ( on 22.12.07 , Normal )
H2 O2 N2 CH4 C2H2 C2H4 C2H6 CO CO2

7 3405 12150 21 Nil 48 15 34 292

DGA Results ( on 21.04.08 , Abnormal )

H2 O2 N2 CH4 C2H2 C2H4 C2H6 CO CO2

355 2988 13928 472 <1 538 214 57 1085

Nature of incipient fault Major Key Minor Key

Gas Gas

Thermal Fault - Over heated oil CH4, C2H4 C 2H 6 , H 2

DGA indicates thermal fault as per high key gases method

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Case study (2): Low voltage Test

MAGNETIZING CURRENT ( Post fault - Normal)

CURRENT HV WINDING LV WINDING
MEASURED
R 3.2 mA 29.3 mA
Y 2.6 mA 26.3 mA
B 4.1 mA 35.2 mA

MAGNETIC BALANCE ( Post fault - Normal )

APPLIED
VOLTAGE R-N Y-N B-N r-n y-n b-n
R-N 255 V 255 193 56 87 65 18
Y-N 252 V 170 252 82 59 87 28
B-N 256 V 58 190 256 16 69 87

Low voltage test found normal after fault

Case study (2): Low voltage Test

SHORT CIRCUIT CURRENT ( Post fault - Normal )

CURRENT HV WINDING LV WINDING
MEASURED

R 3.54 A 10.38 A
Y 3.55 A 10.18 A
B 3.48 A 10.41 A

Low voltage test found normal after fault

Case study (2):
HV - N ( Post fault - Abnormal)

20Hz – 10KHz – Core

deformation/open ckt./
Shorted turns / residual
magnetism

HV B Phase

B phase curve differ in core area in compare with other two phases which shows core
related issue
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Case study (2):
HV - N ( LV Shorted ) ( Post fault - Abnormal )

HV B Phase

LV short curve nullify effect of core, winding part seems identical and normal

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Case study (2):
LV – N ( Post fault - Abnormal)

20Hz – 10KHz – Core

deformation/open ckt./
Shorted turns / residual
magnetism

LV B Phase

B phase curve differ in core dominated area, which shows problem in core area

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Case study (2):
Analysis
 SFRA showed abnormality in the core.

 IR between core , frame and earth was measured.

Core to Frame : 2000MΩ
Frame to Earth : 8000MΩ
Core to Earth : 0.03MΩ

 As the Core to Earth insulation found quite low, internal

inspection carried out but nothing seen abnormal.

 Further investigation was done by inserting a GI wire

between core and bottom of the tank and along the core
nut found under the B phase core limb which was
touching core and bottom. 22
Case study (2): Schematic Diagram

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Case study (2): Analysis

 After removing the nut, again IR between core , frame

and earth was measured.
Core to Frame : 2000MΩ
Frame to Earth : 8000MΩ
Core to Earth : 2000MΩ

 Normally core earthing provided on top of the tank. The

nut was providing another earthing and it caused thermal
fault due to circulating current between core and earth.

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Case study (2):
HV - N ( Normal – After rectification)

After attending the problem all phase curves found identical

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Case study (2):
HV - N ( LV Shorted ) ( Normal – After rectification )

After attending the problem all phase curves found identical

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Case study (2):
LV – N ( Normal – After rectification)

After attending the problem all phase curves found identical

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Case study (2):
Conclusion

 A metallic nut below the core at bottom of the tank was

found out with the help of SFRA which created parallel
path to earth and led to thermal fault.

 Such kind of unbelievable fault can be identified by

SFRA.

 In this case SFRA played a vital role as a supporting tool

with DGA to detect the faulty area and to reach up to the
root cause of the fault.

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Case study (3):

Location : 66kV Chhala Substation

Rating : 66/11.55kV , 10 MVA
Date : 01.09.08

Tripped on differential relay due to failure of 66kV class

Y phase bushing with reflected of 11kV feeder
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Case study (3): Low voltage Test

MAGNETIZING CURRENT ( Post fault - Abnormal )

CURRENT HV WINDING LV WINDING
MEASURED
R 1.8 mA 117.5 mA
Y 13.5 mA 133 mA
B 1.8 mA 135 mA

MAGNETIC BALANCE ( Post fault - Abnormal )

APPLIED
VOLTAGE R-Y Y-B B-R r-n y-n b-n
R–Y 433 V 433 388 176 41 37 16
Y–B 431 V 230 431 296 21 40 38
B-R 437 V 309 296 437 19 38 41

Low voltage test found abnormal after fault

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Case study (3):
HV PH – PH ( Post fault - Abnormal )

20Hz – 10KHz – Core

deformation/open ckt./
Shorted turns / residual
magnetism

R-Y Y-B B-R

All three phases response are differ in core related area as mentioned frequency
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Case study (3):
HV PH – PH ( LV Shorted ) ( Post fault – Normal )

In LV short condition core area nullify and winding area curves are identical in all
phases 32
Case study (3):
LV PH – N ( Post fault - Abnormal )

20Hz – 10KHz – Core

deformation/open ckt./
Shorted turns / residual
magnetism

R Y B

All three phases response are differ in core related area as mentioned frequency
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Case study (2): Analysis

 SFRA and low voltage revealed problem inside core

area.

 Internal inspection carried out by removing top plate of

transformer.

 2 Nos. of bolts clamping the top channel with tank were

loose and top yoke channel got lifted upwards by about
25mm which caused a little core deformation.

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Case study (2): Internal Inspection

Yoke
Bolt

Yoke
Channel

 After attending the problem, SFRA was taken. 35

Case study (3):
HV PH – PH ( Normal – After rectification )

All three phases response are identical in core dominated area after rectification of
fault 36
Case study (3):
HV PH – PH ( LV Shorted ) ( Normal – After rectification )

This response was identical from initially as problem was in core area after rectification
of fault 37
Case study (3):
LV PH – N ( Normal – After rectification )

All three phases response are identical now in core area after rectification of fault
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Case study (3): Low voltage Test

MAGNETIZING CURRENT ( Normal – After rectification)

CURRENT HV WINDING LV WINDING

MEASURED
R 2.4 mA 56.2 mA
Y 1.9 mA 28.5 mA
B 2.2 mA 55.6 mA

MAGNETIC BALANCE ( Normal – After rectification)

APPLIED
VOLTAGE R-Y Y-B B-R r-n y-n b-n
R–Y 442 V 442 365 79 41 35 6
Y–B 450 V 256 450 189 23 42 17
B-R 445 V 44 396 445 4 37 41
Low voltage test found normal after rectification of fault 39
Case study (3):
Cause of Failure

 Heavy reflected fault caused axial and radial forces

exerted on transformer active part.

 Core structure got disturbed and it was reflected in SFRA

plot.

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Conclusion
 SFRA responses clearly indicate faulty conditions of transformer and it
helped for root cause analysis.

 SFRA helps to detect fault by just compare with different phase with
different task without having a initial results of same transformer or
same design transformer.

 SFRA plays vital role as supporting test for final conclusion as its
deliver diversity of information in only one test.

 SFRA is very useful tool to detect heavy through fault current leads to
mechanical deformation of core or winding, internal connections and
contacts inside transformer.

 GETCO has adopted such diagnosis tool while fault as well as in

routine practice while shifting of transformer.
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Thanks………

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