Comparative Analysis of the Results of Diagnostic Measurements with an Internal Inspection of Oil-Filled Power Transformers

This article presents a description of four independent case studies concerning situations when power transformers were directed to internal inspection. This inspection was the result of a specific case of a routine diagnostic procedure that was carried out and, where the transformer was switched off by a Buchholz gas relay. The case studies described were selected such that they represented situations when availability of historical data on the previous measurements was limited and a quick diagnosis had to be made on the basis of the results from the last measurement. In all of the cases presented here, the analysis of the gases dissolved in oil had played an important role in the detection of the defects that turned out to be dangerous for further exploitation of the transformers considered. The first signal about a possible developing defect was elicited solely from the measurements of the oil samples taken from the transformer in service. However, more detailed recognition and initial localization of the defect was possible after additional supplementary measurements (winding resistance, sweep frequency response analysis, etc.), which required the transformer to be switched off. The conducted sequence of actions, based on the developed diagnostic procedure, indicated the possibility of effective and early withdrawal of the transformer from operation, before it underwent a serious failure.