A Highly Reliable Online Monitoring and Real-Time Alarm System for the Insulation Condition of Power Transformers

Many successful applications for the online monitoring of the insulation condition for electric power transformers have been reported over last thirty years. However, false or unsolved alarms have been quite frequently generated by those condition monitoring systems. Failures and some occasionally catastrophic accidents involving transformers have still occurred. A highly reliable insulation condition online monitoring and real-time alarm system has been developed, to help resolve these problems. An electric power transformer has strongly linked mechanical, electrical, magnetic, chemical and thermal characteristics, and is also directly linked to circuit breakers and generators. Team Intelligence (TI) was employed to integrate all the monitoring modules of the various different aspects of the transformer into one unique system. This system could also be integrate with the condition monitoring systems of various linked facilities, such as the monitoring systems of the turbine and the generator in a Optimal Maintenance Information System for Hydropower Plant (HOMIS). Highly reliable monitoring and real-time alarms of transformer insulation condition could be achieved, due to highly coordinated and rapid response features. This system has been deployed in several hydropower plants. The industrial application examples are demonstrated.