Real Time Monitoring of Incipient Faults in Power Transformer

Abstract

Power transformers in the power electric system are of particular significance for the reliability of electric power consumers. Up-to-date monitoring systems for power transformers support taking measurements and analysis of: temperature of the hot spots in the winding (calculated automatically by the system); gas and moisture contents in the oil inside transformer’s tank; partial discharge activity; winding insulation humidity and other important parameters, but do not render an account of the small amplitude of partial discharges availability under 300 pC. In this article a method for locating the place of origin of the partial discharges in the three-dimensional space is described. Future efforts are to be dedicated on finding an algorithm for on-line measurement and locating of the partial discharge from incipient fault.