Bushing Monitoring
Bushing monitoring is vital for extending the life of a transformer. Bushing failures contribute significantly to the failure statistics of power transformers. On average, one out of four transformer failures is due to issues with the bushings. Not only are failures likely to occur but 50% of bushing failures end in fires. Bushing failure occurs for several reasons such as a reduction in dielectric strength, thermal integrity or mechanical strength.
What is Online Bushing Monitoring?
Online bushing monitoring provides bushing data during all weather conditions, loads and at rated voltage, with the same sensitivity as an offline measurement.
Offline tests are performed on a routine schedule – maybe once every few years. Yet many failure mechanisms on bushings occur in a very short period of time measured in days to weeks. Additionally, some failures are temperature and voltage-dependent that are difficult to simulate during offline tests.
Online bushing monitoring overcomes these offline test limitations to increase the performance and reliability of the transformer. Learn more about online bushing monitoring methods and case studies in this white paper.
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50% of bushing failures end in fires!
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On Average 25% of transformer failures are bushing related
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On Average 1 Out Of Every 200 Transformers Experience A Major Failure Each Year.
What are the failure characteristics of bushings?
OIP versus RIP/RIS Bushings
OIP Bushings
The integrity of the OIP (Oil Impregnated Paper) bushings is heavily dependent on the health of the gasket system, which is susceptible to damage from high temperatures. Gasket failures allow water ingress, and create self-sustained breakdown conditions from associate heating that are detected through online bushing monitoring. Defects in the bushing change the leakage current and phase angle(s), resulting in detectable current imbalance, tan delta (power factor) and capacitance changes.
RIP/RIS Bushings
RIP (Resin Impregnated Paper) and RIS (Resin Impregnated Synthetic) bushing constructions are more resistant to water ingress and explosive failure modes, but the propagation of partial discharge associated failures is much faster. The time for a RIP or RIS bushing to fail and cause an unplanned outage is far shorter than the typical periodic maintenance interval making continuous online bushing monitoring an ideal way to prevent failures.
Check out our webcast presentation to learn more about the failure characteristics of OIP, RIP or RIS bushings.
How Do Offline Tests Compare to Online Bushing Monitoring?
Limitation of Offline Bushing Testing
Both offline bushing tests and online bushing monitoring are important to evaluate bushing health. However, there are times when the data from offline tests and online monitors may not match. This is because of several reasons. Typically, offline testing is performed near ambient temperature with a test voltage of 10kV. This is not a true representation of the bushing’s normal operating conditions or stresses. Failure modes are easier to detect online while the transformer is energized at operating voltage and temperature. Online monitoring detects incipient faults that are not detected by offline tests. A fault’s development time is typically less than the time between offline test cycles. Online systems measure the performance of the bushing at full operating voltage and temperature. Since the “test” parameters are different, the results may be different.
To learn more about why the data may not match, you can check out our webcast presentation on Online Monitoring vs. Offline Testing.
Introducing Transformer Bushing Monitors
C50 Bushing Monitor
Dynamic Ratings C50 Bushing Monitor makes condition monitoring easy and affordable. The C50 looks at the condition of your bushings so that you can use real-time data to make decisions.
E3 Transformer Monitor
The E3 Transformer Monitor is a comprehensive, customizable solution for transformer asset management. The E3 monitors all key transformer components, consolidates data, manages communication to third party IEDs, and provides a single point of communication for alarms.