2004 Weidmann-ACTI Annual Technical Conference, November 8-10, 2004, Sacramento, USA

The Latest On-Site Non-Destructive Technique for Insulation Analysis of Electrical Power Apparatus
Supatra A. Bhumiwat High Voltage Diagnostic Consultant KEA Auckland, New Zealand supatra@ieee.org www.kea-consultant.com
Abstract - The latest on-site non-destructive technique, prolonged. Table I summarizes the difference between Polarisation Depolarisation Current (PDC) Analyser, is polarisation and conduction from [2]. introduced for insulation assessment of electrical power apparatus, especially moisture-in-paper of power transformers II. HOW TO ASSESS CONDUCTION AND POLARISATION and condenser type bushings. Some test results show why IN A POWER TRANSFORMER moisture in solid insulation cannot be detected by the conventional technique using the frequency of 50/60 Hz.

I. BACKGROUND OF ELECTRICAL INSULATION PROPERTIES Dielectric or electrical insulating material is a substance which possesses two electrical properties. One is an ability to persist in electrostatic field for a long time and the other is an ability to be polarized. The first property is well-known that any electrical insulation shall have low conduction, but polarization is the term someone is unfamiliar with. Here are some explanations of polarisation: Every kind of insulating materials consists, at an atomic level, of negative and positive charges balancing each other. As soon as a material is exposed to an electric field, the positive and negative charges become oriented thus forming different kinds of dipoles [1]. The action of an external electric field brings the charges of the molecules of the dielectric into a certain ordered arrangement in space and When the effect of the voltage applied to a dielectric is discontinued, the displaced charges may tend to return to their initial positions [2]; the latter results in the wellknown Return (or Recovery) Voltage. There are different types of polarization. The accumulation of electric charges at the interfaces of different dielectric e.g. at the oil-paper interface of a service-aged power transformer is called Interfacial Polarisation. This phenomenon is very slow and so it requires a long time to assess the interface condition. Since polarization and conduction are caused by the motion in space of the electrically charged particles of a dielectric, there is a certain affinity between them [2]. But it is the difference and the ability to distinguish between these two phenomena which allow Trouble in electrical insulation to be solved correctly, thus the life of equipment can be

In a transformer, conduction mostly refers to moisture and polarization normally refers to polar aging molecules such as oxidation-by-products, dissolved-gases-in-oil, etc. For on-line diagnostics through oil analysis, moisture-inoil is measured by Karl-Fischer method according to ASTM D1533 or IEC 60814. While the Acidity or Neutralisation Number according to ASTM D974, BS 2000 Part 1 or IEC 62021 identifies the acid type polar molecules in the oil, the direct measurement of oil conductivity according to the new IEC61620 allows both acid and non-acid type polar molecules to be assessed easily with high sensitivity and accuracy. Due to the low field used in this method, the oil conductivity is not dependent on moisture-in-oil. So the Trouble-in-oil can be solved correctly. Table II presents some results of oil before and after different treatment processes, which prove the independency of oil conductivity and moisture-in-oil. In addition, the oil conductivity in combination with acidity allows the non-acid type polar molecules to be recognized (see oil results of Tx-002 after the second treatment and Tx-003 after the first treatment). Recently an on-site off-line technique called Polarisation Depolarisation Currents (PDC) method was designed for the insulation condition assessment of electrical power apparatus especially a power transformer and oil-paper equipment [1], [3]-[13]. The technique allows conduction and polarization of the internal insulation system to be identified easily, see section III. Its ability to measure current in the range of picoamperes (pA) has made the dielectric test with low voltage become possible and in non-destructive way. The PDC results include all dielectric responses, as described in IV. For a power transformer, moisture-in-pressboard as well as conductivity of the oil in the main duct is evaluated.

Polarisation

TABLE I DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POLARISATION AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTION Electrical conduction 1 2 3 4 The free charges (carriers) can move through the entire thickness of a dielectric from one electrode to the other. A motion of a relatively small number of charged particles for relatively large distances. The return (or recovery) voltage never happens to the phenomenon of electrical conduction. The conduction current exists and keeps constant so long as a direct voltage is applied to a dielectric.

1 2 3 4

The charges linked with definite molecules of matter are brought into motion. These charges cannot leave the confines of a given molecule. Represented as a negligibly small displacement in space of a very large number of charged particles of matter. When the voltage applied to a dielectric is discontinued, the displaced charges may tend to return to their initial positions The absorption current due to polarisation decays to zero slowly under a direct voltage.

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2004 Weidmann-ACTI Annual Technical Conference, November 8-10, 2004, Sacramento, USA
TABLE II OIL TEST RESULTS SHOWING THE INDEPENDENCY OF MOISTURE-IN-OIL AND OIL CONDUCTIVITY
ID Tx-001 Oil Condition A C B+C A C B+C A B B+C A D E Oil temperature ( C) when sample is taken 37.6 40.0 17.0 40.7 39.7 17.0 16.0 10.0 11.0 14.0 9.0 5
o

Tx-002

Tx-003

Tx-004

Moisture-in-oil (ppm) (Karl-Fischer method) 35 37 23 36 37 25 21 10 5 14 7 5

Conductivity at 20 C (pS/m) (oil test: IEC61620) 7.06 1.30 0.47 4.81 1.54 0.50 10.06 7.88 0.83 18.6 19.5 0.858

Acidity (mgKOH/g 0.086 0.029 0.013 0.082 0.019 0.012 0.082 0.080 0.007 0.129 0.128 -

Note: A: Before treatment, B: after vacuum dehydration, C; after clay treat, D after on-line drying, E: after oil replacement

III. PDC MEASUREMENT OF INSULATION BETWEEN WINDINGS OF POWER TRANSFORMERS Fig. 1 shows the principle of the measuring technique [9]. The insulation between windings is charged by the dc voltage step of e.g. 100-500 V. A long charging time is required (e.g. 5,000 - 10,000 s) in order to assess the interfacial polarization and paper condition. The tank is directly earthed and excluded from the current measuring circuit, thus the test is not influenced by air humidity or surface leakage of any bushings. In this connection, the polarisation current is the combination of the absorption current due to polarization phenomenon and the conduction current caused by conduction phenomenon. At the end of the preset charging time, the circuit is automatically switched over to disconnect the insulation from the dc supply and replaced with a short-circuit for another equal time as taken during the polarisation. The discharging current measured during this duration consists only of the absorption current as conduction current exists only when there is power supply. The absorption current during the first part of the discharging (or depolarisation) period has the same magnitude as the absorption current during the polarisation, but with opposite polarity. If the insulation system is dry, the conduction current will be very small. The polarisation current and the depolarisation current will then be nearly equal within about 1/10 of the charging period [10]. Fig. 2 shows the PDC measurement result of a new transformer with rather dry insulation (low conduction) and Fig. 3 shows the results of a very wet, old transformer The high conduction of the insulation system in Fig. 3 can be easily identified by the big difference between the polarisation current and the depolarization current. The initial time dependence of the polarization and depolarisation currents (<100 s) is very sensitive to the conductivity of the oil while the moisture content of pressboard influences mainly the shape of the current at much longer time [3]. Fig. 4 shows the PDC measurement results of a 36-year-old transformer before and after on-site oil reclamation. Obviously, the reclamation could decrease the conductivity of the oil since the initial currents were much lower after the treatment. In spite of an old unit, the moisture-in-pressboard was not high (the currents at longer time is not flat like in the case of Fig. 3). The moisture-inpressboard evaluated from the PDC measurement results (see section IV) was only 2%, so the paper dry-out was not

applied. However, the very similar depolarisation current after reclamation and the slightly lower polarisation current at longer time reveal the slight improvement of moisture-inpressboard as well.

i pol U Test

i depol

Electrometer

Fig. 1. Principle of test arrangement for PDC measuring technique [9]

1.E-07

Te st Voltage 100V

Current (A)

1.E-08

1.E-09

1.E-10

Polarisation Current Depolarisation Current

1.E-11 1 10 100

Time (s)
1,000 10,000

Fig. 2. PDC Measurement Result of a new transformer PDC Evaluation: Oil conductivity at 20oC 0.8 pS/m Moisture-in-pressboard 1.0-1.5 %wt.
1.E-05

Te st Voltage 500V

Current (A)

1.E-06

1.E-07

1.E-08

Polarisation Current Depolarisation Current

1.E-09 1 10 100

Time (s)
1,000 10,000

Fig. 3. PDC Measurement Result of a very wet transformer PDC Evaluation: Oil conductivity at 20oC 27.3 pS/m Moisture-in-pressboard >> 4.9 %wt.

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2004 Weidmann-ACTI Annual Technical Conference, November 8-10, 2004, Sacramento, USA

IV. PDC MEASUREMENT RESULTS OF POWER TRANSFORMERS From the PDC measurement results, the special software developed for the PDC Analyser evaluated oil conductivity and moisture in pressboard. Some results are shown under Fig. 2, 3 and 4. In addition, the standard software evaluates various insulation properties as shown followings: A. D.C. Resistance and the Polarisation Index (P.I.) The apparent insulation resistance is calculated from the polarisation current and the constant applied voltage. The polarisation current is dependent on the insulation structure or geometry in addition to the characteristics and parameters of the insulating oil and insulating paper at the condition when the measurement is taken. As the polarisation current is measured continuously up to the end of the charging time, an insulation resistance curve for the entire test duration can be drawn [10]. It is well known that P.I. is the ratio of insulation resistance at 600 s (10 min.) to 60 s (1 min.) or the ratio of polarisation current at 60 s (1 min.) to 600 s (10 min.). The polarisation current at 60 s is influenced by the quality of the oil. At 600 s, the polarisation current of many transformers is more influenced by paper than by oil but some others still have more influence of the oil than paper. In the case such as in Fig. 4 when the oil is improved but the paper is not, the current at 60 s after oil reclamation shows the decrease while the current at 600 s has only slight change. The P.I. after oil reclamation is thus lower than before oil reclamation, which means worse, but its not true. Therefore P.I. is not a key to judge the improvement or the insulation condition, but the resistance itself is.
1.E-06

The lower chart of Fig. 5 shows frequency scan of DDF from 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz for the transformer in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. In case of Fig. 3, the DDF is very high for the whole frequency range, which reflects the bad oil and paper.
1.E-05

The case of Fig. 2 The case of Fig. 3

Capacitance (F)

1.E-06

1.E-07

1.E-08

1.E-09 1.E-04 1.E-03

Frequency (Hz)

1.E-02

1.E-01

1.E+00

1.E+01

The case of Fig. 2 The case of Fig. 3

1.E+00

tan

1.E-01

1.E-02

1.E-03 1.E-04 1.E-03

Frequency (Hz)

1.E-02

1.E-01

1.E+00

Fig. 5

Frequency scan of C and DDF, for the transformer in Fig. 2 and 3

C. Recovery Voltage Polarisation Spectrum When the insulation system is good especially low oil conductivity, the first peak of polarisation spectrum appears at long charging time and the curve, Initial slope VS Maximum Recovery Voltage, appears at lower initial slope. Fig. 6 shows PDC results of Recovery Voltage Polarisation Spectrum for a transformer before and after refurbishment.
Max. Recovery Voltage (V)
1.E+02

Te st Voltage 500V

Current (A)

1.E-07

1.E-08

1.E-09 1 10

Before, I pol. After, I pol. Before, I depol. After, I depol. Time (s)
100 1,000 10,000

1.E+01

Fig. 4.

PDC Measurement Result of a transformer, age 36. PDC Evaluation: Oil conductivity 9.0 pS/m at 20oC before reclamation and 1.9 pS/m for after.

1.E+00

Before After C harging Time (s)

B. Frequency scan of Capacitance (C) and DDF When the current is measured continuously for 10,000 s polarisation and 10,000 s depolarisation, the standard software of the PDC Analyser evaluates C and DDF in the frequency range from 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz. (C at 50 Hz is the measured value.) For a power transformer where the insulation system consists of the oil duct in series with the pressboard, the C ratio (0.1 mHz and 50 Hz) is about 3-5, for good insulation. Moisture-in-pressboard increases C at very low frequencies. The higher the C ratio, the wetter the pressboard. The upper chart of Fig. 5 shows frequency scan of C for the transformer in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. The C ratio is 6 for Fig. 2 and 105 for Fig. 3. KEA - 3

1.E-01 1 10 100 1,000

1 .E+02

Depolarisation Before Refurbishment After Refurbishment

Initial Slope (V/s)

1 .E+01

1 .E+00

1 .E-01 0 1

Max. Recovery Voltage (V)

1 0 1 00

Fig. 6 PDC Evaluation of Polarisation Spectrum

2004 Weidmann-ACTI Annual Technical Conference, November 8-10, 2004, Sacramento, USA

V. PDC TESTS ON TRANSFORMER BUSHINGS A failure of transformer accessories such as condenser bushings sometimes leads to a transformer failure and longterm outage. Often, moisture is a cause of explosion for service-aged bushings. On-line monitoring of insulation dryness in bushings through oil analysis is a difficult task and may not represent the moisture in the paper [13]. Reference [13] presents some results of PDC tests on 39 bushings of different designs: oil impregnated paper (OIP), synthetic resin bonded paper (SRBP) and resin impregnated paper (RIP). The moisture-in-paper was included, together with other insulation properties. Only the PDC evaluation results of C and DDF of three identical OIP bushings are presented in this paper, as shown in Fig. 7. The purpose is to emphasize that moisture-inpaper influences C at low and very low frequencies, rather than 1 Hz or 50 Hz. When the insulation is good and dry, the capacitance will be quite constant for the whole frequency range such as in the case of OIP-02B. It is clear in the DDF chart as well that OIP-02B has much better insulation than the others. The comparison between DDF at 1 Hz evaluated by PDC and the conventional test at 50 Hz is shown below (taken from Table I of [13]), which confirms the sensitivity of PDC in the assessment of moisture in transformer bushings: OIP-02B OIP-02C DDF at 1 Hz (PDC) ..% 0.47 7.76 DDF at 50 Hz (conventional)% 0.38 0.51
1.E-08

diagnostics of a power transformer, oil conductivity test based on the new IEC61620 allows polar molecules in the oil to be assessed independently from moisture-in-oil. The new PDC technique, though requires off-line, locates the trouble in the main insulation system between windings and identifies the two major causes of trouble in a nondestructive way. Finally, moisture in solid insulation cannot be detected by the conventional technique using the frequency of 50/60 Hz as the sensitivity in detection is at low and very low frequencies. VII. REFERENCES Most conference papers in the references listed below can be downloaded from www.kea-consultant.com underPDC Analyser.
1. Zaengl, W.S. Dielectric Spectroscopy in Time and Frequency Domain for HV Power Equipment, Part I: Theoretical Considerations, IEEE EI Magazine. Vol. 19 No. 5, September/ October 2003, pp. 5-19. 2. B. Tareev; Physics of Dielectric Materials. MIR Publishers, Moscow, 1975. 3. Alff, J.J., Der Houhanessian V., Zaengl W.S. and Kachler A.J. A Novel, Compact Instrument for the Measurement and Evaluation of Relaxation Currents conceived for On-Site Diagnosis of Electrical Power Apparatus, 2000 IEEE ISEI, Anaheim, USA, pp. 161-167. 4. Der Houhanessian, V. Measurement and Analysis of Dielectric Response in oil-paper insulation systems, Ph.D. thesis, no. 12832, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland, 1 998. 5. T. Leibfried and A.J. Kachler Insulation Diagnostics on Power Transformer using the Polarisation and Depolarisation Current (PDC) Analysis, in 2002 IEEE International Symposium on Electrical Insulation, Boston, MA, USA, April 7-10, 2002, pp. 170-173. 6. M. Hassig, R. Braunlich, R. Gysi, J. J. Alff, V. Der Houhanessian and W. S. Zaengl, On-site Applications of Advanced Diagnosis Methods for Quality Assessment of Insulation of Power Transformers, in 2001IEEE Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena, Kitchener, Canada, October 14-17, 2001. 7. CIGRE Task force 15.01.09. Dielectric Response Methods for Diagnostics of Power Transformers, Electra 202, pp. 25-36. 8. Zaengl, W.S. Application of Dielectric Spectroscopy in Time and Frequency Domain for HV Power Equipment, IEEE EI Magazine. Vol. 19 No. 6, November/December 2003, pp. 9-22. 9. Zaengl, W.S. Dielectric Spectroscopy in Time and Frequency Domain for HV Power Equipment (Transformers, Cables, etc.), in 12th International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering ISH 2001, Bangalore, India, August 20-24, 2001, pp. 76-85. 10. Bhumiwat, S.A. and Stattmann P. Quality Assurance after Transformer Refurbishment by means of Polarisation Depolarisation Currents Analysis, 2003 IEEE Bologna Power Tech Conference, Bologna, Italy, 23-26 June 2003, p. 90. 11. Bhumiwat, S.A. and Phillips P. Verification of On-Site Oil Reclamation Process by means of Polarisation / Depolarisation Current Analysis, 2004 IEEE Electrical Symposium on Electrical Insulation, Indianapolis, USA, 19-22 September 2002, pp. 105-108. 12. Lapworth, J and Heywood R. The Determination of the Dryness of Transformer Insulation: Recent NGC Experience with polarization Tests, 2001 International Conference on Power Transformer, Bydgoszcz, Poland, 5-7 September 2001. 13. Bhumiwat, S.A. Insulation Condition Assessment of Transformer Bushings by means of Polarisation / Depolarisation Current Analysis, 2004 IEEE Electrical Symposium on Electrical Insulation, Indianapolis, USA, 19-22 September 2002, pp. 500-502.

Capacitance (F)

OIP-02C OIP-02A OIP-02B

1.E-09

1.E-10 1.E-04 1.E-03 1.E-02 1.E-01 1.E+00

Frequency (Hz)
1.E+01

Dissipation Factor

1.E+00

1.E-01 1.E-02

1.E-03 1.E-04 1.E-03

OIP-02A OIP-02B OIP-02C

1.E-02 1.E-01 1.E+00

Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 7 . C and DDF of old bushings OIP-02 A, OIP-02B and OIP-02C

VI. CONCLUSION Conduction and Polarisation phenomena are two major causes of Trouble in the electrical insulation system of power apparatus. The ability to distinguish between them allows the trouble to be solved correctly. For on-line KEA - 4