Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)

Vol-2, Issue-6, 2016

ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

Review on Effects and Causes of Insulation

Paper Moisture on Transformer
Prof.P.R.Sonawane1, Gauri Khatri2 & Pratiksha Pawar3
1,2,3
Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering

Abstract: The Transformer is one of the vital performance and possible component failure and
component and expensive asset which constitute a condition assessment could benefit from new and
high principle investment within the Power improved on-line and non-destructive off-line
Generation, Transmission, and Distribution sectors. methods. In particular, the use of spectroscopy,
With the high escalating cost of substitution, it is already established in the analysis of insulating oil
crucial to consider methods of life extension of which has also been shown to be a promising
transformer. Transformer with moisture has great technique for measuring solid electrical insulation
influence on the life anticipation of it. The non-destructively.
phenomenon of the thermal decomposition of the Power transformer conductor windings are
insulating paper inside the transformer is directly insulated by paper impregnated with insulating oil,
proportional to the water content found in the which is expected to last the life of the transformer.
transformer. Most other components can be replaced It is 25 years minimum at an operating temperature
or repaired, but once the insulating paper of of 65-95°C. A typical transformer contains 10-12 t of
transformer has lost its mechanical integrity, the paper, 30-120 pm thick i.e. density 0.7-0.8 kg/m3
core must be re-wound, or the transformer has to be and 45 t of oil. Heat, water and oxygen degrade the
scrapped. So we must remove the water not only cellulose, reducing the polymer molecular chain
from the oil, but also from the paper insulation, to length and with it the mechanical strength of the
maximize the life of the transformer. material.
The core, insulation paper etc. absorbs more than Local mechanical failure could lead to shorted
97% of water present in transformer, only 3 % is left turns or paper fragments or fibers in the oil ducts and
behind in oil. Oil filtration systems or drying systems hence to dielectric or thermal failure of the insulation
will absorb moisture from oil and moisture from system. Changes in the compliance and tension of
paper will to maintain nature equilibrium. Also these the windings with time may result in distortion and
systems will remove moisture from the insulation an increased susceptibility to short-circuit force
paper during on-load condition & will help to extend failure of the aged insulation or even of the winding
the life of transformer. So this online drying system itself. Water is a product of ageing. Its presence in
helps in continuous processing of oil to keep the insulation increases conductivity and the
transformer in normal state and removes the likelihood of gas bubble formation, reducing the
moisture from oil as well as insulation paper inside thermal stability of the insulation system during
transformer so that it increases life expectancy of the overload conditions.
transformer. The presence of moisture in the Power transformers are typically insulated with
transformer, to whatever degree, does actual harm to some 12 tons (12,192 kg) of paper and 40 tons
insulation which is, in fact permanent damage. (40,642 kg) of mineral oil, and the life of a
Drying methods only substantially reduce that transformer is ultimately determined by that of the
deterioration. So the on-line drying system helps us solid insulation, although other factors may cause it
to remove moisture not only from the oil but also to fail early. Transformers are currently monitored by
from the insulation paper. sampling the oil at regular but infrequent intervals
and analyzing for dissolved gases, such as hydrogen
Keywords: Transformer, Insulation Paper, Moisture, and hydrocarbons like methane, ethane, acetylene
Oil Filtration, Degree of polymerization and carbon monoxide (often referred to as dissolved
gas analysis, or DGA). Changes in the relative ratios
of certain critical gases provide empirical
1. Introduction information about the state of the transformer
through the widely used Rodger’s ratios.
New methods for assessing the condition of Unfortunately, the major source of these gases is the
transformers and other components in electrical hydrocarbon oil, and the results are therefore not
power plant are becoming of increasing importance specific to the paper condition. Insulation life
in the power industry. The degraded condition of the expectancy has been estimated by accelerated
insulation is a significant contributor to decrease in laboratory studies of paper ageing, from the

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-6, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

relationship of the change in the degree of changes in the DP of paper with time, and in
polymerization (DP) of cellulose in the paper with conjunction with Burton and others empirically
time. related the Log (DP) to the furfural concentration in
Nowadays, there is an increasing interest in using the oil. More recently, Unsworth and Mitchell and
transformer monitoring systems. Some monitoring Darveniza and others have developed furfural
systems use models to predict the value of certain analysis techniques and have investigated the use of
variables. One of the key variables to be monitored is size exclusion chromatography to assess the ageing
moisture content in oil, as moisture has a high of the paper in a transformer. Unsworth and Mitchell
influence on transformer exploitation. also investigated the stability of the furan products of
Water has a detrimental effect on transformer degradation and attempted to correlate their
insulation life. According to Fabre, the rate of concentration in the oil to the tensile strength of the
thermal ageing of paper, is proportional to its water paper, since it is ultimately loss of tensile strength
content. According to Clark, if the water content of that determines the life expectancy of the insulation.
paper is doubled, its life in terms of mechanical The whole area of insulation ageing, monitoring, and
strength is halved. The increase of water content in life prediction has recently been reviewed by Emsley
zones of high electrical stress can lead to a reduction and Stevens.
in partial discharge inception level and to an increase DP has been used in numerous studies of the
of its intensity. The migration of small amounts of degradation of cellulose under a variety of
water from paper to oil has been associated with the conditions, and simple, mathematical models have
phenomenon of static electrification appearing when been developed to describe the kinetics of the
there is a charge accumulation on the interfaces reaction. The simplest of these was derived by
between dry and humid zones. Water in transformer Ekamstam from early statistical studies of Kuhn and
oil can also lead to bubble formation, when high co-workers. According to his analysis, the reciprocal
temperatures are attained in the winding and an DP should be directly proportional to the degradation
abrupt desorption of water takes place from the paper time. Emsley and Stevens have re-analyzed a wide
toward the oil. range of results reported in the literature and have
All those reasons, moisture in paper-oil insulation shown that cellulose degradation fits this model, at
has been considered since 1920 to be one of the least for the majority of the reaction, until the DP
functional conditions that must be controlled during approaches a limiting value of about 200.
transformer operation. With the recent development
of sensors to measure moisture dissolved in 3. Transformer Insulation Ageing Factors
transformer oil, the measurement of this variable is
becoming a habitual practice in transformer Ageing is an irreversible deleterious change to the
monitoring systems. serviceability of an insulation system. Transformer
insulation is subjected to several types of stresses
2. Literature Review that produce ageing are called ageing factors.

Current research into paper ageing, such as that

being carried out at the University of Surrey, UK and
a number of other centers throughout the world, is
aimed at developing condition monitoring and life
prediction techniques. Measurement of the
concentration and distribution of degradation
products, such as 2-furaldehyde in the oil provides
data that can complement traditional DGA analyses,
because they apply specifically to paper ageing. The
long-term objective is to generate a model that can
be used to assess the current condition of Kraft
insulating paper in power transformers and then
predict its remaining life. In order to relate the
standing concentrations of such products to paper
condition, it is necessary to understand the chemistry
of the degradation of cellulose and to derive Figure.1 Transformer insulation ageing factors
chemical and physical models of the breakdown Degradation of the paper is strongly influenced by
process. To this end, established methods of studying scission and shortening of the cellulose chains. The
polymer ageing processes are being adapted to study average number of glucose monomer units in the
cellulose degradation in paper insulation. cellulose of the paper can be referred to as the degree
Early studies, reported in the literature, include of polymerization (DP), which for new Kraft paper is
the work of Shroff and Stannett, who measured about 1000-1300. The DP of pre-treated transformer

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-6, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

insulation paper gradually decreases from an initial then fell slowly as it was consumed by reaction with
value of about 950. Below about 500 DP units the the paper and oil. If the dissolved oxygen level is
tensile strength starts to decrease in an approximately maintained below 2000 ppm, the rate of oxidation of
linear fashion with respect to DP. Below a DP of the oil is reduced substantially.
about 200, when only about 50% or less of the
original tensile strength of the paper remains, the Effects of water: Early studies indicated that the rate
paper becomes brittle and may start to disintegrate. of degradation of paper increased in direct proportion
The mechanical failure of the insulation resulting to the water content and predicted insulation life
from this degradation can block oil cooling ducts estimates. However, more detailed studies later
resulting in overheating and faster decomposition. concluded that, during the later stages of degradation
Eventually a stage can be reached where electrical the logarithm of the rate is proportional to the
breakdown and transformer failure occur. moisture level. Water is a product of degradation and
so the moisture level in the paper increases with
4. Factors Affecting Transformer Paper ageing by 0.5% every time the DP of the cellulose is
halved by degradation, resulting in a decrease in
Below are the factors influencing performance and electrical strength.
degradation of transformer oil paper insulation and
resulting breakdown mechanisms. Life prediction from DP measurements: The
advantages of using DP measurements to predict
insulation life are: measurements are relatively easy
to make; DP can be empirically related to insulation
condition. However, using DP values for life
prediction presents a number of problems. The
mechanisms and kinetics of the process are ill
defined, because a number of different reactions
could be operating simultaneously. The strength of
paper is not linearly dependent on its DP except over
a limited range of about 200 to 500. It is worth
noting that paper strength has been shown to bear a
linear relationship to the total volume of carbon
monoxide plus some workers have suggested that the
rate of degradation increases significantly implying
either a change in the activation energy or in the pre-
exponential factor. The correlation between DP and
strength is also independent of ageing conditions.

Figure.2 Factors influencing the performance and 5. Conclusion

degradation of transformer oil/paper insulation. This paper describes an accelerated ageing factors of
transformer oil/paper insulation. The humidity
Effects of temperature: It was recognized long ago content of the cellulose paper has a decisive role in
that the degradation process is a chemical reaction the degradation rate of the paper, as higher initial
and as such should obey the Arrhenius theory of humidity greatly accelerates degradation. The ageing
reaction kinetics. Values for the activation energy of rate of cellulose is therefore directly proportional to
degradation of cellulose in oil, quoted in the moisture content. The existence of oxygen, however,
literature, range from of the order of 85 kJ/mole markedly increases the rate. The influence of oxygen
(which is close to the values quoted for the thermal itself on the ageing process of the solid insulation
degradation reaction) to 120 kJ/mole (close to those seems to be in the same order of dimension order as
quoted for the hydrolytic degradation reaction). moisture itself. The catalysts, that represent the
Above about 140"C, metallic components in the transformer, accelerate
the ageing process of the cellulose papers, while they
Effects of oxygen: According to Fabre and Pichon, seem to have no influence on the ageing process. Oil
oxygen increases the rate of degradation of paper ageing without a solid partner is insignificantly
containing 0.3 to 5% moisture in oil by a factor of influenced by water, but accelerated by air-oxygen,
2.5. The effects on predicted insulation life. Fallou via the moisture and acid formation, and oxidation
pointed out that, in an actual transformer, restricted processes. A direct influence increase the loss factor
oxygen access reduces the true value of the oxygen and the decrease the electric strength particularly at
factor closer to 1.6. In a model transformer low temperatures is to be noted.
experiment, it was found that the oxygen level in the
oil increased initially, as the paper outgassed, but

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-6, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

6. References

[1]V.W. Montsinger: “Loading transformers by

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[2]J.Fabre, A. Pichon: “Deteriorating processes and

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[3]D.H.Schroff, A.W.Stannett:”A review of paper

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[4]A.M.Emsley, G.C.Stevens: “Review of chemical

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[5]A.M.Emsley, X.Xiao, R.J.Heywood, M. Ali:

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[7] D. Shroff and A. Stannett, “A review of paper

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[8] A.M. Emsley and G.C. Stevens, “Kinetics and

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[9] M. Ali, A. M. Emsley, H. Herman, and R. J.

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[10] R. M. Morais and E. Engelstein, ‘‘Thermal

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