ETP820S - TX Non-Electrical Protection

TRANSFORMER
NON-ELECTRICAL PROTECTION
OIL AND GAS DEVICES
• All faults below oil in an oil-immersed transformer result in
localised heating and breakdown of the oil; some degree of
arcing will always take place in a winding fault and the resulting
decomposition of the oil will release gases.
• When the fault is of a very minor type, such as a hot joint, gas
is released slowly, but a major fault involving severe arcing
causes a very rapid release of large volumes of gas as well
as oil vapour.
• The action is so violent that the gas and vapour do not have
time to escape but instead build up pressure and bodily displace
the oil.
• When such faults occur in transformers having oil
conservators, the fault causes a blast of oil to pass up the relief
pipe to the conservator.
• A Buchholz relay is used to protect against such conditions.
• Devices responding to abnormally high oil pressure or rate-of-
rise of oil pressure are also available and may be used in
conjunction with a Buchholz relay.
OIL AND GAS DEVICES (CONT.)
1. Oil Pressure Relief Devices
1.1. Frangible disc:
• The simplest form of pressure relief device is the widely used
‘frangible disc’ that is normally located at the end of an oil
relief pipe protruding from the top of the transformer tank.
• The surge of oil caused by a serious fault bursts the disc, so
allowing the oil to discharge rapidly.
• Relieving and limiting the pressure rise avoids explosive
rupture of the tank and consequent fire risk.
• Out-door oil-immersed transformers are usually mounted in a
catchment pit to collect and contain spilt oil (from whatever
cause), thereby minimising the possibility of pollution.
• A drawback of the frangible disc is that the oil remaining in the
tank is left exposed to the atmosphere after rupture.
Oil Pressure Relief Devices (cont.)
1.2. Sudden Pressure Relief Valve:
• The draw-back in the frangible disc of oil exposure to the
atmosphere is avoided in a more effective device, the sudden
pressure relief valve, which opens to allow discharge of oil if
the pressure exceeds a set level, but closes automatically as
soon as the internal pressure falls below this level.
• If the abnormal pressure is relatively high, the valve can
operate within a few milliseconds, and provide fast tripping
when suitable contacts are fitted.
• The device is commonly fitted to power transformers rated at
2MVA or higher, but may be applied to distribution
transformers rated as low as 200kVA, particularly those in
hazardous areas.

(a)Before fault occurrence (b) During fault
Figure 1.1. Pressure relief valve
OIL AND GAS DEVICES (CONT.)
2. Rapid Pressure Rise Relay
• This device detects rapid rise of pressure rather than absolute
pressure and thereby can respond even quicker than the
pressure relief valve to sudden abnormally high pressures.
• Sensitivities as low as 0.07bar are attainable, but when fitted to
forced-cooled transformers the operating speed of the device
may have to be slowed deliberately to avoid spurious tripping
during circulation pump starts.
3. Buchholz Protection
• Buchholz protection is normally provided on all transformers
fitted with a conservator.
• The Buchholz relay is contained in a cast housing which is
connected in the pipe to the conservator, as in Figure 14.1.
Figure 14.1(a). Buchholz relay mounting arrangement

Figure 14.1(b). Buchholz relay mounting arrangement
Figure 14.2(b). Buchholz relay
Figure 14.2(b). Buchholz relay
Figure 14.3. Typical Buchholz relay
Buchholz Protection (cont.)
• A typical Buchholz relay will have two sets of contacts.
- One is arranged to operate for slow accumulations of gas,
- the other for bulk displacement of oil in the event of a heavy
internal fault.
• An alarm is generated for the slow accumulations of gas, but
the bulk displacement of oil is usually direct-wired to the CB trip
relay.
• The device will therefore give an alarm for the following fault
conditions, all of which are of a low order of urgency:
a. hot spots on the core due to short-circuit of lamination
insulation
b. core bolt insulation failure
c. faulty joints
d. inter-turn faults or other winding faults involving only lower
power in-feeds
e. loss of oil due to leakage.
• When a major winding fault occurs, this causes a surge of oil,
which displaces the lower float and thus causes isolation of the
transformer.
• This action will take place for:
i. all severe winding faults, either to earth or inter-phase
ii. loss of oil if allowed to continue to a dangerous degree
• An inspection window is usually provided on either side of the
gas collection space.
• Visible
- white or yellow gas indicates that insulation has been
burnt, while
- black or grey gas indicates the presence of dissociated oil.
• In these cases the gas will probably be inflammable, whereas
released air will not.
• A vent valve is provided on the top of the housing for the gas to
be released or collected for analysis.
• Transformers with forced oil circulation may experience oil flow
to/from the conservator on starting/stopping of the pumps.
• The Buchholz relay must not operate in this circumstance.
• Cleaning operations may cause aeration of the oil.
• Under such conditions, tripping of the transformer due to
Buchholz operation should be inhibited for a suitable period.
• Because of its universal response to faults within the
transformer, some of which are difficult to detect by other
means, the Buchholz relay is invaluable, whether regarded as a
main protection or as a supplement to other protection schemes.
• Tests carried out by striking a high voltage arc in a transformer
tank filled with oil, have shown that operation times of 0.05s-
0.1s are possible.
• Electrical protection is generally used as well, either to obtain
faster operation for heavy faults, or because Buchholz relays
have to be prevented from tripping during oil maintenance
periods.
• Conservators are fitted to oil-cooled transformers above 1000
kVA rating.
4. Temperature Devices
• There are several temperature-detecting devices used for
(i) indication,
(ii)recording or control,
and, on rare occasions, for
(iii) tripping.
• Some devices simply measure the oil temperature, usually of
the top oil.
• Other devices use a combination of current, by placing a small
search coil around a lead, and oil temperature to measure the
total effect of load and ambient temperature.
Temperature Devices (cont.)
• The critical temperature is referred to as the 'hot-spot'
temperature and is the highest temperature that will occur
somewhere in the winding.
• This hot-spot is not precisely known, since it varies with the
physical structure of the transformer and the flow of cooling oil
or gas.
• It is usually determined at the factory and an arbitrary
temperature, e.g. 10°C, is specified to be added to the total
temperature as indicated at any time.
• The temperature devices actuate alarms to a central
dispatching office, to alert the operators, who can either
remotely unload the transformer by opening the circuit breaker,
or can dispatch an operator to the station.
• The hot-spot sensors are also commonly used to start and stop
cooling fans and pumps.
Temperature Devices (cont.)
• In extreme cases, when it is not possible to remotely remove
the load, or send an operator to the station, an extreme high
alarm will trip the bank.
END

ETP820S - TX Non-Electrical Protection

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TRANSFORMER

Figure 14.1(a). Buchholz relay mounting arrangement

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