Rajasthan Powergen, the leading power and distribution transformer manufacturing company in India is providing tips for transformer reliability so that they can function well for long and the customers can remain free from the financial pressure of managing such costly items.
There has been tremendous growing interest in the monitoring and valuation of power transformers in the last ten years as a large number of transformers are approaching rapidly to the end of their effective operating life. Therefore, there is a great need to assess the existing units of transformers worldwide and to analyze whether such transformers are fit to use or they need any replacement.
As transformers carry a considerable asset cost, due to that there is a lot of financial pressure to utilize such existing units as much as possible till the time there is no risk in the overall systems. Thus, transformer asset management plays a significant role in the future planning of existing transformers.
Factors Influencing Power Transformer Reliability
1. Operating Environment: It relates to set of conditions or environment within which the transformer will work during its service life. Such conditions include weather conditions, operating methods, location, electrical loading, and application. National standards like ANSI, NEMA and others provide recommendations wherever applicable. Such pieces of advice are beneficial for the organizations which are responsible for assembling the data.
2.Transformer Specifications: A complete description of each of the operating conditions should be done which affects the transformer. In addition to this, the functioning and the constraints of the transformers should also be specified.
3.Transformer Design: All the specifications mentioned above are converted into design parameters by the manufacturing unit. The design engineer should collect all the required information as per specifications and clarify everything beforehand. Moreover, all environmental conditions should be addressed and considered in the design.
4.Manufacturing Process: With the help of the paper design, the physical product is created. However, there are possibilities of variations in the manufacturing process to what exactly demonstrated in the paper design. Quality techniques are aimed at manufacturing the product as close as possible to the designed product. Two types of tests are performed for verifying the quality and reliability of the manufactured transformer.
5.Installation and Shipment: The shipment of transformers are done either by rail or road. The ride history of the transformer is monitored so as to check and mishandling or damage has been done to the product. An impact recorder will track three axis movement i.e. horizontal movement, vertical movement, and side to side movement. After the acceptance of the transformer, it will be installed at its permanent location. All the steps will be written in the instruction book. Various tests like insulation resistance tests, insulation power factor tests will be performed to ascertain whether changes have occurred during transit.
6.Transformer Maintenance:
Transformer maintenance can be divided into two categories:
- Repair Maintenance: With this, the product will be restored to its usable conditions quickly.
- Scheduled or Preventive Maintenance: This type of maintenance focuses to provide lubrication to components and monitor the state of the transformer’s functioning. The function of maintenance is to give a prolonged life to the transformer.
It is the accountability of both manufacturers and users to check whether transformers are properly specified, designed manufactured, installed and maintained.
In today’s competitive market, the main focus is on delivering high-quality product. Therefore, dedicated solutions are necessary to help utilities and power producers to manage equipment more economically, and to manage them one should have the basic knowledge to keep the transformer safe. Transformers are the need for almost every power industry and to make them work effective and efficient you must choose the best suitable transformer . Our Article on “How to identify the best transformer for your industry?” will help you to pick the correct one.
