Report on Transformer Reclamation Workshop MEPCO

INTRODUCTION:

The MEPCO, Multan Electric Power Company is one of the leading

Distribution Companies of WAPDA. The Charter of duties of MEPCO is to
investigate plan and execute the transmission and Distribution of Power in the
Jurisdiction of MEPCO.

MEPCO officers and staff are doing all their efforts to make it an up-to-date
and progressive organization. Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) is one of
the eight power distribution companies in Pakistan comprising the Power Wing of
WAPDA. It's area of operation extract from Sahiwal to Dera Ghazi Khan boarding
with Sind, Baluchistan and North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Hence it is one of
the largest eight power companies of Pakistan.

MEPCO endeavors utmost to plan and ensure smooth power supply to its
consumers. Its services have been reinforced to make it enforced and progressive
commercial organization.

TRANSFORMERS:

A transformer is a device that transfers

electrical energy from one circuit to another
through inductively coupled electrical
conductors. A changing current in the first
circuit (the primary) creates a changing
magnetic field; in turn, this magnetic field
induces a changing voltage in the second
circuit (the secondary). By adding a load to the
secondary circuit, one can make current flow
in the transformer, thus transferring energy Three-phase pole-mounted step-
from one circuit to the other. It is the down transformer.

phenomenon of mutual induction.

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Report on Transformer Reclamation Workshop MEPCO

The secondary induced voltage VS, of an ideal transformer, is scaled from the
primary VP by a factor equal to the ratio of the number of turns of wire in their
respective windings:

By appropriate selection of the numbers of turns, a transformer thus allows an

alternating voltage to be stepped up — by making NS more than NP — or stepped
down, by making it less.

Transformers are some of the most efficient electrical 'machines',[1] with some
large units able to transfer 99.75% of their input power to their output.[2] Transformers
come in a range of sizes from a thumbnail-sized coupling transformer hidden inside a
stage microphone to huge units weighing hundreds of tons used to interconnect
portions of national power grids. All operate with the same basic principles, although
the range of designs is wide.

APPLICATIONS:

A key application of transformers is to increase voltage before transmitting

electrical energy over long distances through wires. Wires have resistance and so
dissipate electrical energy at a rate proportional to the square of the current through
the wire. By transforming electrical power to a high-voltage (and therefore low-
current) form for transmission and back again afterwards, transformers enable
economic transmission of power over long distances. Consequently, transformers
have shaped the electricity supply industry, permitting generation to be located
remotely from points of demand. All but a tiny fraction of the world's electrical power
has passed through a series of transformers by the time it reaches the consumer.
Transformers are used extensively in electronic products to step down the supply
voltage to a level suitable for the low voltage circuits they contain. The transformer
also electrically isolates the end user from contact with the supply voltage.

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Signal and audio transformers are used to couple stages of amplifiers and to match
devices such as microphones and record player cartridges to the input impedance of
amplifiers. Audio transformers allowed telephone circuits to carry on a two-way
conversation over a single pair of wires. Transformers are also used when it is
necessary to couple a differential-mode signal to a ground-referenced signal, and for
isolation between external cables and internal circuits.

BASIC PRINCIPLES:

The transformer is based on two principles: firstly, that an electric current can
produce a magnetic field (electromagnetism) and secondly that a changing magnetic
field within a coil of wire induces a voltage across the ends of the coil
(electromagnetic induction). By changing the current in the primary coil, it changes
the strength of its magnetic field; since the changing magnetic field extends into the
secondary coil, a voltage is induced across the secondary.

An ideal step-down transformer

showing magnetic flux in the core

A simplified transformer design is shown to the left. A current passing through

the primary coil creates a magnetic field. The primary and secondary coils are
wrapped around a core of very high magnetic permeability, such as iron; this ensures

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that most of the magnetic field lines produced by the primary current are within the
iron and pass through the secondary coil as well as the primary coil.

TRANSFORMER WORKSHOP:

The transformer reclamation workshop specializes in repair and refurbishing

of damage distribution transformer which are received from all over the MEPCO. The
workshop is a nucleus of highly skilled engineer and technicians whose services
rendered to MEPCO. The workshop has so far repaired 30 distribution Transformers
of various ratings with an aggregate capacity of 200KVA per month saving million of
rupees for MEPCO.

WORKING PROCEDURE:

The repair activities of the workshop have been segregated into different
sections.

FITTING SECTION:
In this section the assembling and disassembling activities of distribution
transformer are carried out. This section is the hub of
main repair activities and works on various
transformers is carried out simultaneously. Various
checks are performed at different stages of repair to
maintain the repair standards. All silicon steal
laminations are washed with petrol to remove carbons
and sludges on it.

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WINDING SECTIONS:
This section has complete facilities of uncoiling and re-manufacturing of LT/HT
windings up to 200KVA T/F. The damaged winding is uncoiled, enameled copper
wire is used for windings according to design of different companies like Siemens,
Climax, PEL etc.

The cut view through the

transformer windings.

DRYING OVEN:
After the completion of windings, these are then put into drying oven where
moisture is removed within 8 hours by applying temperature up to 80oCa and then
those coils are used to assemble the transformer completely. Transformer is
completely assembled or fitted in the fitting section. The active part is then put into
the vacuum drying over for complete drying of transformer. The workshop is
equipped with a vacuum drying oven which takes 72 hours for drying of a transformer
at temperature of 90 degree centigrade to 120 degree centigrade.

OIL SECTION:
All distribution transformers are filled with transformer
oil for the purpose of insulation and cooling. The oil received
with damaged transformer needs to be completely regenerated &
dehydrated to achieve required quality level as per IEC standards.
The process of oil treatment is started as soon as transformer is
sent in the drying oven. The treated oil is filled is filled in

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transformer immediately after the completion of drying process. In workshop, only

new mineral type oil called IEC 296 is used. Dirty oil is sent to a workshop
established in Lahore for processing.

TESTING SECTION:
After the completion of repair and drying, complete electrical testing of
transformer is performed in this section. This workshops is
now equipped with almost complete testing up to 200KVA
distribution transformer according to International Electrical
Commission Recommendations (IEC). Various test are
performed in this section which are:

o Series Lamp Test

o AVO Meter Test
o Maegel Test
o Turn Ratio Test

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS:

• Presently reclamation of 200 Distribution Transformers with an aggregate

capacity up to 200KVA per month.

• The workshop plays a major role in saving millions of rupees for the
MEPCO every year.

• Repair of most of the distribution transformer, presently in operation in

field & only 2.5% Transformers are returned during warranty period.

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Report on Transformer Reclamation Workshop MEPCO

ENERGY METERS:
An electric meter or energy meter is a device that measures the amount of
electrical energy supplied to or produced by a residence, business or machine.

The most common type is more properly known as a kilowatt hour meter or a
joule meter. When used in electricity retailing, the utilities record the values measured
by these meters to generate an invoice for the electricity. They may also record other
variables including the time when the electricity was used.

The most common unit of measurement on the electricity meter is the kilowatt
hour, which is equal to the amount of energy used by a load of one kilowatt over a
period of one hour, or 3,600,000 joules. Some electricity companies use the SI
megajoule instead.

Demand is normally measured in watts, but averaged over a period, most

often a quarter or half hour.

Reactive power is measured in "Volt-amperes reactive", (VARh) in kilovar-

hours. A "lagging" or inductive load, such as a motor, will have negative reactive
power. A "leading", or capacitive load, will have positive reactive power.

Volt-amperes measures all power passed through a distribution network,

including reactive and actual. This is equal to the product of root-mean-square volts
and amperes.

TYPES OF METERS:
Modern electricity meters operate by continuously measuring the
instantaneous voltage (volts) and current (amperes) and finding the product of these to
give instantaneous electrical power (watts) which is then integrated against time to
give energy used (joules, kilowatt-hours etc). The meters fall into two basic
categories, electromechanical and electronic.

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ELECTROMECHANICAL METERS:
The electromechanical induction meter operates by counting the revolutions of
an aluminium disc which is made to rotate at a speed proportional to the power. The
number of revolutions is thus proportional to the energy usage. It consumes a small
amount of power, typically around 2 watts.

The metallic disc is acted upon by two coils. One coil is connected in such a
way that it produces a magnetic flux in proportion to the voltage and the other
produces a magnetic flux in proportion to the current. The field of the voltage coil is
delayed by 90 degrees using a lag coil. This produces eddy currents in the disc and the
effect is such that a force is exerted on the disc in proportion to the product of the
instantaneous current and voltage. A permanent magnet exerts an opposing force
proportional to the speed of rotation of the disc - this act as a brake which causes the
disc to stop spinning when power stops is drawn rather than allowing it to spin faster
and faster. This causes the disc to rotate at a speed proportional to the power being
used.

Reading:

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The aluminum disc is supported by a spindle which has a worm gear

which drives the register. The register is a series of dials which record the amount
of energy used. The dials may be of the cyclometer type, an odometer-like display
that is easy to read where for each dial a single digit is shown through a window
in the face of the meter, or of the pointer type where a pointer indicates each digit.

The amount of energy represented by one revolution of the disc is denoted

by the symbol Kh which is given in units of watt-hours per revolution. The value
7.2 is commonly seen. Using the value of Kh, one can determine their power
consumption at any given time by timing the disc with a stopwatch.

Accuracy:
In an induction type meter, creep is a phenomenon that can adversely
affect accuracy that occurs when the meter disc rotates continuously with potential
applied and the load terminals open circuited. A creep test is when the meter is
tested for the error due to creep.

STATIC OR SOLID STATE METERS:

With advancement of technology, static energy meters having digital display
based on ICs are developed instead of mechanical energy meters. MEPCO is now
using these static energy meters for better results.

In addition to measuring electricity used, solid state meters can also record
other parameters of the load and supply such as maximum demand, power factor and
reactive power used etc. They can also include electronic clock mechanisms to
compute a value, rather than an amount of electricity consumed, with the pricing
varying by the time of day, day of week, and seasonally.

Most solid-state meters use a current transformer to measure the current. This
means that the main current-carrying conductors need not pass through the meter
itself and so the meter can be located remotely from the main current-carrying
conductors, which is a particular advantage in large-power installations. It is also

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possible to use remote current transformers with electromechanical meters though this
is less common.

Commercial Usage:

Large commercial and industrial premises may use electronic meters

which record power usage in blocks of half an hour or less. This is because most
electricity grids have demand surges throughout the day, and the power company
may wish to give incentives to large customers to reduce demand at these times.
These demand surges often corresponding to meal times or, famously, to
advertisements in popular television programmes.

TIME OF DAY METERING:

Time of Day metering (TOD), also known as Time of Usage (TOU) metering
involves dividing the day, month and year into tariff slots and with higher rates at
peak load periods and low tariff rates at off-peak load periods. While this can be used
to automatically control usage on the part of the customer, it is often simply the
customers responsibility to control his own usage, or pay accordingly (voluntary load

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control). This also allows the utilities to plan their transmission infrastructure
appropriately.

TOD metering normally splits rates into two segments, peak and off-peak,
with peak typically occurring during the day (non-holiday days only), such as from 1
pm to 9 pm Monday through Friday during the summer and from 6:30 am to 12 noon
and 5 pm to 9 pm during the winter.

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