ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am sincerely thankful to my seminar guide Mr. KAPIL K PATEL,

lecturer of electrical department, C. K. Pithawala Collage of engineering and
Technology, for his invaluelable guidance &give me regular inspiration with his technical
skills in preparing this technical paper.

I am also thankful to Mr. NIAMISH K. ZAVERI(Assitance Prof. & Dean of

VNSGU) ,Mr. DEEPAK C BHONSLE(Training & Placement Officer) & Mr.
CHETAN K LAD(Assit. Prof) & all the staff members of the Electrical Engineering
Department & all my friends who always help & encourage me.

I would also like to thank our Mrs. TEJAS N ZAVERI(HOD) for guiding us in
all ways.

I
 Abstract
Economically transformers constitute one of the largest investments in a Power
system. For this reason, transformer condition assessment and management is a high
priority task. If a transformer fails, it would have a significant negative impact on revenue
and service reliability. Monitoring the state of health of power transformers has
traditionally been carried out using laboratory Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) tests
performed at periodic intervals on the oil sample, collected from the transformers. DGA
of transformer oil is the single best indicator of a transformer’s overall condition and is a
universal practice today, which started somewhere in the 1960s. Failure can occur in a
transformer due to different reasons. Some failures can be limited or prevented by
maintenance. Oil filtration is one of the methods to remove the dissolve gases and
prevent the deterioration of the oil.
In a power system, transformer plays an important role to convert the voltage
level. Insulation is an important part of a power transformer. In general, solid and liquid
insulation are widely used. During operation electric arc may take place a weak point
with a high electric field in a power transformer. The electric arc may degrade the oil as
well as solid insulations. It may enhance the dissolved gases in the oil. Recently,
Dissolved gas Analysis (DGA) is widely used in diagnostics of the transformer
condition. This reports the experimental results on the effects of arc on the dissolved gas
in transformer oils. The samples used were several products of transformer oils. Electric
arc was generated by using multi needles-plane electrodes. The samples were subjected
to arc produced at needle tips under AC voltage. Arc energy was adjusted by electrode
separation and the duration of arc application. The experimental results showed that the
application of arc in transformer oils increased the concentration of combustible gases
such as hydrogen, ethane, ethylene and acetylene. Dissolved gas analysis were done
using Key gases, Roger’s ratio and Duval Triangle methods. The experimental results
showed that all methods resulting similar results. The DGA also indicated that large
electric arc my be interpreted as overheating.

II
 Nomenclature
DGA: Dissolved gas analysis
Ppm: parts per millions
H2: hydrogen
C2H6: Ethane
C2H4: ethylene
C2H2 : Acetylene
GC: Gas Chromatography
DP: Degree of Polymerisation
IEC : International Electrochemical Commission
ECRA : Electrical Co operative Research Associates
CH4 : Methane
M : Mictran
C: Conoco
TCG : Total Combustible Gas

III
 INDEX
Chapter Topic Page No
1 Introduction 1
2 What is Dissolved Gas Analysis? 3
3 Physical, Chemical & Electrical Test 10
3.1 Acidity 10
3.2 Electric Strength 10
3.3 Fibre Estimation 11
3.4 Colour 11
3.5 Polychorinated Biphenyl Analysis 11
3.6 Metal in Oil Analysis 12
3.7 Furfuraldehyde Analysis 13
3.8 Water Content 14
3.9 Resistivity 15
3.10 Breakdown Test of Voltage 15
3.11 Principle of the Oil test 16
4 Testing Methods 17
4.1 Dornenburgs’ Ratio Method 17
4.2 Rogers Ratio Method 18
4.3 IEC Method 18
4.4 Duval’s Triangle 19
4.5 Denkyoken Method 19
4.6 CIGRE’s Method 19
4.7 Nomograph Method 20
4.8 NBR7274 Method 20
4.9 IS 10593:2006 Method 20
5 Case Study 22
5.1 Experiment 22
5.1.1 Sample 22
5.1.2 Electrode Arrangement 23
5.1.3 Dissolved Gas Analysis 24

IV
 5.2 Experimental Results and Analysis 24
5.2.1 The dependence of gases on arc 24
Voltage
5.2.2 Effects of Arc Duration on the 27
Combustible Gas
5.2.3 Interpretation of dissolved gas
using Total Combustible Gas (TCG)
Method. 28
5.3. Interpretation of dissolved gases
using Key gas method 29
5.4 Interpretation of dissolved gases
using Roger’s Ratio 31
5.5 Interpretation of dissolved gases
using Duval Triangle 32
6 Conclusion 34
7 Reference 35

V
 List Of Figures

1. Breakdown during an oil test. 15

2. The electrodes & experimental arrangement. 23
3. The dependence of Combustible gas concentration
On the applied voltage for(a) M (b) C oil samples. 25
4. Dependence of the total Combustible gas on arc
Voltage. 26
5. Dependence of gas concentration on the arc
duration at 20KV for (a) M (b) C samples. 27
6. Percentage of gases concentration for
(a) M (b) C samples. 30
7. Duval Triangle. 32

VI
 List of Tables

1. Categories of Key Gases & General Fault conditions. 6

2. Example 1 7
3. Example 2 8
4. Example 3 8
5. Samples & Treatment 23
6. Diagnostic results using TCG Method 29
7. Diagnostic results using Key Gas Method 30
8. Diagnostic results using Roger Ratio Method 30
9. Diagnostic results using Duval Triangle Method 33

VII