1360 Y. Biçen et al.

: Lifetime Estimation and Monitoring of Power Transformer Considering Annual Load Factors

Lifetime Estimation and Monitoring of Power Transformer

Considering Annual Load Factors
Yunus Biçen1, Faruk Aras2 and Hulya Kirkici3
1
Duzce University
Industrial Electronic Department
Duzce, Turkey
2
Kocaeli University,
Electrical Engineering Education Department
Kocaeli, Turkey
3
Auburn University
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Auburn, AL, USA

ABSTRACT
This paper focuses on the realistic remaining service life prediction and monitoring
system of power transformers, using an algorithm developed by the authors. The
power transformer is one of the vital components of power transmission and
distribution substations. It is important to know the loading capacity and
remaining service life of a power transformer to ensure its economical and secure
operation. This information is directly related to the condition of cellulosic
insulation. According to classical method of prediction, the power transformer is
considered to be operated under constant load for the remainder of its lifespan.
However, in reality the load factor varies continuously, and this is a key factor
affecting the service life of power transformers. In this study, a realistic method for
monitoring and predicting the service lifetime of power transformers is presented
by considering annual load factors. The proposed method is applicable to any
power transformer and can be updated by considering relevant standards for
different liquid and solid insulation materials. As a case study, life-loss calculation
and the remaining service life predictions are carried out using a thermal model
that has been created considering a 250 MVA mineral oil–immersed power
transformer.
Index Terms – Lifetime, loss of life, power transformer, prediction, remaining
service life.

1 INTRODUCTION execution of the emergency cautions, and make productive

maintenance and repair predictions. Most importantly, these
THE power transformer is one of the most important online monitoring systems can determine the remaining
elements of power transmission and distribution systems. It service life with the help of analysis.
is therefore important to carry out periodical maintenance
and ongoing monitoring of the power transformers, Today, online monitoring software and hardware are
especially those used at critical points. Today, the methods available to perform the above-processes separately or
for monitoring the power transformers are divided into two together [1-3]. However, as the monitoring systems in this
main groups: online monitoring and offline monitoring. field are very recent and research and development studies
Online monitoring of systems is becoming more applicable are continually improving, it is still particularly difficult to
with the development of technology. While the transformers predict the remaining life of the power transformer because
are operating, online monitoring methods can be used to remaining-life estimations depend on many parameters [4,
observe and determine the operating performance, testing, 5]. According to the current standards, the physical life of
the power transformer is limited to the life of the insulating
paper [5]. Degree of polymerization (DP), Furan analysis
Manuscript received on 9 June 2013, in final form 7 November 2014,
accepted 14 January 2014. and CO2/CO ratio tests may indicate degradation or a

DOI 10.1109/TDEI.2014.004155
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 21, No. 3; June 2014 1361

problem with the insulating paper [6]. For example, DP tests TOP-OIL AND HOT-SPOT THERMAL MODELS
determine the mechanical strength of paper by measuring
The loadability and usable life of a power transformer
the cellulose level [6, 7]. But DP tests, along with other
depend primarily on the internally generated heat. It is
tests, do not provide how long the service life of the power
therefore essential to predict thermal behaviors of a
transformer would be, because there are many other factors
transformer during normal cyclic loadings and
affecting the insulation aging rate.
particularly in the presence of overload conditions or
Aging or deterioration of insulation is time dependent and unplanned outages [15]. For this reason, hot-spot
a function of the temperature, and moisture and oxygen temperature rise is the most important parameter in
content. Moisture and oxygen contributions to the insulation determining the service lifetime of a transformer. The
deterioration can be minimized in modern oil preservation hot-spot temperature is the sum of the ambient
systems. That leaves the insulation temperature as the only temperature, the top-oil temperature rise, and the hot-spot
controlling parameter of aging [8]. Hence, the degree of temperature rise, as shown in Eq. (1).
insulating paper aging is determined according to the hot-
spot temperature of the transformer in practice [8-12].
THS  TH S  TTO   TA (1)
Power transformers have different loading values during
different times of the day. However, aging calculation is where T A is the ambient temperature, oC, ∆T TO is the top-
carried out according to the average value of the loading and oil temperature rise over ambient temperature, oK, and
temperature values are recorded on an hourly basis. ∆T HS is the hot-spot temperature rise over top-oil
Therefore the results will not be realistic because the effects temperature, oK.
of short-term changes on aging acceleration will not be
considered. Nevertheless, if the time resolution of The hot-spot and top-oil temperatures vary with the
calculation is increased, the effects on aging of peaks and loading of the power transformer in transient conditions.
transient situations can be taken into consideration. The However, their response rates are different due to the
current hardware and software technology makes this thermal capacities and thermal resistances of the winding
possible. Some methods given in the literature perform the and the oil. Thermal capacity and thermal resistance
aging calculations using high-resolution load and directly determine the time constant of the related
temperature data of the transformers. Although their aging parameters. Therefore, the hot-spot temperature calculation
calculations are correct, predictions of the transformer’s is repeated for each step of the load period. Furthermore,
remaining service life based on this method may be the loss-of-life calculations are performed at each step
deceptive because, in situation of this type, the power simultaneously. Based on these definitions, heat transfer
demanded from the transformer increases over the years. can be defined by differential equations, applicable for
Furthermore, the temperatures also increase during operation arbitrarily time-varying load factor (per-unit) and ambient
period. For this reason, the calculations and predictions temperature (TA) [14]. This model is based on the
should be made for the remaining service life while equivalent thermal circuit theory proposed by Swift et. al.
considering the increasing demand from the power [16]. The top-oil temperature, TTO, can be determined as
transformer over time. follows [16]:
In the present study, a new method has been proposed to
I 2  1 dT
predict the service life of transformers, considering two .TTOR  n   oil TO  TTO  TA  n
1 1
(2)
factors. These are (1) high measurement-time resolution and  1 dt
functional algorithm, and (2) equations relating to
Where,
predictions of the loading demand and a realistic life-loss. In
addition, only the effect of temperature on aging is I is the load current, pu.
considered. TA is the ambient temperature, oC.
TTO is the top-oil temperature, oC.
2 TRANSIENT THERMAL MODEL AND β is the ratio of load to no-load losses,
FUNCTIONAL ALGORITHM  oil is the top-oil time constant, min.
Thermal aging of insulation materials in mineral oil– ∆T TOR is the rated top-oil temp-rise over-ambient, oK.
immersed transformers has been formulated in n is the exponent that defines non-linearity.
ANSI/IEEE-C57.91 and IEC-60354/1991 [8, 12]. There are
some differences in the IEEE and IEC standards with Furthermore, the following equation can be used to
regard to the definitions of thermal aging methods for calculate the hot-spot temperature:
mineral oil–immersed transformers. According to the IEEE dTHS
I 2 THSR   THS  TTO  m
1 1
standard, the normal lifetime of a power transformer is m  H (3)
20.55 years. On the other hand, IEC standard does not dt
define the total life span but it usually is assumed to be 30 Where,
years, depending on the aging rate determined by the hot-
spot temperature [13, 14]. THS is the hot-spot temperature, oC.
1362 Y. Biçen et al.: Lifetime Estimation and Monitoring of Power Transformer Considering Annual Load Factors

∆THSR is the rated hot-spot temp-rise over top-oil, oK. a power transformer [8]. It is assumed that the insulation
H is the hot-spot time constant, min. deterioration can be modeled as a per-unit quantity for a
reference temperature of 110°C, and the following equation
m is the exponent defining non-linearity.
can be used for accelerated aging predictions [13, 14]:
Figure 1 shows the differential equations used in the
 15000 15000 
calculations in a flow-chart block diagram form.   
383  H  273 
F AA  e  pu ( 4)

The life loss during a small interval dt can be defined as:

dL  FAA dt (5)

Thus, the life loss over a given load cycle can be calculated
by:

T
1
T 0
L FAA dt (6)

These equations indicate that the aging of transformer

Figure 1. Hot-spot thermal model. paper is a function of winding temperature because of the
load current. However, in this process, while the loading
changes on the transformer often emerge as step functions,
winding temperature increases much more slowly because of
the thermal time constant of the material. The power
demanded from a transformer during the day varies
continuously. For this reason, to obtain realistic results,
loading control and temperature calculation should be
performed using high-resolution time interval. The loop to
realize this method is shown in Figure 2. In this application,
high resolution measurement and loading temperature
characteristic of power transformers are evaluated in
seconds. The response time of the thermal equations can be
calculated more accurately, and aging predictions can be
foreseen correctly. The algorithm of conversion from
seconds to years about the life loss can be seen in Figure 3.
By calculating the lifetime of paper insulation in seconds,
only one data is changed to the other period (minutes), and
the old data are reset.
Increased resolution may result in the problem of saving
the data, owing to a large quantity of data in the data
Figure 2. Measurement and evaluation loop.
storage. With the algorithm given in Figure 3, the amount of
data in the data storage can be limited. The data sent to the
The classical method assumes that the thermal
other cycle stage contain the information about the actual
characteristics of the material are constant [17]. To resolve
life loss. In each cycle stage, the cycle number at the
this deficiency, a dynamic electrical-thermal analogy has
maximum Nx can be found. For example, 24 data points
been developed for the lumped capacitance method by
(N24) that come from the previous cycle stage are enough for
introducing nonlinear thermal resistance, which allows for
a daily cycle. Comments can be made about future aging
the variation of the transformer oil thermal parameters with
attitudes because the characteristic features (trend and
the temperature. The thermal characteristics of the
seasonal factors) of each period of insulation aging can be
transformer oil strongly depend on the temperature. The
monitored. The details of the proposed method are presented
temperature dependence of oil viscosity is the most
in Section IV.
pronounced [17].
In order to validate the method presented in this paper, we
2.1 INSULATION LIFE LOSS used the parameters of a standard 250 MVA power
The IEEE guide recommends that users select the transformer presented in the literature [18]. These parameters
assumptions for lifetime estimation. In the IEEE C57.91 are as follows: The ratio of load to no-load losses (β) is 6.20,
guide, 180,000 hours is considered as the normal lifetime of the top-oil time constant (  oil ) is 170 min, the rated top-oil
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 21, No. 3; June 2014 1363

winding compared to oil. The aging acceleration factor

changes exponentially, when compared with the hot-spot
temperature, as shown in Figure 6. In particular, it can be
understood that the loss of life of the insulation will be high at
the hot-spot temperature. The aging acceleration factor is
calculated in seconds.

140

120

100

Temperature oC
80

60

40
Top-oil temperature
20 Hot-spot temperature

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
x 104 sec
1000 min
Figure 5. Temperature responses of power transformer.

12 Aging acceleration factor

10

8
FAA

Figure 3. Iteration scheme of functional algorithm (life loss conversion - 6

second to year).
4

Load changing
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
1.5
1.3 x 104 sec
Load factor (pu)

1000 min

1
Figure 6. Aging acceleration factor.
1

0.5
0.5 3 REALISTIC REMAINING SERVICE
LIFE PREDICTION
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
In the literature and the standards, the remaining service
4
x 10 sec life calculations of transformers are made using equations
1000 min considering the temperature effect on the degradation of the
Figure 4. Load step changes. paper material only [12]. Although these equations
determine the life loss of the transformers accurately, the
temp-rise over-ambient (∆TTOR) is 38.3 oK, the rated hot-spot remaining service life of transformers is not realistic. This is
temp-rise over top-oil (∆THSR) is 20.3 oK, the hot-spot time because the calculations are extrapolated and carried out
constant (  H ) is 6 min, the non-linearity exponents (n, m) according to the nominal load operation principle. The
demand of loading in a day is not constant but changes
are 0.9 and 0.8, respectively.
continuously. Moreover, the amount of loading for a day,
According to these parameters, the model is run. The month, and year can be different for different periods. The
loading variation used in first stage is shown in Figure 4. In service life of the power transformer depends on the loading
this stage, the ambient temperature is assumed to be constant conditions and the loading factor usually shows an
(30 oC), to observe the effects of the loading variation. The increasing trend as a function of use in service. Therefore,
hot-spot and top-oil temperatures of the power transformer are two different loading characteristics during the operation
obtained for a 1000-minute period and shown in Figure 5. It period can be considered. Although the loading
can be observed from the figure that the hot-spot temperature characteristics are usually given in daily periods, the yearly
is more rapidly affected by the loading changes than the top- loading characteristics are shown in Figures 7 and 8, in
oil temperature due to the much lower time constant of order to show the long-term aging effects. While forming
1364 Y. Biçen et al.: Lifetime Estimation and Monitoring of Power Transformer Considering Annual Load Factors

this characteristic, the average has been obtained by II-C programming sense, to provide high resolution and
grouping the daily loading levels in terms of years and memory optimization, equations (6), (7) and (8) can be
arranging them according to their sizes. However, if the rearranged as follows:
resolutions of the grouping are increased, then the loading
characteristics turn into an “s” shape. The life loss of a  N12 N30 N24 N60 
transformer operated under nominal load for most of its      FAA  t n  T12
  1
physical life is shown in Figure 7. It can be stated that a L y   n1 n1 n1 n1 T  Lm dt (9)
N12 N30 N 24 N60
transformer operated under such conditions completes its      t n  12 0
physical life much later than that of a transformer under  n1 n1 n1 n1 
nominal operation. Figure 8 shows the life loss of a
transformer operated above the nominal load for most of its
physical life. A transformer that operated under such L y  T12
conditions completes its physical life earlier than a LOL y %   100 (10)
Normal Insulation Life
transformed under nominal operation. In Figure 7, “LL”
shows that the physical life ends late and in Figure 8, “EL”
shows that the physical life ends early. RT y  Normal Insulation Life  L y  T12  (11)

Load factor(pu) However, the value of the term “Normal Insulation Life” in
Lf2 equation (10) is 20.55 years (based on the relevant standards)
[8, 12]. This is based on the allowable hot-spot temperature of
1
110 oC that is determined according to standard life-time of
Lf1 20.55 years of insulation (cellulose) given on the nameplate
0.5 ratings. This value does not give realistic result when
compared with the calculation of the remaining service life
because the loading in the period until the calculation time is
20.55 LL 40 Years often not nominal, nor will it be nominal after this point.
Accordingly, the life loss of the insulation will not be at the
Figure 7. Grouped average load factor, over the life of the transformer. nominal value at all. For example, if we consider a newer
power transformer operated under the nominal loading level
during a period of 1 year, the life loss of the insulation will be
Load factor(pu) less than 1 year. If we assume this value to be around 0.55
Lf2
years, then according to the classical approach given in [8],
1 the remaining life is calculated to be: 20.55-0.55=20 years.
Continuing with the classical approach, during the remaining
Lf1 years, this calculation is regarded as correct for the situation
in which the transformer is operated in the nominal load.
0.5 However, this situation cannot be realized in the future.
Therefore, the calculation should be performed considering
Years the insulation aging data of the previous periods, while
10 EL 20.55
predicting the remaining service life of power transformer. If
Figure 8. Grouped average load factor, over the life of the transformer. the assumption that the same loss of life will be experienced
in the next periods as in the previous ones is accepted, then
equations (9)–(11) can be rearranged according to the years as
The changes in LL and EL depend on the loading shown in equations (12)–(14).
performance of the transformer. The normal insulation life is
the values stated in the standards (ANSI/IEEE-C57.91), for
the nominal loading is given as 20.55 years [8, 12], and is Ly1  T12  Ly 2  T12  Ly3  T12   Lyk  T12
Lyk  (12)
included in Figures 7 and 8. The certain period percentage k  T12
life loss, LOL%, and remaining life, RT, can be found as
follows:
k
L yk  T12 n
L T n 1
LOL %   100 (7 ) LOL yk %   100 (13)
Normal Insulation Life Normal Insulation Life

RT  Normal Insulation Life  L  T  (8)

 k 
 T12n  k
Remaining service life, RT, as given in equation (7) is RTyk   n1
k
 Normal Insulation Life  T12n (14)
L  n1
 yk 
commonly used in the literature. L indicates the life loss in a T12n

certain period, and T signifies the period. According to Part n1
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 21, No. 3; June 2014 1365

o
This calculation is based on the simple moving average Temperature C Load (pu)
method (SMA). According to this method, all data of the
past years has the same significance. Therefore, SMA has a 90   Load changing 1.8
Ambient temp.
major drawback in terms of lifetime estimation varying with 80
Hot-spot temp.
1.6
the load projections in the future. Because the power 70 1.4
demand from the power transformers may increase over the
 
60 1.2
years, insulation aging may be accelerated. For example, if 50 1
the loss of life in a period of 1 year, when a power
40 0.8
transformer is used initially, is Ly1 = 0.60 years, then the loss
30 0.6
of life in the 6th year can be estimated to be Ly6 = 0.85 years.
Accordingly, in this context, an increase in the levels of 20 0.4

aging can depend on the loading demand increase. It is 10 0.2

crucial for a reasonably correct prediction for the trend of 0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
aging levels to be taken into consideration in predicting the 4
x 10 sec
remaining insulation life. If this trend is usually predicted
24 hours
based on the previous years’ operation of the power
transformer, then a more realistic result can be obtained Figure 9. Hot-spot temperature changes over 24 hours
using quantitative prediction methods. Weighted Moving
Average (WMA) and Exponential Weighted Moving The load factor change for any day in the first year of the
Average (EWMA) are the two proposed methods, which are transformer, the environmental temperature change, and the
more reflective of the most recent occurrences to incorporate hottest point temperature change linked to these two variables
the trend factor. Specifically, WMA is a more suitable (temperature and load) are shown in Figure 9.
method than EWMA for this study. This is because, WMA
is not affected by the short-time fluctuation in contrast to
EWMA and it is easier to use WMA model than regression
0.06 Aging acceleration factor
models in the programming phase. Thus, WMA is adapted
in equation (12) as follows: 0.05

 k  0.04
  wi Lyi 
 
FAA

Lyk   i 1  (15) 0.03

k
0.02
Where, w is the weight of aging for each year. The
initial weight of aging value is highest, and the weights 0.01

toward the furthest year are reduced by half of the previous

0
year as wyk = 0.5, wy(k-1) = 0.25, wy(k-2) = 0.125, and so on 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
(see Table 1). 4
x 10 sec
24 hours

Figure 10. Aging acceleration factor changes over 24 hours.

4 CASE STUDY DISCUSSIONS
For the case study, a power transformer (250 MVA) with The instant aging acceleration factor and integrative aging
the required parameters stated in Section II is used as an change per day according to temperature are shown in Figures
example [18]. In order to model long-term operation and to 10 and 11, respectively. The transformer loading alterations
prove the validity of the proposed method, the following change with the K factor for a period of 6 years, and the
assumptions should be made. change in the loading levels in years are shown in Figures 12a
and 12b respectively. The loading trend until this period and
 In the model, the loading characteristic profile does not in the continuing periods was found using the weighted
change from year to year, but its level increases with a moving average method. Figure 12c shows the trend of life
certain trend factor. loss during a day, obtained by considering the increases in the
yearly load factor of the power transformer. For over years,
 In the model, the daily temperature changes are the remaining service life of the transformer is calculated and
insignificant compared to the seasonal changes varies re-updated using above-mentioned method. The remaining
within the same bandwidth throughout a day. life prediction according to the load trend after the sixth year
is the most up-to-date prediction, and the load rising factor for
In light of these assumptions, the monitoring of the the sixth year is K = 1.35. After that point, the value of the K
insulation aging and remaining lifetime estimation can be factor is found to be stable, and the life loss is calculated as
realized using the proposed method. LOL(year 6) = 4.045 during the first 6 years.
1366 Y. Biçen et al.: Lifetime Estimation and Monitoring of Power Transformer Considering Annual Load Factors
-6

3
x 10 values become stable and the accuracy of the calculated
Loss of life remaining service life estimation increases due to having
2.5 more data in hand. Therefore, this drawback will be solved
spontaneously by increasing the number of years in the long
2
run. This fact is also taken into account while calculating the
remaining service life of the transformer in this work.
LOL

1.5

0.5

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4
x 10 sec
24 hours

Figure 11. Life loss of cellulosic insulation changes over 24 hours

Figure 13. Service life span variations (for the first few years).

5 CONCLUSIONS
In the literature, it is reported many of the power transformer
that were installed in the 1980s are still in operation, and some
of them are still in good condition according to results of tests
such as DP, Furan, CO2, and others. The service lifespan of
these transformers are more than 20.55 years whereas, the
normal expected lifespan is 20.55 years according to the
classical approach. This continued performance is related to
operating conditions. These transformers are likely to be
Figure 12. (a) Yearly load rising factor K, (b) Yearly load change pu, (c) operated below the limit values determined by the
Daily life loss change in different years.
manufacturers. In addition, the remaining life of the insulation
depends on the transformer loading conditions, and it can be
The calculation procedures and the results are presented in
estimated using the program iterations, considering the
Table 1 for both the classical method and the method proposed
variation of loading and life loss in the previous years. In this
in this paper. According to the classical method, the remaining
paper, we developed a method that can easily determine the
service life of a power transformer is predicted to be about 16.5
life-span shortening and extension of power transformers.
years for the mineral oil–immersed transformer. However,
Knowledge regarding the trend factors of the data for the
using our proposed method, the remaining life is predicted to be
previous years can help to estimate more realistically the
approximately 12 years, as shown in Table I. A difference of
demand on the transformer and the change in the life loss of the
nearly 4.5 years was observed between the two methods.
insulation in future years. As the trend factor is calculated for
In the early years when the power transformer is first in seasonal and monthly trends, prediction of the remaining life
service, an accurate estimation of its service life is not critical, can be deceptive. To obtain more stable results, the use of a
but the importance of these calculations increases as time year-based trend, in which all the months are taken into
progresses, especially towards the end of its service life. The consideration, is more reasonable. The proposed method can
lifetime estimation can be performed using the classical easily determine the degree of lifespan shortening and
method at any time. In the proposed method, the loss of life extension for power transformers, allowing remaining service
calculation is made for the first three years only, but the life to be predicted more realistically. Also, this method can be
estimation of service lifetime cannot be done due to the adapted on top the existing monitoring systems. This is
absence of required historical data as shown in Figure 13. In important information for the electricity market and will bring
addition, for the first few years, the remaining lifetime important benefits when planning for the future. Strategic plans
estimation results vary depending on the load rising factor regarding electric power transmission and distribution systems
(K), according to our approach. However, in later years, these can therefore be made more accurately.
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 21, No. 3; June 2014 1367
Table 1. Remaining service life comparison for moth classical and proposed methods

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS [15] W. H. Tang, Q. H. Wu, Z. J. Richardson, “A Simplified Transformer

Thermal Model Based on Thermal-Electric Analogy”, IEEE Trans.
This work was supported by the Scientific Research Projects Unit Power Delivery, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 1112-1119, 2004.
of Kocaeli University. Project No: 2011-33. [16] G. Swift, T. S. Moliniski and W. Lehn, "A Fundamental Approach to
Transformer Thermal Modeling-Part I: Theory and Equivalent Circuit,"
IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, Vol. 16, No.2, pp. 171-175, 2001.
REFERENCES [17] D. Susa, M. Lehtonen and H. Nordman, “Dynamic Thermal Modeling
of Power Transformers”, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, Vol. 20, No. 1,
[1] S.D.J. McArthur, S.M. Strachan, G. Jahn, “Design of a Multi-Agent pp. 197–204, 2005.
Transformer Condition Monitoring System,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., [18] IEC 60076-7 Power transformers - Part 7: Loading guide for oil-
Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 1845-1852, 2004. immersed power transformers, 2005-12
[2] I.A. Metwally, “Failures, Monitoring and New Trends of Power
Transformers,” IEEE Potentials, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 36-43, 2011. Yunus Biçen was born in Kastamonu, Turkey in
[3] Y. Bicen, F. Aras, “A robust algorithm based on a failure sensitive 1981. He received the B.Sc. degree from Kocaeli
matrix for fault diagnosis of power systems: An application on power University, Electrical Education Department, in
transformers.” Turkish J. Electr. Eng. Computer Sci., doi: 10.3906/elk- 2004, the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Kocaeli
1304-45, 2014. University, Turkey in 2007 and 2012, respectively.
[4] J.W. Stahlhut, G.T. Heydt and N.J. Selover,“A Preliminary Assessment He was with the University of Kocaeli from 2004
of the Impact of Ambient Temperature Rise on Distribution to 2008. Currently, he works as an Assistant
Transformer Loss of Life”, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, Vol. 23, No. Professor at the Department of Industrial
4, pp. 2000 – 2007, 2008. Electronic of Duzce University. His research interests are in the area of
[5] M.K. and T.S. Ramu, “On the Estimation of Elapsed Life of Oil- power systems analysis, aging of power system equipment, fault diagnostics
Immersed Power Transformers”, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, Vol. 20, and development of computer aided programs.
No. 3, pp. 1962-1969, 2005.
[6] X. Zhang and E. Gockenbach, “Asset-Management of Transformers Faruk Aras was born in Ardahan, Turkey. He
Based on Condition Monitoring and Standard Diagnosis”, IEEE Electr. received the B.Sc. degree from Marmara
Insul. Mag., Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 26-40, 2008. University, Electrical Education Department,
[7] G.K. Frimpong, T.V. Oommen and R. Asano, “A Survey of Aging Istanbul, Turkey in 1994, the MSc and PhD
Characteristics of Cellulose Insulation in Natural Ester and Mineral degrees from Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey
Oil”, IEEE Electr. Insul. Mag., Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 36- 48, 2011. in 1996 and 2001, respectively. He is a Professor
[8] IEEE Guide for Loading Mineral-Oil-Immersed Transformers, IEEE of Electrical & Electronics department of Kocaeli
C57.91-1995. University.. His current research interests are in
[9] S.M.M. Agah and H.A. Abyaneh, “Distribution Transformer Loss-of- the area of power system, aging, cables and
Life Reduction by Increasing Penetration of Distributed Generation”, transformers.
IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 1128-1139, 2011.
[10] Y. Bicen, Y. Cilliyuz,. F. Aras and G. Aydugan, “An Assessment on
Aging Model of IEEE/IEC Standards for Natural and Mineral Oil- Hulya Kirkici (SM’97) is a Professor of Electrical
Immersed Transformer”, IEEE Int’l. Conf. Dielectric Liquids (ICDL), & Computer Eng. Auburn University. She received
Norway, pp 1-4, 2011. the B.S. and M.S. (1984) degrees in physics from
[11] R. Liao, J. Hao, G. Chen, Z. Ma and L. Yang, “A Comparative Study of the Middle East Technical University (METU),
Physicochemical, Dielectric and Thermal Properties of Pressboard Ankara, Turkey and the Ph.D. degree in electrical
Insulation Impregnated with Natural Ester and Mineral Oil”, IEEE engineering from Polytechnic Univ., Brooklyn, NY
Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 18, No. 5 pp. 1626-1637, 2011. (1990). She was a visiting scientist/engineer at
[12] IEC Loading Guide For Oil-Immersed Power Transformers, IEC - NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville,
60354, 91. AL (1999-2000).
[13] K. Najdenkoski, G. Rafajlovski and V. Dimcev, “Thermal Aging of Dr. Kirkici’s research interests are in repetitive pulsed power, high voltage
Distribution Transformers According to IEEE and IEC Standards”, engineering, and electrical insulation in space aerospace. Dr. Kirkici currently
IEEE Power Eng. Soc. General Meeting, pp. 1-5, 2007. serves as the Treasurer of IEEE Publication Services and Products Board
[14] P.K. Sen and P. Sarunpong, “Overloading and Loss-of-Life Assessment (PSPB). She was the President of IEEE DEIS (2009 and 2010) and the General
Guıdelines of Oil-Cooled Transformers”, Rural Electric Power Conf., Chair of the IEEE-Power Modulator Conference (2004). Dr. Kirkici is an
pp. B4/1 - B4/8, 2001. Associate Editor of the IEEE-TDEI (1998–2007) and (2012 – present).