4 th International Conference on Instrument

Transformers

LEARNINGS FROM FAILURE ANALYSIS AND FMEA OF INSTRUMENT

TRANSFORMERS LEADING TO IMPROVED SYSTEM RELIABILTY

Pramod Tupe and Prajjwala Patil

The Tata Power Company Limited, Mumbai

13-14 December 2018, Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurgaon, NCR, India

INTRODUCTION
 The population of 145 / 245 / 400kV Instrument Transformers in Tata Power system is
around 1500 plus includes oil filled or immersed CTs, PTs and CVTs.
 Majority of CTs are of Live tank design. However, old Dead type design CTs are available in
some locations. For 400kV & 220kV system, polymeric housing SF6 filled CTs are also
introduced
 During last few years, some CTs / CVTs were removed from service proactively in event of
high Tan delta values and high variation in capacitance values. However, there are some
cases, where CTs / CVTs failures occurred without any advance distress signal / alarm.
 Based on our experience, it is found that CTs / CVTs have failed during service without any
major clues. However, very few cases of PT failures were reported. In some instance,
external causes (like improper equipment earthing, cable / line faults etc.) were involved in
Instrument Transformer failures. Many times, the catastrophic failure of Instrument
Transformers involves damage to the other nearby equipment. This leads to forced outage
and resulting into costly reconditioning / repairs / replacement of the defective equipment.
 Based on this, a need was felt to review existing maintenance / condition monitoring
practices and adopt new practices / standards / techniques for maintenance as well as
condition monitoring of Instrument Transformers as corrective / preventive measures.
13-14 December 2018, Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurgaon, NCR, India
METHODOLOGY ADOPTED FOR ANALYSIS OF INSTRUMENT
TRANSFORMER FAILURES
 Data of failed (new and old) Instrument Transformers from year 2011 was compiled to
understand trends / patterns.
 RCA of failed Instrument Transformers to identify root causes with focus on critical
condition monitoring parameters and maintenance history.
 Failure Mode and Effect Analysis to determine pain areas and suggest probable
mitigation actions.
 Relevant international / national technical standards and papers were also referred to
know the best practices in ‘Technical specification’ and ‘Condition Monitoring &
Maintenance’ followed by other utilities.

13-14 December 2018, Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurgaon, NCR, India

CASE STUDY-1 220KV CVT FAILURE

Occurrence details: On 16.10.15 at 00:10 Hrs, 220kV Kalwa–Salsette # 4 line tripped due to
failure of “A” phase CVT. Simultaneously, 220kV Bus fault Zone 2 relay operated at Salsette
R/S, thereby tripping all the connected lines and ICTs.
Analysis : “No Voltage” appeared on SCADA repeatedly from 00:07:00 onwards. Line tripped
at 00:10 hrs by the action of distance relay due to failure of A-phase CVT. The CVT failed
before any corrective action could be taken. Some internal problem in CVT. The CVT was
tested in 2014 and was found to be healthy.

13-14 December 2018, Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurgaon, NCR, India

CASE STUDY-1 220KV CT FAILURE

Occurrence details: On 14.06.15 at 02:03 Hrs, 220kV bus Zone-VI

Bus fault operated and opened out all connected breakers (including
Unit-7 GTG and STG breaker no- II) due to shattering of C-ph. CT of
GTG 220KV bay-II.
‘C’ phase CT flash-over occurred and CT caught fire. Fragments/
splinters of the CT hit and damaged the adjoining 220kV breaker, ‘A’
phase CT and Main Bus VI support insulators. Fire was extinguished
by Fire personnel.

Analysis : During Inspection of failed CT it was noticed that CT Tap

point (DF measurement) came out from terminal link. Also the
grounding link between Tap & ground was found open.
CT was 24 years old & its Dissipation Factor was showing increasing
trend (value was just above the permissible limit).

13-14 December 2018, Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurgaon, NCR, India

 FAILURE MODE AND EFFECT ANALYSIS
Failure mode Effect Cause RPN Action
Insulation CT Failure Poor quality of High • Insulation quality to be ensured
degradation /Internal insulation • Tan delta monitoring
Flash over • PD measurement

CT primary Hot Spot at Improper Medium • Use of torque wrench for

connection problem primary terminal connection proper tightness
• Thermo vision scanning
Gasket Failure Oil leakage Manufacturing Low • Gasket quality to be ensured
defect during FAT
Secondary short ckt No secondary moisture ingression Medium • Ensure IP class of secondary
output in the CT terminal Terminal box
box due to improper • Ensure proper quality of
sealing gasket
Increase in surface Flash over of CT Accumulation of Medium • Regular cleaning
leakage current and porcelain bushing thick layer of dust • Silicon coating on porcelain
lower dielectric portion Moisture/High salty insulator
strengtht. environment • Use polymeric insulator
Drifting of Secondary CVT failure C1 / C2 and IVT High • On line monitoring of
voltages for CVT failure Secondary voltages
13-14 December 2018, Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurgaon,
• Capacitance NCR, India
monitoring
 IMPROVEMENTS IN TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
• Composite insulator housed CT in place of Porcelain insulator housed CT for 145-245kV class.
• Composite insulator housed SF6 filled CT for 400kV class
• Use of live tank CTs
• Use of PT in place of CVT (except where PLCC facility required)
• Oil sampling valve and kit for DGA along with CT and PT
• M.S. HDG/Aluminum Tank
• Tan Delta acceptable limit during FAT/SAT - 0.4% for CT and 0.5% for PT
• Ingress Protection Secondary TBs /JBs IP 55 with additional rain protection
• Standardization of Instrument Transformer parameters like Ratio, Class, Burden
• Review of Type Test reports during bid analysis
• Qualification Requirement/Approved vendor list

13-14 December 2018, Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurgaon, NCR, India

 IMPROVEMENTS IN TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
• Composite insulator housed CT in place of Porcelain insulator housed CT for 145-245kV class.
• Composite insulator housed SF6 filled CT for 400kV class
• Use of live tank CTs
• Use of PT in place of CVT (except where PLCC facility required)
• Oil sampling valve and kit for DGA along with CT and PT
• M.S. HDG/Aluminum Tank
• Tan Delta acceptable limit during FAT/SAT - 0.4% for CT and 0.5% for PT
• Ingress Protection Secondary TBs /JBs IP 55 with additional rain protection
• Standardization of Instrument Transformer parameters like Ratio, Class, Burden
• Review of Type Test reports during bid analysis
• Qualification Requirement/Approved vendor list

13-14 December 2018, Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurgaon, NCR, India

INTERVENTIONS IN OPERATION & MAINTENANCE PRACTICES
 Introduction of DGA testing for CT oil as a standard practice and monitoring CT
parameters such as Capacitance & Tan-Delta with respect to reference values during
service life of CT.
• Introduction of on-line measurement of CVT secondary voltages as a standard practice
and monitoring PT / CVT parameters such as Capacitance & Tan-Delta with respect to
reference values during service life of PT / CVT.
• Inclusion of Thermo-vision and RF PD survey for oil filled Instrument Transformers.
• Replacement of Instrument Transformer rather than repairing / conditioning.

13-14 December 2018, Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurgaon, NCR, India

INTERVENTIONS IN OPERATION & MAINTENANCE PRACTICES

Parameter/Activity FRQ Checks

Oil levels & leakages, Crack on Porcelain
Visual / Physical During CM round
Insulator, Healthiness of gasket, Tightness of
Inspection /2Y or unit S/D
connections
Tan δ & Capacitance by
2Y or unit S/D Absolute Value & delta change value
HV tan delta set (10kV)
IR measurement by Absolute Values and delta change from previous
2Y or unit S/D
Insulation Tester values
Hot-spot by Thermo vision Temperature rise of Primary connection & body
QTRLY
scanning WRT to ambient temperature & previous values
Confirmatory Test after high Tan δ & limits as per
Oil / DGA SOS
IEC60599/CIGRE WG 12.16
Partial Discharge (PD)
measurement by RFI 1Y/SOS Identification of PD discharges
survey
Online CVT secondary
Online/SOS Drift in secondary voltages
voltages
CONCLUSION

• In the recent past, there have been some failures of EHV Instrument Transformers
experienced in Tata Power System.
• Detailed study of these failures were carried out along with Failure Analysis, FMEA
development, review of technical specifications as well as operation and maintenance
practices etc. Technical cum administrative approaches (Design, Operation & Maintenance
and Replacement aspects) were brainstormed and suggested to support Asset Manager to
obtain sustainable solutions to minimize EHV Instrument Transformer failures, which will
lead to reliable & safe power supply to customers.
• Also, new technologies like Composite Insulation and SF6 gas instead of oil are being
adopted in our system to improve system reliability.