Transformer Insulation Life Assessment

Electrical power systems play an important role in production and services in both the industrial and commercial sectors. A major asset of any power transmission and distribution system is the transformer. The main goal of this work is to assess the lifetime of transformer working continuously for 24 hours and one month. This information is useful for calculation and prediction of the remaining lifetime. This work presents two different approaches for assessing the life of a transformer and two distinct methods of determining the reliability and health conditions of any working transformer. The first method of assessing the end life of the transformer, based on top oil temperature with the inclusion of solar radiation and wind velocity, with the use of statistical method to simulate the thermal life of the oil insulation in a transformer. The other method uses degradation mechanisms of the different parameters of oil to assess the reliability of paper-oil insulation. These two approaches presented here are potentially useful techniques to estimate the residual life of insulation, which can enlighten the maintenance and repair policies regarding the owners of transformers.