Water Content in Transformer Insulation System: A Review on the Detection and Quantification Methods

Siti Rosilah Arsad, Pin Jern Ker (), Md. Zaini Jamaludin, Pooi Ying Choong, Hui Jing Lee, Vimal Angela Thiviyanathan and Young Zaidey Yang Ghazali
Additional contact information
Siti Rosilah Arsad: Institute of Sustainable Energy, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Pin Jern Ker: Institute of Sustainable Energy, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Md. Zaini Jamaludin: Institute of Power Engineering, Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Pooi Ying Choong: Institute of Sustainable Energy, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Hui Jing Lee: Institute of Power Engineering, Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Vimal Angela Thiviyanathan: Institute of Sustainable Energy, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Young Zaidey Yang Ghazali: Tenaga Nasional Bhd., Petaling Jaya 46200, Selangor, Malaysia

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 4, 1-31

Abstract: Water can be an irritant to a power transformer, as it is recognized as a major hazard to the operation of transformers. The water content of a transformer insulation system comprises the water in the transformer insulation oil and in the cellulose paper. The increase in the water content in the insulation system leads to reduced breakdown voltage, accelerated aging of the oil–paper insulation system, and the possibility of producing bubbles at high temperatures. Therefore, various techniques have been applied to measure the water content in both oil and paper insulation. This article comprehensively reviews and analyzes the methods (technically or nontechnically) that have been used to monitor the water content in transformer insulation systems. Apart from discussing the advantages and major drawbacks of these methods, the accuracy, measurement time, and cost of each technique are also elucidated in this review. This review can be extremely useful to the utility in monitoring and maintaining the good condition of transformers. Based on the reviewed methods and their challenges, a few future research directions and prospects for determining the water content in transformer insulation systems are outlined, such as utilizing artificial intelligence and enhancing current techniques.

Keywords: transformer; insulation; water detection; quantification methods; energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/4/1920/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/4/1920/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:4:p:1920-:d:1069170

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().