Transformers are the most expensive and critical asset in any electrical power network. Their failure results in long interruption of power supply with consequent loss of reliability and revenue. Understanding and detection of the failure mechanism helps in avoiding catastrophic failures, unplanned outages and improving the power system reliability. Oil impregnated paper (OIP) and pressboards form the main soild insulation in a transformer. Life of the transformer is governed mostly by the life of OIP insulation. Until recently, it was thought that ageing of the OIP insulation in power transformer and its eventual failure, is mainly a function of temperature and electrical stresses. However, it has now been realized that the moisture causes rapid degradation of OIP and needs a special attention. Considering its practical relevance, this research program was formulated with goals: (i) to study the ageing of OIP insulation under temperature and moisture stresses, (ii) to seek correlation between diagnostic ageing indices and end-of-life (EOL) and (iii) to develop a life model for OIP considering moisture along with the thermal stress. Observing that working with actual transformers or even the prototypes are rather inordinately expensive, experiments were conducted with paper strips immersed in oil in test tubes with paper to oil ratio kept same as that in power transformers. In order to cater for the statistical nature of the phenomena, adequate numbers of test specimens were employed (25 numbers for each experiment). Experiments were conducted for two years at temperatures 90°C, 110°C & 120°C and moisture 1%, 2% & 3%. Following the literature, the degree of polymerization (DP) was chosen as the primary index for ageing. As measurement of DP is not only destructive, but also impractical on most of the working transformers, with an aim to develop suitable diagnostic indices for ageing, 2-furfural (2-FAL) and oxides of carbon (CO and CO2) were also measured. Empirical relation between ageing and amount of stresses and time have been deduced for the relevant range. Limiting value of these indices to prescribe the end-of-life, as well as, their correlation with DP have been worked out and reported. In order to bring the role of moisture explicitly, based on earlier work on multi-stress ageing, a multiplicative power law supplementing the Arrhenius factor is envisaged. Accordingly, a phenomenological combined stress model involving the time to failure, temperature, and moisture content is deduced. Based on the experimental results, this model is statistically validated and the values of parameters appearing in the model is obtained. Thus the combined stress model enables one to estimate the life of OIP insulation at any temperature and moisture under synergy. In summary, this work through experimental and analytical approach has contributed to the evaluation of the aging of OIP insulation used in power transformers under the combined action of moisture and temperature.

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The overall reliability of a power transformer depends to a great extent on the sound operation of the bushings thereof. In view of its overwhelming advantages, resin impregnated paper (RIP) is acquiring prominence over conventional oil impregnated paper (OIP) in transformer bushings. The main advantages of RIP bushings are low dielectric loss and capability of positioning them at any desired angle over the transformer. The RIP structure, being an all-solid system, is completely free from oil phase. The temperature rise in RIP bushings under normal operating conditions is seen to be a difficult parameter to control in view of the limited options for effective cooling. The degradation of dry-type insulation such as RIP is often due to thermal and electrical stresses. The long time performance thereof, depends strongly, on the maximum operating temperature. In order to be able to predict the regional temperature, it is necessary to consider the thermal and electrical parameters of insulation in question; and to identify and solve the governing equations under the relevant boundary conditions. Electrical failure of insulation is known to be an extremal random process wherein nominally identical specimens of equipment insulation, at constant stress fails at inordinately different times. In order to be able to estimate the life of power equipment like transformer bushing, it is necessary to run long duration ageing experiments under accelerated stresses, to acquire and analyze insulation specific failure data. The present work is an attempt to provide reliability and life estimation of High Voltage RIP bushing insulation. The literature survey carried out in this view indicate that investigation on thermal and electric field distribution and the models for failure under combined stress and analysis of the data so as to be able to estimate the possible life of RIP bushing is scanty. Having these aspects in focus, the scope of the present work is defined as: (i) Mapping of the temperature and electric field distribution in the body of 400kV RIP bushing (ii) Deduction of parameters of the probabilistic models for the failure under electrical and thermal ageing (iii) Estimation of life based on diagnostic testing using PD With this in view, the temperature distribution in the body of a 400kV RIP bushing is studied considering the heat generation both in central conductor and that in the insulation. Presence of multiple materials with non-confirming interfaces makes analytical solution rather difficult and hence numerical approach is adopted. In the present work, vertex-centered Finite Volume Method (FVM) is employed for both thermal and electrical analysis. The electric stress distribution is accurately evaluated considering both the non-zero conductivity of the RIP material and the presence of capacitive grading foils. These analysis has clearly shown that Stress grading foils uniforms the stress across the major portion of the bushing insulation Enhancement of the electric conductivity by the temperature is not found to be affective in changing the electric field distribution The temperature distribution is shown to have a maxima near the flange due to the influence of top oil temperature of the transformer Heat generated in the dielectric due to the prevailing electric stress is shown to be insignificant. This ruled out the possibility of thermal runaway and hence the dielectric temperature is within the safe working limits for the bushing considered. The deduction of physical models governing insulation failure depends on the nature of stress. In this work, the insulation failure at constant accelerated stress has been considered and the estimation of life is computed based on inverse power law coupled with Arrhenius law. A high degree of scatter is generic to the experimental data forming the ingredients to develop the models. In view of this, the concept of a random process is invoked. Probabilistic models for the failure of RIP bushing under synergy are adopted and an attempt is made to estimate the life. The well known Weibull distribution and probability plotting of life data is used in this endeavor. The maximum likelihood estimation is used to determine the scale and shape parameters of the Weibull distribution. In the diagnosis of the extent of degradation of insulation due to PD, under long duration electric stress, a non-conventional voltage application method called the classical stepped stress method is adopted. In this technique, the voltage is applied in pre-determined steps over predetermined duration of time. The magnitude of voltage steps is carefully computed based on Miners law and the end-of-life is computed using inverse power law. In summary, this thesis work has contributed to the thermal and electrical degradation of resin impregnated paper insulation for high voltage transformer bushing. The thermal and electrical field distributions computed in the body of bushing clearly shown that these stresses are well within the limit, thereby ruling out the possibility of a thermal runaway. Comparing the estimates of the most probable life of RIP, based on several methods appears to show that any of the method can be adopted. However, as matter of caution and safety, the lowest among them can be taken as a reasonable estimate.

This degree project presents a study case in Eskilstuna-Sweden, regarding the effect of the photovoltaic (PV) systems with battery energy storage system (BESS) on a power distribution transformer, and how they could change the transformer lifespan. For that, an extensive literature review has been conducted, and two MATLAB models were used to simulate the system. One model simulates the PV generation profile, with the option of including battery in the system, and the other one simulates the transformer loss of life (LOL) based on the thermal characteristics. Simulations were using hourly time steps over a year with provided load profile based on utility data and typical meteorological year weather data from SMHI and STRÅNG. In this study, three different scenarios have been put into consideration to study the change of LOL. The first scenario applies various levels of PV penetrations without energy storage, while, the other scenarios include energy storage under different operating strategies, self-consumption, and peak shaving. Similarly, different battery capacities have been applied for the purpose of studying the LOL change. Thus, under different PV penetrations and battery capacities, results included the variation of LOL, grid power, battery energy status, and battery power. Moreover, results concluded that the PV system has the maximum impact on LOL variation, as it could decrease it by 33.4 %, and this percentage could increase by applying different battery capacities to the system. Finally, LOL corresponding to the battery under peak shaving strategy varies according to the battery discharge target. As different peak shaving targets were used to control the battery discharge, and hence, study the impact on the transformer and estimate its LOL.

Basierend auf den physikalischen Eigenschaften der unterschiedlichen ölintrinsischen und injizierten Ladungsträger wird ein neues Leitfähigkeitsmodell für Isolieröl und -papier für die Belastung mit hoher Gleichspannung aufgestellt. Das Modell wird mit der Wahl geeigneter Randbedingungen für das elektrische Feld und der Teilchenströme auf die Poisson-Nernst-Planck-Gleichung übertragen. Es steht damit ein Werkzeug zur Verfügung, das dielektrische Verhalten der Öl-Papier-Isolierung zu modellieren, dessen Parameter auf den physikalischen Ladungsträgereigenschaften wie Mobilität und Diffusion basieren. Mit dessen Hilfe werden sowohl die nichtlineare Leitfähigkeit als auch das Durchschlagverhalten als deren Extrapolation feldstärkeabhängig erklärt.

Basierend auf den physikalischen Eigenschaften der unterschiedlichen ölintrinsischen und injizierten Ladungsträger wird ein neues Leitfähigkeitsmodell für Isolieröl und -papier für die Belastung mit hoher Gleichspannung aufgestellt. Das Modell wird mit der Wahl geeigneter Randbedingungen für das elektrische Feld und der Teilchenströme auf die Poisson-Nernst-Planck-Gleichung übertragen. Es steht damit ein Werkzeug zur Verfügung, das dielektrische Verhalten der Öl-Papier-Isolierung zu modellieren, dessen Parameter auf den physikalischen Ladungsträgereigenschaften wie Mobilität und Diffusion basieren. Mit dessen Hilfe werden sowohl die nichtlineare Leitfähigkeit als auch das Durchschlagverhalten als deren Extrapolation feldstärkeabhängig erklärt.

Electrical insulation papers are a widely used group of papers in insulation applications and has been used for more than 100 years. Common applications include use as the dielectric medium in capacitors and insulation material in cables, bushings and transformers. As new advances in the study of the electrical properties of paper are made, the prospects of future applications grow. One interesting prospect is the use of paper as a substrate in sensing devices, biodegradable, printed and flexible electronics. Paper is a renewable and recyclable material and it would therefor be desirable to replace non-renewables materials such as plastics with paper as e.g., substrate in printed electronics. For this to be feasible the paper must be able to meet the electric and dielectric requirements of the intended application, among which low dielectric losses is a key parameter. One way to alter and control the electric and dielectric properties of a paper sample is through the selection of different ions in the ion-exchange step of the paper making process. In a collaboration between KTH Royal Institute of Technology and RISE - Research Institutes of Sweden AB working within a greater Digital Cellulose Center (DCC) project, this thesis aims to measure and characterise the dielectric response of a set of novel ion-exchanged paper samples together with a set of reference papers currently used in electrical applications. The greater goal of RISE work is to understand and map the influence of ion choice in order to better understand and control the dielectric properties of paper. The samples were measured using an impedance spectroscopy method from which capacitance and permittivity can be calculated. A parallel plate Kelvin guard-ring capacitor consisting of two electrodes and a guard ring placed in a custom made climate controlled chamber was used to measure the samples in different environmental conditions. The results show that the choice of ion used in the ion-exchanged papers heavily influence the samples dielectric response, both its dielectric constant and dielectric losses. Further, the choice of ion valence appears correlated with the change in responses; monovalent ions had much greater influence than bivalent ions. This effect appears to stem from monovalent ions having a greater mobility within the bulk material, more research is however needed for a definite answer. / Elektriska isoleringspapper är en flitigt använd grupp av papper i isoleringsapplikationer och har använts i mer än 100 år. Vanliga applikationsområden inkluderar användning som dielektriskt medium i kondensatorer och isoleringsmaterial i kablar, genomföringar och transformatorer. I takt med att nya framsteg görs inom olika pappers elektriska egenskaper växer utsikterna för framtida tillämpningar. En intressant möjlighet är användningen av papper som substrat för sensorer, biologiskt nedbrytbar, tryckt och flexibel elektronik. Papper är ett förnybart och återvinningsbart material och det vore därför önskvärt att ersätta icke förnybara material som plast med papper som t.ex. substrat i tryckt elektronik. För att detta ska vara genomförbart måste papperet kunna uppfylla de elektriska och dielektriska kraven för den avsedda applikationen, bland vilka låga dielektriska förluster är en nyckelparameter. Ett sätt att ändra och kontrollera de elektriska och dielektriska egenskaperna hos ett pappersprov är genom valet av olika joner i jonbytessteget i papperstillverkningsprocessen. I ett samarbete mellan KTH Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan och RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB som arbetar inom ett större Digital Cellulose Center-projekt, syftar denna avhandling till att mäta och karakterisera den dielektriska responsen hos en uppsättning nya jonbytta pappersprover tillsammans med en uppsättning referenspapper. Det övergripande målet i RISE arbete är att förstå och kartlägga påverkan av jonval för att bättre förstå och kontrollera pappers dielektriska egenskaper. Proverna mättes med en impedansbaserad mätmetod från vilken kapacitans och permittivitet kan beräknas. En Kelvin plattkondensator bestående av två elektroder och en skyddsring placerad i en skräddarsydd klimatkontrollerad kammare användes för att mäta proverna under olika miljöförhållanden. Resultaten visar att valet av jon som används i jonutbytet kraftigt påverkar provets dielektriska respons, både dess dielektriska konstant och dielektriska förluster. Vidare verkar valet av jonvalens vara korrelerat med förändringen i frekvenssvar; envärda joner hade mycket större inflytande än tvåvärda joner. Denna effekt verkar bero på att envärda joner har en större rörlighet inom bulkmaterialet, mer forskning krävs dock för ett definitivt svar.

Stromrichtertransformatoren der Hochspannungsgleichstromübertragung bilden das Bindeglied zwischen Gleichspannungs- und Drehstromsystem. Um den ausfallsicheren Betrieb über die gesamte Lebensdauer zu gewährleisten, muss deren Öl-Papier-Isoliersystem entsprechend dimensioniert werden. Eine optimale Dimensionierung setzt ein detailliertes Verständnis über die Beanspruchung des Isoliersystems sowie deren zuverlässige Modellierung sowohl unter Betriebsspannung als auch bei den überlagerten, transienten Überspannungen voraus. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird daher das dielektrische Verhalten des Öl-Papier-Isoliersystems in Anlehnung an dielektrische Prüfungen sowohl unter Gleichspannungsbelastung als auch einer zusammengesetzten Spannungsbelastung aus einer Gleich- und einer Blitzstoßspannung (einer sog. Mischspannungsbelastung) untersucht. Der Vergleich von numerischen Berechnungen auf Grundlage eines ladungsträgerbasierten Ansatzes nach Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) mit Durchschlagexperimenten gibt dabei Aufschluss über die Beanspruchung des Öl-Papier-Isoliersystems. Weiterhin wird gezeigt, dass der in den etablierten, resistiv-kapazitiven Berechnungsmodellen vernachlässigte Ladungsträgereinfluss in Bezug auf die Beanspruchung des Isoliersystems unzureichende Ergebnisse zur Folge hat und demnach zwingend zu berücksichtigen ist. Die an realitätsnahen, Öl-Papier-isolierten Anordnungen erzielten Ergebnisse zeigen nicht nur den Einfluss der an Grenzflächen oder im Papier akkumulierten Ladungsträger auf die Beanspruchung des Isoliersystems. Ebenso werden die Annahmen des ladungsträgerbasierten Ansatzes und die Berechnungsergebnisse des PNP-Modells qualitativ bestätigt. Infolge der Ladungsakkumulation im Papier tritt die höchste Beanspruchung im Ölspalt und nicht im Papier auf. Öl-Papier-isolierte Anordnungen werden somit geringer beansprucht, als eine Strömungsfeldberechnung vermuten lässt. Dies widerspricht den Annahmen der etablierten Berechnungsmodelle und wird im Weiteren durch Polaritätseffekte an homogenen, aber unsymmetrischen, papierisolierten Elektrodenanordnungen oder durch den nachweisbaren Einfluss des Ölvolumens im Prüfgefäß auf die Beanspruchung einer Anordnung verdeutlicht. Unter Mischspannungsbelastung wird weiterhin gezeigt, dass eine Überlagerung der Gleichspannung und damit auch der Polaritätswechsel keine höhere Beanspruchung des Isoliersystems im Vergleich zur reinen Gleichspannungsbelastung zur Folge hat. Die etablierten, resistiv-kapazitiven Modelle ließen jedoch den Polaritätswechsel als kritischste Beanspruchung vermuten. Somit wird nicht nur die Anwendbarkeit der ladungsträgerbasierten PNP-Modellierung an Öl-Papier-Isolieranordnungen qualitativ verifiziert. Ebenso wird demonstriert, dass die stark vereinfachten Annahmen der etablierten Berechnungsmodelle die Beanspruchungen unter Gleich- und der untersuchten Mischspannungsbelastung nicht abbilden können. Der Einsatz klassischer Strömungsfeldberechnungen zur Nachbildung der Beanspruchung des Öl-Papier-Isoliersystems unter Gleichspannungsbelastung entspricht damit nicht mehr dem Stand der Forschung. / Converter transformers of HVDC transmission systems connect HVDC and HVAC systems. To ensure a reliable operation during the entire lifetime, their oil-paper-insulation system must be designed appropriately. An optimized dielectric design demands a fundamental understanding of the dielectric stresses as well as a reliable modeling of the insulation system both under operating voltages and under superimposed, transient overvoltages. Hence, in this work the dielectric behavior of the oil-paper-insulation system is investigated. Based on dielectric tests the investigations are performed under DC voltage stress and a composite voltage stress of a DC voltage in stationary conditions superimposed by a lightning impulse voltage. The comparison of numerical calculations using a charge-carrier-based approach according to Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) with breakdown experiments clarifies the dielectric stress of the oil-paper-insulation system. Furthermore, the comparison with results determined by the established, resistive-capacitive calculation models shows that it is mandatory to take the influence of the charge carrier accumulation into account. The presented results, which were obtained at oil-paper-insulated arrangements which represent the dielectic stress of real arrangements, show the influence of the charge carriers accumulating at interfaces or in the paper insulationon on the dielectric stress. The results confirm the calculations and the assumptions according to the charge-carrier-based model as well. Due to the charge carrier accumulation, the highest dielectric stress occurs in the mineral oil and not in the paper insulation. In contrast, the findings obtained assuming an ohmic conductivity would results in a higher dielectric stress of the oil-paperinsulated arrangements. Furthermore, polarity effects in homogeneous but asymmetrical, paper-insulated electrode arrangements or the influence of the surrounding oil in the test vessel demonstrate the effects of the charge carriers. Under composite voltage stresses it is also shown, that the applied superimposed voltage as well as the fast polarity reversal does not lead to a higher dielectric stress of the arrangements compared to the pure DC voltage stress. Commonly used calculation models would determine higher stresses due to the fast polarity reversal instead. Consequently, the applicability of the charge-carrier-based PNP calculation model is verified qualitatively in the presented investigations. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the simplified assumptions of the commonly used calculation models cannot simulate the dielectric stresses under DC voltage stress and under the investigated superimposed voltage stresses. Hence, the determination of the dielectric stresses of oil-paper-insulation systems under DC voltage stress according to the commonly used calculation models assuming an ohmic conductivity does not correspond to the current state of research.