Transformer Bushing Monitors

Traditionally, critical electrical power transformers are removed from service regularly, and then subjected to routine off-line non-destructive tests to determine the condition of the bushings. This labor intensive testing method does not fully replicate the actual operational conditions of the high voltage bushing devices.

In order to increase safety to personnel and reduce the risk of catastrophic failure of key equipment, transformer bushing testing and monitoring are important aspects of any power utility’s overall maintenance program. Since these components of transformers are exposed to the environment they are very vulnerable, requiring a more frequent and cost effective test routines.

The field proven products available below permit live Power Factor testing with no downtime, and without the drawbacks associated with off-line Power Factor testing. These products permit users to;

• Perform tests on-line without any need for an outage at any given time
• Conduct tests as frequently as desired, requiring a test time of less than 5 minutes
• Conduct tests based on the performance and age of the bushings
• Conduct tests at rated voltages
• Provides a low cost low maintenance method of testing bushings on-line in real time

Model TBM Live – Manual Monitor for 3 or 9 Bushings TBM allows the user to manually connect to an active installation and acquire power factor information of connected insulation bushings. The test can be performed in less than 5 minutes without any need for an outage, and at the rated voltage of the device to be tested. When energized, the live installation is ready to provide data when physically polled with the provided software installed on the customer’s laptop.

Model TBM Live Plus - On-Line Monitor for 3 to 12 Bushings TBM Plus is a continuous on-line monitoring system, for the monitoring of the power factor in high voltage bushings. The system includes a minimum set of three permanently connected capacitive bushing (taps) sensors. The system includes custom designed acquisition software and hardware, expandable up to 12 bushings. The TBM Plus acquires data from the bushings being monitored at a frequency pre-set by the customer. The acquired data is stored locally for future download to the customer’s central data repository. The data can be downloaded on-site or remotely via a SCADA system, a LAN, WAN or dial-up connection to a UCA2.0 (IEC 61850) network.