‘Healthier’ transformers made possible by redesigned maintenance

In the field of power transformers, as in all areas of industrial activity, maintenance is a vital service in the interests of the proper running of machinery, cost cutting and workplace safety.

That is why IK4-TEKNIKER has developed an innovative system for the comprehensive diagnosis of faults and breakdowns in power transformers known as Function-based Maintenance; it has been driven by the main demand that researchers at the R+D centre have detected in companies: a system that enables more information to be gathered, and therefore allows the useful life and efficiency of devices to be maximized.

As international regulations deal with physical-chemical analyses, dissolved gases and furan by-products separately, information that is extremely valuable for the overall diagnosis of the transformer tends to get overlooked during the maintenance that is usually carried out in companies.

Integrated findings

To solve this problem, the Function-based Maintenance system integrates the results of the analyses of all the sub-systems of the transformer, interprets the results bearing in mind the mission of each component, and diagnoses the state of the equipment by recognising the specific faults of each of its components.

This innovative system is based on the fact that solid and liquid insulators are an integral part of the transformer and not just an accessory, since these insulators perform a dynamic role in the state of the whole system. Thanks to this concept change, the method devised by IK4-TEKNIKER pays more precise and more effect attention to the general state of the transformer.

Transformers are a vital resource in the processes to generate, transport, distribute and use electrical power. Therefore, despite the scant attention they get from people in charge of maintenance, they are everywhere to be found in industrial facilities and require specific care.