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Power Voltage Transformers: A new solution for power systems in the region

Conference Paper · May 2015

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 Power Voltage Transformers - Expanding Beyond
Station Service
Igor Žiger, Boris Bojanić and Danijel Krajtner
KONČAR - Instrument Transformers Inc.
Zagreb, Croatia
[email protected]

Abstract— Power Voltage Transformers are units which are generally unobtrusive outline when compared to other vital
primarily used for auxiliary supply of substations. The main components in a substation, especially power transformers.
objective of this paper is to demonstrate that they can be used The desire of every customer is to spend as little resources as
for other purposes as well, namely for rural electrification by possible on maintenance, monitoring, diagnostics and fault
serving as the main transformer in a compact substation. To prevention of these transformers. This is why the inherent
support such unconventional grid topology, transformer in- reliability of such units is a key issue.
service reliability has to be unconditionally ensured and
increased. The means of doing so by utilizing the open-core Low cost, high performance reliability and practically non-
transformer concept are emphasized in this paper. By raising existent maintenance requirements for the entire course of
awareness that alternative uses for these transformers exist, a their lifetime are the main reasons why these units gained
positive impact on the global availability of electrical energy in popularity as an auxiliary source of low-voltage power for
regions with low electrification rates can surely be enticed. substations. This way, such units supply power to secondary
systems, SCADA, lighting fixtures and other small consumers
Index Terms— In-service reliability, Internal Fault prevention, within a substation, thus replacing a distributive transformer,
Open-core Power Voltage Transformers, Rural Electrification, tertiary winding of a power transformer or a diesel generator
Station Service [5]. This application granted them the moniker Station Service
Voltage Transformers, upheld by some manufacturers, which
I. INTRODUCTION is already finding its way into procedures for future
Power Voltage Transformers (henceforth PVTs) are standardization [6].
single-phase units used for direct transformation of power The main driving force for the application of such
from high, transmission level voltage (between 72.5 and 550 transformers seem to be utilities in countries with sparsely
kV) to low voltage (under 1 kV). Via that direct energy populated territories and a distribution grid which is not
transfer, the distribution grid is bypassed entirely. This extended enough to cover these territories. Great examples of
eliminates the necessity for the intermediate transformation of such countries are Australia, Canada and USA. However, due
power, consequently removing the related costs of primary to the liberalization of the electricity market as a whole, many
and secondary equipment as well as the costs of the transmission system operators prefer to invest in their own
corresponding infrastructure. infrastructure, rather than to rely on the distribution grid. This
The single identifying property of these transformers is trend is becoming more relevant in European countries such as
that they are built under the technological principles of Estonia, Slovenia and others.
instrument transformers rather than their power or distributive The findings in this paper are based on open-core PVTs
transformer counterparts [1]. This postulate entails that they only. Open core PVTs are a novel product, however the basic
are also still designed according to relevant standards for concept of their operation is thoroughly explained in papers
instrument transformers, ensuring that these transformers [1] and [5] and will be kept to a minimum in this paper.
retain the same insulation requirements, very low permissible
partial discharge levels and a possibility of constant operation Conceptually, this paper is divided in two parts. The main
at an increased voltage [2] - [4]. idea of the first part is to raise awareness that other possible
applications of PVTs exist, namely as standalone transformers
With that in mind, the rated power of such units is in lightweight substations. Furthermore, the goal is to provide
relatively low, compared to power transformers, spanning the context for such applications. The second part of the paper
from 10 to 333 kVA. puts the emphasis on operation reliability and internal fault
The general aim is to keep any PVT unit as close as prevention, as these are the necessary foundations that make
possible to inductive voltage transformers and rely as much as the applications described in the first part of the paper viable.
possible on their maintenance free operation principle and a

978-1-4673-8040-9/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

To exemplify this, the impact of the open core concept on transmission lines are filtered out, almost half of the overall
these requirements is thoroughly explained and analyzed. resources will be appointed to the regions specified in table I.
The newly built infrastructure will only increase the number
II. CONTEXT of households and communities in the vicinity of the
Rural electrification is one of the key issues worldwide. transmission lines [10].
According to the International Energy Agency, in 2010 there
were 1.3 billion people without access to electrical energy. In III. USING POWER VOLTAGE TRANSFORMERS FOR RURAL
2012, there was still roughly one fifth of the overall world ELECTRIFICATION
population unexposed to electricity [7]. Geographically, a vast The core idea of this concept is to use the PVT as the
majority of that number is located in the developing countries main transformer in a substation. Due to their inherent
of Africa and Asia. The number of people without access to properties, mentioned in the introductory chapter, the
electricity, shown by region, can be seen in table I. substation design can be adapted to utilize these properties. In
principle, this means that the overall substation outline can be
TABLE I. PEOPLE WITHOUT ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY BY REGION
simplified and made more economically attractive [5]. A
generic example of this can be seen in Fig. 1.
Number of people Share of population in
Region
(million) the region [%] Fig. 1. (left) shows an example substation based around a
Africa 590 57 245 kV 125 kVA PVT with 120 V output on the secondary
China 4 0.3 side. This substation has a “classical” outline in terms of what
India 293 25 the transmission system operators are used to. The PVT in this
Rest of developing
Asia
331 31 case is preceded by a combined instrument transformer,
Latin America 29 6 intended for protection and measurement services directly on
Middle East 18 9 high voltage, a high voltage circuit breaker, a disconnector and
Rest of the world 2 0.03 a surge arrester. While this outline is compact, it still carries
the cost of additional equipment, namely the high voltage
switchgear.
Among these, African countries have the highest rates of
people without access to energy, with Uganda (92%), By moving the measurement, protection and most
Tanzania (85%), DR of Congo (85%) and Kenya (82%) importantly the switching provisions to the secondary circuit,
having the lowest electrification rates. If absolute numbers are it is possible to drastically simplify the substation outline, as
taken into account, then India has the highest number of shown in Fig. 1 (right). By using a high voltage fuse on the
people without access to electricity (293 million), followed by primary side, the primary protection is retained in case of
Bangladesh (88 million), Nigeria (79 million) and Ethiopia unwanted events, but the cost of such outline is reduced.
(65 million) [7].
Both solutions shown in Fig. 1 present the opposite ends of
Most of these countries have incentives for rural the spectrum, and an optimal outline of the substation can be
electrification defined either as long term strategies or between the two, depending on how liberal the transmission
continuous projects, such as the Last Mile Connectivity system operator is. Naturally, both figures present a basic
project in Kenya [8] [9]. While the emphasis on generation outline, which can be altered depending on the needs, national
options, such as renewable energy sources is more than grid codes, geography, etc.
apparent, investments in power system infrastructure, both on
It is worth noting that pilot-projects for such concepts
transmission and distribution levels are necessary as well.
already exist. One case study was published in paper [11]. The
The distribution grid, frequently governed by multiple outline of the actual substation was very similar to the one
operators with unresolved bureaucratic or legislative issues shown in Fig. 1. Due to geographical reasons, the PVT was
often complicate the implementation of strategic objectives followed by a step-up distributive transformer. Still, the
even when the funds are available [8]. Coupled with the reported cost of such a solution was approximately one third
incentive to add renewables, hybrid systems and two way load of the cost of supplying the same amount of power “the
flow principles, this complicates matters even further, creating traditional way”. This confirms the economic appeal of the
a potential bottleneck for rural electrification. entire concept.
On the other hand, reports state that there are roughly half Apart from the cost, the main technical benefits listed were
a million households in the vicinity of distribution or the maintenance free operation of the entire substation, high
transmission grids in Kenya alone [9]. This means that it reliability of the available power pot, with the number of
would be possible to utilize the existing infrastructure to power line interruptions held to a minimum and the flexibility
supply electricity to new customers. of the main transformer unit, which is being used both for
power supply and metering applications [11].
Furthermore, according to the International Energy
Agency, the projected investment in transmission and The key issue for such applications is equipment
distribution grids over the period from 2014 to 2035 will total reliability, namely that of the main transformer, which is why
at $6.8 trillion. Non-OECD countries account for roughly two it is necessary to design the transformer in such a way which
thirds of that value. 56% of all funds should be appointed to decreases the possibility of an internal fault and keeps the
broadening the infrastructure due to the new demand. If only consequences of any possible fault to a minimum.
 =NE
+NE1
=E1
+SR1
CONTROL AND =NE
+NE1
=E1
+SR1
CONTROL AND
PROTECTION PROTECTION
=NK
+Y0 =NK
+NK2
+Y0
+NK2

=NK

CUBICLE CUBICLE
+NK1 =NK
+NK1

SURGE SURGE
ARRESTER ARRESTER

PVT CTVT CIRCUIT DISCONNECOR PVT HV FUSE

BREAKER

Figure 1: Power Voltage Transformer based substation – Traditional layout (left), Compact layout (right)
IV. IMPACT OF THE OPEN-CORE CONCEPT ON OPERATION However, the most important feature which is inherent to
RELIABILITY AND INTERNAL FAULT PREVENTION the open-core concept is the internal fault prevention [5].
PRIMARY TERMINAL According to [13], one of the most likely places for the
BELLOWS COVER inception of an internal fault is the primary winding of the
VOLUME PVT. The fault can originate between two adjacent turns,
COMPENSATING layers or sections.
BELLOWS

CORE
If the winding is composed of one part only, any internal
CAPACITIVELY
GRADED MAIN LIMB fault will most likely lead to a direct line-to-ground short-
INSULATION circuit, with the fault current flowing through the entire
winding. Because the magnitudes of such currents are usually
SECTIONED
PRIMARY
in the kA range, the subsequent release of energy is sudden
WINDING and eruptive, which will most likely cause a sudden pressure
rise within the transformer and a consequent pressure and
SECONDARY
WINDING energy release (i.e. explosion).

OPEN CORE FLUX-DIRECTING On the other hand, if the primary winding is divided into
YOKE several sections, connected in series, any fault within the
section or between two adjacent sections remains confined to
that section alone [5]. The grid voltage is then distributed
CORE CLAMPING
across the other, “healthy” sections, thus limiting the fault
current.
Figure 2: Open-core Power Voltage Transformer cross-section (left). Since the open-core design allows for the sections of the
Open core outline (right)
primary winding to be galvanically connected to the screens in
The open core is essentially a pole in the center of the the main insulation, as shown in Fig 3, the same principle also
transformer, as shown in Fig. 2. The main trait of this type of extends to the faults located within the main insulation [13].
magnetic core is that the main flux is partially closed through
HV
the non-magnetic material, meaning that an air gap is
inherently present in the main magnetic circuit [5]. The main
flux path is dictated by the flux-directing yoke, which forces
the flux path to close in the immediate vicinity of the main
core limb [5].
Two main benefits of the open-core concept, the
ferroresonance immunity and the inrush current decrease are a
direct consequence of the aforementioned air gap [5]. Other
benefits are caused by the fact that the absence of the return
core limbs allows for a different insulation system concept
including a sectioned primary winding. This design solution
ensures a better distribution of overvoltages of any frequency
and a lower overall dielectric stress in the main insulation, Figure 3: Schematical representation of the sectioned primary winding
which makes satisfying the insulation requirements for higher
voltage levels (245 kV and above) much easier [12]. All three The number of primary winding sections for open-core
benefits allow for a more fail-safe operation of open-core PVTs is substantial, and varies between 14 – 50 sections,
PVTs and remove occurrences which can be a potential origin depending on the voltage level and power rating [1].
of either major or minor transformer fault.
 These hypotheses were confirmed by the testing of an The current in the short-circuited coil increased up to 30 times.
open-core inductive voltage transformer [5]. For testing In terms of actual values, the maximal value of the primary
purposes, a worst case scenario was simulated by short- current under fault conditions was 1.6 A, while the current in
circuiting an entire coil of the primary winding, as shown in the faulty coil was 16 A. While the latter value is high enough
Fig. 3. The transformer with the faulty coil was placed under to thermally damage the fault location, the former value is not
rated voltage. The current measurements during the test high enough for a sudden overload of the entire winding. The
showed that the rated current was increased approximately results of the calculation correspond very well to the findings
two-fold across the winding and remained in the range of on the actual tested transformer described above.
milliamperes. The current in the faulty coil is naturally higher.
These results show that open core PVTs are essentially
The increased thermal stress gradually overburdened the comparable to capacitive voltage transformers (CVTs), in a
transformer, which led to an increased release of gasses from sense that their insulation also consists of many elements
the transformer oil. This naturally led to a pressure rise inside connected in series, thus making a direct line-to-ground fault
the transformer. When the oil pressure exceeded the design impossible.
value of the intentional weak spot of the transformer (the
bellows cover – shown in Fig. 2, a controlled release of To prove their behavior in case of internal faults, all types
pressure occurred in the stainless steel dilatation bellows, of instrument transformers are usually subject to internal-arc
causing no oil spill, resulting only in the detachment of the withstand test as defined by [2] and [4]. This test essentially
bellows cover, as shown in Fig. 4. simulates a complete breach of the main insulation and
evaluates the ability of the transformer to resist the energy
surge caused by the internal arc.
The applicability of this test to paper-oil insulated
transformers with capacitively graded main insulation is
argued in detail in reference [13], the point being that this type
of failure is extremely improbable at fault locations proposed
by the standards. This is even more valid for all open-core
transformers including PVTs, which, as described above, are
in this regard conceptually similar to capacitive voltage
transformers. CVT standards do recognize this fact, which is
why internal arc testing is excluded from the proposed tests
defined by these standards [14].
While this test has been successfully performed on open
core transformers, it is not a testament to any realistic in-
operation scenario, which is why this paper emphasizes the
internal fault prevention described in this chapter as
Figure 4: Detachment of the transformer bellows cover – Internal fault
test culmination substantially more relevant [15].

After the test, the transformer was inspected and the faulty V. AVOIDING AND MITIGATING FAULT CONSEQUENCES
coil was replaced. The transformer was then subjected to
According to [13] 85 - 95 % of major transformer failures
repeated routine testing according to the IEC norm, which it
are caused by slow processes. The “explosion safety” feature
passed successfully [3]. These results proved that no other
described above adds to that number by reducing the faults
component was affected by the fault in one of the sections.
originating from within the transformer to slow phenomena,
The bellows cover serves as a connecting point towards accompanied by pressure rise. This means that the only
high voltage, meaning that its detachment automatically parameter that needs to be monitored during transformer
disconnects the transformer from the grid, thus interrupting the operation is indeed the pressure. By installing an overpressure
supply to the fault location. This serves as an additional layer switch, a simple and robust monitoring option, in the
of safety provided by design. secondary terminal box, the operator can have valid warning
information well before the culmination of the fault.
To extend the applicability of the described testing to
PVTs, a Finite Element Method based calculation was According to [13], an additional way to ensure a reliable
performed, taking into account the realistic transformer operation during the entire expected lifetime of the
geometry. transformer is by routinely testing partial discharge levels at
power frequency withstand voltage. Partial discharge level has
By short-circuiting one section at a time, the fault current to remain under 10 pC for the 1 minute duration of the test.
flowing through the primary winding Ifp can be obtained, as When the appropriate voltage-time curves are extrapolated, it
well as the fault current flowing through the short-circuited appears that the transformers will be partial discharge free at
section Icp. The results of such a calculation, performed for a the rated voltage during their entire lifetime, meaning a lower
145 kV 50 kVA PVT are shown in table II. rate of insulation ageing and breakdown possibility which
Even in the worst case scenario the primary current under would be caused by the presence of partial discharges. This
fault increased 3 times in comparison to the rated current Irp. suggestion is already adopted by some technical specifications
in Europe and Canada.
 TABLE II. FEM CALCULATION RESULTS FOR PRIMARY WINDING AND FAULTY COIL CURRENT INCREASE

No. Of Coil Under Fault

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Winding fault current ratio towards
1,6 1,9 2,1 2,4 2,6 2,8 2,9 3,0 2,9 2,9 2,8 2,6 2,4 2,2 1,9 1,7 1,4
the rated current Ifp / Irp
Coil fault current ratio towards the
10,6 13,5 16,6 20,0 23,4 26,3 28,4 29,4 28,7 28,0 26,2 23,4 20,3 17,0 13,7 10,7 8,6
rated current Icp / Irp

One might argue that the principles described above do not mitigation can be made even safer and more environmentally
cover the faults which exceed the transformer insulation friendly.
ratings, or short-circuit withstand capability, such as impulse
overvoltages of high amplitudes, for example. The final thought of the paper is that Open-core Power
Voltage Transformers present a very fail-safe alternative for
The way oil-filled transformers can mitigate the providing the much needed increase in electrification rates in
consequences of such fault is by using synthetic ester as their the developing countries of the world by focusing on a new
insulation medium. Synthetic esters have commonly been used way of power delivery instead of a new way of power
in distributive transformers, but there are no reports of their generation.
application in the instrument transformer market [16].
One of the main benefits of synthetic esters is the lower REFERENCES
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