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See here the latest news and important tips for transformer maintenance.
Watch out for your hidden transformer: it can leave you stranded.
Unfortunately, we have observed even nowadays that many companies do not take care of their transformers. It is not rare in our visits to see situations of pure calamity, such as oil leakage, broken bushes, totally wet silica, and lack of identification plate and any analysis history of the transformer oils. For these companies, the adhesives placed at the doors of the power cabins or substations, with phrases such as: “Danger – Do not enter” or “Do Not Enter – High Voltage”, or “Risk of Death“, are interpreted really as they are stated, that is, based on these words, the employees do not enter into these locations and they do not execute any kind of maintenance plan, posing risk to your electric equipment.
Obviously, the companies have concentrated all their efforts to reduce costs and increase productivity, but they had forgot that when a transformer fails, it can cause big damages, such as: loss of material in a production process, delivery delay, non planned expenditures to repair a damaged equipment and in extreme cases, risk of severe accidents.
But what can be done to overcome this scenario?
The best suggestion for the companies is to establish a Predictive and Preventive maintenance program in their cabins, performing physical-chemical and chromatographic tests for insulating mineral oil. Different from what many people think, physical-chemical tests are not performed with the sole objective to obtain a safe “oil filtering”. The tests are performed to check the fluid properties inside the transformers and take the corrective measures, when required, to extend the useful life of the equipment. Os ensaios mínimos necessários são: Teor de Água, Rigidez Dielétrica, Fator de Perdas, Cor, Densidade, Acidez e Interfacial Tension. All of them are standardized and the limits are specified by NBR-10576 Norm – Guide for Monitoring insulating mineral oil of Electric Equipments.
On the other hand, the chromatographic test, which in our point of view is more important than the physical-chemical, checks the transformer operation.
Making an analogy with the human body, when the physician requests a blood examination to check if we have high cholesterol rate, diabetes, anemia, etc, and based on these results, he prescribes medicines or clinical treatments. The chemistry technician analyzes the transformer’s “blood” to evaluate by analyzing the dissolved gases, whether the “patient” presents signals of thermal failures, partial or disruptive discharges and instructs the companies’ maintenance teams to take measures before a severe failure occurs, avoiding the damages mentioned above.
Using the chromatograph, it is possible to analyze the following gases: H2, O2, N2, CH4, CO, CO2, C2H4, C2H6, and C2H2. Through chromatography, the reliable diagnosis is based on the gases evolution assessment in relation to prior analysis. For this reason, it is very important that the Companies provide the transformers’ history for the laboratory that is performing the tests.
What Lorencini Brasil can make for your company?
Lorencini Brasil is a traditional company in the industrial maintenance sector and in 2002, has acquired its own Laboratory for insulating oils analysis.
Installed in the ABC region, it provides services for big companies in the siderurgical industry, automobile manufacturers, electric energy suppliers from São Paulo and Brazilian Northern region, paper and pulp industry, petrochemical, industries of capital goods and a great number of service providers. In a period of more than three years, Lorencini has already tested more than 7000 transformers, demonstrating that it is skilled to provide service for your Company.
Always pursuing to be on the leading edge, the Lorencini’s laboratory participates of standardization commissions of ABNT and Cigrè, always being up to date concerning to the valid norms and specification in Brazil. With highly skilled professionals from big energy companies, it provides technical support for customers to clarify their doubts related to corrective actions that must be taken to preserve the useful life and the maintenance of the electric equipment availability.