POWER TRANSFORMER DIELECTRIC TESTS TYPES BASIC INFORMATION

Low-Frequency Tests

There are two low-frequency tests:

1. Low-frequency wet-withstand voltage test

2. Low-frequency dry-withstand voltage test

Low-Frequency Wet-Withstand Voltage Test — The low-frequency wet-withstand voltage test is applied on bushings rated 242 kV and below while a waterfall at a particular precipitation rate and conductivity is applied. The values of precipitation rate, water resistivity, and the time of application vary in different countries.

American standard practice is a precipitation rate of 5 mm/min, a resistivity of 178 ohm-m, and a test duration of 10 sec, whereas European practice is 3 mm/min, 100 ohm��m, and 60 sec, respectively.

If the bushing flashes over externally during the test, it is allowed that the test be applied one additional time. If this attempt also flashes over, then the test fails and something must be done to modify the bushing design or test setup so that the capability can be established.

Low-Frequency Dry-Withstand Voltage Test — The low-frequency dry-withstand test was, until recently, made for a 1-min duration without the aid of partial-discharge measurements to detect incipient failures, but standards currently specify a one-hour duration for the design test, in addition to partial-discharge measurements.

The present test procedure is:

Partial discharge (either radio-influence voltage or apparent charge) shall be measured at 1.5 times the maximum line-ground voltage. Maximum limits for partial discharge vary for different bushing constructions and range from 10 to 100 ��V or pC.

A 1-min test at the dry-withstand level, approximately 1.7 times the maximum line-ground voltage, is applied. If an external flashover occurs, it is allowed to make another attempt, but if this one also fails, the bushing fails the test. No partial-discharge tests are required for this test.

Partial-discharge measurements are repeated every 5 min during the one-hour test duration at 1.5 times maximum line-ground voltage required for the design test. Routine tests specify only a measurement of partial discharge at 1.5 times maximum line-ground voltage, after which the test is considered complete.

Bushing standards were changed in the early 1990s to align with the transformer practice, which started to use the one-hour test with partial-discharge measurements in the late 1970s. Experience with this new approach has been good in that incipient failures were uncovered in the factory test laboratory, rather than in service, and it was decided to add this procedure to the bushing test procedure.

Also from a more practical standpoint, bushings are applied to every transformer, and transformer manufacturers require that these tests be applied to the bushings prior to application so as to reduce the number of bushing failures during the transformer tests.