Asset management of power transformer: optimization of transformer liftime cost based on quality management strategy

Abstract

In this paper, asset management based on quality management strategy of power transformer are made, in order to determine the optimal transformer lifetime cost, i.e. the minimization of construction, operating and maintenance costs. The strategy for the quality management consists of ageing mechanisms of transformer manufacturing materials, evaluation of robustness for transformer in service, transformer rating based on quality sensitivity, and optimization of asset management strategy based on status of transformer. By identify the influencing factor and ageing curve of different kinds of materials, the reliability of a single power transformers from partial to full scale can be evaluated, which determine the initial value of quality-related costs for power transformers in service. This initial value is set as universal for the following condition assessment of all power transformers in the same cluster during the entire lifetime. After the ranking for power transformers depending on the operating state is determined, the residual value of quality-related costs at the end of lifetime is calculated, which can be used for optimizing the asset management strategy for power transformers takes the quality management as the core object. The proposed method is feasible for other large high voltage equipment in power network.