Development of Weather Invariant Electric Power Transformer Oil Purification System

Abstract

The use of alternating current for electrical power sources has brought about the use of power transformers, which are used to transform electricity into suitable voltages for transmission and distribution networks. High powered devices such as transformers generate a considerable amount of heat and therefore require suitable methods of cooling in order to keep them functioning at optimal operating conditions. One of the mediums used for the cooling system in a power transformer is transformer oil. Although transformer oil has the characteristics to provide an efficient means of cooling transformers, it requires maintenance to keep the oil free from contamination of moisture and dust particles which enter from the surrounding atmosphere. Maintenance of the transformer oil is carried out by an oil purification system which entails filtering foreign particles and extracting moisture from the oil. This purification process is time consuming and quiet often dependent on the surrounding weather conditions. The purpose of this research was speed up the process as a whole and to allow the oil purification process to be carried out in unsuitable weather conditions.