Failure mechanism of transformer oil-immersed cellulosic insulation induced by sulfur corrosion

Abstract

The life of transformer oil-paper insulation is determined by the insulation property of transformer cellulosic insulation. Existing studies have shown that sulfur corrosion poses a serious threat to the properties of transformer oil-immersed cellulosic insulation due to the reaction of corrosive sulfur dissolved in oil with copper winding. This paper investigated the effect of sulfur corrosion on the characteristics of transformer cellulosic insulation, cellulosic insulation winding samples with different degrees of sulfur corrosion were obtained through an accelerated thermal aging experiment. Then, short-/long-term withstand voltage tests for the cellulosic insulation winding were conducted. Experimental results showed that the contamination of sulfur corrosion had a minimal effect on the power–frequency breakdown voltage of the cellulosic insulation winding but considerably decreased its long-term electrical life. Combined with the analysis of the electrical/physical and chemical parameters of oil-immersed cellulosic insulation, the failure mechanism of transformer oil-immersed cellulosic insulation induced by sulfur corrosion was synthetically discussed and analyzed.