Republic of the Philippines

Batangas State University

College of Engineering, Architecture and Fine Arts
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

EE 514 – Electrical Transmission and Distribution Systems

Case Study No.2
“Distribution Transformer Application”

Failure Analysis of Distribution Transformers: Case Study of Ughelli Business Unit

Submitted by:
Patron, Ryan Kim S.
EE-5101

Submitted to:
Engr. Rosalynn C. Hernandez
Instructor

September 4, 2019
 Failure Analysis of Distribution Transformers - A Case Study of Ughelli Business Unit
Gabriel Modukpe, D. C. Idoniboyeobu and R. Uhunmwangho

Abstract---Analysis of Distribution Transformers failures was carried out in Ughelli Business unit
in Delta State under the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC). The aim of this study
was to find out the cause of Distribution Transformer failure and proffer solution to mitigate it.
Data includes numbers of transformers in each of the service center and their ratings, customer
population and the failures reported in the past four (10) years in the Unit. Upon our analysis, the
failures were seen to be dominant in transformers with 100kVA, 200kVA, and 300kVA ratings.
Personal investigation revealed that protection integrity of visually all the transformers in the unit
have been violated as wire-fusing has been a common practice with almost same size of wire. In
other to avoid the continuous failures as a result of over fusing, a new method for calculating the
actual size of wire to be used as fuse was developed.
Keywords---Distribution Transformer, Failure Analysis, Feeder Pillar, Fuse Ratio, Transformer
Failure, Ughelli Business Unit.
I. INTRODUCTION
With privatization now in some part of the power sector, adequate maintenance and operation
of electrical power equipment and switchgear most especially transformer has become very vital
in order to ensure they remain reliable during operations and for the utility companies to gain the
trust of their clients. The failure of a power transformer could have negative financial
consequences which culminate to unplanned power outage. The financial consequence does not
only affect the utility in terms of revenue generation, commercial consumers and industrial users
who use bulk energy are also affected which in turn affects the economy in general. To keep
transformers in the distribution sector in good working conditions over a period of time, while at
the same time reduce the cost of operations and maintenance, various factors that could inhibit
performance of a transformer need to be carefully examined. These could include mechanical,
electrical, chemical and physical properties like age. A lot of method can be used to achieve this
objective like preventive maintenance, predictive and corrective maintenance, routine check by
monitoring the operating condition, failure analysis, and the use of artificial intelligence method
[1]. But our focus here is on failures analysis.
II. UGHELLI BUSINESS UNIT
Ughelli Business Unit formally called Business District is a Business Unit under Benin
Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) formally called Benin Zonal office in Nigeria. The
Business Unit office is made up of five service units and eleven service centers and some fault
centers. This Unit cuts across seven local government areas within Urhobo, Ijaw and Isoko axis.
This Business Unit is a Distribution Station which controls 33kV line, 11kV line and 415kV line
network. The 33kV line network is shared into four according to feeders and area of coverage with
combine network route length of 344.54km. The 11kV network has a route length of 308.812km.
III. TRANSFORMER FAILURE AND ABNORMALITY
Reference [2] explained that when a transformer is unable to be in circuit and requires
corrective measure before bringing it back in circuit; for case like insulation breakdown, dielectric,
thermal and mechanical; then the transformer is said to have failed. On the other hand, if a
transformer is operating in an abnormal status that could have a negative effect on its working life,
its reliability and the network reliability; we say its transformer abnormality. The economic and
social effects of loss of electric service have significant impacts on both the utility supplying
electric energy and the end users of electric service. If a major power outage affects multiple states,
then the cost can exceed 100 million dollars. Therefore, maintaining a reliable power supply is a
very important issue for power systems design and operation [1]. The significance of distribution
transformer as a major link in the delivery of power to consumers of electrical energy cannot be
over-emphasized. Its purpose is majorly to step down the higher voltage on the primary side to the
utilization voltage serving the customer. In a distribution network, there are feeders, distributors
and then service mains. There are numerous tapings from the distributors which are taken from
them for the supply to all the consumers. [9]. The Ughelli Business Unit Distribution system is
radial, and the distinguishing feature of a radial system is that, power can flow in one way only
from the source of supply end to the load end. It has the disadvantage that continuity of supply
cannot be sustained at the load end due to fault from the supply end. [10]. A power distribution
transformer is stationary electric device constructed with two or more windings used to transfer
alternating current electric power from one circuit to another at the same frequency but with
different values of current and voltage by electromagnetic induction. [11] Stated that It consist of
set of coils (primary and secondary) mutually coupled for through put of power with performance
characterized by high efficiency (low losses) and small normalized voltage drop. Transformers
with special feature were elaborated on by [12].
IV. TRANSFORMER FAILURES
Reference [3] defines a transformer failure as “The termination of the ability of a transformer
to perform its specific function”. In the industry, Engineers do what they can to prevent transformer
failures. Transformer conditions are assessed and repairs carried out when impending failure is
suspected. Some transformers fail with little to no warning while others give obvious warning
signs. Some failures are determined when a transformer is unfit for service by assessment, while
others trip by protective relaying. Most all transformer failures have lessons to be learned if
Engineers are willing to heed the lessons. The transformer failures presented in this work are of
high interest, and have very good lessons to be learned. High-voltage transformers are essential to
power system reliability but many are aging and approaching the end of the useful lives. Therefore,
their failures can cause major disruptions, such as costly outages, and they sometimes involve oil
spills, fires, and collateral equipment damage. The larger portion of asset values in the distribution
sector lies with the transformers because of the financial implications there is to get one and this
made them very critical and important equipment. The consumers are linked to the network
through the distribution transformers and an unplanned outage as a result of their failure could
cause great inconveniences to utility management and the customer at large. Therefore, in order to
draw more life from them, there is need to protect them from preventable failure [4].
V. TYPES OF TRANSFORMER FAILURE
Transformer failure have been attributed to a number of reasons and according to statistical
reports, the most frequent reason is the failure of the winding [5]. Moisture accumulation causes
deterioration of the insulation, lightning and switching surges, vibration, overloading, are some of
the main causes of transformer winding failure. Load tap changer which is used for voltage
regulation come second most probable cause of fault in a distribution transformer. This fault come
mostly as a result of the malfunctioning of the tap changer mechanical part during switching
operations which result in insulation cracking, oil contamination due to carbon particles, excessive
heat and load contacts with high resistance. The third most probable cause of transformer failure
is the bushings. Cracks due to external interference, aging, moisture and dirt accumulation and
dryness of oil could cause the bushing to malfunction and eventually fail. Vandalization and animal
are two likely ways through which a bushing could flash over. If the Core insulation fails, it is also
a problem which could be a lamination that is shorted or ground strap that is open. Other conditions
like oil tank leakage, contaminated oil due to foreign particles, over voltages, overloading, faults
from instrument devices like current transformers, voltage transformers are miscellaneous likely
cause of transformer failure [6]. [13], [14], and [15] gives some other causes of transformer failures
and recommended solution.
VI. METHODOLOGY
Figure 1 shows the working environment of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS)
used in the analysis of the various data gathered for the work. It contains the variable view, where
variables were entered and define their properties and then the Data view, where data were entered
in order to perform our analysis. Personal investigation carried is as follows:
 Protection integrity of the Distribution transformers.
 Data collected includes:
  The network structure of the Business Unit.
 The numbers of Distribution Transformers in the entire Business Unit and their
ratings as allocated in the different service centers
 Failure reports of transformers in the different service center and the causes.
 Ratings of the various transformers that failed.
Figure 2 shows the various service centers in the Business Unit and their respective
numbers of transformers.

Fig 2: Total Numbers of Distribution Transformers in Ughelli Business Unit as Allocated to

the Various Service Centers.
Fig 3 shows that there are more 300kVA rating Distribution transformers in the unit. Fig 4
then shows the customer populations with respect to the numbers of Distribution transformer.
Some areas with higher populations like Dumez with a population of 4000 have 38 transformers
while Owhologbo with a population of 1000 have 98 transformers. This resulted in more
transformer failures in these highly populated areas owing to majorly overload as the population
grows.

Fig 3: Total Numbers of Transformers and their Rating in Ughelli Business Unit.
 Fig 4: Transformer Allocation to the Service Centers with the Customer Population.

Figure 5 and 6 show the ratings of the various transformers in the Business Unit and the
trend of failures respectively. The failure is observed to be on the rise as the year increases. Another
observation is that there is a common practice in the Business Unit which is indiscriminate fusing
by using copper links, yet these failures recorded are peculiar to some transformers with particular
ratings as against general expectation that the tampering of the protection system would yield the
same failure outcome in the entire Business unit.

Fig 5: Numbers of Transformers that Failed During this Period.

Fig 6: Trend of Transformer Failure in Ughelli Business Unit.

VII. THE REASON TRANSFORMERS FAIL WHEN WIREFUSED
The number of transformers in each of the service center were examined with regards to
their kVA ratings so as to know the consumers as a function of the numbers of transformer and
this is shown in fig 4. The damaged transformers and their ratings were also examined as shown
in fig 5 and observed that these were more among 100kVA, 200kVA and 300kVA transformers.
From the above outcome, one may come to conclude that these set of transformers might have
some in-built deficiencies. But our analysis pointed to fusing above the normal rating of the
transformer by the use of copper links. From Our findings in nearly all the business unit, same size
of copper link was used: 4mm2 doubled to become 8mm2 regardless of the capacity of the
transformer. With equation (1) and according to [7], it is clear that though the 500kVA may
withstand the size of links used for fusing (on the load side), transformers with lower ratings like
50kVA, 100kVA, 200kVA, and 300kVA would not because of the feeder pillar used and the
numbers of outgoing feeder fused with these links (on their load size).

Where: A stands for area of the wire in circular mills; t is for time in seconds for current to flow;
Ta is the ambient temperature in Degree Celsius, Tm is the temperature at melting point for the
wire in Degree Celsius; while I stands for current in Amperes.
VIII. OUTCOME OF WIRE FUSING ON TRANSFORMERS
Consider a transformer with a capacity of 500kVA connected to a 6-way feeder pillar (6
up-risers) as an illustration. If an 8mm2 copper wire is used as fuse on each of the up-risers
(feeder), it would have a total of 8mm2 x 6 copper links, amounting to 48mm2 on each of the
phase at the load end of the transformer. If (1) is applied by using 350C for temperature of the
environment and 300s for time the current flows through the wire (normally recommended for
HRC fuses); it would have 40mm2 as the proper size for the fuse link. Therefore, by using a
48mm2 as observed, the transformer would be loaded up to 120%. From [8], Distribution
transformer overload are allowed at some conditions. They can be overloaded up to 150% for just
2 hours and then 130% for just 10 hours. Again, if a Distribution transformer of 50kVA capacity
connected to a feeder pillar with one up-riser and fused with same 8mm2 wire, the transformer
would have been overloaded by 100% since from (1) the proper fuse link size is 4mm2. Likewise,
if a transformer with 100kVA capacity connected to a 2-way feeder pillar is fused as currently
been practice, it would have an 8mm2 x 2, giving a total of 16mm2 and thereby subjecting the
transformer to a 100% overload. Now, finally if a transformer of 200kVA capacity connected to a
4-way feeder pillar is fused with same 8mm2 wire on each of the up-riser, it would have an 8mm2
x 4 copper links, giving a total of 32mm2 and this would subject the transformer to an overload of
200%. This has help to explain the reason why some areas although were having high cases of
using copper links as fuse but are low in terms of transformer that failed. These are area with more
of 500kVA transformers. From our illustrations above, it is clear that the transformers with
500kVA capacity are not easily affected by the fusing practice. But the effect is only felt at the
feeder pillar because of the exposure to the naked fire. High cases of burnt feeder pillars with their
connected instrument are observed in these areas.
IX. FUSE SELECTION FOR TRANSFORMER PROTECTION
From [4], detailed explanation was given on the need for fuse ratio. Having gotten the link
size from (1), the fuse ratio gives the needed percentage loading by using the value gotten from
(1). This will help maintenance engineers to determine how the transformer is protected by using
the link as an alternative for HRC fuse.
From the investigations carried out at the Business unit after speaking with some of the
maintenance Engineers, the incessant use of wire fuse instead of the normal HRC fuse is as a result
of non-availability of the HRC fuse and as such they improvise by wire fusing to ensure power in
available for energy consumers. Also, their fuse selection is based on fuse tables that
commensurate with transformer ratings. Fusing Ratio is defined as:

Reference [7] give various calculated links sizes for fusing at 30 0C. e.g., for a 500kVA 11/0.43kV
transformer, using the following links:
1. Copper link of 40mm2
2. Copper link of 49mm2
The transformer full load current can be calculated as:
From [7] and also using (1);
1. Current carrying capacity for 40mm2 = 667A
2. Current carrying capacity for 49mm2 = 800A
Therefore, fuse ratio for the two sizes of links are:
1. Using 40mm2; we have

2. Using 49mm2; we have

From the above calculations, using 40mm2 limit the transformer to its maximum load
which is 100% while using the 49mm2 link will subject the transformer to additional load of 20%,
making it to be loaded up to 120%.
REFERENCES
[1] Dan Zhu “Power System Reliability Analysis with Distributed Generators”, Thesis submitted
to the faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2003.
[2] B.J.W. Harley, V.V. Sokolov, “Diagnostic techniques for power transformers,” EPRI
Substation Equipment Diagnostics Conference IX, Feb. 2001.
[3] IEEE C57.125-1991 “IEEE Guide for Failure Investigation, Documentation, and Analysis for
Power Transformers and Shunt Reactors”, Transformer Committee of the IEEE Power
Engineering Society, Copyright 1992 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.,
ISBN 1-55937-160-9
[4] George Eduful and Godfred Mensah, Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering Vol
II, London, UK 2010.
[5] IEEE guide for transformer through fault current duration, ANSI/IEEE, C57.109-1985.
[6] Leonard .L. Grigsby “Power system stability and Control”, p1, CRC press Tailor & Francis
group, 2007.
[7] Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers, 13th Edition, Page 4-79. Online source, date
accessed: 27 February, 2018. Available at: http://www.epanorama.net/documents/wiring/wire_
resistance.html
[8} Josef Ossowicki and Remigiusz Joeck, Fuse Protection of Transformer Pole Substation in
Poland. Online source, date accessed: 4th February, 2018. Available at: www.profuseinternational.
com/pdfs/Joeck.pdf.
[9] A. O. Ibe, “Power System Analysis”, pp 1-5, Odus Press, 2002.
[10] J. B. Gupta, “Switchgear and Protection”, p282, S.K. Kataric & Sons, 2013.
[11] S. N. Ndubisi, “Electric machine design, p50, Odus Press, 2006.
[12] Turan Gonen “Electric Power Distribution System Engineering”, p95, CRC press taylor &
francis group, 2008.
[13] H. William and P.E. Bartley, HSB, Analysis of Transformer failures, International
Association of Engineering Insurers, 36th Annual Conference, Stockholm, 2003.
[14] H. William and P.E. Bartley, HSB, Sixty Seventh Annual International Doble Client
Conference, Boston, MA, 2000.
[15] H. William and P.E. Bartley, HSB, Transformer Failure, Presented as keynote address at the
annual ABB Technical Conference Alamo, TN, 2003.
REACTION
Transformer Failure appear in different ways, depending on the type of construction. Some
modes of failure can occur regardless of construction type. These might include tap changer
failures, bushing failures, tank failures, moisture ingress, and other forms of dielectric fluid
contamination. Sometimes the failure could be purely due to lack of regular maintenance or lack
of awareness. And sometimes it could be due to natural causes like lightning which causes
electrical surge in the power lines. In more interesting fashion it sometime also happens due to
snakes, squirrels etc.
In this paper number of factors which contribute to transformer failure and careful
consideration for the operation of electrical equipment were discussed. These factors include:
 Miscalculation
This category pertains on the calculation of proper size of wire to be used as an alternative
to the HRC fuse in the case of where the HRC fuse are not readily available. The proper calculation
of fuse wiring will help maintenance engineers to determine how the transformer is to be protected.
 Overloading
This category pertains to those cases where actual Overloading could be established as the
cause of the failure. It includes only those transformers that experienced a sustained load that
exceeded the nameplate capacity.
Often, the overloading occurs when the plant or the utility slowly increases the load in
small increments over time. The capacity of the transformer is eventually exceeded, resulting in
excessive temperatures that prematurely ages the insulation. As the transformer’s paper insulation
ages, the strength of the paper is reduced. Then, forces from an outside fault may cause a
deterioration of the insulation, leading to failure.
A review indicates that a planned program of maintenance, inspection and testing would
significantly reduce the number of transformer failures, and the unexpected interruption of power.

CONCLUSION
The study has been able to uncover the root cause of transformer failure in the Ughelli
Business Unit of the BEDC which is mainly due to fusing beyond their capacity that is practiced
by using copper wires without due engineering calculation and have been able to present to
maintenance engineers, how to calculate the proper size of wire to be used as an alternative to the
HRC fuse in the case of where the HRC fuse are not readily availability. This will ensure our
transformers are protected and bring about more power availability and customer satisfaction.
The study has also been able to point highly populated area yet with fewer number of
Distribution Transformer which also results in overloading. Adequate load growth analysis should
be done and transformer issued accordingly instead of politicizing it which results in transformer
carrying more than their capacities.

RECOMMENDATION
Reviews of reported damage reach a common conclusion: a planned program of
maintenance, inspection and testing can significantly reduce the number of transformer failures,
and the unexpected interruption of power. A transformer maintenance program should include the
installation and operation. The importance of effective transformer and control transformer
protection cannot be over emphasized. After motors, transformers are typically the second most
common application where proper overcurrent protection is required and utilized to provide the
necessary protection to facilities, electrical systems, equipment, and most importantly electrical
workers and other involved personnel. As a result, it is vitally important that there is at least a basic
understanding of how transformers and their related electrical systems can be properly protected.
The purpose of this white paper is to provide a more detailed discussion of the factors which must
be considered when properly selecting and applying fuses in electrical systems.