ITP Newsletter

May 2015
Message from Dominique
In this edition we go through some basics of bushing monitoring, and how our IntellixTM BMT 300 and
PerceptionTM software are used. We also highlight the railway transportation market as a possible
additional outlet for our products in the industrial sector.
I also want to thank all of you who participated in the 2015 Annual ITP Survey. We received 37
responses, up from last year, and we are analysing the results. More to follow in a future newsletter.

On-Line Bushing Monitoring

using the Intellix BMT 300
By Alfonso Ambrosone

High voltage condenser bushings of power transformers are amonst the most
vulnerable of all operating equipment used. They are subjected to very high dielectric,
mechanical and thermal stresses, thus making bushing failure a leading cause of
transformer failures.
High voltage bushings are generally oil-filled condenser type OIP (Oil Impregnated
Paper) bushings which have a central conductor wound with alternating layers of
paper insulation wrapped in tin foil (creating capacitive layers designed to provide
uniform voltage drops between each layer). These are then housed in a protective
weather casing (usually porcelain) and filled with insulating oil.

Product Comparisons
We now have two brochures comparing
all our Single Gas and our Multi
Gas DGA products, to make it easier
for you to visualise the differences
and present them to customers.
The Multi Gas brochure highlights which
gases are measured by which product,
what these gases represent and what
standard diagnostic methods they enable.
We already had a Single gas product
comparison comparing all the features
and options and this has been updated.
Both these brochures can be found
on the ITP site under the Common
documents sections of the Monitoring
and Monitoring & Diagnostics areas.

Off-Line measurements of bushing capacitance C1 and power factor PF (or tan

delta) have for years been carried out to determine the operational condition of the
bushings. However, off-line testing of bushings requires a transformer outage and
is therefore only done at long periodic intervals (2 to 5 years), long enough time for
a quickly developing fault to be missed, causing a catastrophic transformer failure.
Because off-line tests are also performed at much lower voltages and under very
different temperature conditions (due to absence of load), some weaknesses may not
show up under these less than operating conditions, thus reducing their reliability.
Today, high speed microprocessor technology makes it possible to carry out real-time
bushing measurements with the transformer remaining on-line.
Continues on page 2..

Product Images
We remind you that high definition images of all our products are available for you to
download. They appear under each product in the Images folder. They are useful if
you want to upgrade your own web site or need them for marketing projects.

Get access to the ITP site

We regularly release new product information and updates on the Transformer M&D ITP Product Information Site. The site helps you build your knowledge of M&Ds products
and find answers to your questions.
To get access to the site please contact Philip Cassidy at philip.cassidy@ge.com

Latest Updates:

Marie-Clare Fidgeon
Acting M&D Finance Leader

May 20, 2015 - New TRANSPORT X TM Brochure

May 07, 2015 - Updated all Kelman product brochures
Apr 29, 2015 - New Product Comparison Brochures
Apr 29, 2015 - Updated Kelman MINITRANSTM manuals
Apr 28, 2015 - TB re Perception with non-english Windows
Apr 28, 2015 - Modbus registers for Kelman products
Apr 27, 2015 - Guide spec for 3, 5, 9 gas + moisture
Apr 23, 2015 - MINITRANS Direct Mount Instructions
Apr 17, 2015 - Updated TRANSFIX DGA 500 Brochure
(updates available on ITP site)

Some of you may be aware that Richard

Ormsby our Finance Leader has taken
up a new position within GE Power
Delivery. Marie-Clare Fidgeon will now
be the acting Finance Leader. Marie-Clare has been with
the company almost 10 years and came through GEs FMP
and Corporate Audit Staff leadership programmes. She
has spent the last 5 years in Lisburn with the M&D business
as the Finance Manager for the Technology, Services and
Manufacturing teams.

On-Line Bushing Monitor using the Intellix BMT 300 continued...

GEs Intellix BMT 300 is an on-line system that continuously

provides information regarding the health and condition of
the transformer bushings by monitoring the capacitance
change and the relative power factor change (tan delta)
of up to six bushing. It uses sensors connected to each
bushings tapping point.
The BMT 300 encompasses the additional functionality of
detecting the presence of Partial Discharge (PD) activity
inside the insulation of the transformers main tank. PD is a
low-energy spark which partially destroys a small internal
portion of the insulation. It will self-feed and increase
exponentially and eventually, through gradual erosion,
cause a breakdown in the solid or fluid insulation and lead
to transformer failure. The BMT 300 can detect PD activity
within the transformer using the same connectivity and
bushing sensors.

By Richard Luke

M&D and Railways

In China
Its not all about generation and transmission transformers
Did you know that in China we have supplied TRANSFIX products
for several railway projects.
As of 2014, the country had 112,000 km (69,594 mi) of railways,
the third longest network in the world, including 16,000 kilometres
(9,942 miles) of high-speed rail (HSR). Around 54% is electrified.
There are 16 bureaux and 5 companies under China Railway.

Polar charts are used in GEs Perception software as a

diagnostic tool to identify and quantify, for each set of 3
bushings, the bushing in which the capacitance or power
factor is changing more than the other two. External
factors such as temperature and load variations which
affect all three bushings similarly have their effect negated
when data is plotted on the polar charts, thus reducing
the risk of false alarms linked to a common cause factor.
Polar charts are also used to discriminate against corona
discharge that affects all phases when detecting PD.

The key customer issues with rail are: (1) they want reliability for
newer major lines which leads to monitoring of key transformers;
(2) on older lines, transformers were installed at the same time and
therefore will need to be replaced at the same time, which is not
palatable. Any way to identify transformers whose replacement
can be delayed helps them resolve this problem.

The Intellix BMT 300 can monitor transformer bushings

on a 3-phase transformer or a bank of three single phase
transformers. It can monitor up to a total of six transformer
bushings, typically three HV and three LV bushings. The
transformer bushings must be of the condenser type
and must have an available test tap so that the bushing
sensor can be mounted to take the appropriate bushing
measurements.

Did you know we have sold?

16 Kelman TRANSFIX
Zhengzhou Railways Bureau
15 HydranTM 201Ti
Guangzhou Subway
2 Kelman MULTITRANSTM
Zhengzhou Railways Bureau
2 Kelman MULTITRANS
Heng-Cha-Ji Railway Project

For each rail substation, there are normally at least two traction
transformers.
The attached picture is from a
Kelman MULTITRANS used in the
Heng-Cha-Ji railway project,
which was installed in July 2014.

Dominique.Legrand@ge.com
M&D Marketing Manager
GE Grid Solutions (UK) Ltd, Lissue Industrial Estate East,
Unit 1, 7 Lissue Walk, Lisburn BT28 2LU, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 2892 622915 / gedigitalenergy@ge.com
GE, the GE monogram, Kelman, Hydran, Intellix, TRANSFIX, MINITRANS, MULTITRANS and Perception are trademarks of the General Electric Company.
Copyright 2015, General Electric Company. All Rights Reserved.