Dispatch from

Receipt at Site
Manufacturer Works

Leak test & Vacuum

Erection of Bushing & Treatment
Accessories

Testing & Commissioning

Oil filling
  Installation of Impact Recorder
Dispatch from
Manufacturer Tank filled with Dry air/N2 During transport at
Positive pressure.
Works
Dry Air/ N2 cylinder
 Inland transportation of main tank shall be on
Hydraulic trailers equipped with GPS system
 Check for
Pressure and Dew Point of N2/Dry air
Core Insulation Resistance test
Inspection of all accessories & proper storage
Unit to be placed directly on Foundation/ Plinth &
Receipt at Site Impact
recorder readings to be analysed.
If foundation is not ready than if


Storage time < 3 Months -N2 filled , pressure and
dew point to be monitored

Storage time > 3 Months –Oil filled , BDV and
moisture content to be tested
  Transformer/ reactor shall never be allowed to be opened
without application of dry air
Erection of  Before starting of erection work thorough internal inspection of unit

Bushing / to be carried out for windings, leads, and connections including

clamping, bracing, blocking, spacer alignment, phase barriers, oil
Accessories boxes, and coil wraps .
 Bushing/Turret erection to be carried out under application of dry
air / N2
  After assembly, tank should be sealed and
Leak test & pressure tested to ensure joints tightness
Vacuum  Main tank shall be purged with dry N2 / dry air till
Treatment pressure 4-5 psi and shall be retained for 24 hours
 After 24 hours of dry air purging cycle, dew point and
pressure of dry air needs to be measured
 Suspected leaks may be detected and should be
attended before starting Vacuum cycle
 In case pressure remains same, vacuum drop test can
be performed

Dry Air Purging

  All leaks should be eliminated before starting the
Leak test & fine vacuum processing
Vacuum  Vacuum application and measurement should be
Treatment performed only on top of the main tank
 Transformer/ reactor tank up to be evacuated till the
pressure of 50 mbar
 Allowable Leakage of less than 150 mm Hg liters per
minute ( 20 m3Pa/min)
 If leakage is within the limits than Vacuuming to be
continued till 0.13 kPa (1 Torr) or less.
 Vacuum shall be held for 24/48 hrs as suggested for
Voltage class rating

Vacuum Drop Test

 The vacuum to be broken with dry Nitrogen/ Air
Determination (dew point should be of the order of - 50 °C or better)
of Insulation  Nitrogen to be filled till positive pressure of 0.15
Dryness kg/cm2 and to be kept for 24 hours
 Nitrogen pressure to be released and the outlet
dew point to be measured.
 If the dew point is within acceptable value then the
dryness of 0.5% RH of transformer is achieved
 If not again the transformer is taken for vacuum
treatment.
  Filling of oil inside the tank is done under vacuum
 Transfer oil to oil storage tank for filtration before filling inside
the transformer
 After filtration oil sample to be tested for BDV, moisture content
Oil Filling & tan delta values.
 Oil to be pumped into the bottom of the tank through a
filter press
 Oil flow at the entry valve must be controlled to maintain a
positive pressure
 Vacuum to be released with dry air of dew point -40deg C or
better
 Oil filling to be Continued until the level reaches approximately
200 mm above the ambient oil level indicated on the magnetic
oil level gauge
 Care must be taken not to pressurize the coolers/radiators
  When vacuum filling of the transformer & diverter tank
is complete, the cooling system / Radiator bank can
Oil Filling & be filled (Without Vacuum) at atmospheric pressure

Hot oil  Before filling oil in the conservator, the air cell needs to
be checked for any leakage
Circulation  After Oil filling, Hot Oil Circulation has to be
applied to all the Transformers
 Direction of circulation shall be from the filter to
the transformer at the top and from the transformer
to the filter at the bottom
 The temperature of the oil from the filter to the
Transformer should be around 60 ˚C and in no
case
It should go beyond 70 ˚C
Oil Sample
testing before
commissioning
 Starting Erection work
 Thorough internal inspection of unit to be carried out

 Prior to making any entry into the transformer tank ,foreign material exclusion program can
be arranged.

 Inspection checks:
 Removal of any shipping blocking or temporary support
 Examination for indication of core shifting
 Tests for unintentional core or core clamp grounds
 Visual inspection of windings, leads, and connections including clamping,
bracing, blocking, spacer alignment, phase barriers, oil boxes, and coil wraps .

 Efforts have to be made to minimize the exposure of active parts (core and coils) of
transformer/reactor

 Either dry air generator should be running all the time or dry air cylinders may be
used to minimize ingress of moisture

 Transformer/ reactor shall never be allowed to be opened without application of dry

air.
Tightness Test /Leak Test with Dry Air Purging
 It is good practice to proceed with the erection in such a sequence that all fittings and auxiliaries
with oil seals to the tank are assembled first.

 After assembly, tank should be sealed and pressure tested to ensure that all joints are tight

 Main tank shall be purged with dry N2 / dry air till pressure 4-5 psi and shall be retained for
24 hours

 After 24 hours of dry air purging cycle, dew point and pressure of dry air needs to be measured

 Suspected leaks may be detected with leak detection instruments

 In case pressure remains same, vacuum drop test can be performed

 In case of drop in pressure, leakages must be attended and pressure test needs to be carried out
again
Final tightness test with vacuum (Vacuum Drop Test)
 Any air leakage into the transformer tank during Vacuum may seriously contaminate the
transformer insulation

 All leaks should be eliminated before starting the fine vacuum processing

 Transformer/ reactor tank up to be evacuated till the pressure of 50 mbar( 5 kPa or about 2 mm
of Hg)

 Vacuum application and measurement should be performed only on top of the main
tank

 Vacuum valve to be shut and Vacuum pump to be stopped

 Readings to be taken after 1 hrs , first vacuum reading – say P1

 Second reading 30 minutes later- say P2

 Difference between P2 and P1, to be multiplied with the oil quantity V.
Leakage Rate = V * (P90 – P60 )(mm Hg Liters)
30 Minutes

 Allowable Leakage of less than 150 mm Hg liters per minute ( 20 m3Pa/min)

 If the leak test is successful, the pumping will be continued, until the pressure has come
down to 0.13 kPa (1 Torr) or less.

 The vacuum shall then be held for the time as below

Rated Voltage Application of Vacuum & holding for
(in kV) (before oil filling) (in Hours)
66 kV 12 HRS
Up to 145 kV 24 HRS
Up to 220 kV
Up to 420 kV Upto 48 HRs
765 kV
Determination of insulation dryness by dry Air Purging Cycle

 The vacuum to be broken with dry Nitrogen/ Air. The dew point of nitrogen at the inlet is to be
measured and should be of the order of - 50 °C or better.

 When the nitrogen comes to the positive pressure of 0.15 kg/cm2, it is stopped and kept for 24
hours.

 Heating from outside is to be continued while N2 circulation is in progress

 Nitrogen pressure is released and the outlet nitrogen dew point is measured

 If the dew point is within acceptable value then the dryness of 0.5% RH of transformer is
achieved

 If not again the transformer is taken for vacuum treatment

Oil Filling
 Oil is transferred to oil storage tank for oil filtration before filling inside the transformer

 The drums or trailer tanks shall not be emptied completely to the last drop

 After filtration, oil sample is tested as per the following

Break Down voltage 70kV (min.)
(BDV)

Moisture content 5 ppm (max.)

Tan-delta at 90 °C <0.0025(Max)

Interfacial tension > 0.04 N/m

 For transformer dispatched with gas (N2) filled from the works, the filling of
oil inside the tank is done under vacuum
 When filling a transformer with oil it is preferable that the oil be pumped into the bottom of the
tank through a filter press or other reliable oil drying and cleaning device should be interposed
between the pump and the tank

 The oil flow at the entry valve must be controlled to maintain a positive pressure above
atmospheric and to limit the flow rate if necessary to 5000 litres / hour, or a rise in oil level in the
tank not exceeding one meter / hour

 Oil filling to be Continued until the level reaches approximately 200 mm above the ambient oil
level indicated on the magnetic oil level gauge in the expansion vessel

 Vacuum to be released with dry air of dew point -40deg C or better

 The diverter tank can now be topped up at atmospheric pressure

 When vacuum filling of the transformer & diverter tank is complete, the cooling system / Radiator
bank can be filled (WITHOUT VACUUM) at atmospheric pressure

 Care must be taken not to pressurize the coolers/ radiators

 Equalize the pressure in the cooler with the transformer tank.

 Before filling oil in the conservator, the air cell needs to be checked for any leakage

 After Oil filling, Hot Oil Circulation has to be applied to all the Transformers/
Reactors except under the circumstances when active part of Transformer/
Reactor gets wet

 Following conditions can be considered to define the Transformer/ Reactor wet:

 If Transformer/ Reactor received at site without positive N2 pressure.
 If Dry air not used during exposure while doing erection activities
 Overexposure of active part of Transformer/ Reactor during erection
(Overexposure when exposure > 12 Hrs)

 Under above mentioned conditions, Manufacturer shall take necessary action for
effective dry out of the Transformer/ Reactor
Hot Oil Circulation
 To ensure proper dryness and absorption of possible trapped gas bubbles

 The direction of circulation shall be from the filter to the transformer at the top and
from the transformer to the filter at the bottom

 The temperature of the oil from the filter to the Transformer should be around 60 ˚C
and in no case it should go beyond 70 ˚C

 The circulation shall proceed until a volume of oil has passed through the loop corresponding
to 2 times the total oil volume in the tank.
 The oil sample from the transformer tank, after filling in tank before commissioning
should meet the following specifications

Break Down voltage (BDV) 70 kV (min.)

Moisture content 5 PPM (max.)
Tan-delta at 90 °C 0.01 (max.)
Total Gas Content < 1%
Resistivity at 90 °C 6 X 10 ^12 ohm-cm (min.)
Interfacial tension 0.035 N/m (min.)
Oxidation Stability
Acidity 0.3 (mg KOH /g) (max.)
Sludge 0.05 % (max.)
Tan delta at 90 °C 0.05 (max.)
Drying out of wet winding of Transformer/ Reactor by application of
vacuum, N2 filling and heating
 The process of drying out a transformer requires care and good judgment

 If carelessly or improperly performed, a great damage may result to the transformer

insulation

 In no case shall a transformer be left unattended during any part of the dry out period

 The transformer should be carefully watched throughout the dry-out process and all
observations to be carefully recorded

 When the transformer is being dried out, it is necessary to ensure that firefighting equipment
is available near the transformer as a precautionary measure .

 All the openings of transformer main tank like openings for coolers/radiators,
conservator, OLTC etc. is to be properly isolated and totally blanked
 Main transformer/ reactor tank to be filled with Nitrogen until it comes to a positive pressure of 0.15 Kg/cm 2

 To be kept for about 48 hrs and take measurement of dew point of N2.

 If the dew point is not within acceptable limits , dry out procedure should be followed.

 While N2 circulation is in progress, the heaters are to be installed around the transformer tank

 The heaters are to be kept ON until temperature of about 75–80 deg C of the core & winding of transformer
as measured by top oil temperature is achieved.

 After ascertaining that there is no leakage, pull out vacuum and keep the transformer/reactor under near
absolute vacuum (1 Torr)

 Keep under vacuum for about 96 hours ,running the vacuum pump continuously

 Keep Vacuum machine ON and collect condensate for measurement

 Observe the rate of condensate collection on hourly basis

 Depending on the value of rate of condensate (less than 40 ml/hr for 24 hrs), continuation of further vacuum
to be decided.
 Then the vacuum is broken with dry nitrogen with positive pressure of 0.15 kg/cm 2 and kept for 24 hrs

 Then the nitrogen pressure is released and the outlet nitrogen dew point is measured.

 If the dew point is within acceptable limits then the dryness of transformer is achieved

 If not again the transformer is taken for vacuum treatment and then nitrogen is admitted till the desired dew
point is achieved.

 After completion of drying process, oil filling and hot oil circulation is to be carried out before commissioning

 After the expiry of settling time, air release operation is to be carried out in Buchholz relays, turrets and
other release points given by the manufacturers before charging