Real-Time Monitoring & Protection of Power Transformer to Enhance Smart Grid Reliability

Due to deregulation of the power system, grid reliability becomes more complicated. Even, day by day small-scale and renewable power generation is inserted in a distribution system effectively due to people awareness. A power transformer is one of the most important equipment in the grid to reliably and efficiently transmit power to the consumers. Asset management and protection are the best concepts for enlargement of transformer lifespan as well as to increase grid reliability. This article reflects on electrical and other parameter based power transformer asset management. Voltage, current, and power based inrush detection and Power Differential Protection (PDP) are applied to protect the transformer. Various data such as load history, losses and temperature will be monitored in real time to enhance the working capability of the transformer. The proposed method adopts various electrical and nonelectrical parameters for condition monitoring. The proposed scheme is successfully tested on SkV A laboratory transformer using Arm CORTEX-M4 processor. A fitness function estimated from the collected data in the processor will reflect the condition of the transformer. The hardware result confirms the effectiveness of the scheme for monitoring and protection of transformer.