Design and development of IOT based transformer health monitoring system

Transformers are the main building block in a power system. Transformers are great assets to companies and therefore maintenance as well as replacement of the transformer is found to be a luxurious exercise for every company. Keeping this factor in mind, IoT based distribution transformer health con

Project Title

Design and development of IOT based transformer health monitoring system

Project Area of Specialization

Electrical/Electronic Engineering

Project Summary

Transformers are the main building block in a power system. Transformers are great assets to companies and therefore maintenance as well as replacement of the transformer is found to be a luxurious exercise for every company. Keeping this factor in mind, IoT based distribution transformer health condition monitoring system is developed in this work to monitor the health conditions of distribution transformers remotely and at regular intervals. Health index is determined on the basis of change in current values on phases, oil level moisture content as well as load ability, which are measured using sensors. Any damages in transformers adversely affects the balance of a power system. The damages are mainly occurring due to overloading and inefficient cooling.

Distribution transformer is a step down transformer which converts high voltage level to low voltage level. In this project transformer’s health is monitored and carefully automatically controlled by employing Internet of Things (IOT). Real time IOT based monitoring of transformer parameters like Load current, Voltage, Winding Temperature, Oil level and Transformer vibration indication of the distribution transformer was done by using variety of sensors and techniques.

If sudden fault occurs due to voltage spikes, excessive load, short circuit in the distribution transformer leads to excessive generation of temperature and the risk of fire and its damage to the equipment. To avoid all these damage or risk of failure, the parameters of the distribution transformer such as current, temperature and oil level etc. were not only measured and monitored but also carefully controlled and rectified in our project. This helped us to reduce the working effort and protect the distribution transformer by identifying faults before failure and actions can be taken.

The system will monitor a total number of five parameters that are voltage level, current level, oil level, vibration and winding temperature of transformer. These parameters are measured and displayed on LCD and on mobile application through IOT. The sole purpose of this project is smart monitoring and controlling of transformer health in order to protect these big machines from any kind of expensive damage.

Project Objectives

The basic objective of our project is to design IOT based health monitoring and protection system for transformer. We intend to have following qualities in it.

1. Monitoring voltage levels.
2. Monitoring of over current.
3. Detecting winding Temperature.
4. Indication of oil level of the Distribution transformer.
5. Monitoring Vibration in primary and secondary windings.

Project Implementation Method

Following is the method for Creation of IOT based health monitoring and protection system for transformer.

1. Gain knowledge about Various Kinds of Transformer protection techniques by reading Research Papers (Literature Review)
2. Develop Circuit Diagram
3. Software Simulations
4. Developing Code
5. Hardware Structure Construction
6. Configuration of Hardware with Microcontroller and other electronics modules involved.
7. Using IOT for information on smart device.

Benefits of the Project

Project of this complex and sensitive nature has been done by doing real time monitoring and control of parameters that will tremendously increase life and durability of transformers. Proper monitoring of parameters with the help of IOT such like voltage, current, oil level, vibration and winding temperature. Faults will be detected in real time. Not only does the use of this system reduce the cost of physical inspection, but it can also help us improve the whole power distribution system by analyzing the data collected from each power distribution transformer. Analyzing this data can help us understand the real-time requirements regarding the capacity and load of the power distribution transformer at a given location and can save us from losses of millions of rupees each year due to lack of that information.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The final intended system protection scheme is based on a single-phase logic tripping mechanism. This system overcomes the issues of complete tripping of Distribution Transformer in overload time. The project scheme is designed to operate the Transformer at the low kVA rating by tripping the overload phase and reconnecting the phase after the load has reached the stable range. The goal of this project is to precisely measure the winding temperature, voltage, current, oil level and vibration on transformer using the Sensors then send their data to the LCD and monitoring station using Internet of Things technology. Real-time monitoring and data calculation automatically activates protection mechanism in the transformer.  Issues of voltage and current are resolved by automatically disconnecting loads by tripping through SPST (single pole single through) relay. After overcurrent transformer continuously recheck system after 4 seconds to check if the system is restored to normal state or not.

Moreover, by using Internet of Things, all the values of the monitored parameters will also be transferred to a central server over the Internet where these values can be displayed on any computer system or smartphone using the Internet service.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Core Industry

Others

Other Industries

Core Technology

Internet of Things (IoT)

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Responsible Consumption and Production

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com