QualConnex, DGA LT1 and QGateway
Wireless Dissolved Gas Analyzer
DGA LT1 Dissolved Gas Analyzer
QGateway RF to Cellular Gateway
QualConnex Remote Monitoring Platform
QualConnex, DGA LT1 and QGateway
Wireless Dissolved Gas Analyzer
Target Market
Transformer Operating Behavior
Wind Transformer Operations
- Summer Outage Season
- Annual oil samples during outage
- Significant power output fluctuations daily
Solar Transformer Operations
- Winter Outage Season
- Short outages can be taken at night
- Significant power output fluctuations daily
Wind Farm Transformers Have Significant Gassing
Representative Transformers
According to C57.104-2008 Guide for the Interpretation of Gas Generated in Mineral Oil-Immersed Transformer: Condition 4, Fault Evolved into D1/D2 – Imminent Failure
Why Hydrogen?
Relative quantities of dissolved fault gases generated by incipient faults
- Trending of dissolved gases can provide clear indications that issues are occurring in transformers before they fail.
- Hydrogen increases with / in advance of other gases and noticeable manner.
- Provides time to shut off & isolate ahead of failure
Wind Farm Transformers Failures Per:
Virginia & Georgia Transformer
- Over-voltage due to fault conditions, load rejection and transients
- Mechanical, electrical and thermal stresses due to the loading cycles
- Increased partial discharge and hot spots due to gassing.
- Com bustible gases due to heating, harmonics
Wind Farm Transformers Failures Per:
- Voltage fluctuations due to generator and step up function
- Sharp load fluctuations causing thermal stresses in insulation
- Low average loading with peak loading reaching 100 % for several days causing accelerated ageing of insulation
- Moisture and reduced maintenance leading to start up problems.
Current Monitoring Methods
Manual Sampling
- Lock Wind Turbines
- Isolate and Add Air Break at Substation
- Several team members required to manually sample all transformers on site in one day
- Oil samples labelled in glass bottles spending the day in the sun
- Oil samples collected and sent to a lab possibly combined with other nearby sites (100’s in a shipment)
- Wait weeks to months to get results in PDF format
- Manual review and entry into Excel or MMS
- Separation of phases based on density while system is offline
Current Monitoring Methods
Manual Sample Repeatability
Lab sampling provides significant repeatability concerns:
- Air ingression into samples
- Loss of volatiles during transportation
- Loss of volatiles for delays between sample and testing
- Sampling procedures
- Shift of dissolved to free gas
- Administrative errors from managing hundreds of samples
Source: International Journal on Electrical Engineering and Informatics – Volume 5, Number 2, June 2013 “Comparison between Online and Laboratory Measurements of Fault Gases for Mineral Oil and Natural Ester “ The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, BPL Global, Beaverton, Oregon, USA, , TJ|H2b UK Laboratory, Chester, UK
Target Market
DGA LT1 Target Applications
Generalized Application for Comparison Purposes
- Located in a farm field with no access restrictions
- No instrum ent power & com m unications available nearby
- Inadequate space for TM 1, TM 3, TM 8 type monitors
- Drain valve is locked in LV cabinet (typically 1”) – requires outage to access
- Monthly “inspections” at best
- Transformer costs 1/10thto 1/20th of the cost
- 1M VA to 5M VA, 660V / 34.5KV
DGA LT1
Wireless Dissolved Gas Analyzer
- Drain valves are typically near the bottom of the Low Voltage Cabinet
- Transformer should be offline so installation usually tied to an outage
- Installed into the pad mount transformer drain valve typically 1” but can be 2” on larger transformers.
- Sensor has no power or communications wires so installation can take minutes per transformer.
DGA LT1
Wireless Dissolved Gas Analyzer
Dissolved Gas Analyzer
Comparative Analysis
QGateway
RF Mesh Networking Nodes
Networking Overview
Basic Communication Path
Networking Overview
Mesh Networking Communication Path
QGateway
RF Mesh Networking Nodes
- The gateway is adhered or fastened to the south side of a pad m ount transformer for highest sun exposure and limited snow build up.
- Mounting on weather towers or poles on site can increase distances (i.e30km at a 30m mounting height) vs the 600m to 1.5km range at 1m mounting height.
- Consider the site layout when selecting quantities of sensor, RF gateways and cellular gateways.
QualConnex
Web Based Monitoring Platform Overview
- Trend hydrogen, moisture, temperature
- Trend rate of change
- Configure alert thresholds
- Alert notifications via email
- Download data
- Geographic indicators
- Automated monthly report by site
- Accessible via Qualitrolcopr.com domain
- Data encrypted and stored on AWS
- API can be created to connect to SCADA etc.
QualConnex
Transformer Location Data
- Interactive map view of transformer locations
- Green/Red indicator status on transformers
QualConnex
Trend
- Interactive Trend Analysis
- Hydrogen, Moisture, Temp Trending
- Date adjustment
- Hourly/Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Year Trends
- Alert Highlighting
- Rate of Change Trending
- Data Downloading
QualConnex
Alert Functions
- Configurable Alerts Based onAlert Notification Emails (opt in function)
- Days without Data
- Maximum Absolute Values
- Rate of Change
- Alert Status
- Trigger Threshold
- Actual Values
- Time Stamp
- Activity Log and Notes
QualConnex
Nameplate Information
- Nameplate Information Stored For Maintenance Planning
QualConnex
Security Details
- SSL/TLS encryption between browsers and the application
- Instruments 256 bit encrypted sensors
- SOC 2 Type 1 and 2 to be pursued when budget permits to support NERC consideration (keeping separate from customer systems until then)
- Companies will have the ability to soft delete data via tools within the application
- Permanently delete data via a manual request that will be executed outside of the application
- Not activated yet: Dual authentication and minimum password strength
QualConnex Platform Pricing
Contract Pricing model based on $400 per transformer per year (Default)
Dissolved Gas Analyzer
Typical Installation Cost
DGA LT1 & QualConnex
5 Year Ownership Cost
DGA LT1
Life Expectancy
- Electronics & Battery life 10 years+
- Chemochrom ic Film – Expecting 5+ years
- Accelerator testing at the University of Waterloo, Chemical Engineering DepartmentThird party testing for leak, tem p cycling, moisture intrusion, IP rating, etc
- High concentration exposures
- Concentration cycles
- Other Combustible Gas Interference (CO, CO2, H2O, C2H2…)
- Mitigating life expectancy risks with design features (Catalyst Foulant Protection)
- Providing instrument for free under a multi-year monitoring platform agreement
- Ie. Warrantee in place for life of agreem ent (3-5 years)