Transformer and Reactor Life Management

This Green Book provides a comprehensive guide to transformer and reactor life management, from procurement to disposal.

Transformers and reactors are among the most expensive components in the power system and contribute to a large proportion of its losses. Transformers also have long lives - more 40 years in many cases. Making the wrong decisions on their life management can have serious and long-lasting consequences.

The book is a reference for anyone involved in transformer and reactor life management. This includes not only operators, but also maintenance, repair, testing, and disposal contractors. Each of the main steps is described in its own chapter, with special emphasis on diagnosing and resolving transformer and reactor problems. Each chapter has been written by experts in the field, and then reviewed in detail by the editorial panel. In addition, the editorial panel has tried to ensure a clear and consistent use of terminology.

The book provides those involved in transformer and reactor life management with comprehensive guidance on industry best practices and how to avoid wrong decisions.

Readers who would like to comment on any of the published books or identify errors to the editorial team please contact: cigregreenbooks@springer.com.

​Study Committee A2 (Power Transformers and Reactors) is responsible for all aspects of power transformers and reactors with CIGRE, throughout their life cycle from procurement to disposal.  Study Committee A2 places a special emphasis on innovative solutions to problems facing both manufacturers and users.  A power transformer is a non-mechanical apparatus used to change the voltage, but not the frequency, of an alternating current supply.  Power transformers play an essential role in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity.  A reactor is a non-mechanical apparatus of similar design and construction to a power transformer, used to control voltages or currents in parts of the electricity network.

Luiz Cheim has more than 30 years’ experience in the power transformers industry, most recently as a senior principal R&D engineer with Hitachi. His major activities are in the development of transformers condition assessment and performance models and algorithms, as well as the development of new sensors and state of the art monitoring technologies. He is the proponent of the new transformer inspection robot, which was also awarded the “Power Product of the Year” by the UK Electrical Review (May 2019). He was given the Best Paper Award by CIGRE Study CommitteeA2 for this paper on the use of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning techniques in support of transformer diagnostics. He has filed for more than 20 patents over the last 10 years.

He has been a member of both CIGRE and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) since the 1980s and has taken several prominent roles in both organizations. He was appointed as Technical Chairman of the CIGRE Study Committee A2 Colloquia in Moscow in 2005 and in Shanghai in 2015. Amongst others, he was a member of CIGRE working groups 12.19 on transformer short circuit withstand, A2.44 on transformer intelligent condition monitoring, D1.01(TF13) on use of furans for transformer diagnostics, and D2.52 on application of artificial intelligence/machine learning.

Adish Kumar Gupta is a graduate in Electrical Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, in 1989 and has been working in various power system domains in PowerGrid for the last three decades. He started his career as an HVDC maintenance engineer in Rihand-Dadri Transmission System (India’s first Bipole HVDC network) and in mid-2000s, he was involved in commissioning of Ballia-Bhiwadi HVDC link. In the period of 2005–2007, he was assigned as head of Transformer Specialist Group in Northern Region of PowerGrid, being directly responsible for maintenance of transformers in the region. In 2009, he set up a specialized testing laboratory at Bhiwadi for advanced diagnostic testing of oil filled equipment with facilities like Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA), Frequency Response Analysis (FRA), Furans, etc. The model has since been adopted to establish 12 other labs in PowerGrid. In the period of 2011–2014, he set up two greenfield 400 kV substations and associated transmission lines. Between 2018 and 2022, he was the group head for Asset Management of Transformers and Reactors in PowerGrid, responsible for drafting and implementing operation and maintenance philosophies and guidelines for more than 3000 large power transformers and reactors. One of the major highlights during this period has been the in-house development of Asset health Indexing App for transformers and reactors which has helped in real time risk based health assessment of equipment.

He is a member of CIGRE working group A2.58 on installation, commissioning, and trial operation of transformers and reactors.

Tara-Lee MacArthur completed her Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering at Queensland University of Technology from 2008 to 2011. She is currently a Senior Engineer (Transformers and Reactive Plant Asset Maintenance) with an Australian energy utility, recognized for her expertise in power transformer specification, design, and transformer life management.

She is a registered professional engineer in Queensland, Australia. She has been a member of the CIGRE Australia A2 mirror panel since 2015 and has served as a Director on the CIGRE Australia Board since 2020. She has been an active member within CIGRE internationally as secretary of CIGRE Working GroupA2.49 between 2016 and 2019 and has chaired A2 AG.2 on knowledge transfer since 2020. Additionally, she co-edited the companion Green Book on transformer procurement.

Simon Ryder was born in England in 1973. He studied Engineering Science at St John’s College, Oxford University, between 1992 and 1996. He worked for GEC Alsthom and later Alstom between 1997 and 2003, in transformer design, development, and eventually research. He is known for his work on thermal characteristics of transformers and frequency response analysis (FRA). He joined Doble in 2003,initially working mainly on transformer life management. Since 2009 he has worked mainly on transformer procurement, especially supplier qualification and development.

He is a senior member of IEEE-PES (Power Engineering Society), a fellow of Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and a Chartered Engineer. He was a member of CIGRE working groups A2.36 on transformer procurement, D1/A2.47on advances in DGA interpretation, and A2.58 on transformer installation, pre-commissioning, and trial operation; and was convenor of CIGRE working group A2.48 on shunt reactors. He was chairman of CIGRE Committee A2 on power transformers and reactors between 2016 and 2020. He was editor-in-chief of the Green Book on transformer procurement, which was published in 2022.