Real-time load, vibration and aging monitoring system for distribution transformers using cloud service
In the age of digitalization, a highly increasing energy demand has stimulated to the concern on the issues around conservation of electrical energy. Energy or power-providing sectors/companies are challenged to meet the balance between demand and supply. Furthermore, current industry trends show that it is more preferable to have the intelligent system equipped with the predictive assessment feature rather than dealing with the consequence of failure in the system. Admittedly, the life extension of the service tends to be one of the most important questions in industry sectors. Indeed, this issue is also relatable to the most substantial part of the energy systems – transformer. Reduction of the ageing rate due to the internal and external factors as well as monitoring the vibration level can be considered as key challenges for the entire power industry.
Therefore, a new generation of meters, so-called Smart Meters (SMs), has been introduced. SM supports the smart grid and encourages the monitoring of the transformer behavior during the on-load condition.
The proposed SM is of the features and they bring pivotal significance in social, economic and environmental aspects across Eurasian countries:
- Real-time tracking of the electricity consumption
- Monitoring the ageing rate and vibration of the transformer
- User-friendly communication via mobile application and web application
- Predictive assessment on the load values for desired period
- Flexibility to set the desired energy supplier and change the tariff rate
- Periodic tracking of the electricity bill
- Contribution towards renewable energy
- Electricity management for both industrial (electricity providers) and residential (apartments) purposes
This research project has been successfully implemented by a group of students at Nazarbayev University under the supervision of Professor Mehdi Bagheri.
In the implementation of the project “Real-time load, vibration and aging monitoring system for distribution transformers using cloud service”, it was decided to test and calibrate the Smart Metering and Monitoring System in the testing center of “Asia Trafo” LLP by Alageum Electric company. Team members Assilkhan Amankhan and Askat Kural have been assigned to visit the plant based on the three-week business trip. As a result of that, the gamma version of the SM was fully assembled and current, voltage, temperature and vibration sensors were tested and calibrated in terms of the operability and functionality in the real-industry setup.
