Effects of Converter Harmonic Voltages on Transformer Insulation Ageing and an Online Monitoring Method for Interlayer Insulation

Power electronic converter can produce massive voltage stresses on the connected transformer, with great effects on electrical ageing of the insulation. Such effects can be diverse upon different insulation components under different harmonic voltages, which have not been well clarified. This paper aims at enhancing online monitoring of converter transformers from two aspects. First, electrical ageing evaluation models are developed for different types of transformer insulation. It is the first time to clarify the effects related to the component location and the ageing severity under differential-mode and common-mode (CM) voltages. Interlayer (IL) insulation faces a serious ageing threat and the line-lead component is aged with the severest degree. Second, CM voltages are used to build transfer function (TF) measurement for IL insulation monitoring. The key is to identify the optimal monitoring frequency with the highest sensitivity. Based on the analytical case introducing typical parameters, the TF performance is analyzed in different ageing conditions. Online experiments validate that the proposed method is effective and has good application prospect. The contributions lie in that the diverse ageing effects of converter harmonic voltages on different insulation components can be distinguished and online monitoring of IL insulation can be achieved effectively.