Reliability centered maintenance of power transformers and circuit breakers

摘要

At the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), we have historically maintained high voltage equipment. Including transformers and power circuit breakers, on a time driven basis. While this has served our needs in the past, newer methods are needed to effectively maintain the power system in future years. Today aging equipment, maintenance backlogs, and budget constraints are a reality. BPA has initiated a research and development project to examine reliability centered maintenance (RCM) as an alternative to time based maintenance on high voltage equipment. Under RCM, the performance of each place of equipment is to be monitored by observing many operating parameters. For example, with circuit breakers we will observe (measure) the trip time, accumulated contact wear using I(sup 2)T, timing of the mechanism, plus several other parameters. Equipment performing below a predetermined level, or equipment having accumulated a large amount of ''usage'' will receive maintenance. The maintenance will restore full performance and preserve an acceptable service life for that piece of equipment. To develop and evaluate RCM concepts, BPA is installing a prototype system at our Alvey Substation on 4 transformers and 25 breakers.