Effects of Moisture on Furfural Partitioning in Oil-Paper Insulation System and Aging Assessment of Power Transformers

The furfural concentration in oil is a well-accepted chemical marker indicating the aging condition of power transformers. However, recent researches suggest that the furfural concentration in oil is affected by moisture, because moisture influences the furfural partitioning ratio in oil-paper insulation system. In this study, the correlation of moisture and furfural partitioning ratio was investigated. The accelerated thermal aging test and moisture absorption test were conducted to prepare oil-paper samples with different furfural and moisture concentrations. For samples with different moisture concentrations, the furfural partitioning ratios between oil and paper were compared. Results showed that samples with high humidity exhibited a high furfural mass fraction in oil. This finding implied that high humidity promoted the furfural diffusion from paper to oil. Further, the interference of moisture on aging assessment of insulation paper was analyzed. Results showed that the increase of moisture concentration in oil-paper system would significantly affect the accuracy of insulation paper aging assessment. A corrected equation for aging assessment of insulation paper with different moisture concentrations was established. Verification result showed that the equation could effectively correct the interference of moisture and enhance the accuracy of the aging assessment of insulation paper.