Assessment of Space Weather Impacts on New Zealand Power Transformers Using Dissolved Gas Analysis
Abstract Space weather can have major impacts on electrical infrastructure. Multiple instances of transformer damage have been attributed to geomagnetic storms in recent decades, for example, the Hydro Quebec incident of 1989 and the November 2001 storm in New Zealand. While many studies exist on th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Space Weather |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023SW003607 |
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| author | S. P. Subritzky A. C. Lapthorn S. Hardie D. H. Mac Manus C. J. Rodger M. Dalzell |
| author_facet | S. P. Subritzky A. C. Lapthorn S. Hardie D. H. Mac Manus C. J. Rodger M. Dalzell |
| author_sort | S. P. Subritzky |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Space weather can have major impacts on electrical infrastructure. Multiple instances of transformer damage have been attributed to geomagnetic storms in recent decades, for example, the Hydro Quebec incident of 1989 and the November 2001 storm in New Zealand. While many studies exist on the impacts of geomagnetic storms on power transformers in New Zealand, no studies exist that employ Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) techniques to relate geomagnetic storms to transformer gassing. A relationship has been reported between geomagnetic activity and DGA for South Africa, while none was found in a recent study in Great Britain. This paper attempts to examine this research question by examining dissolved gas data across eight power transformers in different substations in New Zealand from 2016 to 2019. Case studies were conducted which analyzed the DGA readings of each transformer alongside horizontal magnetic field component rate of change measurements at Eyrewell across six geomagnetic storms. These case studies were then augmented with an analysis of the entire data set where magnetic field measurements were compared with individual gas rates to establish a correlation between gas production and geomagnetic activity. Analysis of the results of this study concluded that no link had been found between the production of combustible gasses in a transformer and geomagnetic activity during the observation period. However, we note our dissolved gas analysis was largely in a geomagnetically quieter period, which may limit our analysis. The production of combustible gasses is not correlated to geomagnetic storms for the time period and transformers analyzed. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bb19a0f131944ba0be368b4e013856e4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1542-7390 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Space Weather |
| spelling | doaj-art-bb19a0f131944ba0be368b4e013856e42025-01-14T16:30:41ZengWileySpace Weather1542-73902024-02-01222n/an/a10.1029/2023SW003607Assessment of Space Weather Impacts on New Zealand Power Transformers Using Dissolved Gas AnalysisS. P. Subritzky0A. C. Lapthorn1S. Hardie2D. H. Mac Manus3C. J. Rodger4M. Dalzell5Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Canterbury Christchurch New ZealandDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Canterbury Christchurch New ZealandDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Canterbury Christchurch New ZealandDepartment of Physics University of Otago Dunedin New ZealandDepartment of Physics University of Otago Dunedin New ZealandTranspower New Zealand Limited Wellington New ZealandAbstract Space weather can have major impacts on electrical infrastructure. Multiple instances of transformer damage have been attributed to geomagnetic storms in recent decades, for example, the Hydro Quebec incident of 1989 and the November 2001 storm in New Zealand. While many studies exist on the impacts of geomagnetic storms on power transformers in New Zealand, no studies exist that employ Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) techniques to relate geomagnetic storms to transformer gassing. A relationship has been reported between geomagnetic activity and DGA for South Africa, while none was found in a recent study in Great Britain. This paper attempts to examine this research question by examining dissolved gas data across eight power transformers in different substations in New Zealand from 2016 to 2019. Case studies were conducted which analyzed the DGA readings of each transformer alongside horizontal magnetic field component rate of change measurements at Eyrewell across six geomagnetic storms. These case studies were then augmented with an analysis of the entire data set where magnetic field measurements were compared with individual gas rates to establish a correlation between gas production and geomagnetic activity. Analysis of the results of this study concluded that no link had been found between the production of combustible gasses in a transformer and geomagnetic activity during the observation period. However, we note our dissolved gas analysis was largely in a geomagnetically quieter period, which may limit our analysis. The production of combustible gasses is not correlated to geomagnetic storms for the time period and transformers analyzed.https://doi.org/10.1029/2023SW003607GICDGAtransformers |
| spellingShingle | S. P. Subritzky A. C. Lapthorn S. Hardie D. H. Mac Manus C. J. Rodger M. Dalzell Assessment of Space Weather Impacts on New Zealand Power Transformers Using Dissolved Gas Analysis Space Weather GIC DGA transformers |
| title | Assessment of Space Weather Impacts on New Zealand Power Transformers Using Dissolved Gas Analysis |
| title_full | Assessment of Space Weather Impacts on New Zealand Power Transformers Using Dissolved Gas Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of Space Weather Impacts on New Zealand Power Transformers Using Dissolved Gas Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of Space Weather Impacts on New Zealand Power Transformers Using Dissolved Gas Analysis |
| title_short | Assessment of Space Weather Impacts on New Zealand Power Transformers Using Dissolved Gas Analysis |
| title_sort | assessment of space weather impacts on new zealand power transformers using dissolved gas analysis |
| topic | GIC DGA transformers |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023SW003607 |
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