Transformers and Transformer Oil in Nigeria, what to know

Transformers and Transformer oil use Nigeria:

Nigeria and Power transformers.

Nigeria is replete with lots of power issues, my take is that we should endeavor to manage and enjoy the little power that is supplied off from our few operating power plants, in this write-up I may not necessarily look at the issues mitigating against increasing power supply in Nigeria, I will look at some micro issues that we do not bother about all the time, but pretty expensive to us because we do not know, this issue is not only for the technical team alone, it should bother all of us, we must demand some answers and ask the technical team what do they really know and why do we fall short of applying common sense that evidently looks so common.Ok. Let me explain, we have little power supplied off from our few power plants in Nigeria, but they are also largely wasted and resources also are being wasted in the process. Power transformers are supposed to be supplied to residents by the power companies, but for the most time and evidently so, transformers are supplied by residents and communities themselves, usually some state governments and federal state boards like NDDC gift transformers to communities and residents (the communities constitute technical committee to oversee how the transformers are installed, maintained and registered with the distribution companies before they are connected to the national power grid).

The power companies just wait and come to pick up their rental fees in the form of power  bills, oh my, I fix my power transmission poles, I buy the wires or insulators, I also contribute to the good of my community to be able to purchase a transformer and the very day that the transformer is connected and your house is powered, that is the day the power distribution companies start sending electricity bills to your house both metered and imagined (what is now officially known as estimated billing, another fraud against the people). As unusual as that sounds, this is the facts and it is real. Nigeria electricity regulatory commission (NERC) got your back anyway, they ask you to write a petition and demand for a refund, hahaha, do that and wait for eternity to get a refund. Don’t get me wrong, it might be a lengthy process but it is worth the wait, unfortunately, the power companies take advantage of these waitings knowing few people will wait that long due to associated costs of not being connected to power until the end of the bureaucratic process of refunds or alternatives to it.

Transformer Oil

Well my write up today is on establishing some understandable and practical protocols on what transformer oil you need to ask the tech team to fill up the transformer so you can enjoy the transformer you contributed money to buy, if you don’t want to get involved in the endless circle of contributing maintenance money on the expensive transformer like it needs another form of fuel to power it to supply you the much-needed electricity. Transformer oil does very important things to your transformer fencing preventing it to go bad quickly, it aids in heat transfer or cooling of the transformer, it provides outstanding oxidation stability for an enhanced life of the transformer, while in the process of either increasing or decreasing AC voltage transformers actually generate a lot of heat, the transformer oil acts as a cooling agent and preserves the life of the transformer.

Does transformer oil degrade over time, should it be changed?:

When transformers are in use, I have explained above what the transformer oil does, these functions happen as long as the transformer is powered (Connected to high voltage electric power), however the oil degrade over time, why is that? Because there is contamination due to ingress of moisture and oxidation, hence a progressive degradation of the chemical and physical properties of the oil, consequently the dielectric strength of the oil is affected. It is recommended that when such happens over time, the oil should be changed outrightly, however, make it a task to your tech team that during the change of oil, to ensure that new transformer oil must first be used to rinse the oil compartments and ensure they are all cleaned up of the old oil before a new oil is filled. This is important because any remaining old oil will contaminate the new oil and enhance the degradation of the new oil. Do not forget to dispose of the old oil properly, do not allow them to dump it into the drain or in water, they are hazardous waste pollutants that will disrupt lives of plants and animals and can cause cancer in humans too.

There are 3 types of transformer oil, 

The 3 types of Transformer oil are the Naphtenic, Paraffin and Synthetic transformer oils, The Naphthenic and Paraffinic are both mineral oils, however, the Naphtanic is more readily oxidized than the paraffin oil, but the oxidation product which forms a sludge is more soluble than the paraffin oil, this makes the sludge not to precipitate in bottom of the oil and hence does not disturb the transformer cooling system, in my opinion, and the opinion of others the Naphtenic oil is preferred. For the synthetic transformer oil, they are made of chemical products such as silicon oil, are usually fire resistant and hence costlier than mineral oils of the Naphthenic and paraffinic options.

Inhibited and unInhibited Transformer oil

Transformer oil can be inhibited and uninhibited, uninhibited transformer oils are mineral oil that contains no additives but are selected to achieve their desired characteristics by careful selecting the type of crude oil and proper refining techniques, however the inhibited transformer oils contains some amount of additives so as to inhibit oxidation and hence increasing its chemical stability when in use.

Monitoring the aging of transformer oils:

It is not out of place to ask your technical team to send the transformer oil for lab tests every six months, because the efficacy of the transformer oil goes down due to aging, although service life can be extended by inhibition (adding additives) look for the end of life characteristics like the dielectric strength and the oxidative stability. An aged oil is considered a bad transformer oil and can immediately damage the transformer, I have never heard of an electricity distribution company manager recommend laboratory tests of samples of used transformer oil to reconfirm its suitability for use. It may be that the costs of maintenance as usual are not borne by their companies, negligence or outright ignorance.

Recommended transformer oil for a Long lasting transformer:

I do not want to stress about all the technical details about why inhibited transformer oil is better than the uninhibited, but for the most part, ensure you fill your transformers with inhibited transformer oils for very obvious reasons also ensure the type of transformer oil you allow your tech team fill inside transformers to be inhibited Naphtanic transformer oil. If you want to buy in inhibited transformer oil in Large quantities you can buy from Epoxy Oilserv Nigeria and GZ Industrial Supplies online shop alternatively you can also buy in small quantities.

Epoxy Oilserv is the supplier of transformers and Transformer oil in Nigeria. Buy from our outlets accross Nigeria or from GZ Industrial Supplies Online