Transformers play a critical role in energy networks, from electrical generation to consumption and powering industry. Downtime is harmful for businesses, but replacing transformers is expensive. To increase uptime but avoid unnecessary spending, organisations need the ability to monitor, in real-time, the health and status of their transformers – a legal requirement in the UK & Ireland.
Schneider’s EcoStruxure Transformer Expert is said to help alleviate these worries through features such as Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring and online health analysis. It also offers additional real-time insights into factors such as heat, oil temperature, water presence, noise, and vibrations, which could indicate if there is an issue that needs urgent attention. Visibility into their operations allows medium to large organisations to make data-driven decisions about the performance, maintenance, and lifespan of their transformers.
The subscription-based service monitors the health of transformers using a combination of IoT sensors and advanced software analytics. The solution provides cloud-based analysis based on real-time data to deliver aging insights and risk assessment, in addition to advice and consultation.
EcoStruxure Transformer Expert comes with a range of features, including:
Predictive analytics: Using real-time monitoring data, Schneider Electric experts can help predict potential issues before they occur, allowing companies to schedule maintenance in a more efficient way. Advanced transformer monitoring tools and automated online analysis make it possible to track transformers’s operating state and trends that are mapped against safe limits. Reliability: Knowing an asset’s health increases the equipment’s reliability and reduces the risk of downtime because maintenance can be scheduled based on a transformer’s actual need. Companies can assess short and long-term risks with recommendations based on industry standards. Safety: Detecting early signs of potential problems improves overall transformer safety. Data-driven decision making: Using real-time data makes it possible to make more informed decisions about maintenance and asset replacement. Economic benefits: Extending asset life expectancy reduces the need for costly replacements, improving maintenance planning reduces maintenance codes, and reducing downtime saves money.CERN (Centre for Scientific Research) adopted EcoStruxure Transformer Expert to improve the monitoring, risk assessment, and asset management of eight transformers. CERN, which uses 1.3 terawatt hours of electricity annually, needed a solution that could predict the remaining life of its aging transformers to facilitate smooth replacements, and prioritise upgrade decisions. EcoStruxure Transformer Expert is enabling CERN to maintain these assets and plan to replace them with minimal risk to operations.
David Pownall, vice president, services at Schneider Electric UK and Ireland: "The project is a real-world example of our solution and shows how our collaboration with customers can solve their specific challenges. Extending equipment’s lifespan is an important way to decrease companies’s carbon footprint. Using EcoStruxure Transformer Expert, companies can maximise transformers’s lifespan, resulting in less waste.”