en.Wedoany.com Reported - On June 27, China's first active transformer fault prevention device with trip functionality was successfully commissioned at the UHV Tianjin South Substation. The official operation of this active prevention device marks a significant milestone in China's original active transformer fault prevention technology, transitioning from theoretical research and experimental exploration to industrial application, successfully achieving a breakthrough in key technologies in the field of power safety protection.
As the core hub of power transmission and distribution, the safe and stable operation of transformers directly affects grid reliability, energy supply security, and sustainable socio-economic development. For a long time, traditional transformer protection and monitoring devices in China have been unable to effectively prevent transformer explosions, which has become a technical pain point severely impacting China's energy security, power supply assurance, and clean energy consumption.
"The active transformer fault prevention device primarily relies on the innovative integration of partial discharge monitoring and relay protection technical principles. Based on transformer partial discharge signals, it accurately alarms during minor discharges and correctly trips before an explosion, cutting off the energy source that triggers the explosion, achieving a fundamental shift from post-explosion remediation to pre-event prevention. This is akin to the automatic emergency braking system in smart cars—when a dangerous signal is detected, the system actively brakes to avoid a collision in time," said Tang Yunpeng, Senior Engineer of the Production Technology Department of the North China Branch of State Grid Corporation of China, detailing the innovation in active transformer fault prevention technology.
It is understood that under the overall guidance of the State Grid Equipment Department, the North China Branch of State Grid led the formation of an "industry-academia-research-application" integrated project R&D team covering 31 units and hundreds of personnel. After five years of intensive efforts, they proposed China's first independent innovation technology for active transformer fault prevention, comprehensively filling the gap in the field of transformer explosion prevention technology.
"The devices deployed during the preliminary scientific research trial phase only transmitted alarm and trip signals without actually initiating a trip. To achieve the critical step of actual tripping, it was necessary to fully demonstrate that the device meets the design requirements of a highly reliable protection device, and to develop multiple implementation plans for installation, commissioning, testing, and operation maintenance to ensure safe and reliable operation. Despite the immense difficulty of the entire R&D process, the team resolved to comprehensively upgrade the device, introducing a dual-set dual-redundancy design to significantly enhance hardware reliability, while systematically upgrading the protection strategy algorithm," recalled Hao Zhen, Deputy Director of the High Voltage and Power Electronics Research Institute of the State Grid Jibei Electric Power Research Institute, reflecting on the sweat and tears of the technical team.
It is reported that the active prevention device focuses on areas with high concentrations of new energy and high-load grid zones, selecting UHV substations or large-scale new energy power stations to expand the scope of grid-connected trial operation. Currently, 33 sets of devices have been in trial use for three years, with no false operations occurring under over 1.8 million instances of various interferences, fully demonstrating that the device has achieved a protection-level anti-malfunction capability. Additionally, in a total of 171 tests consistent with actual faults, including real fault tests on UHV transformers and converter transformers, the device accurately and correctly operated, fully verifying its protection-level anti-refusal capability.
"The overall technical level of the project results has reached international leading standards," according to authoritative expert reviews in the power industry. The active prevention device possesses reliable correct operation capability and effective anti-refusal and anti-malfunction capabilities, meeting the design requirements for non-electrical protection devices, providing a groundbreaking solution for transformer explosion prevention.
Currently, this technology has been included in the National Energy Administration's "Outstanding Achievements in National Power Reliability Management" and has won important awards such as the Special Prize of the China Electricity Council's Power Innovation Award and the First Prize of the State Grid Corporation of China's Technical Invention Award. It is actively participating in the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission's Yixing Competition. Meanwhile, the active prevention device technology has been commercialized through a patent licensing model, adapting to various transformer equipment with voltage levels of 110 kV and above.
"Looking ahead, we will continue to deepen our work in the safety protection field of large oil-filled equipment such as transformers, reactors, and converter transformers, accelerating the industrial deployment and market promotion of active prevention devices. We will gradually implement trip operations in Hebei, Shanxi, Anhui, and other regions, continuously driving technological iteration and upgrades, allowing more innovative achievements to serve the construction of a new power system, and lighting up thousands of homes with the light of technology," said Li Qinghai, Deputy Director of the North China Branch of State Grid Corporation of China.
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