No abstract

Electrical and Electronic objects, which have a temperature of operating condition above absolute zero, emit infrared radiation. This radiation can be measured on the infrared spectral band of the electromagnetic spectrum using thermal imaging. Faults on electrical systems are expensive in terms of plant downtime, damage, loss of production or risk from fire. If the threshold temperature is timely detected, the electrical equipment failures can be avoided. This paper presents a straightforward approach for thermal analysis that examines power loads and large area thermal characteristics. A thermal imaging camera was used to collect thermal pictures of the tested system under various operating conditions. These pictures are analyzed using thermal diagnosis system in order to detect the fault location that may occur and improve inspection efficiency.

Electrical transformers are vital components found virtually in most power-operated equipments. These transformers spontaneously radiate heat in both operation and steady-state mode. Should this thermal radiation inherent in transformers rises above allowable threshold a reduction in efficiency of operation occurs. In addition, this could cause other components in the system to malfunction. The aim of this work is to detect the remote causes of this undesirable thermal rise in transformers such as oil distribution transformers and ways to control this prevailing thermal problem. Oil transformers consist of these components: windings usually made of copper or aluminum conductor, the core normally made of silicon steel, the heat radiators, and the dielectric materials such as transformer oil, cellulose insulators and other peripherals. The Resistor-Inductor-Capacitor Thermal Network (RLCTN) model at architectural level identifies with these components to have ensemble operational mode as oil transformer. The Inductor represents the windings, the Resistor representing the core and the Capacitor represents the dielectrics. Thermography of transformer under various loading conditions was analyzed base on Infrared thermal gradient. Mathematical, experimental, and simulation results gotten through RLCTN with respect to time and thermal image analysis proved that the capacitance of the dielectric is inversely proportional to the thermal rise.