Simultaneous fluorescence and breakdown spectroscopy of fresh and aging transformer oil immersed in paper using ArF excimer laser

HV transformers are taken into account as the heart of the power distribution system. The on-line monitoring based on the oil analysis offers a rapid diagnostic technique to detect the probable faults. In fact, the transformer malfunctions can be detected using UV laser spectroscopic methods. Here, a novel technique is presented based on simultaneous laser induced fluorescence (LIF) and laser induced breakdown (LIB) spectroscopy for hyper sensitive identification of the oil degradation. Oil is mainly degraded due to the internal transformer faults such as overheating and partial discharge. The spectroscopic characteristics of oil in paper substrate were obtained due to ArF laser irradiation. It was shown that the amplitude of fluorescence signal increases when the oil suffers aging and degradation. A couple of additional characteristic carbon and Hα emissions appear in the corresponding breakdown spectra too.