ICAMMT 2021 IOP Publishing

Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1885 (2021) 042061 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1885/4/042061

Cause analysis and preventive measures of 500kV shunt

reactor bushing failure

Xuefei Yang1,a*, Youtian YANG1,b, Gongliao ZHANG1, Ribin YAO1, Lifan LV1
1
China Southern Power Grid EHV Power Transmission Company Liuzhou Bureau,
Liuzhou, Guangxi, China
a
* e-mail: yangxuefei@im.ehv.csg, bemail: yangyoutian@im.ehv.csg.

Abstract. In response to a recent 500kV line shunt reactor high-voltage bushing failure event in
a station, This article examines and analyzes the objects and protection actions after the casing
is disassembled. It was found that the cause of the casing failure was caused by the arc igniting
the insulating oil in the casing after the main insulation of the casing was discharged. Finally,
corresponding preventive measures are proposed from the perspective of on-site operation and
maintenance.

1. Introduction
The high-voltage bushing is an important part of the main equipment such as transformers and shunt
reactors. Its function is to lead the high-voltage lead from the cabinet of the equipment, and at the same
time, it can insulate the shell from the high-voltage lead[1-5]. At present, transformer bushings with
voltage levels of 110 kV and above generally use oil-paper capacitive structures. The oil-paper
capacitive bushings are rolled by the principle of capacitive voltage divider. The transformer windings
are led to the outside and connected to the power grid with lead connectors. The capacitor core composed
of conductive aluminum foil is used as the internal insulation structure, the porcelain sleeve is used as
the external insulation, and qualified transformer oil or SF6 is injected in the middle to play the role of
insulation and heat dissipation[6-9]. According to statistics, accidents caused by oil-paper capacitive
bushing failures account for about 1/6 of the country’s total transformer accidents[10-12].
In response to a 500kV line shunt reactor high-voltage bushing failure event that occurred in a station
recently, this article examines and analyzes the objects and protection actions after the bushing is
disintegrated, and finds that the cause of the bushing failure is after the main insulation breakdown of
the bushing The arc ignites the insulating oil in the casing, and corresponding preventive measures are
proposed from the perspective of on-site operation and maintenance.

2. Failure overview
At 20:58 on July 4, 2020, main-one integrated auxiliary A protection action and main-two integrated
auxiliary B protection action of a 500kV line appeared. The 5021 and 5022 three-phase circuit breaker
tripped. 5021 High voltage shunt reactor non-electric quantity protection heavy gas tripped. High oil
temperature was warning（protection setting does not use high oil temperature trip function）. High
winding temperature was warning（protection setting does not turn on high winding temperature trip）.
Light gas was warning. Abnormal oil level was warning. The attendant saw a fire in the main control
room of a 500kV line in the equipment area. Inspection after the fire found that the high-voltage and
neutral bushings of the reactor had been burned, as shown in Figure 1.

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ICAMMT 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1885 (2021) 042061 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1885/4/042061

Figure 1. Overall situation of high-voltage casing after burning

The overfire area of the outer surface of the fuel tank is large, but the fuel tank has no cracks or
deformation as a whole; There are traces of fire on the side of the radiator close to the fuel tank; the oil
conservator has a greater degree of overall fire. The high-voltage bushing is the most damaged, the
porcelain bushing has been completely broken, and the debris is scattered around.The head of the casing
has been partially melted, and the overhead line connected to the casing has been disconnected. The
metal parts at the connection between the casing ceramic sleeve and the flange have exploded and
divided into several small pieces. The casing capacitor core is exposed, and some of it has been burned.
The end of the tube extends into the fuel tank and cannot be viewed. The overall surface of the fuel tank
is obviously overfired. The top and wall surfaces of the fuel tank have burnt black. The seals at the upper
and lower fuel tanks fail under high temperature, and there is oil leakage along the joints of the upper
and lower fuel tanks. The situation is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. High resistance fuel tank situation

3. Failure cause analysis

3.1. Historical operation of high-voltage shunt reactor and its bushing

The high-resistance model of the faulty casing is BKD-40000/500. The high voltage casing code is
casing code OT813K. Since it was put into operation, the relevant materials of the factory are complete,
and the factory test report, on-site handover test and annual preventive test are all qualified.During
operation, the high-voltage reactor body and casing shall be inspected once a week, and the infrared
temperature measurement of the high-resistance casing, body and wire connection shall be carried out
once a month. No abnormality is found, and there is no abnormality in the infrared inspection oil surface;
Multi-dimensional analysis of high resistance oil temperature, bypass temperature, oil temperature, and
oil level was carried out every month, and no abnormality was found.

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ICAMMT 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1885 (2021) 042061 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1885/4/042061

3.2. Analysis of protection action

The analysis of the protection action of the high-voltage reactor during the fault is as follows. High
voltage reactor differential protection takes high voltage side and low voltage side bushing current
transformer. The differential current of phase B is 0 A. The fault current presents the characteristics of
through current, explaining that the point of failure is outside the zone. Therefore, the two sets of high-
resistance electric quantity protection do not operate. At 16ms, the non-electrical protection pressure
release action of the high-voltage reactor generates an alarm. In 32ms Heavy Gas jump ABC three-
phase, and it send a long jump command to the main one integrated auxiliary A, main two integrated
auxiliary B protection to jump the opposite breaker. In the whole process, high voltage reactor protection
works correctly.

3.3. The situation of previous test and maintenance

According to the regulations, the high resistance has been periodically pre-tested and checked, and the
test data are all qualified. The results of the last three preventive tests and insulating oil chromatographic
analysis are as follows:
1）In December 2013, December 2015, May 2018, the DC resistance of the winding, the insulation
resistance of the iron core and clamps, the insulation resistance and absorption ratio of the winding, the
bushing insulation resistance, the bushing dielectric loss and the capacitance were tested respectively.
Test data meet "Q/CSG 114 002-2011"Preventive Test Regulations for Power Equipment", No
abnormality was found and the test passed.
2）From 2018 to 2019, 11 times of oil dissolved gas analysis and 3 times of oil quality analysis were
carried out（Breakdown voltage, water content, gas content, dielectric loss）. Except for H2 super
attention value, the rest of the test data meetsQ/CSG1206007-2017 Requirements of "Power Equipment
Maintenance Test Regulations", Its H2 annual test results from 2018 to 2019 showed no significant
growth in.

3.4. Return back to the factory for anatomy

Disassemble the reactor, the situation is as follows:
1 ） The high-voltage point iron cores, clamps, and coils are relatively intact, causing serious
pollution.
2）The capacitor core of the high-voltage bushing is seriously damaged. There are arc ablation marks
at the side distance of 570mm from the bottom of the coiled pipe oil. The flange CT tube is cracked
from top to bottom about 600mm long, and there are many arc ablation marks on the inner side of the
lower edge. The air side flange is broken, and there are many arc ablation marks on the inside of the
flange fragments, as shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4.

Figure3. Signs of discharge arc Figure4. Cracking traces of flange CT tube

Check the inner wall of the porcelain sleeve fragments and no obvious creepage traces are found.
There are wrinkles in the aluminum foil inside the capacitor core near the coiled tube, as shown in Figure
5.

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ICAMMT 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1885 (2021) 042061 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1885/4/042061

Figure5. Fold traces of aluminum foil on capacitor core

3.5. Failure cause analysis

According to the analysis of the protection action, the high-resistance protection is an out-of-zone fault,
and the fault is located in the line protection zone. The fault location is in the substation. Combined with
the on-site appearance inspection, there are 3 obvious discharge marks on the flange of the casing riser,
so the fault is The starting point should be at the upper part of the middle flange of the casing. The casing
explosion and fire are caused by the main insulation breakdown discharge and the arc ignites the
insulating oil in the casing. The main reasons are as follows:
1）When the fault occurs, the 500kV line where the high-voltage reactor is located is not in operation,
the weather is cloudy, check the lightning positioning system, there is no lightning record in the
surrounding area, the line and the high-resistance arrester are not operating, and the atmospheric
overvoltage and operating overvoltage can be ruled out. Regardless of the possibility of failure, the
failure should occur under the operating voltage.
2 ） The casing end screen grounding device has no discharge traces, and the possibility of a
suspension potential caused by a poor end screen grounding can be investigated.
3）The casing riser seat (ground potential) is where the distance between the live conductor and the
ground potential is the smallest, where the electric field strength is the largest. When the insulation
strength of the casing capacitive screen drops to the extent that it cannot withstand the working field
strength, the casing conductive tube will affect the riser seat Discharge, forming a penetrating discharge
channel, a fault generates a strong short-circuit current, leaving burn marks at the position of the raised
seat corresponding to the short circuit. Under the action of a large current, the insulating oil in the
bushing will suddenly vaporize and expand, causing the bushing to explode.
4）The arc ablation trace on the coiled tube is the starting point of discharge, and the discharge path
develops from the inside to the outside, which leads to the breakdown of the CT tube and the air side
flange. The cause of the failure may be aluminum foil folds or foreign matter in the insulating paper,
which leads to the capacitive screen Local electric field distortion occurs, and partial discharge occurs
under the long-term action of the operating voltage, which gradually develops from the inside to the
outside to an insulation breakdown.

4. Precautions
1) when the main transformers and high-resistance equipment of various substations are tested and other
work involving the end screen of the casing, the grounding condition of the end screen should be checked
after the last screen is disassembled , and the casing should be ensured when recovering. The last screen
is well grounded.
2 ） Strictly follow the "Power Equipment Maintenance Test Regulations QCSG1206007-
2017"Carry out the verification and analysis of capacitive casing test data, and check the casing test data
item by item to ensure that the data is accurate. Retest the casing with abnormal data. Before the power
failure retest is completed, the infrared temperature measurement cycle of the casing body should be

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ICAMMT 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1885 (2021) 042061 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1885/4/042061

shortened. Not less than once every two weeks, strengthen the analysis of the temperature difference
profile of the casing surface.
3）For casings that still have abnormalities after retesting, further evaluation should be carried out.
When the increase in dielectric loss exceeds 30% or the capacitance changes significantly, oil
chromatographic analysis should be carried out for oil-immersed casing, and detailed analysis should
be carried out for dry casing. If it is still unqualified after the evaluation, it should be replaced and
disintegrated analysis.
4) The casing oil sampling should be completed under the guidance of the casing manufacturer.
During the process, the operation should be carried out in strict accordance with the standard
requirements, the relevant seals should be replaced, and the risk of casing moisture should be strictly
controlled.
5) Continue to promote the condition assessment of the old casing for more than 15 years, carry out
the dielectric spectrum test in conjunction with the power outage, and conduct the oil chromatography
spot check on some casings.

5. Conclusion
In response to a 500kV line shunt reactor high-voltage bushing failure event that occurred in a station
recently, this article examines and analyzes the objects and protection actions after the bushing is
dismantled, and puts forward specific preventive measures after analyzing the cause of the failure.
Equipment defects provide a feasible judgment and test method, which helps to ensure the safe and
stable operation of the power system.

Acknowledgments
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Guiyuan Li, a respected, responsible and
resourceful scholar, who provided him with valuable guidance at every stage of writing this article
paper. This article is enlightening and also inspiring for my future research. I would like to thank Mr.
Yang from Liuzhou Bureau for his strong support. He participated in this research with great cooperation
and conducted detailed research and analysis on the data. Last but not least, I want to thank all my
friends who participated in this research.

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