Operations
Integrating Predictive Maintenance into SCADA and CMMS Workflows
How alert data from asset monitoring tools can flow into the systems your maintenance team already uses, without requiring a separate monitoring dashboard.
From the Field
Engineering notes on transformer health
Technical guides, field observations, and business cases from grid engineers who have worked both sides of a transformer fault.
12
Articles
3
Authors
4
Topic areas
Featured
Technical
Transformer Health Indices Explained
Why DGA, power factor, and load history are insufficient on their own, and what a composite health index should actually capture.
Engineering
Notes from the Field on Transformer Monitoring Approaches
After working protection relay systems for years, here is what we found actually works, and what generates noise your team will learn to ignore.
Technical
Early Fault Detection in Oil-Filled Distribution Transformers
Winding faults leave a signal in the electromagnetic output of a transformer weeks before dissolved gas tests or thermal sensors register anything unusual.
Business
What an Unplanned Substation Outage Actually Costs
Emergency crew dispatch, regulatory reporting, customer compensation, and the downstream equipment damage are only part of it.
Engineering
Why Grid Engineers Trust Physical Signals Over Software Predictions
The reluctance to rely on AI-generated fault predictions in utility operations is not irrational. Here is what changes when the prediction comes from a physical measurement.
Operations
Replace or Monitor: Deciding What to Do with Aging Transformers
A 35-year-old distribution transformer is not automatically the right candidate for replacement. The decision depends on what the asset health data actually shows.
Technical
Building a Useful Asset Health Score for a Transformer Fleet
A single number that summarizes the condition of a transformer is only useful if the inputs are right. Here is how to think about what goes into the score.
Technical
Reading EM Signatures Under Real Field Conditions
Substation environments are electrically noisy. Here is how we separate the transformer signal from the ambient interference that would otherwise swamp it.
Business
The Economics of Planned versus Unplanned Transformer Outages
Planned maintenance windows cost what they cost. Unplanned failures multiply those costs by factors that compound across the grid and into regulation.
Technical
Partial Discharge and Dissolved Gas Analysis: What Each Method Catches
DGA and partial discharge detection measure different physical phenomena. Understanding what each catches early, and what it misses, is the foundation of a good monitoring strategy.
Engineering
Why Transformer Failures Happen Before They Show Up in Standard Tests
The fault signatures that lead to transformer trips accumulate over months. The challenge is that most standard test intervals are too infrequent and too indirect to catch them in time.