Monitoring and maintaining Insulating Oil quality and the integrity of a transformer are essential in ensuring reliable plant operation. Large oil-filled electrical equipment, such as transformers and reactors, are a critical element of an electrical power system. The early detection of incipient faults in transformers will greatly reduce unplanned power outages and improve the reliability of the power and service supplied to customers.

The cost of a power transformer is high, but monitoring the performance of the transformer via oil is inexpensive, compared to the cost of failures and interruption in power supplies.

A transformer oil carries information about the condition of the transformer.

Analysing the oil in service can therefore give early warnings to its physical condition, integrity of the core and windings, and the condition of the cellulose insulation system.

To avoid serious problems this data can be used as a basis for corrective measures under controlled and planned conditions.