CONDITION MONITORING SERVICES (CMS)

CMS

 

What is CMS?

Essentially, CMS is achieved via managing the ageing factors and the effect of ageing by identifying equipment that needs maintenance. This is a form of ‘planned maintenance program’ whereby, CMS can assist you to budget your repair costs, plan/schedule your downtime for repairs to minimize production disruption, and allocate capital expenditure to replace end-of-useful-operating-life transformers.

With all these potentially huge savings, CMS is a very small price to pay. Our CMS involves:

  1. Periodically, taking oil samples by our experienced technicians from your portfolio of transformers,
  2. Testing the samples for a range of parameters at our ISO-accredited laboratory,
  3. Analyzing the data; this is performed by our highly qualified diagnostic chemists/engineers,
  4. Providing fully documented reports; with the various test parameters results, the comments from our experts on the status of the transformers, and where appropriate, the recommended course of action for transformers that require services or maintenance.
  5. Our teams of field engineers are available to present the CMS reports and hold discussions with you for in-depth explanation if required

Benefits of CMS

TXM Services Sdn Bhd provides Condition Monitoring Services (CMS) for transformers with the objectives of;

  • Minimize unexpected breakdowns, hence reducing production downtime,
  • Reduce overall maintenance cost,
  • Extend the useful operating life of the transformers, hence savings on investment cost for replacement of new equipment.

 

CMS – FOLLOWS STRICT & PROPER PROCEDURES

It is most essential that all the proper standard operating procedures (SOPs) at various stages of the CMS are in place and observed thoroughly – to ensure credibility, accuracy, reliability (CAR) of the oil tested. Note that the accuracy of diagnosis and the recommendations depend on the CAR of the oil tested data. As the saying goes “garbage-in-garbage-out”.

It is important that all the followings processes are conducted with strict compliance to internationally acceptance operating procedures:

  • Transformer oil sampling
  • Laboratory testing
  • Analysis and diagnosis
  • Test reports and recommendations

 

Transformer Oil Sampling (ASTM D923-07).

To achieve accurate diagnosis of a transformer condition, the oil sample taken must be a reliable and accurate representative of the oil inside the transformer. It should avoid contamination by outside elements that would potentially distort the test results, so it is very crucial that the whole process of oil sampling be undertaken with the strictest SOPs. This includes; the technique for taking oil samples from the transformer, the tools used, the capability of technicians, containers for oil samples, handling, transportation, labeling and storage. At TXM, we have invested in the proper tools; our technicians are well trained and have vast experience for the task. Most importantly, our oil sampling technique is in accordance with internationally accepted method – ASTM D923-07, Standard Test method for Sampling Electrical insulating Liquids.

Laboratory Testing of Transformer Oil.

This is a very important integral part of the CMS process. At our Laboratory, Cennix laboratory (CL), we emphasize the following crucial factors that an established and reliable Laboratory must observe:

  • Must be accredited – CL is ISO accredited
  • ASTM Proficiency Testing (APT) – CL participates in this proficiency testing to ensure its test results are accurate and reliable. APT has over 100 participating laboratories worldwide and conducts bi-annual testing, CL has consistently ranked well.
  • Cross testing to ensure reliability and repeatability of test results – CL regularly conducts random testing with different in-house equipment, rotation of technicians for different tests and also sending samples to external laboratories to cross-check testing practices to ensure reliability and repeatability of results.
  • All test parameters must follow strictly international accepted standard – all test parameters at CL are in accordance with ASTM
  • All the technicians must be sufficiently qualified and most importantly, well trained – CL provides in-house as well as external training for the technicians.
  • The leader must be highly experienced and well qualified – The head of CL is well qualified with many years of experience and continuously undertakes research & development, provide seminars and liaise with other international laboratories to keep abreast on new developments.
  • Must be well equipped – All CL equipment are sourced from well-established international suppliers and regularly calibrated to ensure accuracy and reliability.

Transformer Oil Analysis & Diagnosis

This is probably the most important aspect of Condition Monitoring Service. Here transformer oil test parameters are measured against the basic threshold values set by international body – the ASTM method. At TXM, our well-qualified and experienced experts analyze, interpret the tests results from our laboratory. This is probably one of the areas that set us apart from our peers as our company have many years of experience and have built up a ‘knowledge bank’ of transformer conditions through the test parameters from more than 12,000 units of transformers gathered from a wide range of industries.

Test Reports and Recommendations

Our diagnostic engineers/Analytical Chemists analyze the test results and present their findings on written reports. Our test certificates and reports are very comprehensive and well documented for easy reading and understanding.