Electricity Today T&D Magazine

Electric Substation apparatus, transformers and circuit breakers, are the workhorses of the electric transmission grid. Our focus in this article is on the issue of dielectric media leaks. Specifically, oil in large power transformers and oil or SF6 gas in power circuit breakers. Oil and gas leaks both have their share of risks to the environment.
Financial control is playing a big part in the management of the assets in today’s electric utilities. The repair vs replace equation is looked at by utility leadership these days with a magnifying glass. They are striving to continue to operate and maintain the older transformers and circuit breakers that were designed in the slide rule era, by engineers with an eye on longevity. This older apparatus was purchased perhaps 30+ years ago at a price much less than what it would cost today to replace many units. Thus, built in the slide rule...