The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has announced it successfully piloted a robotic technology that can navigate inside a power transformer to effectively identify any operational issues while reducing unplanned down time and reducing risk to personnel.

The inspection was carried out by NYPA as part of an Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) project evaluating transformer inspection technologies at NYPA's Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant in Lewiston. 

The remote-controlled inspection submarine developed by ABB was submersed into an oil-filled transformer without requiring the removal of the oil from the transformer or a human inspection.

"This specific demonstration focused on the ease and speed of deployment, quality of the visual inspection, and typical inspection times when using robotic inspections of transformers," said EPRI technical executive Luke Van der Zel, who helped lead the tests. "The results will guide future research on how this technology functions in highly contaminated, and therefore very dark, transformer oils."

This technology can be used when a power transformer experiences unusual gas accumulation in the insulation oil and requires further investigation inside the tank to determine whether there is an internal defect in the transformer.

Source: NYPA