Classification and fault diagnosis of power transformers with dissolved gas analysis using improved clustering methods

Purpose Power transformers are vital components of an electrical network. A defective transformer can cause instability and blackouts in parts of the network. An accurate classification of different transformer faults results in a relatively accurate fault diagnosis and timely corrective actions. It is possible to increase productivity and reduce costs by using fault detection of power transformers through the analysis of gases dissolved in oil. The proposed technique is a suitable tool to help the utilities and engineers in charge of preventive maintenance by reducing the costs of different fault diagnosis tests for power transformers. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the IEC 60599 standard along with clustering and classification methods are used to classify power transformer’s fault types. K-means and Fuzzy C-means clustering methods are used for clustering, and the support vector machine (SVM) method is used for classification of different types of faults in ‎power ‎transformers. The performance of K-means and SVM methods is improved by using the Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm (GOA). The efficiency of the proposed methods is evaluated using real field data of power transformers. The purpose of this study is to propose hybrid methods including K-means-GOA clustering and SVM-GOA classification for accurate fault diagnosis. These methods have been used for the first time in fault diagnosis determination of power transformers through gas analysis. The Silhouette criteria is used in this paper to compare the efficiency of different clustering methods. Findings Simulation results of the paper are based on the gas chromatography data related to 266 different real power transformers. They show the high accuracy and high-performance speed of intelligent clustering and classification methods compared to conventional ones. This analysis would be helpful in performing the required maintenance check and plan for repairs. Originality/value The applicability and efficiency of the proposed hybrid K-means-GOA and SVM-GOA models are verified for transformer fault detection using the experimental diverse data set including 266 set of real field test parameters of power transformers.