Internet of Things-Based Smart Monitoring of a 400VA 220/110V Transformer

The transformer, an essential component in the electric grid, plays a prominent role in transmitting electricity between circuits while adjusting voltage levels. Nevertheless, transformers oftentimes are confronted with issues like temperature elevation and excessive noise generation. Traditional transformer monitoring approaches are laborious and lack accuracy. In this case, the objective of this work is to develop an experimental Internet of Things (IoT) system adequate for monitoring and assessing the transformer's performance with respect to current, voltage, power, efficiency, sound, temperature, and humidity using sensors. The data collection and processing are managed by the ESP32 microcontroller, which thereafter communicates the collected information to the Arduino Cloud through a Wi-Fi connection for real-time data visualization. To evaluate the transformer parameters, three scenarios are examined i.e., with Bench Meter, Multimeter and IoT sensors. Temperature measurements employ both a traditional thermometer and the designed IoT PT100 temperature sensor. Sound levels emitted by the transformer are measured through a dedicated sound sensor. The obtained sensor data is then displayed within the Arduino Cloud dashboard. The results attained from this work demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed IoT system. It displays not only lowered measurement errors but also significant time savings when examining various parameters. It should be noted that the utilized size of the unit in this study is used as a pilot study to develop IoT systems for pole-mounted distribution transformers.