Method, apparatus, and system for predicting performance degradation of a distribution transformer

A system for monitoring a distribution transformer, the system comprising:

• a monitoring device collocated with the distribution transformer, the monitoring device being configured to detect voltages at one or more secondary terminals of the distribution transformer and generate data signals representative of the detected secondary terminal voltages;
• and
• a processor operable in accordance with stored operating instructions to:
• receive the data signals;
• determine, from the received data signals, whether a magnitude of a voltage at a secondary terminal of the one or more secondary terminals abruptly increased;
• when a magnitude of a voltage at the secondary terminal abruptly increased, determine, from the received data signals, whether the magnitude of the voltage at the secondary terminal remained at the increased magnitude for at least a threshold period of time;
• and
• determine that performance of the distribution transformer has degraded when the magnitude of the voltage at the secondary terminal remained at the increased magnitude for at least the threshold period of time.

An apparatus for monitoring a distribution transformer, the apparatus comprising:

• at least one voltage sensor configured to detect voltages at one or more secondary terminals of the distribution transformer and generate signals representative of the detected secondary terminal voltages;
• one or more analog-to-digital converters that convert the signals generated by the at least one voltage sensor into data signals;
• a processor operable in accordance with stored operating instructions to:
• receive the data signals;
• determine, from the data signals, whether a magnitude of a voltage at a secondary terminal of the one or more secondary terminals abruptly increased;
• when a magnitude of a voltage at the secondary terminal abruptly increased, determine, from the data signals, whether the magnitude of the voltage at the secondary terminal remained at the increased magnitude for at least a threshold period of time;
• and
• determine that performance of the distribution transformer has degraded when the magnitude of the voltage at the secondary terminal remained at the increased magnitude for at least the threshold period of time.