Impact Recorders Deliver High Visibility When Transporting Transformers
Severe Weather Disrupts Electric Grid Service
Growing environmental changes has resulted in extreme weather conditions creating global challenges to the power industry. Electric service is taken for granted in most countries however with climate change, electric power infrastructure is encountering more frequent and severe damage to equipment. Disruptions have been caused by powerful weather conditions such as hurricanes, winter /ice storms, extreme wind & rain, and severe storms.
As a result of extreme and destructive weather, expensive transformers become damaged and need to be replaced in order to restore power. Companies that manufacture transformers must respond quickly to supply the equipment to the power companies. It is critical that the power transformers arrive undamaged.
Transporting Large Power Transformers
Large power transformers are big and heavy (170 tons to 400+ tons). In addition, large transformers cost a small fortune to manufacture, and are susceptible to damage from impacts when transporting. Impacts as little as 1.5 to 3 G force can cause internal damage to large transformers so extreme care needs to be taken when shipping to the install location.
Transporting the transformer is not an easy logistics task. It can involve transporting by freight, sea, and rail depending on the destination. Rough terrain by road, large waves in rough seas and aging rail lines can expose the large power transformer to various levels of impact. These g force events can ultimately cause potential damage or even future equipment failure.
Why Monitoring Transformers In Transit is Necessary
Why should transformers be monitored with an impact recorder? The most important reason is knowing if the equipment was exposed to internal damage caused by shock or vibration. Hidden damage can occur when impacts meet or exceed the g force level determined by the manufacturer’s specifications.
Not knowing damage has occurred can be costly for both the manufacturer and the customer. Acceptance tests are normally performed to detect problems however items can be missed. The impact recorder gives insight into potential problems due to impacts. Technicians can be proactive and take steps to carefully check components that can fail due to high g force impacts.
Impact Recorders Provide Visibility and Accountability
Accidents can happen and when a large transformer arrives damaged, accusations will be made as to who is responsible for covering the costs of repairing the damage. By monitoring the shipment with an Impact recorder, precise data can be accessed and reviewed to determine how the shipment was handled.
For example, the Impactograph Digi-Shock impact recorders offer user-friendly mission reports that provide a summary of the largest impacts on each axis. Mission graphs provide a detailed report of each mission. This enables technicians to view every single event during a journey.
The data delivers clear visibility so the technician can see when and what impacts caused the damage. This eliminates guess work and accountability can identified. Such knowledge also helps the manufacturer evaluate the supply chain to make improvements and also possible changes to the way the power transformer is prepared for shipment.
Impactograph Digi-Shock impact recorders provide the sophistication needed to monitor large power transformers effectively. Our impact recorders are budget friendly and come in three models (click each for details): Digi-Shock G, Digi-Shock GT and Digi-Shock XT. Review our key features comparison sheet for the three models download here.
If you are looking for a monitoring solution, we recommend you contact one of our experts. There is no hard sell, just answers to you questions.
