This past June in the USA, we trained our customers local crew on the Trojan TDOS system they had recently purchased.
This was their first experience using an online, unattended filtering system anywhere on their network. Prior to this, any transformer that required moisture or gas removal was scheduled for an outage and an offline vacuum processor was brought in.
The inevitable conclusion was that the offline process did not provide the long term moisture reduction results they were seeking: extending the operational life of the transformer by halting the rate of paper degradation.
During our time onsite they commissioned the TDOS to an energised transformer.
The crew then set the TDOS in the desired treatment program, packed up and left the site.
In the intervening couple of months they had no need to visit the site to check on the unit: replacing site visits with remote communications to check on its operating status and download data.
This TDOS has since moved onto other transformers after achieving pretty awesome results on this first one. Not a single cent has been spent on consumables.
Last Friday, employee No. 001 (aka the Company Founder) was onsite in Sydney, Australia to oversee the final install & commissioning of a Trojan POD.
This is one of four PODs purchased by our Electric Utility customer, to go along with three TDOS 1000 HV units they already operate.
Each of the PODs is being installed on newly supplied transformers, for the express purpose of maintaining low levels of moisture right from the start of their operational lives.
Martin was onsite for the commissioning of the first unit only, with the customers’ crew going on to install the remaining units themselves over the next couple of weeks.
These particular units included safety isolation valves, which provide an additional layer of protection against oil loss. With the PODs being designed for unattended operation over the life of the transformer, we consider the safety valves a valuable option as they stop the flow of oil into the system in event of a fault or loss of power.
This is particularly important when operating on a larger oil volume transformer, which provides significant head pressure on the inlet side of the POD.
The customer also requested modems for these units, which they will access through their own comms network to download operating data & confirm operating status.
We are working with a number of transformer manufacturers who will look at offering the POD as an option on new transformers. Feel welcome to contact us to discuss your requirements.
Here we have a TDOS 1000 HV unit leaving our factory, destined for a large Utility company based in south eastern part of the USA. This unit was sold by our Agents in that region, Utility Sales (https://www.utilitysales.com/)
This TDOS will be moved throughout the Utilities substations to progressively remove moisture and gases from their energised transformers. The end result will be extending the life of their assets for minimal ongoing cost.
Like all TDOS units, this comes standard with remote communications, allowing the operators to connect remotely to check on operating status, change treatment cycles, start & stop if necessary, and to download the water removal and operating data.
Remote communications also allows our staff to provide a high level of backup support and service, providing piece of mind for our customers.
We look forward to visiting shortly to conduct training with our customer. Feel welcome to reach out to Todd and the team at Utility Sales if you’d like us to also visit with you during that time.
Given the speed at which the year seems to be progressing, we thought we’d take a trip down memory lane.
The unit on the left is Unit # 1 – the first TDOS unit sold.
It left the workshop - aka Martin’s garage – back in 2004 for a South Island, New Zealand, based Utility company. It is still in constant use to this day.
For many years, #1 was looked after by Glen, who took it around all parts of their network & connected it up to lot of transformers. We’d talk to Glen fairly often & he’d tell us how the “old girl” was going.
Since Glen’s retirement, Joey now looks after #1.
# 1 has been going strong for just on 15 years now and shows no sign of slowing down.
The unit on the right is the latest model TDOS just prior to being packaged up for shipping.
A result of constant evolution through development, testing and talking with our customers.
Although the design has changed a bit over the years, the basic premise of the system still remains the same: removing water and gases from energised transformers in the safest and most cost effective method available.
Let’s see where we go from here
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Days away from Christmas we pushed to get two units on their way to Hong Kong.
Our customer purchased their first systems a TDOS 1000 and a TDOS 2000 with modifications to meet their exact operational requirements.
We will head over for training in the following months to commission and complete training.
If you would like to speak about our systems or your specific requirements please feel free to get in touch with your local agent or direct.
