Data Management of Your Test Data

NOW AVAILABLE
DGA Expert System Software

Now that the "Information Super Highway" is upon us, you might be feeling a bit behind the times if you’re not yet tracking your test data through the computer and software. Fear not, many customers still manage the "paper mill" of laboratory test reports. For most though, there exists a point where data tracking is not only desirable, but a necessary requirement for a properly managed transformer maintenance program. Depending upon the extent for your involvement in the test data and its interpretation, data handling and tracking can range from a simple word processor document to quite complex, analytical diagnostic software now offered in the industry.

Considerations

The type of management system you ultimately follow depends upon the following factors:

The level of data tracking and interpretation you require,

Cost factors, and

Your time and willingness to learn the peculiarities and demands of a new software package.

Word Processors

Let’s start at the beginning with a simple word processor type of tracking system. Your file header might look something like this:

Date	Equipment No.	Serial No.	Bank	Phase	Voltage Class	TotalGas	TDCG	HYDROGEN	...
020595	TC135	D-39485-02	2	3	1500	349879	384	8	...
050895	TC140	E-50986730	1	3	2500	659684	120	4	...

Many will find this method of tracking to be an adequate system. However, except for the customary scheduling of maintenance and sampling intervals, there is not much in the way of data management that be accomplished with this type of tracking system.

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel, Borland’s QuatrroPro, or whatever spreadsheet program your company accountant might be using, offers the next step in data tracking. Clearly, this is the friendliest and most cost effective means of data tracking. To start, ask your laboratory to supply you with your test data in a file format compatible with one of these spreadsheet programs. You need to tell them which data fields you desire to track such as equipment number, serial number, gas count, moisture, etc. Again as with the word processor system, you need a header at the top of each file.

Location	Date	S/N	Bk/Ph	H2O	IFT	Acid	Color	Visual	D877	Spg	PF25	...
High Point Sub	040595	3445667	1/1	5	40.1	0.055	L0.5	Clear	35	0.8687	0.0567	...
Ridge Way Sub	050695	262094-98-1	1/1	6	34.6	0.566	1.0	Cloudy	46	0.8777	0.0123	...

Now, with the spreadsheet’s sorting function you can rank your test data by any field. This is probably the most powerful feature of the spreadsheet which enables you to schedule by time intervals and note severity. Graphing is another powerful feature which of course gives you a graphical interface to your data. Skilled spreadsheet users can go the next step further and write diagnostic macros (mini-programs) which take your data and crunch it though several equations and filters to output meaningful diagnostic results. Since it offers so many advantages, many of our customers have utilized this method of data tracking.

Industry Offerings

Quite recently, dedicated software packages have come onto the market which perform many of the functions personnel require in transformer maintenance. Here two packages are introduced which may warrant your attention. Unfortunately, these packages are offered by our competitors. So until we develop our own particular software package, we have to refer you to these.

Delta-X Research’s Analyst
Transformer Oil Analysts an early warning system. It stores insulating fluid test data and automates commonly-used methods of fault detection and fault diagnosis. Fault diagnosis and trend analysis are supported by large collection of built-in graphs. The analysis standards, rules, and interpretive text are easily customized to support your particular operating conditions, policies, and engineering judgment. You can obtain more information on TOA, even download a slide presentation by visiting their web site at http://www.deltaxresearch.com/toadesc.htm.

DTK
DTK is a database management system that facilitates the acquisition, analysis, maintenance and reporting of transformer data. For further information regarding DTK, contact Analytical ChemTech International at 916-455-2284 or http://www.actiinc.com/dtk.html