Bushing diagnosis

1. A device for diagnosing the status of an electrical apparatus having a sealed fluid based insulating system, the device comprising:

at least one input for receiving measurements of a current running through the device and measurements of an actual apparatus fluid pressure;

at least one surrounding temperature sensor for receiving surrounding temperature measurements, the at least one surrounding temperature sensor being connected to the at least one input;

a transformer;

a sealed bushing attached to the transformer, the sealed bushing including a sealed chamber comprising a first liquid insulating medium, a second gas insulating medium, an insulation, an electrical conductor, and a pressure sensor in the sealed chamber and in contact with the first liquid insulating medium; and

a diagnosing unit, the diagnosing unit configured to perform diagnosis of the sealed bushing,

wherein the diagnosing unit comprises:

means for measuring current within the electrical conductor,

means for determining a pressure of the first insulating medium based upon the current within the electrical conductor,

means for determining a pressure of the second insulating medium based on the current within the electrical conductor,

means for combining the pressure of the first insulating medium and the second insulating medium to determine a corresponding theoretical apparatus fluid pressure,

means for receiving actual apparatus fluid pressure from the at least one input unit,

means for comparing the actual apparatus fluid pressure with the theoretical apparatus fluid pressure, and

means for diagnosing the status of the apparatus based on the comparison,

wherein the theoretical fluid pressure is determined based on a model of the change in fluid pressure in relation to apparatus temperature.

2. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a current sensor provided in the transformer, the current sensor encircling the sealed bushing.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the transformer includes a first winding and a second winding.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the insulation surrounds the electrical conductor in the sealed chamber.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the diagnosing unit further comprises means for determining an apparatus temperature based on a determination of the heat generated in the apparatus by the measured current and means for determining the theoretical fluid pressure based on this apparatus temperature.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein said diagnosing unit further comprises means for determining the apparatus temperature based on the measured current and the surrounding temperature measurements.

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein said at least one surrounding temperature sensor includes an ambient temperature sensor and an insulating medium temperature sensor in said transformer.

8. The device of claim 5 , wherein the determined apparatus temperature is based on a determination of the heat generated in the apparatus by the current.

9. The device of claim 5 , wherein the apparatus temperature is the temperature of the insulating medium.

10. The device of claim 5 , wherein the diagnosing unit further comprises means for determining the theoretical fluid pressure based on a model of the change in pressure in relation to apparatus temperature.

11. The device of claim 5 , wherein the diagnosing unit in relation to diagnosing the status of the apparatus further comprises means for comparing the way the actual fluid pressure varies with temperature with the way a set of reference pressure variation curves vary with temperature, where each reference pressure variation is associated with a corresponding potential problem.

12. The device according to claim 11 , wherein the set of reference pressure variations include at least one variation providing an indicator in the group consisting of:

not enough insulating medium,

too much insulating medium,

apparatus leakage,

gassing or overheating

a taken insulating medium sample, and

faulty electrical connection.

13. A method for diagnosing the status of the device according to claim 1 , the method comprising the steps of:

measuring the current running through the sealed bushing to produce measurements, the measurements being supplied by the electrical apparatus to the at least one input,

determining an apparatus temperature based a determination of the heat generated in the apparatus by the measured current and sending the apparatus temperature to the at least one input;

determining a surrounding temperature and sending the surrounding temperature to the at least one input;

determining a theoretical apparatus fluid pressure based on the apparatus temperature and the surrounding temperature via software executing on the computing processor, the software executing on the computer processor comprising:

determining a pressure of the first insulating medium based upon the current within the electrical conductor,

determining a pressure of the second insulating medium based upon the current within the electrical conductor, and

combining the pressure of the first insulating medium and the second insulating medium to determine the theoretical apparatus fluid pressure,

receiving measurements of a corresponding actual apparatus fluid pressure,

comparing the actual apparatus fluid pressure with the theoretical apparatus fluid pressure via software executing on a computing processor, and

diagnosing the status of the electrical apparatus based on the comparison via software executing on the computing processor,

wherein the theoretical apparatus fluid pressure is determined based on a model of the change in fluid pressure in relation to the apparatus temperature.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the surrounding temperature measurements include ambient temperature measurements and measurements of an insulating medium temperature of the piece of electrical equipment.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the apparatus temperature is the temperature of an insulating medium in the apparatus.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the theoretical fluid pressure is determined based on a model of the change in pressure in the apparatus in relation to apparatus temperature.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of diagnosing comprises comparing the way the actual fluid pressure varies with temperature with the way a set of reference pressure variation curves vary with temperature, where each reference pressure variation curve is associated with a corresponding potential problem.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the set of reference pressure variations include at least one variation providing an indicator in the group consisting of:

not enough insulating medium,

too much insulating medium,

apparatus leakage,

gassing or overheating,

a taken insulating medium sample, and

faulty electrical connection.