Smart Transformer with IoT Monitoring: Design and Simulation of a Real-Time Condition Monitoring System

Author

Raut Jagdish Balu ,Shruti Sunil Bunge, Dhanshri Shantaram Dhanwate


Abstract

 Distribution transformers are among the most critical and most heavily loaded assets of the power network, yet in many utilities they are still inspected manually at long intervals, so overloads, overheating and cooling faults often go unnoticed until a failure occurs. This paper presents the design of a smart distribution transformer monitoring system based on the Internet of Things (IoT). An ESP32 microcontroller acquires phase voltages and currents, oil and ambient temperature, vibration and oil level, estimates the hot-spot temperature and insulation ageing rate with the IEC 60076-7 thermal model, and publishes the data over MQTT to a cloud dashboard with SMS and mobile alerts. The system is evaluated by simulation of a 100 kVA, 11/0.433 kV transformer on a hot-season day with an evening overload. Without any response, the hot-spot temperature reaches 123.9 °C and the insulation ages 37.7 equivalent hours in one day; an IoT alert followed by a 15% load transfer reduces this to 22.5 hours, a 40.4% reduction. A residual-based check detects an injected 30% cooling degradation within 3.5 h, and data usage at a 10 s publishing interval is estimated at 45 MB per month. The design uses low-cost components and is suitable for retrofitting on existing transformers.


Keywords

condition monitoring, distribution transformer, ESP32, hot-spot temperature, Internet of Things, MQTT, smart grid.



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References


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