Example of Substation Maintenance & Assessment Audits for Training - Niels Inderbiethen

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Technical Report
SAFE™ Audit of 3.3 & 11kV Switchoards
Substation name
Customer
Location
2014/01/09

Infrastructure & Cities Sector
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Table of contents
1. General information......................................................................................................3
2. Chart of Medium voltage condition.............................................................................6
3. Summary .......................................................................................................................7
4. Safety.............................................................................................................................8
5. Visual inspection when asset in operation...............................................................15
6. Environmental sustainability .....................................................................................28
7. Maintenance recommendations ................................................................................29

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1. General information
Audit
Customer
Country South Africa
Location
Substation name
Asset type Audit of Siemens 11kV & 3.3kV 8BD
Type Siemens 8BD Panels 3AC / 3TL5
Serial number B4E213765
Date 2014/01/09
Remarks Audit for assessing life-time status
Auditor
Name Niels Inderbiethen
Department AFR RC-ZA IC-SG SE MCS
Telephone +27 (10) 222-7315
Fax
E-mail niels.inderbiethen@siemens.com
Customer data
Contact person (technical)
card below
Telephone number of the contact person See below
Fax number of contact person As below
E-mail of contact person As below
Postal Code
Town
Street, No.

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Technical Information
Manufacturer Siemens
Type designation of switchgear Siemens RSA Type: 8BD 11kV 25kA
with 3AC Circuit breaker & 3TL5
Contactor Trucks
Standard IEC 60298 / VDE 0670-6 (metall
closed)
Year of manufacture of switchgear 1976
Substation arrangement Double busbar
Installation Indoor
Number of bays 15 (a mix of (4) ABB & rest Siemens
Number of spare bays A few may become available once
plant redundancy is established
Serial numbers TBA
Air insulated metall closed switchgear Yes
Gasinsulated metall closed switchgear No
Remark The Panel is joggled onto an ABB
panel of 4 tiers & shares the busbar
system
General remarks by auditor It should be noted that some of these
panel tiers seem to have come from
different locations and are rather
"fitted" (diferent colours of panel parts
fitted together)
General remarks by customer There have been previous explosions
on the board and there seems to have
been a robbery of the copper on this
panel the week before conducting the
audit - all open & exposed copper was
removed from panel leaving a very
unsafe running condition
Rated voltage 12 kV
Rated lightning impulse withstand voltage 95 kV
Control voltage (DC/AC) DC
Control voltage 110 V
Rated short circuit breaking current 25 kA
Maximum busbar current 2000 A
Rated current supply 2000 A
Rated current feeder 1600 A

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Historical Information
Years of operation since first commissioning 36-40 years
Are maintenance reports available? No
Have circuit breakers been modified? Yes
When? Various occasions
Remarks Some circuit breakers are from other
simillar panels from elswhere in Sasol

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2. Chart of Medium voltage condition
(Weighted average of evaluated attributes. 0: very good --> 100: bad)
0
20
40
60
80
100
Battery system
Busbars
Bushings
Circuit breaker
Condition of building
Current transformer
Grounding
Load-break switch
Low voltage
switchgear
Measurement
Metering
Natural
Ageing
Post insulators
Protection and
secondary system
Safety
Switchgear
accessories
Voltage transformer
Maintenance requirements
Natural Ageing ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Safety ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Condition of building ████ Critical attributes were found. Repair or replace as soon as possible.
Switchgear accessories ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Circuit breaker ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Load-break switch ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Grounding ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Post insulators ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Bushings ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Busbars ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Current transformer ████ Harmful attributes were found. Repair during next planned maintenance (monitoring).
Voltage transformer ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Metering ████ Harmful attributes were found. Repair during next planned maintenance (monitoring).
Measurement ████ Harmful attributes were found. Repair during next planned maintenance (monitoring).
Prot & Secondary system ████ Very critical attributes were found. Immediate action required.
Low voltage switchgear ████ Harmful attributes were found. Repair during next planned maintenance (monitoring).
Battery system ████ Harmful attributes were found. Repair during next planned maintenance (monitoring).

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3. Summary
The condition of the panels can be seen in the
pictures provided, the board would require to be
cleaned and refurbished if wanted to be permanently
left installed and still utilized. We would recommend
a few procedures followed to ensure the safety of the
existing equipment, a fully detailed compilation may
be submitted with quotation upon request. These are
more cost effective repair suggestions such as retro-
fitting to vacuum, cleaning, facilitating remote
operation & repair of any water leaks.
3.3kV & 11kV Panel general overview photo’s

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It would be recommended to possibly remove, clean and coat the busbars with ray-chem or resin for
future protection. Breaker trucks can be retro fitted completly to vacum, wiring is still in good condition
including termination points. Bus-chamber to be cleaned on surface and re-painted. Areas that show
burning can be repaired by applying hay-site barriers over the effected & damaged areas. This would
ensure the most cost effective manner of dealing with immediate problems and uplifting the safety and
reliability factor of the whole board. It is also recommended that any redundant equipment should be
considdered for removal to free up some spare space to fit new breakers & panels in the future. This
could be done by possibly looking at the bus-section breaker as the split-point to one way or the other,
by using cable to re-instate the connection in the trench to connect the panels again from the bus-
section rear panel by cable termination to the continuation point in the existing board up to where
panels are to be removed.

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3.3kV Panel photo’s Panel 1 (only 1 tier)

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11 kV (ABB – Sach‘e) - Panel photo’s – (note numbers differ
ABB Panel Joggle to SiemABB 11 kV Panel -02ABB 11 kV Panel -03ABB 11 kV Panel -04 ABB 11 kV Panel -01

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SIEMENS - 11 kV Panel photo’s
11 kV Panel 01 11 kV Panel 02 11 kV Panel 03 11 kV Panel 04 11 kV Panel 05

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11 kV Panel photo’s (continued)

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11 kV Panel photo’s (continued)

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4. Safety
Staff protection
(NNB – It is important to state that these problems will no longer exist
after retro-fitting)
Personnel protection insulation DIN VDE 0106 (IEC 60990)
Personnel protection insulation DIN VDE 0106 (IEC 60990) Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark Equipment is in a very bad mechanical
and functional condition - trips can no
longer be fully relied upon
Operational safety DIN VDE 0101 (IEC 61936)
Load-break switch instead of disconnector Not applicable
Remark n/a
Switchgear interlocking unit Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark Some Circuit Breaker Operating
mechanism safety interlocks for the
door to prevent opening under
operating conditions seem to have a
lot of play and replacement is advised
Operation from a safe distance Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark Under the present condition operation
is ONLY advised from a safe distance
unless FULL Fire Protection is worn by
operator and assistant - all others to
leave the station
Installation of suitable electro-sensitive protective equipment Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark There is literally a bird nest of wire and
tangled cables under the full length of
the panel inside the Cable Trench –
some neatening of the cables &
strapping of loose wiring is advised
Country-specific standards
Country-specific standards considered? Yes
Which kind of? The compliance to regulations for safe
operations of Electrical plant and
equipment need to be re-assessed in
this substation due to the recent
copper theft, which is also what has
caused the untidy trenches etc.

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5. Visual inspection when asset in operation
Environment
Altitude of site 1000 m up to 2000 m
Ambient temperature range - 5 °C up to + 40 °C
Current temperature on substation site 28
Quality of the ambient atmosphere Dirty
Installation in seismic zone No
Remark the coal dust is visible on insulators in
busbar chamber & any moisture from
the cable-way may now pose serious
electrical flashover threats
Building
outside
Ventilation, air exhaust louver, pick safety Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark High humidity - no heaters are present
in board
Pressure relief building Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark The building is also not pressurized
inside
Aisle widths sufficient / escape route available good, no defects
Remark none
Floor, floor plates Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark Some of the floor plates were removed
during the cable theft incident as per
photos
Cable basement, cable vault Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark Wiring & cabling has been bundled up
Electro-installation, lighting Medium, insignificant deficiencies
Remark Seems ok - however a water leak was
noted from the ceiling all the way down
the wall by run-off tracks on the
paintwork
Pollution, Humidity Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark Coal dust - constant 90%+ permanent
humidity – due to no heaters

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Switchgear accessories
Isolating protective plates VDE 0682-552 Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark some have been stuck together with
insulation tape
Guide strips for protective plates Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark many guide plates have been
damaged during the copper theft
incident and some insulation plates
have been broken
Grounding accessories VDE 683T100 Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark All the copper external, on, or
mounted to any switchgear or any
bridged holding points was removed
during theft - however this was
immediately rectified by Client
Voltage tester VDE 682T411 Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark The Voltage tester brought to test for
isolation was not functional and could
not be used
Fuse tongs VDE 681T3 Not applicable
Remark none
SF6-Maintenance unit available No

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Switching devices
First type of circuit breaker
Are circuit breakers installed? Yes
Principle of interruption Minimum oil
Number of circuit breakers 5 3AC type Circuit breakers and 3 type
3TL5 Vacuum contactors mixed in
8BD 11/3.3 kV Panel
Type designation of circuit breaker Various - but mostly feeders to plant
transformers
Year of manufacture of circuit breaker 1976
Serial numbers 31175637
Type of operating mechanism Manual operating mechanism
Type of bodywork Trolley
Number of operations in accordance with the operation counter high
Diagnosis Bad, big impact deficiencies
Remark mechanisms of all circuit breakers are
at the end of their lifecycle - trip failure
experienced during inspection - loose
adjustment & serious wear determined
as cause / corrosion & rusted sliding
surface issues found

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Second type of circuit breaker
Principle of interruption Vacuum
Number of circuit breakers 3
Type designation of circuit breaker Siemens 3AC & 3TL5
Year of manufacture of circuit breaker 1976
Serial numbers as per individual breakers
Type of operating mechanism Magnet drive
Type of bodywork Trolley
Number of operations in accordance with the operation counter high
Remark Corrosion & rust (all seem quite
affected by this) however we must
make mention that Sasol Nitro has 6
spare Contactors recently all
refurbished - (as an emergency
contingent for spares)

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Third type of circuit breaker
Principle of interruption Vacuum
Number of circuit breakers 4
Type designation of circuit breaker ABB / SACHE HA1/2c-17-12-20
Year of manufacture of circuit breaker Not Shown
Years of operation since first commissioning <20 years
Manufacturer ABB
Serial numbers ME063100
Type of operating mechanism Motor operated mechanism
Type of bodywork Plug - in board
Motor voltage (DC/AC) DC
Motor voltage 125 V
Number of operations in accordance with the operation counter low
Diagnosis Medium, insignificant deficiencies
Remark The Sache breakers still look relatively
in a good state, but the life expectancy
may be crippled by dust, dirt &
moisture if heaters are not present
Forth type of circuit breaker
Are circuit breakers installed? No
Remark none

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First type of load break switch
Are load break switches or fuses installed? Yes
Design Fuse mounting
Number of load-break switches none (fitted are only fuses with striker
pin mounting brackets on all contactor
feeders)
Type designation of load break switch none
Year of manufacture of load-break switch none
Serial numbers not visible on all
Control voltage Other...
Which kind of control voltage? 30V DC
Number of operations in accordance with the operation counter N.A.
Remark Mainly affected by corrosion

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Second type of load break switch
Are load break switches or fuses installed? No
Remark None
First type of disconnector
Are disconnectors installed? No
Remark None
First type of earthing switch
Are earthing switches installed? Yes
Make proof earthing switch Yes
Number of earthing switches not determinable
Type designation of earthing switch cable earth switches if fitted
Year of manufacture of earthing switch same as panel
Manufacturer Other...
Manufacturer Siemens Italy
Serial numbers not determinable
Diagnosis Cannot be determined – (these will be
internally fitted if present)
Second type of earthing switch
Are earthing switches installed? No
Earthable fixpoints
Are earthable points installed? No

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Components
Post insulators
Are post insulators installed? Yes
Type Cast resin
Condition Dirty
Remark Showing signs of hollow bubbling on
surface - meaning they will start
absorbing more moisture as time goes
by - carbon & moisture is a dangerous
combination & can become semi-
conductive & flash-over
Bushings
Are bushings installed? Yes
Type Cast resin
Condition Damaged
Remark some through-bushings from the C/B
compartment into the live busbar
chamber are broken or damaged
Busbars
Are busbars installed? Yes
Insulation Air insulated
Material Copper
Cross section 2 by 10
Remark Bad corrosion / or carbon burning from
prior explosions has discoloured &
turned the copper black - insulators
are covered in soot
Current rails
Are current rails installed? No

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Current transformer incoming feeder
Are current transformers installed? Yes
Design Post insulator instrument transformer
Insulation Cast resin
Type Current Electric
Year of manufacture assumed same as panel
Manufacturer Current Electric
Quantity several spread out among feeders,
incomers, etc.
Serial numbers Name plates are taped to the LT
compartment walls
Core data of 1st core (Example: 200/1 A, 15 VA, 5 P 20) as plates
Core data of 2nd core (Example: 200/1 A, 15 VA, 5 P 20) as plates
Core data of 3rd core (Example: 200/1 A, 30 VA, 1 Fs 5) as plates
Core data of 4th core (Example: 200/1 A, 15 VA, 5 P 20) as plates
Condition of current transformers Very dirty
Remark The CT's are old, however they may
still remain operational for a long time,
life-expectancy is cut by moisture
problem without heaters
Current transformer outgoing feeder
Are current transformers installed? No

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Voltage transformer
Are voltage transformers installed? Yes
Design Conventional
Type 8BD - VT Ruksak
Year of manufacture same as panel
Quantity 2 on the 11kV Board
Serial numbers not visible during operation
Primary voltage (Example: 110 000/√³ V) 11000
Secondary voltage of the measurement winding (Example: 110/√³ V) 110
Earth fault winding Yes
Class standard 11kV VT
Voltage factor (Example: 1.9 * Un, 4 h) standard
Condition of voltage transformer Very dirty
Remark VT's are also advised to be checked
and serviced regularly, especially from
the coal / carbon residue
Surge Arresters
Are surge arresters installed? No
Over voltage limiter
Are overvoltage limiters installed? No
Secondary Systems
Metering
Is a counting facility available? Yes
Manufacturer various as per each panel LT relays
mounted in relay compartment
Type also various
Remark The relays need to be checked &
maintained annually, or it must be
determined when last relay testing was
conducted & the time for next tests
should be noted – testing of old
protection is very important.

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Measurement
Is a measuring facility available? Yes
Manufacturer Various
Type KWH Relays
Remark The attention claim above refers to the
need to check & maintain relays
annually, or determining when last
relay testing was conducted & the time
for next tests
Protection
Are protection devices installed? Yes
Protection electromechanical
Distance Protection
Distance Protection No
Differential Protection
Differential Protection No
Over current protection
Over current protection Yes
Manufacturer Other
Manufacturer various
Type Over-current & Earth-fault
Remark The earth-fault protection was non
functional at the time of conducting the
audit, due to all the earth bars having
been loosened and removed by theft -
this was all re-instated again in the
same day by the client.
Busbar protection
Busbar protection No

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Low voltage switchgear
Are low voltage switchgear installed? Yes
Type LV 400V Isolators & feeder circuit
MCB's
Year of manufacture unknown
Personnel protection insulation in accordance with DIN VDE 0106 (IEC
60990)
Yes
Remark The equipment is operational although
old
Battery system
Do DC auxiliary supply equipment exist? Yes
Type various
Year of manufacture various
Remark equipment operational, it should also
be tested once annually & any faulty
units should be replaced
Compressed air generation
Is a compressed air generation available? No
Other
Other none
Documentation
Documentation
Documentation Not available/not installed
Remark Only the single line drawing was found
in the substation, a full set of drawings
should usually be available and
checked that they are up to date

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Files
Attach file 1 All ABB Panel Pics.ZIP
Attach file 2 All Zips here combined for Report.rar
Attach file 3 Siemens 8BD Panel 01.zip
Attach file 15 13_14&15.zip
Audit Configuration
The first level of the audit is complete. How do you want to proceed? -The customer requests FUTURE
consulting or thorough investigations /
recommendations for retro-fits

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6. Environmental sustainability
Conclusion
Important status parameters of the tested system indicate high risk of environmental hazard. Please observe the
maintenance recommendations.
The board has suffered many
explosions and requires a
good cleanout and repainting
or re-spraying.
The busbar chamber needs
urgent attention as carbon &
coal dust have collected on
all bars. There also seem to
be a few connections where
tape is coming loose and
these are starting to find their
way close to other phases or
earth potential points.
Many smaller problems exist
as can be seen via the wiring
in cable trenches and melted
truncking that should be
cleaned, neatened and
replaced. This work could
easily be undertaken in a
very quick manner to tick off
all problem areas. Circuit
breaker mechs must be
sprayed with lubrication every
month from now going
forward.

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7. Maintenance recommendations
Safety
Personnel protection insulation DIN VDE 0106 (IEC 60990)
- The located weakpoints regarding personnel protection insulation have to be removed immediately
Operational safety DIN VDE 0101 (IEC 61936)
- The located weakpoints have to be removed immediately
Natural Ageing
- The actual ambient conditions may require additional maintenance works
Condition of building
outside
- The located weakpoints on the building have to be removed immediately
inside
- The located weakpoints on the building have to be removed immediately
- The located weakpoints on the building have to be removed on the next occasion
Switchgear accessories
- Exchanging equipment (start planing for older equipment exchanges)
- Exchanging equipment (Check enough critical spares are still on hand to have sufficient time to implement)
- Exchanging equipment (after anual testing, if found faulty, exchange with new as necessary or advised)
- Exchanging equipment (circuit breakers can easily be exchanged (oil fire hazzard) rather for new vacuum)
Circuit breaker
First type of circuit breaker
Maintenance of all the existing 3AC minimum-oil breaker operating mechanism, regular checks will be required
(at least once a month) to ensure safer operation capability of the tripping coils as their operation has become
hindered, leading to the posibility of an extensive delay in the effected breaker trip time. Should this scenario
occur at the time of an electrical system fault, it may not trip in time &flash to the weakest point.
Second type of circuit breaker
- Maintenance of operating mechanism.

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Post insulators
- Maintenance of insulators.
Bushings
Busbars
Current transformer
Current transformer incoming feeder
- Maintenance of the equipment
Voltage transformer
- Maintenance respectively repair of the instrument transformer
1
Please note:
This audit report summarizes only the existing condition of the customer’s electrical equipment and system at the time when the audit was performed.
Please note that any subsequent changes of the equipment, system or equipment’s operation may cause inconsistency between the report’s
summary and the subsequently changed conditions. Siemens cannot be held liable for such inconsistency.
Charts, diagrams and graphics in this report are merely illustrations to summarize and to provide an overview of the condition of the customer’s
electrical equipment and system at the time the audit was performed. No conclusions should be made and no further measures should be taken
based exclusively on the graphic presentations included in this report.
Siemens shall not be liable if the information included in this report is not handled or otherwise used with the necessary expert knowledge and
thereby damage of any kind is caused.
Siemens shall not be held liable for technical developments which supersede or invalidate the information in the report, if these could not have been
reasonably known or identified prior to the time when the audit was performed.

Example of Substation Maintenance & Assessment Audits for Training - Niels Inderbiethen

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