Permeability study of high polymer membranes for gas-oil separation

Gas chromatography has been used to detect gases associated with transformer partial discharge, overheating, arcing and other problems. Since the analysis using lab chromatography is usually time-consuming and always involves certain time delays, online detecting of the chromatography of dissolved gases in transformer oil is very desirable. The gases dissolved in the transformer oil can be separated automatically with some high polymer membranes based on the differences in permeability of membranes to different gases. This paper discusses the development of a new type of polytetrafluoroethylene membrane with microholes (diameter 5 μm to 10 μm) that provide good permeability sensitivity, physical and mechanical characteristics for online transformer dissolved gas-in-oil analysis. With this new technology, it may become possible to detect fault-related gases from transformer oil automatically and predict incipient failures in the future