The city of Danville, Virginia, faced with an aging transformer infrastructure dating back to the 1970s realized the need for more upgrades to their energy grid. As part of this evolution, the city recently installed two high-capacity substation transformers using a natural ester fluid to meet their cost, performance and environmental objectives.
The city worked closely with UtilityEngineering, Lekson Associates to identify the best transformer solution that worked within their budget and met specific specifications. Through that process, it was determined that natural ester transformers were the preferred technology and specifically, Cargill’s plant-based FR3 offering. At that time, the dielectric solutions team at Cargill got involved to help configure its substation needs.
According to Michael Taylor, vice president of substation and relay engineering for UtilityEngineering, the city was looking for a transformer solution that provided strong performance but also delivered great peace of mind and the ability to lower operating costs over the long term.
Given the higher flashpoint of natural ester and performance gains from plant-based alternative to mineral oil, the city was very interested in learning more about Cargill’s FR3 product for these new installations.
As one unit is located is located close to a high school and the other next to a river just feel from a floodplain, both public safety and environmental benefits were key in their decision.
“If a spill would happen, we wanted to make sure that we had the best solution for the surrounding area,” said David Witcher, electrical engineer at the city of Danville. “Compared to mineral oil, the plant-based benefit of the FR3 units gives us greater peace-of-mind, especially in these more environmentally sensitive settings.”
After sharing test results with the city on natural ester compared with mineral oil, UtilityEngineering was able to clearly show the cost and performance benefits – including the lower cost of clean-up in the case of a spill, mitigating the risk of fire and prolonged life (up to 50% more) by keeping moisture out of the insultation. Since FR3 has been on the market, there hasn’t been a single reported pool fire.
“Based on what the city was looking for, I was confident in recommending FR3 fluid filled transformers as they have a much higher flashpoint that allows multiple units in the same substation without a firewall between them,” said Taylor. “In addition, the ability of FR3 fluid to hold moisture and keep it out of the insultation delivers a more reliable set-up.”
In addition to these initial substation installations, the city plans to add three more locations this year and will again be considering the same natural ester transformer approach.
“Based on the decisions made for these initial installations, we anticipate natural ester units will be a leading option moving forward,” added Taylor.
