ABB wins award for submersible inspection robot

ABB has received an excellence award from a major British electrical industry publication for its ABB Ability inspection for transformers — TXplore — in the ‘Power Product of the Year’ category.

The judging panel, under the leadership of highly respected industry figure Professor Ian F Bitterlin, Consulting Engineer and Visiting Professor at University of Leeds, was impressed by the capability of TXplore to make transformer inspection a much safer activity while also boosting asset availability for power grid operators.

While there have been major advances in monitoring and diagnostic technology for power transformers, there are still times when an internal inspection is required. The traditional approach requires an outage lasting three or more days while the oil is drained to enable a technician to climb inside the unit. Following a successful inspection, the transformer must then be refilled before restarting operation.

In contrast, the TXplore service uses a free-swimming submersible robot to capture images and video and transmit them via a wireless connection. Because the oil stays in place throughout, there is no need to drain the oil or send a technician into the oily, sensitive and hazardous interior. Not only is this much safer, the transformer is usually back online the same or next day.

Receiving the award on behalf of ABB was Richard Holliday, ABB UK Market Manager for Transformers, who said, “TXplore is just one element within ABB’s developing portfolio of products and services that provide our customers with sophisticated digital maintenance and asset management capabilities to deliver a complete real-time picture of how their critical assets are performing.

“We are delighted to have won this award. It is the culmination of an intense development effort and is a powerful confirmation from the industry of the potential of TXplore to redefine transformer inspections.”