AUTOMATED MONITORING AND REPORTING SYSTEM FOR FAULTY DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMER USING GSM TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

The research work entails the design of an automated, real-time system that ensures prompt reporting of lost transformer phase caused by blown low voltage fuse, over-voltage supply to consumers. The research is based on microcontroller monitoring of low voltage fuse and GSM based reporting of the blown fuse, neutral failure and transformer trip to the Distribution System Operator (DSO) for immediate action in restoring power supply from the affected transformer. The work comprises blown fuse detector unit, main phase voltage sensor, main controller unit, GSM modem and LCD unit. The main controller unit is the ATMEGA328P microcontroller with its instruction set written in C language. It sends signals to both the GSM modem and the LCD unit whenever over-voltage supply, blown fuse, no voltage supply from transformer is detected. The GSM modem sends a pre-programmed SMS to the DSO indicating either an over-voltage supply or blown fuse or no voltage supply, by stating the particular transformer involved in the SMS for quicker identification and restoration. The LCD unit displays a confirmation of the sent SMS and shows the over-voltage value and as well the phase with blown fuse. The system was developed, tested and it worked satisfactorily.