Transformer top-oil temperature modeling and simulation

Improving the utilization of transformers requires that the hot-spot temperatures and top-oil temperatures (TOTs) be predicted accurately. The authors' experimentation with various discretization schemes and models proved that many of the linear and nonlinear semiphysical and nonphysical models they were using to predict transformer TOT were correctly modeling the TOT behavior. Their experience convinced them that noisy input data and the absence of data on significant driving variables, not model deficiencies, were frustrating their attempts to reduce the prediction error further. In this paper, they discuss the body of research that led them to these conclusions.