Dave - That's Not A Transformer Fire. THIS Is A Transformer Fire.

[JoeN]

This is how we Americans let the smoke out of our transformers.  Crikey!

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/12/27/laguardia-airport-transformer-fire/

Guess the main side voltage.  They haven't announced it yet. 

[PartialDischarge]

Smells like 138kV to me, although there are some 345kV substations but these should be farther from the city. Since HV transformers use oil the explsions and fires are assured

[floobydust]

Ahh Weller Fuseless Technology ?

I worked in the utility industry and all the transmission-level 500kV through 25kV transformers have advanced protective relays. They compare input and output power, monitor oil temperature and pressure and trip the input breaker if there is a fault. Spending $10,000 on protection for a $1M transformer makes sense. Example Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories SEL-787 or SEL-351.

But at the distribution level, the transformers are smaller and fuse protected.
An insulation breakdown inside, say at a bushing will start an arc that isn't enough fault current to pop a fuse so the arc continues until the oil is on fire and the pressure skyrockets and it goes boom.
Emergency Fire crews will do nothing and let it burn, as there is a shock hazard spraying anything electrical.

[Brumby]

Ahh Weller fuseless technology ?

WFT.  A nice play on WTF 

[TerraHertz]

As usual the MSM are full of sh*t. Most of them using the word 'explosion' over and over.
Meanwhile here's a nice cell phone video someone posted as a short webm.  https://9gag.com/gag/a2ZZx4Y

Pretty impressive sustained arc-over. Some piece of isolation gear really wasn't doing its job. Maybe due to being vaporized in a pretty blue cloud of copper ions?

Hmm... snakes on a bus... bar?  https://9gag.com/gag/av88mKE

[jhalar]

I was having lunch in the Sydney Broadway shopping centre in 2008 when I heard what sounded like an explosion followed by the building shaking for a few seconds.
We had to evacuate the centre.  It was the shopping centre electricity substation transformer exploding, catching fire and producing lots of smoke.

Info:  https://www.smh.com.au/national/explosion-sparks-broadway-shopping-centre-evacuation-20080213-gds0rx.html

[fsr]

Arc illumination. Vintage 

[coppercone2]

first the steam pipe then a giant transformer

what will con ed do next?

[LapTop006]

... Sydney Broadway shopping centre ...

Well there's your problem, it's not a Westfield, but almost as bad.

(I live nearby and the Coles there is my main supermarket)

[langwadt]

Ahh Weller Fuseless Technology ?

I worked in the utility industry and all the transmission-level 500kV through 25kV transformers have advanced protective relays. They compare input and output power, monitor oil temperature and pressure and trip the input breaker if there is a fault. Spending $10,000 on protection for a $1M transformer makes sense. Example Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories SEL-787 or SEL-351.

But at the distribution level, the transformers are smaller and fuse protected.
An insulation breakdown inside, say at a bushing will start an arc that isn't enough fault current to pop a fuse so the arc continues until the oil is on fire and the pressure skyrockets and it goes boom.
Emergency Fire crews will do nothing and let it burn, as there is a shock hazard spraying anything electrical.

https://youtu.be/Fxiq7k6bKUA

[TerraHertz]

A collection of more pics and videos.  https://twitter.com/search?q=transformer%20explosion&src=typed_query

(Most of which I can't see, due to not having a twitter account.)

[Red Squirrel]

Utility faults are always quite impressive to see.  That's a lot of angry pixies. 

[LaserSteve]

Consolidated Edison is now explaining "Astoria Borealis" as a sustained 138 KV flashover  arc between conductors  after a voltage measuring system, and a circuit breaker failed on site.  Not a transformer explosion.  But of course that explanation was filtered through the brain of a TV reporter, with a  dubious transfer function, so take that with a grain of salt.




I'm looking forward to an IEEE journal article on this one.

Steve

 

[German_EE]

What I like best are the comments on Twitter from the New Yorkers:

"Attention New Yorkers, your super powers will start to evolve over the next 24 hours, when choosing a superhero name please do not pick one which is copyright Marvel or DC Comics"

"Congratulations Astoria on the election of a new Pope"

"Has anybody seen Elvis yet?"

"The swift and flat denial of extraterrestrial activity points towards a cover up"

"Just remember everyone that zombie apocalypses and extinction level events always start with a government official claiming that everything is fine"

"Who crossed the streams?"

and finally.............

"I hear Neil Degrass Tyson has been put on standby"

[floobydust]

Consolidated Edison is now explaining "Astoria Borealis" as a sustained 138 KV flashover  arc between conductors  after a voltage measuring system, and a circuit breaker failed on site.  Not a transformer explosion.  But of course that explanation was filtered through the brain of a TV reporter, with a  dubious transfer function, so take that with a grain of salt.

I also heard it was a PT that failed. They are small transformers but the voltage monitoring output going to 138kV... the arc moves along the cable until it burns up the panels in the SCADA shack.