Automated dissolved gas analysis (DGA) screening · 31-point checklist by a Ph.D., P.E.
Transformer DGA Analysis
Every sample trended, screened for contamination, and run through Rogers, Key Gas, Duval triangle and pentagon, and energy-index methods, with recommendations and next steps.
- Don't know how to interpret DGA results?
- Need recommendations on transformer operation after DGA results?
- Need sampling guidance after a DGA report?
- Need DGA trending analysis and next steps?
- From $149
- Price shown before you pay
- 31
- Checklist points
- Same day
- Typical turnaround
What it's for
Upload your lab DGA reports. Get every gas trended against IEEE limits, suspect samples flagged, Rogers, Key Gas and Duval results, and recommendations on next steps.
Reads lab reports fromSDMyersTJ|H2band other labs.
Who it's for
Built for people who own or operate critical transformers
The plant or substation engineer with a bad DGA result
Find out fast whether a bad result is a real fault or a bad sample.
The asset manager with reports from several labs
Merge years of reports from different labs into one trend.
The O&M contractor reporting to an owner
Hand the owner a clear, consistent DGA report for every unit.
What it doesn't do
Clear limits, stated up front
- Load tap changer, selector and breaker compartments (gassing there is normal arcing)
- Ester, silicone and other non-mineral insulating liquids
- Oil quality, moisture, furan and metals results beyond what the DGA conclusions need
- Online monitor data files
- A sealed or stamped engineering determination
- The failure-probability model of commercial reliability-based DGA software
Normal gas levels don't prove a transformer is free of faults.
Turnaround
What to expect
Automated
Typically within the hour.
You upload
- Latest DGA laboratory report (PDF)required
- Earlier DGA reports or other labs (optional, up to 10 PDFs)optional
What's checked
31 checks across 5 areas
- Sample quality
- Condition and actions
- Fault type
- Reliability indicators
- Trends and plots
Sample finding
Ethylene at Condition 3 after degassing: thermal fault above 700 °C
Ethylene climbed from 4 to 177 ppm in the six months after the oil was degassed, past the 100 ppm Condition 2 limit. Duval Triangle 1 puts the recent samples in T3 (above 700 °C) and Triangle 5 in C, possible carbonization of paper. Rogers case 4 and IEC code 021 agree on a thermal fault. Sample monthly and plan an outage to find the hot spot.
Ethane above Condition 1 and rising: overheating below about 250 °C
Ethane rose from 51 to 104 ppm over seven samples, past the 65 ppm Condition 1 limit, while the other gases stayed low. Every trusted sample plots in T1 on Duval Triangle 1 and in O (overheating below 250 °C) on Triangle 4. The IEC code is 020, a thermal fault of 150 to 300 °C. Sample monthly and look for a low-temperature hot spot.
Latest sample likely contaminated: retest immediately
Ethylene jumped from 2 to 623 ppm and acetylene appeared at 8 ppm, but a second transformer sampled the same day came back with almost the same numbers. Two units with different histories rarely produce the same gases, so the sample was likely contaminated or mixed up. Retest both units immediately, preferably with a different technician or lab, and have a licensed PE review the result before it is discounted.
Illustrative and redacted. See full sample reports →
The cost of the first pass
Your engineers should be engineering, not proofreading.
The first pass through a document is the slowest, least interesting part of review. We do that pass and hand back a list with every item tied to a page. Your engineer still makes every call.
Defaults to the $300/hr rate PEFG prices its own expert lane from. Change it to yours.
We don't measure this. The default is 20 minutes a page for 10 pages. Set it to what it actually takes.
- Your first pass: 3.3 hours at $300/hr
- $990
- Transformer DGA Analysis — 10 pages
- $154
- Difference, per document
- $836
Turnaround: Typically within the hour.
A preliminary screening, not a substitute for your review. The Engineer of Record verifies every finding, and absence of a finding is never evidence of compliance.
Why it is consistent
Every item, every time
The full checklist runs on every document, even on a deadline.
The same standard every time
Depth does not depend on who was free that afternoon.
An audit trail by default
Every finding carries its page and the checklist item behind it.
It does not get bored
Matching ninety label values to ninety study rows is where people slip.
If this goes wrong
First order, any product: tell us why it missed and we refund it.
Email support within 7 days of release with your order ID and a short note on what it missed. First paid order only, one per customer, refunded in full.
Always refundable, first order or not
- Wrong document type. If what you uploaded is not a document this product reviews, re-upload the right file or take a full refund.
- Non-delivery. If we fail to deliver a report, you get a full refund.
- Before you upload. Paid but not uploaded yet? Email support for a full refund.
- Malware-rejected with no clean resubmission. If your file fails the malware scan and you cannot send a clean copy, take a refund.
Anything else? Email support with your order ID. A person reads every request. support@pefgconsulting.com. Full terms: refund policy.
Need more than a screening? PEFG offers a stamped engineering review by a licensed P.E.(opens in a new tab, external site) as a separate engagement.
FAQ
Common questions
Which laboratory reports does it read?
SDMyers and TJ|H2b reports are read in their native layouts, including history tables and multiple transformers in one PDF. Other laboratories’ reports that list gases in ppm by sample date work the same way.
Will it hide a sample just because the gases are high?
No. A sample is treated as questionable only when the next sample shows the jump was not real, or its oxygen and nitrogen do not fit any neighbouring sample. A high result in the latest sample is kept and flagged for retest, because it may be a real fault.
Which methods does it use?
IEEE C57.104-2008 conditions and sampling actions, Rogers ratios with the IEC three-ratio code, the Key Gas method, Duval triangles 1, 4 and 5 and Duval pentagons 1 and 2, and the normalized energy indices used in reliability-based DGA.
Is an engineer involved?
No. The analysis is automated and released without engineering review. Where a conclusion needs judgement, such as discounting a sample, the report says so and gives a contact for a licensed Professional Engineer.
How is it priced?
$149 covers the first 6 pages, which is about two lab reports. Each page after that is $1.25, counting every file you upload, up to 500 pages and 10 earlier reports. For more pages, email info@pefgconsulting.com.