INTRODUCTION

Definition : A transformer is a static (or stationary) piece of apparatus by means of which electric power in one circuit is transformed into electric power of the same frequency in another circuit. It can raise or lower the voltage in a circuit but with a corresponding decrease or increases in current. The physical basis of a transformer is mutual induction between two circuits linked by a common magnetic flux.

Different transformers are manufactured on the following basis.

1)

KV ratings. 400 KV, 220 KV, 132 KV

2)

MVA rating. 1. 2. 3. 315 MVA 200 MVA 315 MVA 3 Phase 1 Phase 3 Phase 400KV 400 KV 220 KV Generation transformer.

3.1

CORE AND PUNCH SECTION

The medium used for transferring the electrical energy is known as the magnetic core. The transformer core is a closed magnetic circuit through which the mutual ..linking with the windings passes. The core material and its construction should be su..that the magnetizing current and core losses are minimum. To rea.. eddy current losses the core is usually laminated. For big power transformer steppes core is used.

In core and punch section the sheets are cut in desired shapes and dimensions. The magnetic core is a stack of thin silicon steel laminations of thickness 0.27 mm in general for 50 HZ transformers. The material used for magnetic core is Cold Rolled Grain Oriented Silicon Steel (CRGOSS). This material has a special property i.e. when is magnetized in the rolling direction it has low core losses and high permeability.

5.

Clamping : The core is tightened by bolts and hydraulic presses so that there are

no vibrations in the core material. 6 7. When the core is vertical resin glass tape is applied. Curing: The core is kept in a heater at 1200C for 24 hours for curing. On curing

resin glass tape becomes hard and holds the core more tightly. 8. Testing : An insulation test is performed which is known as flash test. It is

conducted at 2 KV for 1 Min.

3.2

WINDING SECTION PROCESS OF WINDING IN TRANSFORMER

1.

Adjust the size of link mould or valley plate according to the required diameter. Link Mould : It is flexible wooden structure over which winding is done. It is umbrella type and the diameter can be adjusted by a screw according to the requirement Valley Plate : It is also a structure over which coil is wound but it is fixed type.

2.

Press board cylinder, strips and again a press board cylinder is placed around the link mould.

3. 4.

Low voltage winding is done. Insulation is provided and necessary transposition is done to regulate the length of the conductors.

5. 6. 7.

Then high voltage winding is done. Oil are placed between the coils. Then it is placed in vacuum to remove the moisture and sent to assembly. Winding are made of electrical grade Copper conductor or Aluminium covered

with paper insulation and wound around the core of the transformer.

The windings are provided with redial and axial ducts to provide thermal cooling. The windings are also subject to electromagnetic forces under normal & short .. conditions and must have adequate mechanical withstand stresses. The design & manufacturing of winding is a high technology specialization. The present discussion however is restricted to the manufacturing aspect.

Depending upon their application windings have their names like. 1) LV 4. Tertiary 2. HV 5. Common 3. Regulation 6. Series

As the above said windings have different electric design parameter these are wound in different manner. Following are type of windings from construction point of view. 1. Spiral winding 2. Helical winding 3. Interwound spiral & helical winding 4. Layer winding 5. Continous disc winding 6. Interleaved disc winding 7. Partially interleaved disc 8. Integral tap winding etc.

A brief description of their constructions aspects are highlighted as below

1.

Spiral windings : It is a low voltage low current winding generally used upto 33KV. These find their

application as tertiary winding of an auto connected transformer. Turns are wound axially along & helix without any radial duct between adjacent turns. Each turn many consists many parallel conductor hence transposition are made appropriately. Depending upon no. of turns there may be either single layer or double layer.

2.

Helical windings : Such type of construction is used for low voltage high current windings. These

fine there use for low voltage windings of large power transformers specially generator transformers when no. of turns are considerably small but the current is very high. Its turns are wound in an axial direction along a screw line with the inclination corresponding to the height of conductors & oil duct between turn which is provided from cooling point of view but also improves withstand voltage strength. This may also be single layer or double layer. In this windings also transposition is carried out between the parallel wire of turn at appropriate interval.

3.

Interwould spiral & helical windings : Tapping of a big transformer like the extra HV are wound on a separate coil. In such coils conductors of all steps are taken together & wound from top to bottom of the leg such that the turns of each step occupy the whole length. There is therefore a high capacitance between the interwound section of the windings improving the surge voltage distribution. In fact the complete tapping coil acts as a shield & thus eliminate the necessity of a magnetic neutral shield.

4.

Layer Windings : It finds application in HV power transformer when the neutral terminal of the HV windings is solidly earthed. It consists of a series of concentric layers of progressively reduced length. Static shield is wound round the outside of the outermost layer & is connected to line terminal, to reduce the high electrostatic voltage which may appear in LV winding to the neutral layer & is connected to the neutral terminal. The interlayer insulation consist of paper wraps & oil ducts. The ends of these wraps are pentaled & are turned down layer by layer to form flanges giving solid insulation in the area of high stress at the end turns.

5.

Continuos disc winding: These windings can be upto 132KV windings where turns are more. The coconsists of several discs radially wound with rectangular conductor so that there may be several turns in each disc. Its name is given because it is wound with a continuos conduction without any joint. For continuous interdisc connection even alternate disc is wound with its disc reversed. A coil tum may consist of one of more parallel conductor. The winding is would on press board cylinder & is separated from it by press board vertical dovetail spacer. This winding is also known as reverse section or RS winding.

6.

Interleaved dise winding : It is used for voltage above 132 KV. Winding is made with double of parallel conductors in hand. During reverse section half of conductors are added while in straight section half of total conductors are cut. An equal numbers of brazing joints are made between the disc.

7.

Partially Interleaved disc windings: As discussed earlier fully interleaved windings are costlier. Technically some time it is possible that only few starting discs from the line end are interleaved type, rest may be continuous disc type.

Reactors : In this section reactor windings are also manufactured. Shunt reactors are connected at receiving ends to reduce the effect of line capacitance which is more pronounced during no load period. Smoothing reactors are connected in series in converter & inverter during as transmission.

3.3

INSULATION Chief insulating medium used for insulation in transformer is transformer oil in combination with solid dielectrics which include press boards, papers, wood a cotton tape. All this constitute class A of insulation which has a max permissive operating temp of 1050C also called hot spot temperature.

Insulating material used are 1. Press board a) Solid 2. 3. 4. Bakelite Perma-wood Fibre glass b. Loose

6. to

OIL INPREGNATION PLANT : The insulating material is then put into the oil

impregnate it so that moisture cannot enter the insulating material. Insulating Items if transformer 1. Top & bottom ring a) These are provided on top & Bottom of coil b) Clamped the coil from both side c) Pressing the coil d) Mechanically strong 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Top ring segment : As a Packing Cylinder Strong insulation Spacer Gumming with cylinder Barriers : Shielding cylinder Bracket support T Block Winding Block Dovetail block 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Block washer : these are provide on top & bottom of coil Crossover paper Filling spacer D.O.F. washer (Direct oil Flow washer) Crimped washer (provided in lead position) Packing Washer End block Bandage block

3.4

TRANSFORMER ASSEMBLY : The various parts manufactured in different sections are assembled together in this section. The transformer assembly has following steps:

1.

Bottom tank fitting : In some transformers the core assembly is fitted in bottom tank and Baskelite isulation is placed in between the core and tank.

2.

Testing : Then a 2 KV isolation test is carried out to check the short circuit between core and tank.

3.

Unlacing : The upper portion of the core is lifted in order to place the winding in the limb. The winding is lowered is such a way that it surrounds the limbs of the core. The removal of upper portion of core is called unlacing.

4.

Coil Assembly : The adijustment of coil as per the design is known as coil assembly.

5.

Rolacing : Placing the upper part of the core back on rest of assembly after core has been placed on the core is reiacing. Joints are tightened with the bolts.

6. 7.

2 KV Isoklation test. Terminal gear assembly : In this step the different processes of lead preparation lead cutting., top changer connections, brazing etc. are done.

8.

Processing : The whole assembly of core and coil is placed in vaccum an heated at 1200C for 12 hours to remove the moisture contents in insulation, coil lamination. Top tank assembly is than placed over bottom tank and complete tank is filled with oil. It is then heated at 1100C to remove the remaining moisture for the tank. This process is called processing.

9.

Servicing: The process of tightening the nuts and bolts and other joints of core and winding which loosen on heating is called Servicing Packing is also provide between different parts of core and tank.

10.

Case fitting : The transformer assembly is completed with bushings, Fans and changers driving unit, valves etc. & is then taken for test.

11.

Testing : The break down voltage of oil is tested to check the strength transformer oil. Leakage is checked by applying certain oil pressire, jaeking is also done in which transformer is lifted for 10-15 min and checked for leaka from Jack pads.

12.

Dismantling : The various parts of transformer such as bushings, tap-charge unit, valves, conservator are dismantled and sent loose along with transformer to the customer.

3.5

INSTRUMENT TRANSFORMER Instrument transformer is classified into 3 categories.

1. 2. 3.

Current transformer (C.T.) Electromagnetic voltage transformer (EMVT/PT) Capacitor voltage transformer (CVT)

1.

Current Transformer : The current transformers are used for monitoring the line current for the purpose

of metering and protection. At BHEL Bhopal C.Ts upto 400 KV are made

The Major components used in manufacturing of 400 KV C.T. are 1. Steel tank : It houses secondary cores and also supports the paper insulated primary winding. 2. Porcelain housing : It provides external insulation between the earthed tank and primary terminals and high voltage. 3. 4. Primary : It is made of copper or aluminum tubes which carries the line current. Transformer Oil : It is used as impregnation medium which enhances the insulating quality of paper which is wrapped on primary and also maintains its life.

5.

Primary terminals : They are round Copper or Aluminium rods brought out through porcelain insulators from tip chamber to facilitate connection to line conductors.

6.

Secondary Terminals : They are brought out through a multiple terminal epoxy cast board fitted in the bottom tank.

7.

Secondary Cores : The are made up of high quality grain oriented silicon steel or nickel iron in torroidal from over which secondary windings of enameled conductor is laid.

2.

Electromagnetic voltage transformer : These transformer are used for sensing the transmission line voltage for the purpose of measurement and protection. The basic construction is similar with that of transformer except that output power is very small. These are used from voltage upto 220KV. These are manufactured at BHEL, Jhasi.

3.

Capacitor voltage transformer : The arrangement of Capacitor voltage transformer is an shown below

As the name indicates CVT have a coupled capacitor connected to the high voltage lines, a tapped voltage called intermediate voltage from this capacitor is fed to EMVT which further reduces the voltage to a desired level. The CVTs are generally preferred in high voltage system such as 220 KV or 400 KV. However the CVT in 66 KV and 132 ranges are also manufactured, In addition to measurement and protection of line voltage, CVT have an additional utility in carrier coupling. Testing : the following tests are performed for both CTs and CVTs 1. Short circuit test 2. Polarity test 3. Leakage test 4. Earth test 5. Measuring current / Voltage

3.6

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT : The two methods of processing are :

1. 1.

Conventional method

2. Vapour phase method

CONVENTIONAL METHOD : In the conventional method for processing we have steam coils, which are steel

pipes having steam circulation in between them. The hot air or steam heats the air around the coils. This air to circulated around & within the transformer to evaporate the excess moisture from within the transformer insulation. When the temp inside the transformer reaches 105-1100C, a vacuum in created through a vacuum pump & a pressure of about 0.2 torr in maintained. After this moisture is extracted till water extract content is maintained at 50 gm/hr. Then oil is filled in the tank & transformer is ready for further tests. This method is employed for reactors.

VAPOUR PHASE METHOD This specification cover two alternative method: 1. Drying of core & winding assemble in its own tank 2. Drying of core & winding alone The drying process is made up of four phases indicated below Preparing Heating up intermediate pressure reduction Final pressure reduction Fine vacuum Preparation: it is carried out in two group simultaneously a) Evacuation of evaporator, condenser & heating up the solvent b) Preliminary evacuation :- Before solvent is drawn in from recovery tank, whole of evaporation & condensation system shall be evacuated to an absolute maximum pressure of 0.5 torr. Drawing in of the solvent: After evacuation, stop cock be opened & with the pressure difference thus created, desired quantity of the solvent is drawn in from recovery tank to evaporation tank. Heating up the solvent: The solvent is heated with the evaporation to a temperature of 1300C . at this temp, solvent vapour pressure be 75torr min. during heating, by pass valve between evaporator & condenser be partially opened to set the condenser rate. The condenser drained into the collecting tank is sent back into the evaporator by means of condensate pump Loading of transformer into the tank Evacuation of vacuum vessel: it should be evacuated by vacuum pump group as soon as 5 torr pressure is obtained in the vessel, heating up phase can be started by closing vacuum pump. Vapour phase drying: the vessel valves are opened admitting vapours of solvent to the vessel under vacuum. The temp inside the vessel gradually rises & vapour pressure. Some of vapour. Some of vapour condense out in cold surface inside the vessel.