Power Transformer

Transformers with ratings above 5000KVAare used in generating stations and substations for stepping up or stepping down the voltage are called power transformers. These transformers are manipulated to operate almost always at or near the rated capacity.

Classification of Power Transformer

y Generator transformers for thermal, nuclear, hydro and gas generating stations. y Up to 450-900MVA. y Auto transformer for step up and step down. y Reactors, series and shunt up to 80MVA. y Multi winding auto and generator transformer.

TRANSFORMERS
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductorsthe transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field through the secondary winding. This varying magnetic field induces a varying electromotive force (EMF) or "voltage" in the secondary winding. This effect is called mutual induction. If a load is connected to the secondary, an electric current will flow in the secondary winding and electrical energy will be transferred from the primary circuit through the transformer to the load. In an ideal transformer, the induced voltage in the secondary winding (Vs) is in proportion to the primary voltage (Vp), and is given by the ratio of the number of turns in the secondary (Ns) to the number of turns in the primary (Np) as follows:

By appropriate selection of the ratio of turns, a transformer thus allows an alternating current (AC) voltage to be "stepped up" by making Ns greater than Np, or "stepped down" by making Ns less than Np.

Ideal power equation

giving the ideal transformer equation

CONSTRUCTION Laminated steel cores

Transformers for use at power or audio frequencies typically have cores made of high permeability silicon steel. The steel has a permeability many times that of free space and the core thus serves to greatly reduce the magnetizing current, and confine the flux to a path which closely couples the windings. The core is constructed by stacking layers of thin steel laminations, a principle that has remained in use. Each lamination is insulated from its neighbors by a thin nonconducting layer of insulation. The universal transformer equation indicates a minimum cross-sectional area for the core to avoid saturation. The effect of laminations is to confine eddy currents to highly elliptical paths that enclose little flux, and so reduce their magnitude. Thinner laminations reduce losses, but are more laborious and expensive to construct. Laminating the core greatly reduces eddy-current losses. Distribution transformers can achieve low no-load losses by using cores made with low-loss high-permeability silicon steel or amorphous (non-crystalline) metal alloy. The higher initial cost of the core material is offset over the life of the transformer by its lower losses at light load.
Windings

Windings are usually arranged concentrically to minimize flux leakage. The conducting material used for the windings depends upon the application, but in all cases the individual turns must be electrically insulated from each other to ensure that the current travels throughout every turn. For small power and signal transformers, in which currents are low and the potential difference between adjacent turns is small, the coils are often wound from enameled magnet wire, such as Form var wire. Larger power transformers operating at high voltages may be wound with copper rectangular strip conductors insulated by oil-impregnated paper and blocks of pressboard High-frequency transformers operating in the tens to hundreds of kilohertz often have windings made of brazed to minimize the skin-effect and proximity effect losses. Large power transformers use multiple-stranded conductors as well, since even at low power frequencies non-uniform distribution of current would otherwise exist in high-current windings. Each strand is individually insulated, and the strands are arranged so that at certain points in the winding, or throughout the

whole winding, each portion occupies different relative positions in the complete conductor. The transposition equalizes the current flowing in each strand of the conductor, and reduces eddy current losses in the winding itself. The stranded conductor is also more flexible than a solid conductor of similar size, aiding manufacture. For signal transformers, the windings may be arranged in a way to minimize leakage inductance and stray capacitance to improve high-frequency response. This can be done by splitting up each coil into sections, and those sections placed in layers between the sections of the other winding. This is known as a stacked type or interleaved winding. Both the primary and secondary windings on power transformers may have external connections, called taps, to intermediate points on the winding to allow selection of the voltage ratio. In power distribution transformers the taps may be connected to an automatic on-load tap changer for voltage regulation of distribution circuits.
LV WINDING DESIGN

The LV voltage has low voltage at its terminals so the number of turns will also be less. Normally, helical winding is used for LV side. The voltage on LV side is less so the current is high as the power output is to be maintained constant. And to carry this much of high current, the area of cross section of the conductors should be high. This is accomplished by adopting more no. of conductors per turn. Helical winding is a spring type winding and it suits most of the LV winding of transformers.
HV WINDING DESIGN

It has very high voltage at its terminals so the number of turns is also very large and it carries very less amount of current. So, disc type winding is used where in a single disc can have 25 number of turns.
Material used for winding

y y y y

P.I.C.C. C.T.C. Bunched P.I.C.C. Glued C.T.C.

Other considerations

After designing the windings they are suitably placed over the core legs keeping in mind the electrical stresses. Windings are designed for impulse withstand and short circuit forces also. This is followed by the cooling design. CORE
Any transformer consists of core and winding. Core is the magnetic circuit

through which flux flows.

Material Used In Core

The material used for core making is low reluctance magnetic steel containing silicon. This is called CRGO i.e. cold rolled grain oriented steel. The grain orientation is technology which ensures that the flux flow through the laminations with minimum resistance, resulting in low core loss.
Type and Construction of Core

There are following types of core available:I. II. III. IV. V. Three limb core Two limb core Five limb core Core with elliptical yoke section Core with flat yoke

TRANSFORMER TANK Transformer tank is an enclosure which contains inside it the live parts such as core and winding assembly, electrical connections and insulating oil.
Classification y Conventional Tank:

A tank in which the cover is flat and tank to cover junction is at the top of the tank.
y Bell Type Tank

A tank in which the cover is not flat in shape and the tank and cover junction is near the bottom of the tank. Thus the tank has got two parts- top tank and bottom tank

TRANSFORMER COOLING When the transformer is in service the windings get heated up. In oil filled power transformers oil is the cooling medium for windings. Oil is in turn cooled by means of radiators /integral coolers with water/air as cooling medium.
Type of Cooling

ONAN(Oil Natural Air Natural) cooling ONAF(Oil Natural Air Forced) cooling OFAF(Oil Forced Air Forced) cooling
Radiators

Radiators used in transformer cooling are of standard profile.

Fans Cooling fans are normally classified on the basis of their size like 15, 18, 24 or 36 inches. Pumps

Pumps are normally inline type. Purpose is to pump oil through the transformer to create forced flow of oil.

TRANSFORMER TERMINALS Transformers are connected in the system by any of the methods as demanded by our customers. Over head bushings Cable boxes Bus duct A combination of above Over head bushings High voltage, low voltage and in some cases third winding tertiary or stabilising leads are brought out through bushings. They are called hv bushing, lv bushing and tertiary bushing. These bushings can be mounted on the tank cover (or topmost horizontal plane in the tank) or in some cases some bushings are mounted on vertical end walls Cable boxes In sites where customer has laid cables instead of overhead conductors the termination (connection) is through cable boxes.

 Cable boxes are enclosures attached externally to the transformer tanks. They can be on the lv wall, hv wall or on both lv and hv walls. Similarly instead of walls they can be attached on the cover also. Bus duct Generator transformer primary is connected to the generator through bus ducts. For bus duct connections bushings are brought out through cover or through independent/common turrets. These bushings are enclosed circumferentially by hoods which in turn receive the bus duct flange.

OTHER ACCESSORIES 1. OLTC ( ON LOAD TAP CHANGER) y Its purpose is to add or subtract turns from the main coil. y It is housed inside the transformer tank (except ctr oltc). These are the standard products and based on the variant in use their dimensions are known in advance. 2. Buchholz relay y When oil in the transformer tank expands some room for this expansion is required. This is provided by the conservator, which is a cylindrical vessel placed above the transformer tank. y Because of any internal fault heat is generated which decomposes oil and insulation material resulting in the formation of gases. These gases rise up and while approaching the conservator passes through the buchholz relay y Buchholz relay is a protective relay .When the accumulation of the gases rise above a certain level then the float in the buchholz relay rises activating a mercury switch which gives the alarm y When the gas accumulation is still higher then another float activates the trip switch disconnecting the transformer from the circuit. 3. y y y Silica gel breathers Moisture is an enemy of transformer insulation system Whenever oil contracts transformer breaths in through breathers. With air lot of moisture which is present in the air also go inside.

y The silica gel present in the breathers absorbs moisture and only dry air goes inside. y After a certain level of absorption the color of silica gel crystals change from blue to pink when these particles should be recharged or replaced. 4. Conservator y A conservator is a cylindrical vessel which provides space for expansion of oil inside the transformer or supplies oil to the transformer when the transformer oil cools and contracts in volume. y A conservator is always placed above the transformer y When the conservator is used for the main transformer it is called main conservator and when it is used for the oltc it is called auxiliary or oltc conservator.

SHUNT REACTORS
Shunt reactors find application in long EHV Transmission lines to overcome overvoltage problems introduced due to high capacitive charging current and control dynamic over-voltages under switching-in/switching-off conditions. During normal operation of an electrical power system, the transmission and distribution voltages must be maintained within a small range, typically, from 0.95 to 1.05 pu of rated value. Due to the load variations, shunt reactors and capacitors have been applied in power systems to compensate excess reactive power (inductive for heavy load conditions, and capacitive for light load conditions). Shunt reactors are commonly used to compensate the capacitive reactive power of transmission and distribution systems and thereby to keep the operating voltages within admissible levels. The need for large shunt reactors appeared when long power transmission lines for system voltage 220 kV & higher were built. The characteristic parameters of a line are the series inductance (due to the magnetic field around the conductors) & the shunt capacitance (due to the electrostatic field to earth). An equivalent diagram for a line is show in the figure below. Both the inductance & the capacitance are distributed along the length of the line. So are the series resistance and the admittance to earth. When the line is loaded, there is a voltage drop along the line due to the series inductance and the series resistance. When the line is energized but not loaded or only loaded with a small current, there is a voltage rise along the line (the Ferranti-effect) In this situation, the capacitance to earth draws a current through the line, which may be capacitive. When a capacitive current flows through the line inductance there will be a voltage rise along the line. To stabilize the line voltage the line inductance can be compensated by means of series capacitors and the line capacitance to earth by shunt reactors. Series capacitors are placed at different places along the line while shunt reactors are often installed in the stations at the ends of line. In this way, the voltage difference between the ends of the line is reduced both in amplitude and in phase angle. Shunt reactors may also be connected to the power system at junctures where several lines meet or to tertiary windings of transformers.

Shunt reactors contain the same components as power transformers, like windings, core, tank, bushings and insulating oil and are suitable for manufacturing in transformer factories. The main difference is the reactor core limbs, which have non-magnetic gaps inserted between packets of core steel. 3-phase reactors can also be made. These may have 3- or -5-limbed cores. In a 3limbed core there is strong magnetic coupling between the three phases, while in a 5-limbed core the phases are magnetically independent due to the enclosing magnetic frame formed by the two yokes and the two unwound side-limbs. The neutral of shunt reactor may be directly earthed, earthed through an Earthingreactor or unearthed. When the reactor neutral is directly earthed, the winding are normally designed with graded insulation in the earthed end. The main terminal is at the middle of the limb height, & the winding consists of two parallel-connected halves, one below & one above the main terminal. The insulation distance to the yokes can then be made relatively small. Sometimes a small extra winding for local electricity supply is inserted between the main winding & yoke. When energized the gaps are exposed to large pulsation compressive forced with a frequency of twice the frequency of the system voltage. The peak value of these forces may easily amount to 106 N/m2 (100 ton /m2). For this reason the design of the core must be very solid, & the modulus of elasticity of the non-magnetic (& non-metallic) material used in gaps must be high (small compression) in order to avoid large vibration amplitudes with high sound level consequently. The material in the gaps must also be stable to avoid escalating vibration amplitudes in the end. The loss in the various parts of the reactor (12R, iron loss & additional loss) cannot be separated by measurement. It is thus preferable, in order to avoid corrections to reference temperature, to perform the loss measurement when the average temperature of the winding is practically equal to the reference temperature. Air-core shunt reactors are applicable to system voltages up to 72,5 kv and typically they are connected to tertiary winding of large power transformers. Due to the required ratings, the ACR for this application are designed in berglass encapsulated technology. In berglass encapsulated technology, the reactors winding consists of numerous insulated aluminium conductors connected in parallel. These conductors are

mechanically immobilized and encapsulated in epoxy impregnated berglass laments forming cylinders. Depending on the reactors ratings, one or more of these cylinders are connected in parallel between the aluminium spiders. The individual cylinders are separated by berglass spacers, which form the cooling ducts of the coil. The benefit in using air-core shunt Reactors are: > Maintenance free and environmentally friendly > Conservative temperature rise for extended service life > Customized space saving solutions for installation in Compact areas > Surface treatment for protection against UV radiation And pollution > High mechanical strength to withstand elevated Short-circuit forces > Low noise level for sensitive applications Shunt reactors are a vital part of the efficient operation of long transmission high voltage power lines. The shunt reactor compensates the capacitive generation on power lines to avoid non-controlled voltage rise especially on lightly loaded lines. The simple design and robust build-up makes the shunt reactor the most cost efficient mean to compensate the capacitive generation. One of the reactor designs is based on the gapped core concept, which gives a compact design with low losses and low total mass. The concept was introduced in the mid nineteen sixties. Today the reactor has become a high tech product requiring special skills in both design and manufacture.

SALIENT FEATURES of SHUNT REACTORS MANUFACTURED by Crompton Greaves: 1. High Zero Sequence Reactance- when single phase reclosing is required in the system, it is desirable that Shunt Reactor should have maximum Zero sequence impedence in addition to neutral reactor. This property in shunt reactor depends upon the core arrangement 2. Radial Core Shunt Reactor with Minimal Loss- low loss reactors have been developed by adopting epoxy encapsulated radially laminated core packets 3. Special Winding Design- as a part of transformer winding design disc winding for low voltage reactor and interleaved disc winding for high voltage reactor is followed. High voltage reactor windings are generally in two parallel groups with line terminal at the centre. Eddy current loss is minimized by adopting strand wire dimensions and use of bunched wire cables 4. Unique Winding Press Plates For Reducing Magnetic Leakage Flux- special flux plates which also act as winding press plates are provided at top and bottom of winding to collect the leakage flux, thereby minimizing stray losses in tank and eddy current loss and consequent hot spot at the end discs of winding 5. Measures for Reducing Vibration and Noise Level- ceramic spacers having high modulus of elasticity are used to form gaps between core packets. Special tightening arrangement is given to provide dead solid support across the gap. The fundamental mechanical resonance mode of reactor frame is kept away from twice the power frequency using computer program. 6. Welded tank cover- welding is done to tighten the tank parts firmly so that they can bear the heavy vibrations during reactor operation. This is also done to eliminate the possibility of leakage. The fundamental mechanical resonance mode of reactor frame is kept away from twice the power frequency using computer programmed.

Fields of Activity in UHV Lab:

Tests on AC transformers and shunt reactors

y y y y y y y Impendence, loss and temperature rise tests Separate source voltage withstand test Induced over voltage withstand test Partial discharge measurements Lightning impulse full and chopped wave tests Switching impulse tests Other routine and type tests

Special test on reactors Vibration and stress measurement and measurement of magnetisation characteristics.

Tests on DC converter transformers and smoothing reactors

y y y y y y Long duration DC voltage test DC polarity reversal test with partial discharge measurement Temperature rise test with DC voltage supply Lightning and switching impulse tests AC power frequency test Loss measurement

Tests on bushings
y y y y y y y Tan-delta and Capacitance measurements Partial discharge and RIV measurements Dry and wet power frequency dielectric tests Lightning and wet switching impulse tests Thermal stability test Dielectric tests with DC application Snap back test

INSTRUMENTATION

Measuring and recording instruments

y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y High-resolution impulse analyzing system Digital power analyzers Partial discharge detectors RIV meters according to CISPR 12 channel U-V recorder Three-phase and single-phase ratio meters Bridge for winding resistance measurement Bridge for loss tangent and capacitance measurement Bridge for inductance and loss measurement Digital insulation testers/meggers Double beam impulse oscilloscopes Digital storage oscilloscopes Inductance and high-frequency impedance analyzers Precision AC and impulse digital peak voltmeters Precision ammeters, voltmeters and low power factor watt meters Aqua-test set for moisture content measurement in oil Liquid dielectric test set Resistivity cell and conductivity meter

Specific instruments for research and development

y Signal average and ultrasonic transducers for location of corona leak detector y Recurrent surge generator and high frequency oscilloscopes for low voltage impulse studies y Infra-red thermo vision system for temperature scanning during electrical tests y High power binoculars and photographic equipment for recording of corona discharges y High frequency impedance analyzers y 14 channel magnetic tape recorder