Energy efficient Transformers

Arun K Goel,Sr VP, Subodh Prakash,GM, Priti Chatur, Asst. Mgr. RaychemRPG (P) Ltd.

Electric transformer is a device with higher efficiency compared to the other electric devices working on the principle of magnetic induction. The typical values of transformer efficiencies range from ~ 97% to 99.7% for 25kVA to 50MVA ratings. The small rating transformers are used for rural electrification. The requirement of the small rating transformers is very large and with high voltage distribution system ( HVDS ) gaining momentum the requirement will increase in semi-urban and urban areas also. The large population of small transformer has generated the idea that if the efficiency of small rating transformer can be increased there could be large savings in power. For example if the efficiency of a 25kVA transformer is increased by 1 percentage point i.e. from ~97% to ~98% it is estimated that a population of 5000 transformers will save more than 11 million units of electricity in one year. The quantity of 5000 transformer of 25kVA rating could easily be available in a small state of Haryana, Punjab or Himachal. The small rating transformers that normally used in rural electrification range from 5kVA to 200kVA. It is apparent that huge amount of electrical energy can be saved by using transformers with better efficiency. In the year 2002 Govt. of India set up Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the provisions of Energy Conversation Act 2001 with the primary objective of reducing the energy intensity of Indian economy. Among one of its many regulatory functions is to develop minimum energy performance standards and labelling designs for equipment and appliances. BEE has developed specification for distribution transformer for rating 16kVA to 200kVA. There are 5 different category of transformers each category is assigned a Star rating. Star one corresponds to highest losses and lowest efficiency among all categories while star five corresponds to lowest losses and highest efficiency. The customers are advised to choose transformers among star categories only. Deltaformer is a special transformer which meets the specific requirements of star rated transformer specification prepared by BEE. Deltaformer is unique in design and is different than all the available distribution transformers design in the market. Presently following types of distribution transformers are available in the market. Conventional stacked core transformer Wound core transformer Amorphous core transformer In order to understand the uniqueness of Deltaformer, it is necessary to understand the construction features of existing distribution transformers. Conventional stacked core transformer: These types of transformers include core made of thin CRGO laminations cut to size and stacked. Limbs are approximated to a circle so that circular concentric coils can be used. The top yoke laminations are removed to put the transformer coils. The yoke laminations are placed back. The no load losses in these transformers are more than other types. The reduction in no load losses can be achieved only by use of better grade and lower flux densities, however nothing can be done about the interleaved joints and the air gaps. Wound core transformers: These types of transformers include cores made of thin CRGO laminations wound in square loops and arranged to form core with rectangular limbs. The coils are also wound in rectangular form. The core limbs are provided with cut to facilitate placing of rectangular coils on the limbs. Due to wound core construction the no load losses

are lesser than the conventional core transformers. However these transformers are not very popular in 3phase. Amorphous core Transformer: The cores are made of very thin ribbon type material which is in amorphous state. The cores are wound in rectangular shape and the cross section of core limb is also rectangular. The limbs are provided with cut to facilitate insertion of coil. The core material has very low no load losses. The saturation flux density is very low compared to CRGO material, requires more material. The stress relieving annealing is required to achieve the lowest possible no load losses. However dis-advantage of carrying out annealing is that the core material becomes very brittle and is very difficult to work with after annealing. The repairing of this type of transformer is questionable.

Deltaformer: Concept : The design of Deltaformer is unique and overcomes the deficiency of above prevailing designs in the market. The basic thing to remember is that the material required to manufacture Deltaformer is same as that required for conventional distribution transformer. The core is made of CRGO material. The windings are made of aluminium or copper conductor and are circular concentric in shape. The circular concentric shape of the winding is the most desirable form as it has the best ability to withstand electro-dynamic forces arising out of system short circuits. The Deltaformer can be made with ONAN cooling or with AN cooling. The Deltaformer is a wound core transformer without any cut in the core as is provided in conventional wound core and amorphous core construction. The 3 limbs of the core are divided in 3 different planes which are 120 apart. This is in contrast to the prevailing designs where all the limbs are in one plane only. The cross section of the laminated limb is hexagonal in shape. The shape of limb helps in approximation of limb in a circle and circular concentric coil can be wound. As stated earlier the core of Deltaformer does not have cuts similar to convention wound core and amorphous core. Therefore, the winding cannot be made separately and placed on the core limbs. The windings are made over the core only. The manufacturing of Deltaformer differs from other type of transformers due to this reason. Construction : Core: The core of the Deltaformer is unique in design. The design is patented and patent is registered in more than 30 countries around the world. The complete core consists of 9 wound loops of CRGO material. Each wound loop has defined width of lamination, stack thickness and inside diameter. The loops are wound in circular shape and then formed in a tapered elliptical shape as shown in fig.1. To provide the elliptical shape pressheads are used of special steel.

All the 9 loops are formed in similar way. Loops are arranged in 3 different planes at 120. Each plane has 3 loops. The loops are arranged in such a way that the limb cross-section becomes a regular hexagon with all six sides equal in length. The width of 1 wound loop in each plane is equal to the side of the hexagonal. While the other 2 loops of the same plane have half the width. The stacks of the loops are in the ratio of 2:1 i.e. the loop with lamination width equal to side of hexagon will have stack thickness twice that of the stack thickness of 2 other loops. The 3 planes with 9 loops are arranged in such a way that a delta construction is obtained. We can also assume that 3 loops of plane have 2 arms and 3 such planes will have a total of six arms. When arranged in delta form, the corners are formed by 2 arms of different planes. Each corner of delta represent one limb of Deltaformer and cross section consists of 6 different loop sections approximating regular hexagon. The fig 2 below indicates the cross section of limbs, approximated core diameter and distances between the limb centres.

The 9 loops are arranged in 3 planes 120 apart from each other are clamped to form regular hexagon limbs. The clamps in 2 halves are made of special steel. The steel straps using machines are used to keep the clamps in position. The Fig 3 shows the clamps which are used for shaping the limbs.

The various operations on the core such as tapering, making elliptical, providing clamps involve mechanical operations and produce stress in the core. In order to restore the magnetic properties back to normal the cores are subjected to stress relieving annealing. The annealing is carried out under inert atmosphere at temperature 830 C. After annealing the cores are allowed to cool to room temperature and then dipped in varnish to provide mechanical stability and any damaged insulation is restored. The clamps are removed from dried core by cutting off the steel straps. The core is now ready for further use. The Fig 4 shows similar cores.

Winding: As seen from fig.4 the core does not have any cuts so the winding cannot be inserted on the core as is the practice for other wound core transformers. In this case the winding is made on the core itself. The winding machine used for making winding on core is similar to other winding machine but have few modifications to make the windings on the core. The complete core is loaded on the winding machine which has special jaws to hold and rotate the core. The windings are made on the core limbs one by one. During the winding the core remains stationary. In order to wind the conductor, the core limb is provided with a cylinder made of hard board and is free to rotate on the limb. The cylinder at one end is provided with groove and is cut in 2 halves in zigzag manner. It helps in assembly of cylinder over limb in such a manner that due conductor tension the 2 halves should not slip away. The 2 two halves are joined by providing glass reinforced polyester tape through the length of cylinder. The fig 5 shows the 2 halves of cylinder with groove.

The groove is provided with gear also in two halves and the same is clamped firmly on the cylinder in the groove using pins and screws. The gear is coupled through drive chain with another gear which in mounted on rod driven by winding machine. Between the cylinder and the limb suitable material is provided which helps the smooth rotation of cylinder along with

chain drive. Coupled to drive shaft a digital decimal counter is provided which keeps track of number of turns of winding. The conductor is arranged on the machine in the same way as for conventional transformers. The windings can now be made on the stationary. Once the LV and HV winding of the limb is finished, the chain drive is de-coupled and gear is removed from the cylinder. The core assembly held in the machine is rotated by approx. 120 to bring in front the next limb so that winding on the next limb could be made. The fig 6 shows the winding machine with winding of a limb in progress.

Once the winding of all the 3 limbs is completed, the core coil assembly is ready and is taken off the machine for further processing. The core coil assembly appears a perfect delta formation where the 3 core limbs with their windings are placed at 120 apart. The core loops cross from one limb to other from top and bottom. The core coil assembly is clamped using top and bottom frame and tie rods. The centre tie rod and 3 tie rods on the outer side keep the core coil assembly intact. The top and bottom frames are also of hexagon in shape. The coils are supported using insulating blocks between top and bottom frames. The HV and LV leads are taken out for 3phase connection according to specified vector group. The fig. 7 shows the completed core coil assembly duly fitted in frame assembly.

Tanking: The completed core coil assembly is fitted with tank cover. The cover is fitted with HV and LV bushings. The connection leads can now be terminated on the bushings after providing proper clearances. The in-process testing can now be performed to confirm the ratio, polarity and vector group relation. The complete assembly is to be put in oven for drying of insulation. After the insulation is dried completely the assembly is kept in the tank by providing suitable gasket between tank and tank cover. The tank cover is bolted to tank and the assembly is kept in the vacuum oven for oil filling. The hot, degassed and filtered transformer oil is filled in the Deltaformer under vacuum. After the Deltaformer is taken out from the oven the final finishing is carried out and is sent to testing for final routine tests. The figure 5 shows the completed Deltaformer ready for routine tests.

Performance: The performance of Deltaformer as distribution transformer stands a class apart from all other distribution transformers available in the market. The construction features described above will help in understanding the advantages the Deltaformer has over other transformer. In the absence of any cut in the core the no load losses and current are lower than other transformer. The net reduction in losses is approx. 10%. Instead of having all the 3 limbs in one line as in other transformers, Deltaformer has only 2 limbs in one line. This result in smaller foot prints for Deltaformer and require less distance between 2 poles. The savings in structure have huge potential. The delta construction facilitates equal no load current in all the three phases. The construction also requires less core material. The construction results in less inrush currents and reduced 3rd harmonic currents. The absence of air gaps in the core results in lower audible noise level. The construction results in lower stray flux hence losses due stray fields are low.

The above advantages make Deltaformer one of the most desirable energy efficient transformers. This reduces the reluctance path of the core and resulting in consumption of less magnetising ampere turns. The results can be seen in terms of reduction in no load current and no load losses. Type & Special Tests : Deltaformer have been tested at CPRI for type & routine tests in order to establish the thoroughness of design and manufacturing. 25, 63 & 100kVA 11/0.433kV units have been tested for all tests required for star 5 labelling. It may be noted that achieving star 5 losses with CRGO material is very difficult with conventional technology, while with Deltaformer, we could do it right first time itself. 100kVA units of Deltaformer wound in copper and aluminium have been exported to Sweden. 25kVA Units have been supplied to utilities. 63kVA units are under drawings approval and will be supplied soon. Another prototype of 400kVA is under manufacturing and likely to be completed soon.