You are on page 1of 8

TRANSFORMERROOMACMVDESIGN

CoolingLoad:

Ifyoutakethetotalheatlossesintotheroom,(13900Watts)andcalculatetheheatloadat3.4
Btuh/wattthisgivesyouaheatloadof47,460Btuhwhichatapproximately12000Btuh/Tonof
coolingwouldrequireanA/Cunitsizedat4Tonsofcooling.Asmallsplitsystemwouldsuffice
whichattheruleofthumbof400cfm/tonwouldmeanabout1600cfmofconditionedair.Ifyou
haveachilledwatersystem,youcouldfurtherreducetheamountofairdependingonthewater
temperatureandifyouhadadedicatedVAVboxfortheroom.

As"AllGreek2me"statedhowever,(andifyoucanventilatetheroomwithairatanentering
temperaturesufficientlylowatalltimesoftheyeartomaintainthe3035degreesC),youcoulddoit
withjustexhaustandoutsideorprecooledair,buttheairvolumeyouwouldhavetomovewould
increasedramatically.5000cfmisquiteconservative,butnotextraordinarilyso.

Ventilation:

Thegoodventilationofswitchgearandtransformerrooms

PostedDec182015byEdvardinEnergyandPower,PowerSubstationwith4Comments

Thegoodventilationofswitchgearandtransformerrooms(photocredit:ABB'swhitepaper
//Threekeystodesigningsafe,reliableandefficientsubstationsforheavyindustrial
facilities)

Designcriteriaforroomventilation//

Inordertodesignagoodventilationofswitchgearandtransformerrooms,theairinthe
roommustmeetvariousrequirements.Themostimportantisnottoexceedthe
permissiblemaximumtemperature.Limitvaluesforhumidityandairquality,e.g.dust
content,mayalsobeset.Switchboardsandgasinsulatedswitchgearhaveashortterm
maximumtemperatureof40Candamaximumvalueof35Cforthe24haverage.

Theinstallationrequirementsofthemanufacturersmustbeobservedforauxiliary
transformers,powertransformersandsecondaryinstallations.

Thespatialoptionsforventilationmustalsobeconsidered.Ventilationcrosssectionsmay
berestrictedbyauxiliarycompartmentsandbuildings.Ifnecessary,thelossheatcanbe
ventedthroughachimney.
IfHVAC(airconditioning)installationsandairductsareinstalled,therequiredspaceand
theconfigurationmustbeincludedatanearlystageofplanning.

Ultimately,economicaspectssuchasprocurementandoperatingexpensesmustbetaken
intoaccountaswellasthereliability(emergencypowersupplyandredundancy)ofthe
ventilation.Atoutsideairtemperaturesofupto30C,naturalventilationisgenerally
sufficient.Athighertemperaturesthereisdangerthatthepermissibletemperatureforthe
equipmentmaybeexceeded.

Figures1and2showfrequentlyusedexamplesofroomventilation.

Figure1Compartmentventilation:a)Simplecompartmentventilation,b)compartment
ventilationwithexhausthoodabovetheswitchboard,c)ventilationwithfalsefloor,d)
ventilationwithrecirculatingcoolingsystem

Theventilationefficiencyisinfluencedbytheconfigurationandsizeoftheincomingairand
exhaustairvents,theriseheightoftheair(centreofincomingairopeningtocentreof
exhaustairopening),theresistanceinthepathoftheairandthetemperaturedifference
betweenincomingairandoutgoingair.Theincomingairventandtheexhaustairvent
shouldbepositioneddiagonallyoppositetoeachothertopreventventilationshortcircuits.

Ifthecalculatedventilationcrosssectionorthechimneyopeningcannotbedimensionedto
ensuresufficientairexchange,afanwillhavetobeinstalled.Itmustbedesignedforthe
requiredquantityofairandthepressurehead.
Ifthepermissibleroomtemperatureisonlyslightlyaboveorevenbelowthemaximum
outsidetemperature,refrigerationequipmentorairconditioningisusedtocontrolthe
temperature.

Inventilatedandairconditionedcompartmentsoccupiedbypersonnelforextended
periodsthequalityregulationsforroomairspecifiedbyDIN1946mustbeobserved.

Theresistanceoftheairpathisgenerally:R=R1+m2R2

Where:

R1resistanceandaccelerationfiguresintheincomingairduct,
R2resistanceandaccelerationfiguresintheexhaustairduct,
mratioofthecrosssectionA1oftheincomingairducttothecrosssectionA2ofthe
exhaustairduct.

Figure2showscommonconfigurations.

Figure2Crosssectionthroughtransformercells.a)incomingairischannelledover
ground,exhaustairisextractedthroughachimney;b)sameasina),butwithoutchimney;
c)incomingairischannelledbelowground,exhaustairisremovedthroughanopeningin
thewallofthetransformercompartment;d)transformercompartmentwithfan

Where//

A1=incomingaircrosssection,
A2=exhaustaircrosssection,
H=chimneyheight,
1=fan,
2=exhaustairslats,
3=inletairgratingorslats,
4=skirting,
5=ceiling.

Thetotalresistanceconsistsofthecomponentstogether.Thefollowingvaluesforthe
individualresistanceandaccelerationfigurescanbeusedforaninitialapproximation:

Figures Value
Acceleration 1
Rightanglebend 1.5
Roundedbend 1
Bendof135 0.6
Slowchangeofdirection 00.6
Wirescreen 0.51
Slats 2.53.5
Crosssectionwidening 0.250.9**

**Thesmallervalueappliesforaratiooffreshaircrosssectiontocompartmentcross
sectionof1:2,thegreatervaluefor1:10.

Calculationofthequantityofcoolingair:

Withtemperatureandheightcorrectionthefollowingappliesfortheincomingairflow:

Where:

V0=standardairvolumeflowatsealevel,p0=1013mbar,T0=273K=0C,
T1=coolingairtemperature(inK),
T2=exhaustairtemperature(inK),
g=gravitationalacceleration,g=9.81m/s2
H0=heightabovesealevel,
RL=gasconstantoftheair,RL=0.287kJ/kgK
cpL=specificheatcapacityoftheair,cpL=1.298kJ/m3K
QL=totalquantityofheatexhaustedbyventilation:QL=PV+Q,
PV=devicepowerloss,
Q=heatexchangewiththeenvironment.
Athighpowerdissipationandhightemperatures,solarradiationandthermalconduction
throughthewallscanbeneglected.ThenQL=PV.

Example//

Atgivenincomingairandexhaustairtemperature,thepowerdissipationPvshouldbe
exhaustedbynaturalventilation.Thevolumeofairrequiredshouldbecalculated:

T2=40C=313K,
T1=30C=303K,
PV=30kW=30kJ/s,
Heightabovesealevel=500m

Ifthewarmairisexhausteddirectlyovertheheatsource,thiswillincreasetheeffective
temperaturedifferencetothedifferencebetweenthetemperatureoftheoutsideair
andtheequipmentexhaustairtemperature.Thiswillallowtherequiredvolumeofcooling
airtobereduced.

Calculationoftheresistancesintheairductandtheventilationcrosssection:Basedonthe
exampleinFigure2a,thefollowingapplies:

Acceleration 1
Screen 0.75
forincomingair// Wideningincrosssection 0.55
Gradualchangeofdirection 0.6
R1= 2.9
Acceleration 1
Rightanglebend 1.5
forexhaustair//
Slats 3
R2= 5.5

Iftheexhaustairductis10%largerthantheincomingairduct,then:

m=A1/A2=1/1.1=0.91andm2=0.83

thenR=2.9+0.835.5=7.5

Theventilationratioscanbecalculatedwiththeformula:

NumericalvalueequationwithinK,Hinm,PVinkWandA1inm2.

Example#2

TransformerlossesPV=10kW,
=12K,
R=7.5and
H=6myield:
A11m2.

Practicalexperiencehasshownthattheventilationcrosssectionscanbereducedifthe
transformerisnotcontinuouslyoperatedatfullload,thecompartmentisonthenorthside
orthereareothersuitableintervalsforcooling.Asmallpartoftheheatisalsodissipated
throughthewallsofthecompartment.

TheaccuratecalculationcanbedoneasperDIN4701.

Fansforswitchgearandtransformerrooms

Ventilationfans,inadditiontotheircapacity,mustcompensateforthepressurelossesin
theairpathandprovideblowoutordynamicpressureforthecoolingairflow.Thisstatic
anddynamicpressurecanbeappliedwithp0.20.4mbar.

Thenthepropulsionpowerofthefanis:

Example#3

Forthecoolingairrequirementofthetransformerintheexampleabove,where//

Pv=30kW,with
V=2.4m3/s,
=0.2,
p=0.35mbar=35Ws/m3

thefancapacityiscalculatedas:

Resistancesintheventilationductsandsupplementarysystemcomponents,suchasdust
filters,mustbeconsideredseparatelyinconsultationwiththesupplier.Forsufficientair
circulation,aminimumclearancebetweentheequipmentandthewallisrequired,
dependingontheheatoutput.Forauxiliarytransformers,thisisabout0.4m,forpower
transformersabout1m.

You might also like