Polyphase Transformers

POLYPHASE TRANSFORMERS
For three-phase supplies, a bank of three individual single-phase transformers can

be used, or all three phases can be incorporated as a single three-phase
transformer. In this case, the magnetic circuits are connected together, the core
thus containing a three-phase flow of flux. A number of winding configurations
are possible, giving rise to different attributes and phase shifts. One particular
polyphase configuration is the zigzag transformer, used for grounding and in the
suppression of harmonic currents.
Transformers can be classified in different ways:
• By power level: from a fraction of a volt-ampere (VA) to over a thousand

MVA;
• By frequency range: power-, audio-, or radio frequency;
• By voltage class: from a few volts to hundreds of kilovolts;
• By cooling type: air cooled, oil filled, fan cooled, or water cooled;
• By application function: such as power supply, impedance matching, output
voltage and current stabilizer, or circuit isolation;
• By end purpose: distribution, rectifier, arc furnace, amplifier output;
• By winding turns ratio: step-up, step-down, isolating (near equal ratio),
variable.
CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS
• 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 magnetising current,
and confine the flux to a path which closely couples the windings. Early
transformer developers soon realised that cores constructed from solid iron
resulted in prohibitive eddy-current losses, and their designs mitigated this effect
with cores consisting of bundles of insulated iron wires. Later designs constructed
the core by stacking layers of thin steel laminations, a principle that has remained
in use. Each lamination is insulated from its neighbors by a thin non-conducting
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. Thin laminations are
generally used on high frequency transformers, with some types of very thin steel
laminations able to operate up to 10 kHz.
• Laminating the core greatly reduces eddy-current losses

One common design of laminated core is made from interleaved stacks of E-
shaped steel sheets capped with I-shaped pieces, leading to its name of "E-I
transformer". Such a design tends to exhibit more losses, but is very economical
to manufacture. The cut-core or C-core type is made by winding a steel strip
around a rectangular form and then bonding the layers together. It is then cut in
two, forming two C shapes, and the core assembled by binding the two C halves
together with a steel strap. They have the advantage that the flux is always
oriented parallel to the metal grains, reducing reluctance.
• A steel core's permanence means that it retains a static magnetic field when
power is removed. When power is then reapplied, the residual field will cause a
high inrush current until the effect of the permanent magnetism is reduced,
usually after a few cycles of the applied alternating current. Over current
protection devices such as fuses must be selected to allow this harmless inrush to
pass. On transformers connected to long, overhead power transmission lines,
induced currents due to geomagnetic disturbances during solar storms can cause
saturation of the core and operation of transformer protection devices.
• 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 are usually arranged concentrically to minimize flux leakage

Cut view through transformer windings. White: insulator. Green spiral: Grain
oriented silicon steel. Black: Primary winding made of oxygen-free copper. Red:
Secondary winding. Top left: Toroidal transformer. Right: C-core, but E-core would
be similar. The black windings are made of film. Top: Equally low capacitance
between all ends of both windings. Since most cores are (bad) conductors they
also need insulation. Bottom: Lowest capacitance for one end of the secondary
winding needed for low-power high-voltage transformers. Bottom left: Reduction
of leakage inductance would lead to increase of capacitance.
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 VIR 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 braided litz wire 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. The taps may be connected to an automatic on-load
tap changer for voltage regulation of distribution circuits. Audio-frequency
transformers, used for the distribution of audio to public address loudspeakers,
have taps to allow adjustment of impedance to each speaker. A center-tapped
transformer is often used in the output stage of an audio power amplifier in a
push-pull circuit. Modulation transformers in AM transmitters are very similar.
Certain transformers have the windings protected by epoxy resin. By

impregnating the transformer with epoxy under a vacuum, one can replace air
spaces within the windings with epoxy, thus sealing the windings and helping to
prevent the possible formation of corona and absorption of dirt or water. This
produces transformers more suited to damp or dirty environments, but at
increased manufacturing cost.
Three-phase oil-cooled transformer with cover cut away. The oil reservoir is
visible at the top. Radiative fins aid the dissipation of heat.
Coolant
High temperatures will damage the winding insulation. Small transformers do not
generate significant heat and are self-cooled by air circulation and radiation of
heat. Power transformers rated up to several hundred kVA can be adequately
cooled by natural convective air-cooling, sometimes assisted by fans. In larger
transformers, part of the design problem is removal of heat. Some power
transformers are immersed in transformer oil that both cools and insulates the
windings. The oil is a highly refined mineral oil that remains stable at high
temperatures. Liquid-filled transformers to be used indoors must use a non-
flammable liquid, or must be located in fire-resistant rooms.
The oil-filled tank often has radiators through which the oil circulates by natural
convection; some large transformers employ forced circulation of the oil by
electric pumps, aided by external fans or water-cooled heat exchangers. Oil-filled
transformers undergo prolonged drying processes to ensure that the transformer
is completely free of water vapor before the cooling oil is introduced. This helps
prevent electrical breakdown under load. Oil-filled transformers may be equipped
with Buchholz relays, which detect gas evolved during internal arcing and rapidly
de-energize the transformer to avert catastrophic failure.
Polychlorinated biphenyls have properties that once favored their use as a
coolant, though concerns over their toxicity and environmental persistence led to
a widespread ban on their use. Today, non-toxic, stable silicone-based oils, or
fluorinated hydrocarbons may be used where the expense of a fire-resistant liquid
offsets additional building cost for a transformer vault. Before 1977, even
transformers that were nominally filled only with mineral oils commonly also
contained polychlorinated biphenyls as contaminants at 10-20 ppm. Since mineral
oil and PCB fluid mix, maintenance equipment used for for both PCB and oil-filled
transformers could carry over small amounts of PCB, contaminating oil-filled
transformers.
Some "dry" transformers (containing no liquid) are enclosed in sealed, pressurized
tanks and cooled by nitrogen or sulfur hexafluoride gas..
Experimental power transformers in the 2 MVA range have been built with
superconducting windings which eliminates the copper losses, but not the core
steel loss. These are cooled by liquid nitrogen or helium.
Terminals
Very small transformers will have wire leads connected directly to the ends of the
coils, and brought out to the base of the unit for circuit connections. Larger
transformers may have heavy bolted terminals, bus bars or high-voltage insulated
bushings made of polymers or porcelain. A large bushing can be a complex
structure since it must provide careful control of the electric field gradient
without letting the transformer leak oil
Source : http://mediatoget.blogspot.in/2011/07/polyphase-transformers.html

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POLYPHASE TRANSFORMERS

For three-phase supplies, a bank of three individual single-phase transformers can

Transformers can be classified in different ways:

• By power level: from a fraction of a volt-ampere (VA) to over a thousand

• Laminated steel cores

• The effect of laminations is to confine eddy currents to highly elliptical paths

• Laminating the core greatly reduces eddy-current losses

Windings are usually arranged concentrically to minimize flux leakage

High-frequency transformers operating in the tens to hundreds of kilohertz often

For signal transformers, the windings may be arranged in a way to minimize

Certain transformers have the windings protected by epoxy resin. By

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