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A Method for Power Losses Evaluation in Single Phase Transformers under

Linear and Nonlinear Load Conditions

Article in PRZEGLĄD ELEKTROTECHNICZNY · December 2011

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 Samet BIRICIK, O. C. OZERDEM
Near East University, Dep. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering

A Method for Power Losses Evaluation in Single Phase

Transformers under Linear and Nonlinear Load Conditions
Abstract. In this paper, a method for power losses evaluation in single phase transformers is presented. This research focuses on the transformer
losses under nonlinear loads with a sinusoidal supply voltage. A practical approach is proposed which allows for the observation of harmonics. The
total harmonic distortion and losses were analyzed and shown. Moreover, the relationship between transformer losses and harmonics are reported.
The Experimental results show that the proposed method can determine the effects of harmonic components on transformer losses.

Streszczenie. Zaproponowano metodę oceny strat mocy w transformatorze jednofazowym z nieliniowym obciążeniem. Analizowane są także
harmoniczne i współczynnik THD oraz relacje między nimi. (Metoda oceny strat mocy w transformatorze jednofazowym przy liniowym i
nieliniowym obciążeniu)

Keywords: Transformer Losses; Harmonic; Sinusoidal Sources; Nonlinear Load.

Słowa kluczowe: straty mocy, transformator jednofazowy.

Nomenclature
PT Total loss to 38000 GWh/year [5]. Therefore harmonic analysis with
PNL No-Load Losses calculations plays an important role in transformers to
PFL Full-Load Losses reduce harmonics effect. To show importance of these
UP Primary voltage
problems, we consider provides experimental data for the
US Secondary voltage
ω Angular frequency development of power quality mitigating devices. Lack of
IP Current on the primary side previous studies; the detail of the tested transformer
IS Current on the secondary side parameters and collected data during experimental analysis
IL Load Voltage was given but limited. However, this study gives the detail
Ih Magnitude of each harmonic current of the tested transformer. For this, a conventional shell type
a Transformation ratio transformer was designed and manufactured. Collected
RP Primary winding resistance data gives the opportunity to the researchers to understand
RS Secondary winding resistance
the effect of the harmonics. Moreover, the data presented
XP Leakage reactance of the primary
XS Leakage reactance of the primary here can be used in future studies and simulations. The
Rm Iron losses resistance obtained data is sufficient for the analysis of the losses
Xm Magnetizing reactance caused by load harmonics.
Pcu Total copper loss
µ Efficiency of the transformer Description of the Analysed System
A Cross sectional area of the core Shell type transformer was designed to use in this study
as shown in Fig. 1.
Introduction
In modern electrical distribution system, there has been
a sudden increase of nonlinear loads, such as power
supplies rectifier equipment, domestic appliances,
adjustable speed drives, etc. These nonlinear electronic
loads draw non-sinusoidal currents from ac mains and
cause a type of voltage and current distortion called as
‘harmonics’ [1]. The primary effect of harmonic currents on
transformers is the additional heat generated by the losses
caused by the harmonic contents generated by the
nonlinear loads [2], [3]. There are three effects that result in
increased transformer heating when the load current
includes harmonic components.
1. Rms current: If the transformer is sized only for the Fig. 1. Shell type transformer
kVA requirements of the load, harmonic currents may result
in the transformer rms current being higher than its The equivalent circuit and parameters of the tested
capacity; transformer are given in Fig. 2 and Table 1.
2. Eddy-current losses: These are induced currents in a
transformer caused by the magnetic fluxes.
3. Core losses: The increase in nonlinear core losses in
the presence of harmonics will be dependent under the
effect of the harmonics on the applied voltage and design of
the transformer core [4].
According to Strategies for development and diffusion of
Energy Efficient Distribution Transformers (SEEDT), the
losses caused by harmonics and reactive power in
European Union (EU) distribution transformers are Fig. 2. The equivalent circuit of the single phase transformer
estimated at about 5000 GWh/year. However, total losses
of distribution transformers in EU (European Union) reach

74 PRZEGLĄD ELEKTROTECHNICZNY (Electrical Review), ISSN 0033-2097, R. 87 NR 12a/2011

 Table 1. Transformer Technical Parameters As harmonic currents flow in the windings of transformer,
Parameter Value they produce a voltage drop across the elements. The
S 1500 VA copper losses under nonlinear load condition can be
Up 380 V derived from (6) and (8):
US 105 V RP n  2 R
NP (N1) 872 Turns Pcu  I L2 ( RS  2
)   I Lh ( RS  P2 )
NS (N2) 241 Turns (9) a n2 a
RP 2.51 Ω from the above equation, it can be concluded that the
XP 0.62 Ω copper losses are related to the harmonics order.
RS 191.5 mΩ In the following section, linear and nonlinear load
XS 47.3 mΩ measurement tests were done over transformer and results
Rc 60.28 kΩ were tabulated.
Xm 24.2 kΩ
a 3.62 Experimental Setup and Results
A 12 cm2 In order to validate the theoretical analysis, experiments
Ia 160 mm were performed on a single phase transformer. The
Ib 190 mm measurement system was developed to obtain losses
Ic 60 mm results. These losses were obtained based on current and
voltage measurements in the transformer windings.
Analysis and Modelling
Transformers are developed to deliver the required
power to the loads with minimum losses at the fundamental
frequency [6]. These losses are generally classified with no-
load losses and full-load losses. Total losses of a
transformer are obtained by calculating the sum of these
losses as seen in Eq. (1),

(1) T NL P P P
FL

and the efficiency of the transformer is given by:

POut

(2)
Pin
Transformer power losses and efficiency calculation is a
very well understood topic. The full-load measurements are
made under linear load conditions in engineering education
and practice. However, nonlinear loads draw non-sinusoidal Fig. 3. Arrangement of Experimental Set-up
current, even when connected to a sinusoidal voltage. The
Fig. 3 shows the electrical system arrangement. Open-
undistorted source voltage on the primary side is:
Circuit and Short-Circuit tests were applied to a 1500 VA,
U (t )  U .sin wt 380/105-V single-phase transformer, in order to obtain
(3) P m
following data and equivalent circuit. All measured
therefore, the voltage on the secondary side is: parameters were recorded by using Fluke 43B power
Vm (t ) quality analyzer.
VS (t ) 
(4) a Table 2. Open & Short Circuit Test Results
Open-Circuit Test Results
since the load is linear, the current in the secondary is: Voltage 380 V
U S (t ) Current 0.221 A
I L (t )  Power 31.6 W
(5)
RL  R S Short-Circuit Test Results
Voltage 28 V
Hence, the copper losses under linear load condition is Current 5.41 A
given by, Power 147 W
RP
PCU  I L2 ( RS  ) Case 1: Linear Load Condition
(6) a2
In order to see power losses under linear load
As seen in Eq. (6) copper loss varies with the square of conditions, resistive loads were connected to the
the load current. However, when the load is nonlinear, the transformer secondary terminal, as seen in Fig. 4.
instantaneous current of the nonlinear load is not sinusoidal
and this instantaneous current of the nonlinear load can be
expressed as:
I S (t )  I L (t )  I L1 (t )  I Lh (t )
(7)
Therefore, the nonlinear load currents that consist of
different harmonic spectra.
(8)

I L (t )   I L,h sin(hwt  h )
h 1 Fig. 4. Single phase linear load circuit

 I S1 sin(wt  1 )   I Sh sin(hwt  h ) After connection of the first linear load, voltage and
h 2 current waveform with harmonic spectra was captured as

PRZEGLĄD ELEKTROTECHNICZNY (Electrical Review), ISSN 0033-2097, R. 87 NR 12a/2011 75

given in Fig.5. Then the resistive load was gradually
increased and same procedure was repeated for each load.
The main goal was to examine the transformer losses under
different resistive loads in order to verify the accuracy of the
obtained results. All quantities were recorded using the
same power quality analyzer. The losses were calculated
by taking the difference between the measured input and
output active powers.

Fig. 7. Nonlinear load U, I waveforms, harmonic spectrum in case 2

Case 3: Capacitive Nonlinear Load Condition

A resistive load with a large DC capacitor was used for
this case of the experiment. As in case 2, a nonlinear load
was connected to the transformer’s secondary terminal, but
in this time, RC loads were used to create harmonic
distortion. This setup is given in Fig.8.
Fig. 5. Linear load U, I waveforms & harmonic spectrum in case 1

As can be seen in Fig. 5, the load current is purely

sinusoidal and in phase with the voltage. The THD of the
load current is 4.0%. The efficiency of the transformer was
calculated as 95% during the linear load feeding.
Case 2: Inductive Nonlinear Load Condition
The relevant experimental results were analyzed in
order to determine the effects of Harmonic components on Fig. 8. Single phase capacitive nonlinear load circuit
transformer losses.

Fig. 6. Single phase Inductive nonlinear load circuit

Therefore, the transformer is tested for combined

resistive and inductive loads which are fed from a full bridge
diode rectifier, as seen in Fig.6. The voltage and current
waveforms of the harmonic polluting load is given in Fig. 7. Fig. 9. Nonlinear load U, I waveforms, harmonic spectrum in case 3
In this case, the load current contains a significant amount
of harmonics. The magnitudes of the harmonic spectrum of
the load currents are given in Table 3. The THD of the load
currents are 21.8%, 26.6% and 28.5%, which are increased
the losses about 3% according to the linear load. In this
case, the efficiency of the transformer was calculated as
92%.
Table 3. Power Analysis under Cases of Linear and Nonlinear Load Conditions
Load Type

PLoss (W)
Pout (W)
(W)

THDi (%)
Iout (A)
(A)
Vout (V)
Uin (V)

Cos Ø
η (%)

Cases
Pin

PF
Iin

1  R1
R2
R3
406
677
828
375
640
787
33
37
41
%92
%95
%95
380
380
380
106.9
105.8
105.3
1.07
1.78
2.18
3.51
6.05
7.47
4.2
3.9
4.0
1
1
1
1
1
1

2
 RL1
RL2
RL3
408
705
875
372
649
804
36
56
71
%91
%92
%92
380
380
380
106.7
105.0
104.9
1.15
1.96
2.47
3.63
6.52
8.20
21.8
26.6
28.5
0.98
0.98
0.98
0.95
0.94
0.93


RC1 434 385 37 %89 380 106.6 1.74 5.95 78.8 1 0.51
3 RC2 710 632 50 %89 380 105.8 2.68 9.22 75.9 1 0.64
RC3 921 820 69 %89 380 105.3 3.26 11.35 71.7 0.99 0.67

76 PRZEGLĄD ELEKTROTECHNICZNY (Electrical Review), ISSN 0033-2097, R. 87 NR 12a/2011

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Authors: Samet Biricik, Dep. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering,

Near East University Nicosia. N. Cyprus, E-mail:
[email protected]; Assist. Prof. Dr. Özgür Cemal
Özerdem, Dep. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Near East
University Nicosia. N. Cyprus, E-mail: [email protected].

PRZEGLĄD ELEKTROTECHNICZNY (Electrical Review), ISSN 0033-2097, R. 87 NR 12a/2011 77

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