Lab # 5: Single Phase Transformer:Voltage

Regulation

Objectives
 To study the effect of increasing load on transformer secondary voltage
 To study the effect of increasing load on transformer efficiency

Pre-Lab

Introduction
Voltage regulation is a measure of change in voltage between the sending and receiving end of a
transmission line. On the other hand, voltage regulation of an electric machine, like transformer,
is a measure of variation in output voltage of the transformer as the load is increased across its
output terminals. We know that an increase in load corresponds to an increase in the demand of
current. As the current from transformer secondary circuit increases, the drop across transformer
secondary winding also increases because of resistive component of windings. This causes the
net voltage across the load terminals to decrease.

The goal is to keep this decrease in check and within prescribed limits. If a transformer has to be
connected in a power system, these limits are set by the power system operators. Therefore,
whenever a new transformer needs to be installed inside the power system one should ensure that
the incoming transformer’s voltage regulation is within the regulation limits set by the power
system. In Pakistan, these limits are +5% i.e., the phase voltage variations at the consumer’s
premises must be within 5% of the rated voltage of 230 V.

Voltage regulation is calculated using the following formula:

V nl −V fl
Percentage voltage regulation, VR = × 100 %
V fl

Efficiency of a transformer is defined as the ratio of the output and input power of transformer. It
is calculated by using the following formula:

P out
Efficiency, η= ×100 %
P¿
Efficiency of any system is low when it is not loaded to its full capacity. A transformer is no
exception to this rule.

Pre-Lab Tasks
1. What is voltage regulation, and why is it required for regulation of a transformer?

Answer: “Voltage regulation is a measure of change in voltage between the sending and
receiving end of a transmission line”. On the other hand, voltage regulation of an electric
machine-like transformer is a measure of variation in output voltage of the transformer
as the load is increased across its output terminals. An increase in load corresponds to an
increase in the demand of current. As the current from transformer secondary circuit
increases, the drop across transformer secondary winding also increases because of
resistive component of windings. This causes the net voltage across the load terminals. to
decrease. The goal is to keep this decrease in check and within prescribed limits. If a
transformer has to be connected in a power system, these limits are set by the power
system operators. Therefore, whenever a new transformer needs to be installed inside the
power system one should ensure that the incoming transformers voltage regulation is
within the regulation limits set by the power system. In Pakistan, these limits are +5%
i.e., the phase voltage variations at the consumer’s premises must be within 5% of the
rated voltage of 230 V.

2. What is a negative voltage regulation?

Answer: When the load connected on secondary winding is of capacitive nature i.e., the
voltage at full load is greater than the voltage at no load.

3. During negative voltage regulation what will be the power factor in the
transformer?

Answer: It surely would be leading as the load is capacitive.

In Lab Tasks

Lab Task 1
1. Make all connections as shown in Figure 5.1. It is important to remember from
experiment 3 that for secondary winding to have a voltage rating of 230 V, you have
to connect sec1 and sec2 windings in series.
 Figure 5.1

2. If virtual instrumentation is being used, set the 250 V/500 V range switches for the
V1 and V2 channels to ‘250 V’ on the Multichannel I/O Unit 68-500. This allows
voltages of up to 250 V to be monitored when the ‘500 V/250 V’ sockets are
connected. Additionally, set the 1A/10A range switch for I1 and I2 to ‘1 A’. This
allows currents of up to 1 A to be monitored when the 10 A/1 A socket is connected
or 200 mA to be monitored when the 200-mA socket is connected.
3. On the Universal Power Supply 60-105, ensure the ‘variable output voltage’ control
is set to 0%.
4. Set the ‘3 phase circuit breaker’ to the on position and then rotate the ‘variable output
voltage’ control to give a voltage on V1 of 230 V (as read by virtual or conventional
instrumentation).
5. Record the values of primary and secondary voltages, powers, and currents for
different settings of resistive loading in results table 5.1.
6. Calculate the value of efficiency at each setting of resistive loading and record it in
table. Calculate the VR by using the values of no-load and full-load secondary
voltage from secondary voltage column of your table.
7. Turn the ‘variable output voltage’ control to 0% on the Universal Power Supply 60-
105 and then switch off the ‘3 phase circuit breaker’.
8. Plot graphs of loading vs efficiency and loading vs transformer secondary voltage on
two separate graph papers and attach them with your reports.
Practical 5.1 Results Table

Resistance V1 I1 W1 V2 I2 W2 η
(Ω) (V) (A) (W) (V) (A) (W) (%)

∞ 230 0.059 8 245 0.004 1 12.5

3770 (ON R3 only) 231 0.108 22 240 0.065 16 72.7

1950 (ON R2 only) 231 0.165 36 237 0.123 29 80.5

1280 (ON R2 and R3) 232 0.229 50 235 0.184 43 86

950 (ON R1 only) 230 0.292 65 230 0.245 56 86

760 (ON R1 and R3) 230 0.352 79 227 0..303 69 87

640 (ON R1 and R2) 230 0.409 92 225 0.355 80 86.9

546 (All ON) 230 0.467 105 221 0.410 91 86.6

Percentage voltage regulation (VR) = = _______2.08______ %

Explanation:

A single phase transformer is a device for the transfer of electricity from one circuit to another
by electromagnetism. It is composed of two or more insulating wires that connect to the
common magnet core. The primary winding receives electrical energy from the source and the
secondary winding receives energy from the load. Voltage regulation in a transformer refers to
its ability to maintain a relatively constant output voltage under varying load conditions. It is a
crucial aspect of transformer performance, especially in applications where consistent voltage
levels are required. When discussing voltage regulation on different resistive load conditions
in a single-phase transformer, it's important to understand how load affects the voltage output.
In a resistive load scenario, the load impedance is primarily resistive, meaning it mainly
opposes the flow of current without storing or releasing energy reactively.
No-load condition:
When there is no load connected to the secondary winding, the transformer experiences
minimal load current. In this scenario, the voltage across the secondary winding, known as the
no-load voltage is determined primarily by the transformer's turns ratio and the applied voltage
to the primary winding. Ideally, this voltage should be very close to the rated secondary
voltage of the transformer.
Full-load condition:
As the load connected to the secondary winding increases, current starts flowing through the
transformer. Due to the resistance of the load, there will be voltage drops across the
transformer windings and any internal impedance. The voltage at the secondary terminals
under full-load conditions is called the full-load voltage. It is typically slightly lower than the
no-load voltage due to these voltage drops.

Effect of resistive load variations:

In a resistive load scenario, changes in the load resistance will directly impact the load current
and hence the voltage drop across the transformer windings. If the load resistance increases,
reducing the load current, the voltage regulation tends to improve, and the output voltage gets
closer to the no-load voltage. Conversely, a decrease in load resistance leads to higher load
current, causing more voltage drop across the transformer windings and worsening the voltage
regulation.

Conclusion/Critical Analysis:
In this lab, we firstly observed how the secondary voltage changes with increasing load. For this
task, we connected a primary transformer to 230V and measured the voltage of the secondary
transformer. As the ratio of both transformers was 1:1, the voltage should have been equal, but
the results varied. Some of the reasons for the fluctuations could be faulty instruments, non-ideal
transformers, number of turns not being equal on both sides etc. Secondly, we measured the
efficiency of the transformer with increasing loads. As the results above show that efficiency
decreases with increasing loads, we can conclude that the reason for this is that the more load is
consuming more power. At the end of the lab, we performed some extra tasks to investigate the
irregularity in our result. We measured the same result again with a DMM but there was not
much difference. We learn that a single-phase transformer operating under resistive load
conditions, voltage regulation measures the ability of the transformer to maintain a stable output
voltage as the load varies. Understanding the relationship between load conditions and voltage
regulation is crucial for designing and operating electrical systems efficiently.