Thermal analysis of electric

transformer of 2000 kVA with

numerical methods

ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRIAL THERMAL EQUIPMENT

Màster en Enginyeria Industrial, EPS, UdL
Course 2016-2017

1
 Analysis of Industrial Thermal Equipment
Course 2016-2017
Dr. Albert Castell/ Dr. Marc Medrano

1. Introduction

You work in an energy consulting and engineering company in Lleida. Your boss is
interested in analysing the temperature gradients inside the core (iron) and windings
(copper) of an electrical three-phase transformer of 2000 kVA, working with a primary
voltage of 30 kV and a secondary voltage of 400 V, and 50 Hz frequency. The heat
dissipated in the iron and copper parts is taken by an iso-paraffinic transformer oil
working with forced convection.

The boss of the company asks you to elaborate a preliminary project to understand
better the map of temperatures within the core and windings sections as a function of
the oil average temperature, the oil heat transfer coefficient and a range of heat losses
for situations over and under the transformer nominal capacity. You are also asked to
check your results and visualize them with a well-knows CFD package (COMSOL).

2. Problem statement

You have to focus your analysis in one of the three windings and core units in the 3-
phase transformer. You will assume a steady-state 2-D heat transfer problem with
cylindrical geometry. Temperature changes only occur in the radial and axial direction.
The interior solid cylinder will be the iron core of the transformer and the exterior solid
annular section (cylindrical shell) will be approached to the windings section.

Known data:

• Total heat losses in the Iron: 4020 W

• Total weight of the iron (including winding sections and external sections): 1635
kg
• Total weight of the iron in the three windings sections: 785 kg
• Total heat losses in the Copper (the three windings): 19340 W
• Diameter of the Iron internal cylinder: 270 mm
• Diameter of the copper external shell: 450 mm
• Length of the cylinder: 720 mm
• The oil convective heat transfer coefficient is a lineal function of temperature,
2 2
having the value of 80 W/m ·ºC at 40 ºC and the value of 145 W/m ·ºC at 90
ºC.
• Assume an average value of 70º C to find the properties of iron and copper,
using EES. Recalculate if the real calculated temperatures are far away from the
assumed values.
 Analysis of Industrial Thermal Equipment
Course 2016-2017
Dr. Albert Castell/ Dr. Marc Medrano

3. Assumptions

1. Steady-state
2. Two dimensional radial and axial conduction
3. Constant properties in the solids
4. Uniform volumetric heat generation
5. No surface resistances between iron and copper.
6. Negligible radiation heat transfer.
7. Top and bottom Fe surfaces of cylinders are supposed adiabatic.
8. Top and bottom Cu surfaces of shell have convective heat transfer to oil.

4. Work to do

a) Solve numerically the heat transfer problem and find the evolution of
temperature with the radial and axial direction, both in the iron and the copper
parts.
b) Generate contour plots to visualize the change in T in r and in z for the following
cases with oil: a) Toil = 40 ºC; b) Toil = 90 ºC; and with air: c) Tair = 20 ºC; h = 10
2 2
W/m ·ºC (simulating free convection); d) Tair = 20 ºC; h = 1000 W/m ·ºC
(simulating forced convection). Comment the results.
c) If the maximum admissible temperature in the middle of the copper shell (where
a very thin electric insulator layer is located) is 70 ºC, discuss which should be at
least the oil convective heat transfer coefficient.
d) Plot the effect of changing from -50% to 50% the heat losses in the metals on the
external temperature of the windings, for various heat transfer coefficients.
e) Compare your results with the ones obtained using a finer mesh with COMSOL.
Comment on the benefits and limitations of EES for this type of projects.
f) If suddenly the transformer is stopped, plot, analyse and discuss the evolution of
temperatures in the transformer metals with time assuming and justifying a
lumped capacitance method with weighted average properties of the transformer
constituted by two metals.