Simulation of 3 Phase Power Transformer using

COMSOL Multiphysics

S.Usha
Asst.Professor, Electrical and Nishant Gunasekaran Suneeth Gunturu
Electronics Dept Student, Electrical and Electronics Dept Student, Electrical and Electronics Dept
SRM Institute of Science and SRM Institute of Science and SRM Institute of Science and
Technology Technology Technology
Chennai, India Chennai, India Chennai, India
ushas@srmist.edu.in nishantgunasekaran@gmail.com suneeth.gunturu46@gmail.com

Abstract— Power Transformer plays a vital role in today’s II. PROBLEM DATA
electric power system. As they are operated continuously, the
losses in the transformer need to be minimized, especially No-
load loss. Further these losses can raise the temperature of the The basic technical parameters for modelling the
oil necessitating to provide increased cooling arrangements. transformer is taken from TSSPDCL Technical specification.
Utilities normally specify maximum limits for the losses.
The basic parameters are given in Table 1 below:
Therefore the losses need to be addressed at the design stage
itself. Table 1: Basic Technical Parameters
In this paper an attempt is made to simulate an 8MVA, Technical parameters Specified
33/11KV, 3 Phase Transformer using COMSOL Multiphysics
Software. Magnetic field and Electric circuit interfaces are used
value
to compute the magnetic flux density in the core, core loss and Rated Power 8000 KVA
plot the induced voltages. Rated Primary Voltage 33 KV
Rated Secondary Voltage 11 KV
Keywords—power transformer, COMSOL, magnetic flux No-Load Loss 5 KW
density, no load loss. Load Loss at 75 degC 41.8 KW
I. INTRODUCTION Frequency 50 Hz
Maximum Current Density 2.5 A/sq.mm
The performance of a transformer depends upon the flux
Impedance Voltage 8.35 percent
linkages between the primary and secondary windings. For
efficient flux linking between these windings, one low Maximum Flux Density 1.6 T
reluctance magnetic path common to all windings should be Maximum Ambient Temperature rise 50 DegC
provided in the transformer. The operating flux density is
normally specified as 1.6T, to avoid saturation. The losses due COMSOL Multiphysics is a general-purpose simulation
to alternating magnetic flux in the core is known as Core loss. software for modeling designs, devices, and processes in all
Core loss consists of Eddy Current loss and Hysteresis loss. fields of engineering, manufacturing, and scientific research.
The platform product can be used on its own or expanded
Eddy Current Loss, a component of core loss, is the energy
with functionality from any combination of add-on modules
lost by the circulating current induced in the metal by the
variation of magnetic fields in the metal. Hysteresis Loss is for simulating electromagnetics, structural mechanics,
the power expended in a magnetic material as a result of the acoustics, fluid flow, heat transfer, and chemical engineering.
lack of correspondence between the changes in induction The AC/DC Module is used with Magnetic Field and Electric
resulting from the increase or decrease of magnetizing force. Circuit interfaces to model the above 8MVA transformer in
the present study. [4]
As core loss [no-load loss] occurs when the transformer is
energized irrespective of the load, this loss has to be III. MODEL DESCRIPTION
minimized. The utilities normally specify a limit on the core The 8 MVA transformer is modelled with a core and coil
loss. COMSOL Multiphysics software is an effective tool to assembly. The windings are connected in Y-Y connection.
study the physics involved in transformers. COMSOL was The primary and secondary windings are modelled as coil
used for Hot Spot Detection in HV Transformer [1]. A 5KVA assemblies. The simulated model is shown in Figure 1 below.
Distribution transformer was simulated using COMSOL
software to validate the core temperature [2]. An analysis of
inrush currents of the unloaded transformer was done using
COMSOL [3]. In this paper an attempt is made to simulate the
induced voltages and magnetic field distribution in a power
transformer.
 Figure 1: Core and Coil Assembly
Figure 3: Magnetic Field Distribution in the core
The transformer model has the following parameters. The
number of turns in Primary and Secondary are 492 and 164
The induced voltages in primary and secondary when open
respectively. The core dimension, considered in the model,
circuited is shown in figure 4 and figure 5 below respectively.
are 1.8mx1.7mx0.38m. The width and height of the window
As the induced voltage is proportional to the maximum flux
are 0.3m and 0.9m respectively. The total height of the coil is
the peak voltage is applied in the model.
0.4m. Resistance of primary and secondary winding are taken
The induced voltage in the primary is 33000*√2/√3= 26941
as 0.7 ohm and 0.03 ohm respectively.
V which is shown in figure 4 below.
The transformer is modelled as an ideal transformer with
The induced voltage in the secondary is 11000*√2/√3= 8980
winding resistance connected externally. The connections of
V which is shown in figure 5 below.
the windings, modelled in the software, is shown in Figure 2
below.

Figure 2: Circuit Connection

IV. STUDIES AND RESULTS

Figure 4: Induced voltage in Primary Winding
Magnetic Field Analysis was carried out with the above
parameters. Coil Geometry Analysis and Circuit Analysis
was done to validate the induced voltage, keeping the
secondary winding open-circuited and short-circuited. The
magnetic field distribution is shown in figure 3 below. The
computed core loss was 4880 Watts against the specified
value of 5000 Watts.

Figure 5: Induced voltage in Secondary Winding in Open

condition

The induced voltage in secondary winding when it is short-
circuited is shown in figure 6 below. As the secondary is short
circuited, the secondary voltage is close to zero, as can be
seen from the plot obtained from the software.
Figure 6: Induced voltage in secondary winding when short-
circuited
V. CONCLUSION
A three phase 8MVA 33/11 KV power transformer was
modelled in COMSOL Multiphysics Software. The no-load
loss was computed along with Magnetic Field distribution in
the core. The induced voltage was plotted and was in
conformance with the theoretically calculated values.
Further work is planned to do the magnetic field and
circuit analysis for different winding configurations and
optimize the model for minimizing the losses.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to thank the department of Electrical and
Electronics Engineering for allowing us to publish this paper.
The authors thank the management of KRK Power for
providing us the data required for modelling the transformer.
REFERENCES
[1] Swapnil Solanki, Rohit Jangid, Gaurav Srivastava, Prateek Sharma,
Ritvik Chaturvedi, “Hot Spot Temperature Analysis of Transformer
using FEM on COMSOL,” International Journal of Trend in Scientific
Research and Development [IJTSRD], ISSN NO: 24566470.
[2] Renan Barroso, Simulation and Experimental Validation of the Core
Temperature Distribution of a Three-Phase Transformer, Proceedings
of the 2014 COMSOL Conference in Curitiba.
[3] D. Yarymbash, S. Yarymbash, T. Divchuk, M. Kotsur , “Analysis of
inrush currents of the unloaded transformer using the circuit-field
modelling methods,” Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise
Technologies ISSN 1729-3774
[4] AC-DC module, https://www.comsol.co.in/