TRANSFORMER

CONNECTIONS
AND
PARALLELING PROCEDURES
Electrical systems have been using paralleled transformers for
many years.

Existing transformers are sometimes paralleled in industrial

and commercial facilities when facility engineers, consultants,
or maintenance staffs are looking for ways to make power
systems more reliable, provide better power quality, prevent
voltage sags, or add load requirements. Electrical utilities are
ideal examples of these applications.

Their main objectives are reliability and power quality, along

with keeping consumers on-line. Many times auto-tap
transformers are used to adjust voltage levels due to loading
conditions. Oftentimes, these tap changes produce circulating
current in parallel-operated transformers.
Principles of Paralleling
Transformers connected in parallel have the same voltage on
each primary and the same voltage on each secondary. The
difference in the voltage between the primary and secondary
windings is the turn ratios. For these terminal voltages to be
the same for the paralleled transformers, their impedance
drops must be identical.
Therefore, under any condition of load, the current will be
divided such that the product of impedance and current in one
transformer is equal to the product of impedance and current
in the other.
Also, if the turn ratios of the transformers are different, but the
primary and secondary terminal voltages are the same in both
transformers, then circulating currents must flow between the
transformers, even at no load.
Parallel operation of transformers occurs when two or more
transformers are connected to the same HV and LV bus bars,
especially on the load side. This is widely followed in power
stations and continuous process plants, to ensure that in the
event of transformer or generator failures, redundancy is built
in the distribution to maintain power supply through healthy
transformers.
Five principal characteristics shall be met by each of the
transformers to be operated in parallel:

secondary terminals
Demands put upon the operation of transformers
connected in parallel, which must be fulfilled to
avoid wrong operation at no-load and on-load
conditions Includes:
1. There must be no currents in the secondary
windings at no-load conditions,

2. The transformers must load themselves

according to their rated powers at on-load
Operation.

3. The phase angles of the secondary line currents

of all parallel connected transformers must
be the same.
Electrical systems have been using paralleled transformers for
many years.

Existing transformers are sometimes paralleled in industrial

and commercial facilities when facility engineers, consultants,
or maintenance staffs are looking for ways to make power
systems more reliable, provide better power quality, prevent
voltage sags, or add load requirements. Electrical utilities are
ideal examples of these applications.

Their main objectives are reliability and power quality, along

with keeping consumers on-line. Many times auto-tap
transformers are used to adjust voltage levels due to loading
conditions. Oftentimes, these tap changes produce circulating
current in parallel-operated transformers.
Transformers are suitable for parallel operation when their turn ratios,
percent impedances, and X/R ratios are the same. Connecting
transformers when one of these parameters is different results in either
circulating currents or unwanted current division. Both of these situations
lower the efficiency and reduce the maximum amount of load the
combined transformers can carry.

Typically, transformers should not be operated in parallel when:

 The division of load is such that, with the total load current equal to
the combined kVA rating of the transformers, one of the transformers
is overloaded.

 The no-load circulating currents in any transformer exceed 10% of the

full load rating .

 The combination of the circulating currents and full load current exceed
the full load rating of either transformer
 Transformer Connections
and Vectors
 The main connections to be considered are:
 Primary – Secondary
 Y-Y, Y-Delta, Delta-Y, Delta- Delta
 Y connections provide the opportunity for multiple
voltages, while Delta connections enjoy a higher level
of reliability (if one winding fails open, the other two
can still maintain full line voltages to the load).
Transformer Connections
(Contd).
 Probably the most important aspect of connecting three
sets of primary and secondary windings together to form
a three-phase transformer bank is proper winding
phasing
 The dots are used to denote “polarity” of windings.
The three phase transformer windings can be connected
several ways.

transformer is determined.

The transformer vector group is indicated on the Name Plate

of transformer by the manufacturer.

The vector group indicates the phase difference between the

primary and secondary sides, introduced due to that
particular configuration of transformer windings connection.
The Determination of vector group of
transformer is very important before
connecting two or more transformers in
parallel. If two transformers of different
vector groups are connected in parallel
then phase difference exist between the
secondary of the transformers and
large circulating current flows between
the two transformers which is very
detrimental to the life of the
transformers.
The vector for the high voltage
winding is taken as the reference
vector. Displacement of the vectors of
other windings from the reference
vector, with anticlockwise rotation, is
represented by the use of clock hour
figure.
The digits (0, 1, 11 etc) relate to the phase
displacement between the HV and LV windings
using a clock face notation. The phasor
representing the HV winding is taken as reference
-
clockwise. (Internationally adopted).
Use the hour indicator as the indicating phase
displacement angle. Because there are 12 hours on
a clock, and a circle consists out of 360 , each hour
represents 30 .Thus 1 = 30 , 2 = 60 , 3 = 90 , 6 =
180 and 12 = 0 or 360 .

the line to neutral voltage (sometimes imaginary) of

the HV winding. This position is always the
reference point.
TERMINAL MARKING
EMPS_BEE2133_NJ
EMPS_BEE2133_NJ
EMPS_BEE2133_NJ
EMPS_BEE2133_NJ
STANDARD PHASE SHIFT
GROUP I TRANSFORMERS
Group ii transformer
Group iii transformer
APPLICATION
EXAMPLES OF
TRANSFORMER
PARALLELING
 Connecting two transformers in parallel with one
3000 kVA (kVA1) with 5.75% impedance, and the
other a 1000 kVA (kVA2) with 4% impedance, each
with the same turn ratios, connected to a common
3500 kVA load. What is the loading on each
transformer?
kVA1 = 522 / (522 + 250) x 3500 = 2366 kVA
kVA2 = 250 / (522 + 250) x 3500 = 1134 kVA
As similar to “Example 3” because the percent
impedance is less in the 1000 kVA transformer, it is
overloaded with a less than combined rated load.
Equal Impedances—Unequal Ratios—
Same kVA