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Prediction of the oil flow distribution in oil-immersed transformer windings

by network modelling and computational fluid dynamics

Article in IET Electric Power Applications · February 2012

DOI: 10.1049/iet-epa.2011.0122

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Published in IET Electric Power Applications
Received on 30th April 2011
Revised on 18th August 2011
doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2011.0122

ISSN 1751-8660

Prediction of the oil flow distribution in oil-immersed

transformer windings by network modelling and
computational fluid dynamics
A. Weinläder1 W. Wu2 S. Tenbohlen1 Z. Wang2
1
Institute for Power Transmission and High Voltage Technology, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
2
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
E-mail: zhongdong.wang@manchester.ac.uk

Abstract: In the context of thermal performance and thermal design, it is of significance to predict the magnitude and the
location of the ‘hot-spot’ temperature inside a power transformer. In an attempt to accurately predict this hot-spot in an
oil-immersed transformer, various numerical modelling approaches have been developed for calculating the cooling oil
flow distribution, which are generally categorised as either ‘network models’ or the methods that incorporate forms of
computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In network modelling, the complex pattern of oil ducts and passes in a winding is
approximated with a matrix of simple hydraulic channels, where analytical expressions are then applied to describe oil
flow and heat transfer phenomena. On the other hand, CFD models often adopt discretisations of much higher fineness,
which can be expected to offer a higher order of accuracy but also comes with a large increase in the required
computational resources. In order to compare both modelling approaches, the network model implementation TEFLOW
and a commercial CFD package, ANSYS-CFX, were applied on a typical ‘zigzag’ oil channel arrangement of a disc-type
winding to predict oil flow distribution and disc temperatures; experiments on hydraulic models have also been
performed to validate the models. The principle work of this study is then comparing the results and concluding
recommendations to industrial practices.

Nomenclature Subscripts

D equivalent hydraulic diameter of fluid duct cond value of heat conduction

dp thickness of insulating paper conv value of heat convection
f average dimensionless friction coefficient of fluid b value at bulk temperature
duct c value at winding conductor
k thermal conductivity of transformer oil w value at wall temperature
L length of fluid duct 1 value at the duct of the straight-through direction
Nu Nusselt number of a junction
Pr Prandtl number 2 value at the duct of the branch direction of a
q̇ heat flux from winding to fluid duct junction
Re Reynolds number m value at the common duct of a junction
tb bulk temperature of fluid duct 1m value for combining junction, from duct 1 to m
tc temperature of winding conductor 2m value for combining junction, from duct 2 to m
tw wall temperature of fluid duct m1 value for dividing junction, from duct m to 1
T absolute temperature m2 value for dividing junction, from duct m to 2
U average flow velocity of fluid duct Acronyms/shorthand
DP pressure drop between the inlet and outlet
of the duct CFD computational fluid dynamics
m dynamic viscosity of fluid HTC heat transfer coefficient
r density of fluid JPL junction pressure loss

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LV low voltage
NM network modelling
1 Introduction
Power transformers are key and expensive components in
electric system networks. To avoid failure and ensure
continual power supply, the thermal management of power
transformers is critical in controlling their insulation ageing
due to high hot-spot temperatures, finally causing electrical
failure. Thereby, accurate thermal assessment is of
significance for both design procedure in manufacturers and
asset management policy-making in utilities [1]. In
particular, large power transformers are generally cooled by
natural or forced oil flow, and as such for these oil-
immersed transformers, improved understanding of the oil
flow distribution across the oil ducts inside transformer
windings is meaningful to avoid localised oil starvation and
hot-spot temperatures. Commonly, the cooling oil flows up
from the bottom to the top of a winding; however, the hot-
spot is not always found on the topmost winding disc, due
to, in part, the effect of a non-uniform flow distribution [2].
Numerical modelling has been used to predict the oil flow
and hot-spot for over 40 years [3]. Two categories of
numerical approaches were developed, which are ‘network
modelling’ such as TEFLOW (developed in the UK in the
late 1980s) [2, 4 – 7], and the methods that incorporate
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) [1, 8 – 11]. Generally,
with much higher fineness of the discretisation, CFD
simulations can provide more detailed results but
meanwhile the required computational resources largely
increase. In comparison, network modelling provides fast
solutions which are often more convenient for industry to
use, and a large range of parameters can be tested with this
tool for relatively low computational effort, when only
Fig. 1 Structure of the studied disc-type winding pass
a Studied section in winding
b Front view
c Side view
d Top view
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critical temperatures such as hot-spot are required and
detailed local flow/temperature information is not.
The objective of this paper is using a same winding pass
design as an example to compare the two different numerical
approaches with the experimental results; a pass is defined as
the section of a winding between two adjacent oil-block
washers. The differences between the results from them
would provide recommendations for those who are choosing
thermal analysis tools for oil-immersed transformers.
2 Dimensions of the investigated geometry,
material properties and excitation conditions
The pass example is from a disc-type winding and the studied
section is between two neighbouring spacers, as shown in
Fig. 1a, followed by three sub-pictures depicting the front,
side and top views of the model structure, respectively.
There are eight discs in the pass; they are cooled with oil
which flows in from the bottom inlet, through horizontal
channels between the rows of ‘heat-generating’ discs, and
joins up with a single vertical channel at the opposite side
that carries the oil upwards and through a gap to next pass.
The next pass starts from the oil-block washer equipped just
below the ninth disc; all washers are assumed as fully tight.
A winding can then be periodically composed by a series of
this type of passes, resulting in a zigzag-like oil flow, and
due to the periodicity, only a single pass is investigated in
this paper. In an ideal cooling design, first sufficient oil
should be supplied into the pass by buoyancy or oil pumps,
and secondly the oil can be distributed uniformly across the
horizontal ducts for avoiding any localised oil starvation.
The geometric parameters, the physical properties of the
material and the investigated parameter ranges are
summarised in Tables 1 – 3, respectively. The dimensions
were used to construct the geometry of the numerical
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Table 1 Geometric parameters of the winding pass example

Parameter name Value

width of vertical channels, mm 5.0

width of horizontal channels, mm 4.22
height of discs, mm 9.4
clear distance between the spacers 129.7
(circumferentially uncoiled), mm
radial length of the discs, mm 90.1
bevel corner radius the disc, mm 0.92
thickness of insulating paper, mm 0.5

Table 2 Physical properties of oil and solid materials

Parameter name Value

Fig. 2 Scheme of equipments for pressure acquisition
(a) Oil properties of Shell Diala DX at absolute temperature T, K
dynamic viscosity, mPa s 0.0757 × exp[605.8/(T – 178.3)]
Table 4 Properties of the hydrocarbon used for hydraulic
density, kg/m3 874 – 0.65 × (T – 293.15)
measurements at ambient temperature
heat conductivity, W/(K m) 0.124 – 6.25 × 1025 × (T – 293.15)
heat capacity, J/(K kg) 2020 + 4375 × (T – 293.15) Parameter name Value
(b) Oil properties of Shell Diala DX at absolute temperature 608C
dynamic viscosity, mPa s 3.8 dynamic viscosity, mPa s 2.4
density, kg/m3 848 density, kg/m3 803
heat conductivity, W/(K m) 2195
heat capacity, J/(K kg) 0.1215
(c) Properties of the solid materials usually small and it is possible to keep its dimensions
thermal conductivity of 410 according to a real transformer; therefore there was no need
conductors, W/(K m) to apply laws of similarity to the measured data afterwards.
thermal conductivity of 0.15 Since for the first step only hydraulic data were of interest,
insulating paper, W/(K m) the discs were made of transformer board according to the
thermal conductivity of 0.15 outer form of real discs.
spacers, W/(K m) The scheme of equipments for acquiring the pressure drop
is outlined in Fig. 2. From the picture, it can be seen that each
pressure transducer is switched between two channels. The
Table 3 Investigation parameter ranges
measured data are constantly recorded by a computer until a
steady state is reached. Once finished, a new flow rate can
Parameter name Value be imposed and studied. To have realistic properties of the
fluid according to them of transformer oil at a typical
flow rate at the pass inlet, l/min 2, 5, 10, 15, 20
operating temperature, a special hydrocarbon was used
oil temperature at the pass inlet (8C) 60
instead of regular transformer oil. This hydrocarbon is
(only for the hydraulic –thermal models)
similar to kerosene but has a higher flame point, an eligible
loss power per disc (W) (only for the 15, 30
viscosity and density at room temperature, listed in Table 4.
hydraulic– thermal models)
Owing to this in the measurements there is no heating
required and the oil temperature remains constant.

models, and the inlet oil flow rate and temperature, in Table 3,
were applied as boundary conditions.
3 Experimental measurements
Hydraulic measurements were especially done to validate the
simulations. The procedure of the hydraulic measurements
was taking a physical model of the winding pass example,
illustrated in Fig. 1, and inputting the specified oil flow rate
from the pass inlet. The supplied flow rate causes a pressure
drop along the flow path, and this pressure drop can be
measured at some locations that are reachable without
disturbing the flow considerably. Only the pressure drop
was measured because it is often difficult to measure the
in-duct pressure profiles accurately; on the other hand,
numerical simulation can yield detailed results in the entire
domain with much less practical effort [8].
The model that was applied in this experiment represents a
section of a real transformer winding. Such a section is
4 Network modelling
In brief, network modelling reduces the complex pattern of
the oil flow inside a transformer winding down to a matrix
of simple hydraulic channel approximations, interconnected
by junction points or ‘nodes’ [12]. Fig. 3 shows the
geometry approximated from the experimental setup in
Fig. 1 for 2D network model; lumped elements such as
discs, ducts and nodes are indicated. Bulk averaged
parameters are assumed to represent the variation in
physical quantities at each duct and node, based on which a
set of ‘lumped parameter’ equations are applied to construct
both the so-called thermal and hydraulic networks across
the entire winding.
Additionally, the following physical assumptions are made
in network modelling: oil is modelled as laminar flow
between a pair of infinite parallel flat plates [12, 13]; oil
temperature is assumed to rise linearly along horizontal
channels due to the uniform heat flux at disc surfaces [14];

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 www.ietdl.org
    2 
U U 1000
K1m = 0.580 − 1.729 + 1.419 1 ×
Um Um Re1
72
K2m =
Re2
    2 
U1 U 1000
Km1 = 1.079 − 3.337 + 2.735 1 ×
Um Um Re1
276
Km2 =
Re2
(6)

5 CFD modelling and visual localised results

The CFD computation was done with commercial CFD
Fig. 3 Geometry for 2D network modelling of the experimental software ANSYS-CFX, which is a finite-volume-based
setup CFD-solver, while the mesh generation was done with
ICEM-CFD. Two-dimensional modelling is sufficient [12],
oil mixing at nodes is complete hydraulically and thermally. A but CFX does not have the explicit capability to treat 2D
group of mathematic expressions, that is (a–e) as follows, are problems (due to the underlying finite-volume algorithm),
then employed to constitute the hydraulic and thermal and the approach was to model the geometry in an ordinary
networks, respectively. Owing to the temperature dependence 2D way and then extruding only one cell into the
of the physical properties of oil, such as viscosity and circumferential direction for constructing 3D elements. For
density, the hydraulic and thermal networks are coupled and the simulation, this model was assumed as infinitely
as such an iterative approach is required for a solution. extruded along this direction. It implies that the small wall
effect of the spacers, which bounds the horizontal ducts in
1. Mass conservation at nodes; the circumferential direction, was neglected. On the other
2. Pressure drop equation, namely Darcy– Weisbach hand, the radial boundaries, wherein reality pressboard
equation, (1), applied onto ducts [12] cylinders are bounding the winding, were applied as
isothermal wall. Finally for the hydraulic –thermal
4fL rU 2 modelling, constant loss density was impressed into the
DP = (1) conductor volumes.
D 2 At the inlet, oil flow with homogenous velocity and
3. Thermal energy conservation at nodes; temperature was impressed, respectively, while the outlet
4. Conductive heat transfer equation, (2), to express the heat was closed by a zero static-pressure condition, as shown in
conduction across insulating paper Fig. 4. There are three passes involved in this model and
only the middle pass was intended to deliver the results; the
upper and lower passes were facilitated to deliver proper
k
q̇cond = (t − tw ) (2) boundary conditions for the middle pass. When modelling
dp c the material, Newtonian fluid model was applied, where
5. Convective heat transfer equation, (3), along horizontal viscosity depends on temperature in an exponential manner;
ducts to express the heat convection from the duct walls to density, specific heat capacity and heat conductivity are all
the flow bulk assumed to be temperature dependent in a linear manner.
No turbulence model was employed because of low
Nu × k Reynolds number.
q̇conv = (tw − tb ) (3) The discretisation was done with around 900 000 elements,
D
shown in Fig. 4. For the shape functions the second-order
upwind scheme was used and the single-precision solver
Moreover, empirical equations are incorporated for estimating
was tested to be sufficient for this problem. The
the Nusselt number, Nu, friction coefficient, f, at oil ducts and
convergence criterion was set as a RMS-residual of 1025,
junction pressure losses (JPL). These equations were
and a global balance of each conservation quantity of 1023
previously from general fluid dynamics and heat transfer
has been required and reached.
handbooks, but have recently been calibrated by large sets
In Fig. 5 the streamlines resulting from hydraulic-only
of CFD simulations for a wide range of transformer
models were plotted for both flow rates of 2 and 20 l/min.
designs, with overall minimised deviation from CFD
It gets obvious that separation eddies are blocking a portion
predictions [15, 16]. The calibrated (4) – (6) were applied in
of the entrance for horizontal channels, especially at the
this paper.
lower region, because the oil washer equipped at the top
    prevents oil flowing up, effectively forcing them to turn to
L/D −0.38 mw −0.16 the horizontal channels, and thus the eddies at these
Nu = 1.29 + 3.08 (4)
Re × Pr mb channels are largely suppressed. The entrance separation
  eddies actually account for the junction pressure losses
 −0.55  0.90 described by (6) in network modelling. By the comparison
24 0.15 L mw
f = 0.17 Re 0.37
Pr + 0.61 (5) between Figs. 5a and b, the eddies are strengthened with
Re D mb
high inlet flow rates, and because of this the flow

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Fig. 4 Principal model and details with mesh
Fig. 5 Streamlines for two oil flow rates
a 2 l/min
b 20 l/min
distribution becomes more unequal; for example, in Fig. 5b of
20 l/min, the three upmost channels obtain almost the whole
amount of flow rate which has been supplied into the pass.
Owing to this reason the five lower channels get small
proportion of oil and they would get relatively higher oil
temperature if constant heating power were imposed.
With a hydro-thermal model, Fig. 6 displays the temperature
distribution within the fluid domain for the case with loss
power of 15 W per disc and flow rate of 2 l/min and the case
with 30 W per disc and 20 l/min. For the case with 2 l/min,
the oil flowing through the middle region is less and local
temperature at these ducts therefore becomes higher; in
Fig. 6a the highest temperature is observed to occur at the
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thermal boundaries of the middle ducts and the cooling for
the bottom and top ducts is better. In particular, due to high
Prandtl number (typically 200 for oil [2]), it can be seen
that a strong cold streak from the former pass is entering the
bottom duct and moving from there lasts until the outer
vertical duct; however, the cold streak does not reduce the
thermal boundary temperature, because it flows almost along
the centreline rather than contacting a channel wall. On the
other hand, at the outer side vertical duct, there are hot-
streaks formed and lasting till the pass outlet and they could
affect the cooling efficiency at the entrance of next pass [9].
For the case with 20 l/min, most extra supplied oil flows
through the upper half of the pass and the duct wall
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Fig. 6 Contours of fluid temperature
a 2 l/min and 15 W per disc
b 20 l/min and 30 W per disc
temperatures at the lower half remain higher. In Fig. 6b the
worst temperature is observed at the lower right corner; at
the dead corner oil is almost stagnated. Secondly, due to the
high flow rate at some horizontal ducts, there are second
eddy circulations generated at the entrance regimes;
fortunately it was not found that these second eddies would
reduce the flow rate at the ducts. Furthermore, at the outer
vertical duct there are also hot-streaks discovered, but these
hot-streaks have lower temperatures than those in Fig. 6a
(due to high flow velocities), and therefore, their influence
upon the next pass is smaller than that in the case of 2 l/min.
To emphasise the effect from the flow rate on the
convective heat transfer, the heat transfer coefficient (HTC)
distribution around the bottom disc of the studied pass was
plotted in Fig. 7, for both the case of 2 l/min and 15 W per
disc and the case of 20 l/min and 30 W per disc. These
HTC values were evaluated from the heat flux and the wall
temperature difference, on the oil side of the insulating
paper, from a reference temperature; the heat flux and wall
temperature could be extracted from the CFD results, and
the inlet temperature of the pass, 608C, was taken as the
reference temperature. As network modelling assumed, the
heat flux is uniform and the wall temperature difference
Fig. 7 HTC around first disc
a Bottom side
b Top side
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rises linearly from the upstream to the downstream of a
channel, so the HTC profile follows a linear reduction. With
the help of CFD, the assumption can be examined in a
more detailed way.
Fig. 7 shows the local HTC values for the cases with 2 l/min
and 15 W per disc and 20 l/min and 30 W per disc. Fig. 7a
shows the values along the bottom side of the disc, which
actually bounds on the last horizontal duct of the previous
pass. Since the portion of flow in this horizontal duct is the
highest of all passes, the HTC values are also high. The kink
distribution patterns at the upstream end, that is, the left-hand
end, are due to the entry eddy circulations, then the HTC
values gradually reduce, typically following hyperbolic
trends, and are finally involved into the downstream flow
combination. The difference between the two cases can be
explained by the difference in the oil flow rates; high flow
rate brings high HTC values.
Fig. 7b displays the HTC values at the upside of the disc.
Beginning with the entry eddy caused kink patterns at the
upstream end, that is, the right-hand end, the HTC values
decrease hyperbolically along the duct; this is known from
the literatures for heated infinite parallel channels. At the
downstream combination profiles are then observed. The
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HTC values after 40 mm from the entry is almost overlapped
because the flow velocities within the duct are in a quite
similar range; for the high flow rate case, this first duct is
actually blocked by the separation eddy at its entry.
6 Results comparison
As the first step, the pressure drop along the complete pass has
been compared. The pressure drop over a winding describes
the hydraulic impedance the supplied oil flow should resist
to flow upwards through the winding.
Since only pressure drop of unheated cases was available
from measurements, hydro-only calculations with the
material data, Table 4, were performed for comparison. The
obtained results are shown in Fig. 8a; the calculation results
closely match the measurement values with the maximum
deviation less than 15 Pa, which equates to 1.8 mm
hydraulic head. In Fig. 8b, the pressure drop for the case of

Fig. 8 Pressure drop over the pass

a Case without losses
b Case with 30 W per disc

Fig. 9 Flow distributions on the horizontal oil ducts

a From network model for 15 W per disc
b From CFD for 15 W per disc
c From network model for 30 W per disc
d From CFD for 30 W per disc

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30 W per disc losses is shown and the deviation between the
network model and the CFD results is still small, less than
30 Pa. The difference of the pressure drop between the
cases with 15 and 30 W per disc losses was below 2%, so
that the results for 15 W are relinquished to display here.
From the comparison results, the network modelling was
proved to give well fit pressure drop correlations.
In Fig. 9 the flow distribution among the horizontal
channels is shown; the percentage refers to the whole oil
flow, which enters the inlet of the pass and distributes
among the individual horizontal channels. As seen in
Figs. 9a and c, the flow distribution calculated by the
network model is quasi-parabolic and nearly symmetrical to
the axial middle of the pass, even though slightly more oil
tends to flow through the upper half of the pass for the
cases with higher flow rates. In contrary, the distribution
calculated by CFD is distinctly and visibly asymmetrical
even for low flow rates. It gets increasingly imbalanced for
higher flow rates; for example, in the case of 10 l/min most
of the flow passes through the top two ducts. This was
indicated by the streamline plots in Fig. 5, in which it got
visible that separation eddies are blocking the lower ducts
in the case with such a high flow rate.
The difference in the flow distribution between the cases
with losses of 15 W per disc and 30 W per disc is
obviously small, which implies that buoyancy forces are not
very dominant, especially for high flow rates. In particular
the network model did not show any difference between 15
and 30 W and tiny difference is only shown within the CFD
Fig. 10 Temperature distributions on the winding conductors
a From network model for 15 W per disc
b From CFD for 15 W per disc
c From network model for 30 W per disc
d From CFD for 30 W per disc
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cases of 2 l/min, visible in Figs. 9b and d. At such a low
flow rate, the buoyancy forces are able to drive the oil flow
from the hotter outlet vertical channel to the colder inlet
vertical channel, and this tends to reverse the flow in the
upper horizontal ducts into the opposite direction and the
flow in the lower horizontal ducts into its original direction.
Finally, the flow distribution with higher losses becomes
more symmetrical.
In Fig. 10 the maximum temperature of the individual discs
is displayed. In the network modelling assumptions, this
maximum temperature locates at the downstream end of
each disc; however, in CFD results the whole volume of
each conductor bears almost the same temperature due to
the high thermal conductivity of copper, and this
temperature is taken as the maximum temperature. The
temperature profiles in Fig. 10 correspond to the flow
distributions in Fig. 9. As observed the temperatures
calculated by the network model are scaled by the factor of
loss density. For the CFD results the situation is similar, but
the only exception is in the case of 20 l/min, where a slight
temperature peak is recognisable at the second disc from
the bottom, probably due to the channel entry eddy
circulations. Another difference between the two modelling
approaches is that, for the low flow rates, particularly
2 l/min, the network model predicted higher temperatures
than the CFD for both losses. This is because the network
model predicted less uniform flow profiles than the CFD at
the low flow rates. For high flow rates, especially 20 l/min,
the network model temperature prediction is relatively
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lower than the CFD, since CFD showed that the bottom oil
ducts are blocked by entry eddy circulations and thereby
localised temperature peaks are formed.
7 Conclusions
As transformer thermal modelling tools, network models and
CFD both require the same input parameters such as model
geometry, oil properties and boundary conditions including
loading and bottom oil flow rate and temperature.
Fundamentally, network models employ the mathematic
equations for the average quantities, such as oil velocity
and temperature and so on, on each lumped element, that is,
oil duct or junction node, and some of the equations are
empirical. On the other hand, CFD uses much higher spatial
discretisation and gets rid of empirical equations especially
when the flow is laminar. In this paper, both modelling
approaches were compared based on the same winding pass
model in order to assess the influence of the different
discretisation of both approaches upon the modelling results.
From the comparison conducted, it was concluded that the
deviation between the pressure drop calculated by CFD and
the measured values is quite low and that, once adapted, the
network modelling method delivered reliable results for the
pressure drop as well. It is a proof to show that network
modelling would be able to provide a quick solution for
predicting winding pressure drops and thereby assist to
choose capable oil pumps for forced oil cooling at thermal
design stage. It is to remark that only the model and
material parameters were inputted into the CFD and
network model programs and no any calibration or adaption
from the measurement results was applied.
Secondly, with high total oil flow rates such as 20 l/min,
the flow distribution delivered by the network modelling
deviates from the one by CFD. The main difference was
particularly due to the separation eddies at the bottom ducts
as observed in the CFD results; network model cannot fully
capture the impact of complex phenomena like flow
separation. Moreover, the resulted disc temperatures from
network model are lower than those from CFD for high oil
flow rates; however, the comparative relation acts
oppositely for low flow rates.
8 Acknowledgments
Stefan Tenbohlen and Andreas Weinläder would like to thank
the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for sponsoring
this research project. Zhongdong Wang and Wei Wu would
like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) – National Grid Dorothy
Hodgkin Postgraduate Award (DHPA) and National Grid
for their financial sponsorship. Due appreciation should be
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given to the colleagues of CIGRE WG A2.38 for inspiritive
discussions. Financial support is also gracefully received
from the Academic Research Collaboration (ARC)
Programme between the British Council and Deutscher
Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) for facilitating
this collaborated paper.
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