PARALLEL OPERATION

OF
TRANSFORMER
PARALLEL OPERATION OF SINGLE-PHASE TRANSFORMERS

For supplying a load in excess of

the rating of an existing
transformer, a second transformer
may be connected in parallel.

By parallel operation we mean two

or more transformers are connected
to the same supply bus bars on the
primary side and to a common bus
bar/load on the secondary side.

Such requirement is frequently

encountered in practice.
PARALLEL OPERATION OF SINGLE-PHASE TRANSFORMERS

 Non-availability of a single large transformer to meet the

total load requirement.

 To ensure improved reliability. Even if one of the

transformers gets into a fault or is taken out for
maintenance/repair, the load can continued to be serviced.

 When transportation problems limit installation of large

transformers at site, it may be easier to transport smaller
ones to site and work them in parallel.
ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS FOR PARALLEL OPERATION.

 The turn-ratios (transformation ratio) must be same.

The voltage ratings of both primaries and secondaries should be identical.

 Polarities of the transformers are same so that there is no

circulating current between the transformers.

 Percent impedances of the transformers are same .

 Ratios of resistance to reactance are same.

 ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS FOR PARALLEL OPERATION.

 Phase displacement between primary and secondary windings of the

transformers is same.

 Phase sequences of the transformers are same.

 first four conditions for paralleling transformers (listed above) apply

to single-phase transformers, as there is no voltage transformation
related to phase angle shift or phase rotation.

All six conditions apply, however, to paralleling three-phase-banks

of single-phase 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.
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.
 IF TURN RATIO IS NOT EQUAL
 The two transformers have slightly different transformation or turn
ratios, even then parallel operation is possible, the output voltages
will be not equal, and a current will circulate in a close loop
formed by two secondaries.

 When load is connected, the circulating current adds to the load

current in one transformer and subtracts from the load current in the
other transformer.

 This localized circulating current will tend to produce unequal

loading condition. Thus, if the transformer bank is operating at
rated load, the transformer with the higher secondary voltage will
be overloaded, and the other transformer will be underloaded.
Icirculating = (EA-EB)/(ZA+ZB)
POLARITIES OF THE TRANSFORMERS
 The transformers should be properly connected with regard to polarity
otherwise paralleling with incorrect polarities will result in short-circuit.

 The polarity of connection in

the case of single phase
transformers can be either same
or opposite.

 Inside the loop formed by the

two secondaries the resulting
voltage must be zero.

 If wrong polarity is chosen the

two voltages get added and
short circuit results.
THE PERCENTAGE IMPEDANCES SHOULD BE EQUAL
If the impedances are not identical , parallel operation will still be
possible, but the power factors at which the two transformers
operate will be different from the power factor of the common
load.

Therefore, in this case, the two transformers will not share the
load in proportion to their kVA ratings.

If they have to share the total load in proportion to their ratings

the larger machine has to draw more current.
 Thus the larger machines have smaller impedance and smaller
machines must have larger ohmic impedance.

 Thus the impedances must be in the inverse ratios of the ratings.

 If the quality of the two percentage impedances is different (i.e.ratio

of percentage resistance to reactance is different), then this will result
in divergence of phase angle of the two currents, with the result that
one transformer will be operating with a higher and the other with a
lower power factor than of the combined load
PHASE SEQUENCE

 The phase sequence of operation becomes relevant only in the case of poly
phase systems.

 The poly phase banks belonging to same vector group can be connected in
parallel.

 A transformer with +30◦ phase angle however can be paralleled with the
one with −30◦ phase angle, the phase sequence is reversed for one of them
both at primary and secondary terminals.

 If the phase sequences are not the same then the two transformers cannot be
connected in parallel even if they belong to same vector group.

 The phase sequence can be found out by the use of a phase sequence
indicator.
ϴ=COS-1 0.8 = - 36.9°
RA = (VRATED/IRATED)* %RA
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 1.
• The combination of the circulating currents and full load current exceed
the full load rating of either transformer.
From the list above, the circulating currents represent the current flowing at
no load in the high and low voltage windings, excluding exciting currents.
Full load current is the current flowing in the transformer with a load
connected, absent of exciting and circulating currents.
THREE-PHASE TRANSFORMERS.
While the same transformer paralleling conditions apply to three-phase transformers,
consideration must be given to the phase angle shift and to phase rotation. The
transformers must have the same winding arrangement.

(a) Certain transformer connections as the Wye-Delta or Wye-Zigzag produce a 30

shift between the line voltages on the primary side and those on the secondary side.

Transformers with these connections cannot be paralleled with transformers not

having this shift such as Wye-Wye, Delta-Delta, Zigzag-Delta, or Zigzag-Zigzag.

(b) Phase rotation refers to the sequence in which the terminal voltages reach their
maximum values. In paralleling, those terminals whose voltage maximums occur
simultaneously are paired.

Power Transformer Practice. The preceding discussion covered the theoretically.

Their vector groups should be the same and the connection
should be implemented
with the corresponding terminals U-u, V-v, W-w. In other
words, the
transformers must have the same inherent phase angle
difference between primary
and secondary terminals, the same polarity and the same phase
sequence.
1.5.3 Load Distribution to Transformers in Parallel Operation
If parallel operated transformers have the same voltage ratio but
different short circuit impedance, then the load is distributed
among them in such a way that each transformer accepts a
specific level of load for which the short-circuit impedance
becomes the same for all the parallel operated transformers.
When none of the parallel operated transformers is permitted to be
overloaded, the transformer with the minimum short-circuit
impedance must operate at maximum under its rated power.
Consequently, the load distribution is given by the following
equation:
where is the load that is distributed to transformer , is
the rated power of
transformer , is the rated short-circuit impedance of
transformer , and
is the minimum rated short-circuit impedance of the n
parallel operated
transformers.
Si i Sn,i
i Uk,i i
Uk, min
Finally, the total rated power, Stot , of the n parallel
operated transformers is:
1.Primary windings of the transformers should be suitable for the supply
system voltage and frequency.

2.The transformers should be properly connected with regard to polarity.

3.The voltage ratings of both primaries and secondaries should be identical.

In other words, the transformers should have the same turn ratio i.e.
transformation ratio.

4.The percentage impedances should be equal in magnitude and have the

same X/R ratio in order to avoid circulating currents and operation at
different power factors.

5.With transformers having different kVA ratings, the equivalent

impedances should be inversely proportional to the individual kVA
rating if circulating currents are to be avoided
SAME VOLTAGE RATIO
Generally the turns ratio and voltage ratio are taken to be the same. If the ratio is large
there can be considerable error in the voltages even if the turns ratios are the same.
When the primaries are connected to same bus bars, if the secondaries do not show the
same voltage, paralleling them would result in a circulating current between the
secondaries. Reflected circulating current will be there on the primary side also. Thus
even without connecting a load considerable current can be drawn by the transformers
and they produce copper losses. In two identical transformers with percentage
impedance of 5 percent, a no-load voltage difference of one percent will result in a
circulating current of 10 percent of full load current. This circulating current gets added
to the load current when the load is connected resulting in unequal sharing of the load. In
such cases the combined full load of the two transformers can never be met without one
transformer getting overloaded.

If turn ratio is not equal, the output voltages will be not equal, and a current will circulate in
a close loop formed by two secondaries. When load is connected, the circulating current
adds to the load current in one transformer and subtracts from the load current in the
other transformer. Thus, if the transformer bank is operating at rated load, the
transformer with the higher secondary voltage will be overloaded, and the other
transformer will be underloaded.
1.5.2 Parallel Operation
The parallel operation of two or more transformers
is feasible, when the following
requirements are met:
• The ratio of their rated power should be less than
3:1.
• Their voltage ratio should be the same (the
permitted tolerance is according to
IEC 60076-1, Table 1.6).
• Their short-circuit impedance should be the same
(the permitted tolerance is
according to IEC 60076-1, Table 1.6).
Transformers of different ratings may be required to operate in parallel.

If they have to share the total load in proportion to their ratings the larger machine has to
draw more current.

The voltage drop across each machine has to be the same by virtue of their connection at the
input and the output ends.

Thus the larger machines have smaller impedance and smaller machines must have larger
ohmic impedance.

Thus the impedances must be in the inverse ratios of the ratings.

As the voltage drops must be the same the per unit impedance of each transformer on its
own base, must be equal. In addition if active and reactive power are required to be
shared in proportion to the ratings the impedance angles also must be the same. Thus
we have the requirement that per unit resistance and per unit reactance of both the
transformers must be the same for proper load sharing.

Since connecting two impedances in parallel will

result in a combined impedance which is very much less than either of the
components (paralleling two identical transformers results in a combination
which has an impedance of half that of each, individually) the primary result
of this is to increase the fault level of the LV busbar. Care must therefore be
taken to ensure that the fault capability of the LV switchgear is not exceeded.
Unless fuse protection is provided each of the outgoing circuits would also
need to be designed and cabled to withstand the full fault level of the paralleled
transformers.
The ratio of voltage drop within the transformer impedance, to the rated voltage of the transformer

ZPU= Irated Zeq/ Vrated

The PU impedance (and % impedance) has the same value wheather calculated using all high
side values or all low side values.

 The percentage impedance can then be calculated as follows:

 Z%  =  Impedance Voltage   x  100
Rated Voltage

The percentage impedance of a transformer is the volt drop on full load due to the winding
resistance and leakage reactance expressed as a percentage of the rated voltage.
It is also the percentage of the normal terminal voltage required to circulate full-load
current under short circuit conditions


Shunt reactor