Transformer Design Highlights

of ABB Red TIE

Wendy Shu,
EPC Design, Generation
Feb. 2015

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The ABB Red TIE (Technical Information
Exchange)

•a full day of customized, technical training

•an opportunity to discuss technical matters of
importance to you
•an opportunity for you to network with your industry
peers
•an individual certificate of completion will be
provided
•The Red TIE Event is a “technical” exchange. It is
not a commercial event

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Topics

• Design review process of power transformers

• Designing transformers to withstand systems
faults & high transportation accelerations
• Designing transformers to withstand HV lightning
& switching surges
• Transformer failure modes
• Remanufacturing vs. repair of power transformers
• Load tap changers: design, application &
maintenance

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Topics VS Presenters

Topics Presenters

Transformer Design Krzysztof Kulasek

ABB Eng VP, North America
Abderrahmane Zouaghi
Eng. Manager, ABB Varennes

Maintenance Mustafa Lahloub

& Repair Eng. Manager, Tr.
Remanufacturing and Engineering
Service
Dave Geibel
LTC Design& Eng. Manager, ABB Alamo
Maintenance

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Design Review

Purpose, Benefits
•Have different parties to look at the design, to identify and
clarify different interpretation of the spec.
•Identify any novelty features and evaluate their reliability and
risks
Guidelines
CIGRE WG A2.36, “Guide for conducting design review for
power transformers”

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Design Review

Customers should avoid

•Define own design limits not included in the spec
•Requesting a higher safety margin which is not technically justified
•Requesting a technical solution or a procedure which are not standard for
the supplier
•Taking influence on the design solutions

When is the right time?

Earliest possible point after the completion of electrical design
•All data to be guaranteed are known
•Electrical and mechanical stresses are known
•No material has been ordered
•Changes or modifications are possible, typically without an additional cost
 Drawback of an early review
•Mechanical design is not completed

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Design Review- IEC Scope Checklist

System data
- AC system voltage variations Transformer design
- System short-circuit capacity - Core mechanical design
- Transformer protection - Core thermal design
- System grounding conditions - Core insulation
- Winding arrangement
Environmental data - Types of winding
- Ambient temperature range - Winding insulation design
- Site altitude - Winding thermal design
- Pollution - Winding mechanical design
- Seismic zone and response data - Winding clamping
- Short-circuit strength
Specification requirements - Leads and cleats
- Ratings, loading - Leakage flux control
- Ratios - Sound level control
- Insulation levels - Seismic analysis
- Impedances - External cooling equipment
- Cooling provisions - Conservator, preservation system
- Temperature rise limits - Surface preparation and painting
- Sound levels
- Losses

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Design Review- IEC Scope Checklist cont’d

Manufacturing
- Connection technology Transportation and installation
- Active part dry-out and processing - Routing
- Clearance limitations
Inspection and test plan - Weight limitations
- Tests to be performed - Use of impact recorders
- Limits of test results - Site handling
- Tap changer positions during testing - Warranty considerations
- Heat run tests
- Extra tests during fabrication
- Required details in the test report

Auxiliary equipment
- Bushings
- Current transformers
- Tap changers
- Internal surge arresters
- Control cabinet
- Monitoring devices

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Design Review

Good design is when all limits are met and margins for
stresses are optimized

Dielectric Stresses
•Due to system overvoltage, transient impulse
conditions or internal resonance of windings

Thermal Stresses
•Due to local overheating, overload currents and
Dielectric
leakage flux when loading above nameplate limits
ratings, malfunction of cooling equipment

Mechanical stresses
•Between conductors, winding insulation structure
and the core, leads and winging due to overcurrent Mechanical Thermal
or fault currents caused by short circuits and
inrush currents limits limits

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Examples of Design Review

Winding insulation, main insulation and winding exits design

-Winding impulse strength analysis with time consideration

Hot sport location and temperature control

-During the design process the heating of many components have to be investigated as a
routine calculation
-Hot spots of all windings, winding exit leads, core lamination, core clamps, core tie plates,
core surface, and heating of the tank

Short circuit withstand capability

-Network short circuit power and fault current calculations
-Radial and axial short circuit forces
-Force distribution and transfer to the winding pressing insulation and core structure
-Ampere-turn balancing
-Winding clamping structure
-Workshop tolerances
-Copper hardness and epoxy coating of conductors if required
-SC testing reference

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 Design Transformer to Withstand System Faults

The fault current

•In case of external short circuit, the fault current through the transformer is only
limited by the capacity of the system and the transformer impedance
•The fault current will increase to a multiple of the rated current of the transformer

The magnetic field and the force

•The short circuit current will generate a magnetic field very similar to, but much
greater than, the field under normal loading conditions
•As during normal operation, winding exposed to magnetic field will be subjected to
mechanical forces
•Because the field increase proportionally to the current, the force will increase with
the square of the current.

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Design Transformer to Withstand System Faults

Force= β * I * ℓ * sinɑ
Flux density * Current Density * Length of current element

* Angle between current and flux

The direction of forces is always perpendicular to the magnetic field lines

Forces can be split into 2 components
•Radial forces (inward/compressive stress, outward/tensile stress, buckling, spiraling)
•Axial forces (telescoping, collapse)

Electromagnetic forces tend to increase the main insulation duct and to

increase existing un-symmetries
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 Design Transformer to Withstand System
Faults
Design with respect to radial forces
- All windings are designed to be radially self supporting
- Radial strength of inner windings is determined by Cu yield point and conductor geometry
- Radial strength of outside windings is determined by Cu yield point

Design to respect to Axial force

- Optimum ampere turn balancing of all windings
- Axial forces are calculated by FEA, considering axial displacement due to workshop tolerance
- Windings are dimensioned for maximum compression forces, dynamic effects are considered
by dynamic factors on the force
- Winding ends are dimensioned for maximum axial forces and for a part of the maximum
compression force (“bounce back”)

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 Design Transformer to Withstand System Faults

Material Selection
-Copper is specified with yield points up to 320 N/mm2, which is selected to meet radial strength
requirements
-Continuously Transposed Cables (CTC) and twin conductors are epoxy bonded to increase the
radial strength and avoid axial tilting
-Pre-compressed high density pressboard is used for spacing and axial support to minimize
relaxing
-High density paper is used for all conductor insulation to minimize compression and relaxing

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 Design Transformer to Withstand System Faults

Manufacturing Consideration
-Axial winding height
-Inner diameter
-Outer diameter
-Rigid clamping of windings
-Pre-pressing and height adjustment within the above tolerances
-Final pressing after drying with temperature control to minimize loss of pressure in service

Strict manufacturing tolerances for winding

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 Design Transformer to Withstand System
Fault
The keys to success- designing for short circuit
-What is the peak, full asymmetric current used for SC calculation?
-Is the pre-fault voltage considered
-Where all SC cases considered?
-Are the calculated SC currents accurate? Was a system study performed?
-What calculation method was used to determine the SC forces?
-What is the maximum axial displacement (offset) used in the calculation and was the pitch of the
winding considered?
-How do you ensure that the maximum offset used in the calculation will not be exceeded during the
manufacturing process?
-How are the permissible limits for spacers and pressboard determined? Were actual SC test
performed?
-How are the forces on clamps, tie-bars, tie-rods, tie-plates, pressure rings and end supports calculated
and what is the basis for the limits on these items?
-Are the forces calculated static or dynamic?
-Are all winding subject to buckling self-supporting?
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 Design Transformer to Withstand System
Fault
Success Depends on:
-Precise current and force calculations
-Calculation and stress evaluation must be based on the short circuit test experience from models
and production units
-Axial ampere-turn balancing
-Radially self supporting winding
-Work hardening and epoxy coating of conductors
-Rigid clamping of windings
-Close manufacturing tolerances

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 Design to Withstand High Transport Acceleration

North America is Unique

-The handling of equipment during railway transportation in North America is among the roughest
in the world
-Transformer typically are equipped with impact recorders during transportation
-Impact recorder readings have confirmed higher accelerations are typically experienced in North
America more than in other parts of the world
-NA transformers need a reinforced design to survive the rough handling on the railway systems

The following elements must be designed for expected transport accelerations

-Number and the size of the yoke bolts
-Number of the step blocks
-Number of core supports
-Number of core bandage layers
-Size and number of retaining beams

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 Design to Withstand High Transport Acceleration

Confirmation of successful transportation

Analysis of the transient recorder records
Internal inspection of the active part for loose parts or indication of shifting
Repetition of the below tests
-SFRA and comparison to the fingerprints taken in the factory
-Core insulation resistance test
-Single phase exciting current test
-Leakage reactance test

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 Design to Withstand HV Lightning and Switching
Surges
Overvoltage in Service
Temporary Overvoltage
•A power frequency voltage of relatively long duration, ranging from less than one second to several
hours

Transient Overvoltage
•A short duration overvoltage ranging from nanoseconds up to a few milliseconds.
•Transient overvoltage may be oscillatory or non0oscillatory
•Usually unidirectional

Overvoltage caused by atmospheric phenomena

Overvoltage generated within the power system
Lightning and switching impulse surges are standardized transient voltages and are also called
transients
The impulse surge voltages applied during testing determine the insulation design of a transformer
to a high degree
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 Design to Withstand HV Lightning and Switching Surges

General Winding Behavior at Transient Voltages

•Winding or winding sections always oscillate electrically if oscillations are initiated from outside
•This initiation occurs during impulse voltage testing or during faults on the line and switching operations in service
•The winding oscillation caused by a standard lightning impulse wave is the transition from the initial capacitive to
the inductive voltage distribution
•The internal response on external initiation depends on the excitation frequency and depends on the amplitude

Transient calculation
•Transient calculations are time dependent analyzes of the voltage distribution
•Transient calculations are fundamental part of the design work. The tool used has to include capacitance and
inductance matrices
•A correct transient equivalent circuit which represents the basis for a correct modeling
•Voltages between windings and turns need to be determined and converted into stresses to deliver a criterion to
evaluate a design

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 Design to Withstand HV Lightning and Switching Surges

Transformer Insulation Structure

•Winding insulation, turn to turn and coil to coil
•Main insulation, winding to winding, winding to core and winding to tank
•Exit lead insulation, distances to other leads, windings, core structure and tank

In most cases, the design of the insulation is determined by the lightning and switching impulse,
therefore correct transient calculations are the key factor for long term in service reliability

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 Design to Withstand HV Lightning and Switching Surges

Material types in the main insulation system

-There are two types of material used in the main insulation system
• Solid insulation material (paper, pressboard, Nomex, others)
• Liquid insulation material (mineral oil, ester fluid, synthetic fluid)
-The main role of the paper is to prevent the ignition of discharges
-The barriers prevent the propagation of discharges
-The liquid insulation’s task is to prevent discharge ignition and to dissipate the heat

Main insulation characteristic

-The transformer’s main insulation is a combination of solid barriers and oil ducts
-The goal is to subdivide large ducts between the winding by means of barriers into a series of
smaller ducts to make use of the higher specific strength of the oil for smaller duct sizes.

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 Design to Withstand HV Lightning and Switching Surges

Design Margin
-The manufacturer includes margin in the design of the insulation for the following reasons
• The breakdown of solid and liquid insulation is subject of random effects with a scatter
• Different arrangement show different breakdown characteristics
• The calculation of the transient voltage and stresses can not be done without tolerances
• Production tolerances must be taken into consideration
-The required design margin for the dielectric strength depends on the following
• The failure probability of the design limit
• The accuracy of voltage and stress calculations
• The tolerance needed for manufacturing
-A design showing a high electrical margin is not necessarily a safe design

The design margin must cover the tolerances for scatter, calculation and manufacturing

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