Transformer Ef ciency- Effect Of

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April 2, 2015
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Importance of Transformer Ef ciency-

Distribution transformer is a part of every electrical power network at user end. If a
facility is being supplied on HT from the utility, transformer and its losses comes under
user’s responsibility. Like any other equipment its ef ciency is calculated as the ratio of
output power and input power. As transformer operates on the magnetizing
phenomenon and it has no rotating parts, its ef ciency is very high. It usually stays
above 95% but as the power ow across a transformer is very high even small changes
in terms of ef ciency percentage gives signi cant energy savings.

For the purpose of energy wastage calculations, considering two transformers of

2500KVA each and operating at 95% & 96% ef ciency. For supplying a load of
1000KW, the input power for them will be-

Transformer1-> 1000/0.95= 1052.6KW

Transformer2-> 1000/0.96= 1041.6KW

This implies extra losses of 11kw and 264 units in one day. For the purpose of
illustration, the calculation has been made too simple and it is only to prove the
signi cance of transformer’s ef ciency.

Type of Losses in Transformer-

Further for understanding the losses in a transformer, they can be divided in two
different parts.[1]

1. No-load losses or Core losses.

2. On-load losses or winding losses.

No-load losses represents for the energy dissipated for charging the transformer.
Energy consumed in setting up a magnetizing eld in the core of the transformer and
eddy current owing in its iron plates, accounts for these losses. As these losses
depend only on the core size and frequency of the power supply, they stay constant and
are independent of transformer’s loading.

Pcore= Ph+Pe (CONSTANT)

Where Ph =hysteresis losses and Pe= Eddy current losses.

Copper losses are produced in the winding of transformer, current owing both in
primary and secondary windings of the transformer dissipate energy in the form of
heat due to I2R losses. Being directly proportional to the square of current, these
losses vary with transformer loading.

PCopper= Pp+Ps

Where Pp Primary copper losses and Ps is secondary copper losses.

Ef ciency of a transformer is maximum when these two type of losses are equal.

i.e. Core Losses = Winding Losses.[2]

The plot is prepared of core and copper losses along with percentage losses in a
distribution transformer with 10KW as xed losses. It is clear from the plot that
minimum of percentage losses occur when both the core and copper losses are equal.
Also for higher loading, heat losses inside the transformer increases which affect the
life of insulation.

Effects of transformer loading-

As already mentioned, maximum transformer ef ciency occurs when the core and the
copper losses are equal. So, how do you nd out the percentage loading , that
corresponds to this point? Due to the continuous changing load on a transformer, they
are designed for giving maximum ef ciency at 50% of loading. Considering the practical
constraints, a window of 50-60% loading is to be considered for optimum operation.[3]

Below is a plot of ef ciency of the transformer over loading, representing the negative
effect (which though is small in relative terms but can lead to signi cant money
wastage in absolute terms) of higher loading on its ef ciency.

Figure 3 is for better visualization of decrease in ef ciency at higher loading, which is

obtained by zooming in gure 2 with percentage loading varying between 40 to 100%.
Fig.2                                                                Fig.3

Thus the window of 50-60% loading can be considered for a transformer which has not
been repaired on user site. If a transformer has been re-winded or repaired for faults in
the core, its no-load losses do not remain the same. After such alterations in the
transformer, point of ideal operation on percentage loading also get shifted.

Energy-Star Ratings of Transformers by BEE-

On 6th July 2009, bureau of energy ef ciency released a circular about giving STAR
ratings to distribution transformers. According to which, based on their losses at 50%
loading and 100% loading, transformers will be rated between 1-STAR & 5-STAR [4].
For achieving better ef ciency performance, every manufacturer is supposed to
provide the STAR rating sticker on the transformer itself. As mentioned by BEE,
transformers tted at 11KV/433V or 33KV/433 point has to be of at least 3 STARS. [5]

Chart below has been provided by BEE and can be referred as the standard data for
the scaling.

Table.1
Although standards provided by BEE are for distribution transformers of up to
200KVA rating but by calculating the ef ciency percentage and extrapolating these
readings, along with consideration towards increased no-load losses for large
transformers, base line can be set for transformers above 200KVA.

Based on the basic requirement of 3-STAR distribution transformer, central authority

of India has published the recommended levels of maximum total losses at 50% and
100% loading. Refer to the chart below for maximum losses in watts for transformers
above 200KVA. [5]

Table.2

The no-load losses and correspondingly the point of maximum ef ciency can be
obtained. This is possible with a meter on both HT and LT side con gured with
Zenatix’s Software, collecting high resolution power data. By analyzing the data for a
long enough time, Zenatix calculates the constant and the variable part in the losses.
Getting the constant losses, point of maximum ef ciency can be calculated. At a facility
with more than one transformer, loads can be adjusted across different transformers
such that it gives maximum overall ef ciency.
Fig1. No-Load, Copper Losses and percentage overall losses of a distribution
transformer.

Fig2. Curve of ef ciency of transformer over percentage loading.

Fig3. Zoomed in ef ciency curve for visualizing decrease in ef ciency from 50 to 100%
loading.

Table.1 Maximum total loss baseline for different star ratings of transformer up to
200KVA

Table.2 Maximum losses for 3 STAR rated transformers

REFERENCES-

[1]- SEAD Distribution Transformers Report Part 3: Energy Ef ciency Class De nitions
[2]- http://www.electricaleasy.com/2014/04/transformer-losses-and-ef ciency.html
[3]- http://nptel.ac.in/courses/IIT-MADRAS/Electrical_Machines_I/pdfs/1_10.pdf [4]-
http://www.beeindia.in/about_bee/documents/gazette_noti cation/noti cations/No.2-
11(5)-03(E)-BEE-3.pdf [5]-
http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/articles/god/guidelines_spec_1n3phase_tfs.pdf

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