Protection Concept for a 100 kVA Hybrid Transformer

SEMINAR REPORT

submitted by

Anitta Vincent
( TRV19EEPN02)

to
the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree
of
Master of Technology
in
Power System and Control

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Government Engineering College
Barton Hill
Thiruvananthapuram
December 2019
 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS
ENGINEERING
Government Engineering College
Barton Hill Colony
Kunnukuzhy, Thiruvananthapuram

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the seminar entitled Protection Concept for a 100
kVA Hybrid Transformer submitted by Anitta Vincent (TRV19EEPN02)
to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Technology in Power Sytem
and Control is a bonafide record of the seminar work carried out by her under our
guidance and supervision. This report in any form has not been submitted to any
other University or Institute for any purpose.

Seminar Co-Ordinator Head of the Department

Name : Prof.Anjana K. R. Name : Dr.Ashok Kumar A.
Signature : ....................... Signature : .......................

PG Dean
Name : Dr.A. Dinesh Pai
Signature : .......................
 DECLARATION

I undersigned hereby declare that the seminar report (“ Protection

Concept for a 100 kVA Hybrid Transformer ”) submitted for partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of degree of Master of Technology of the APJ
Abdul Kalam Technological University, Kerala, is a bonafide work done by me under
supervision of Prof Anjana K.R. This submission represents my ideas in my own
words and where ideas or words of others have been included, I have adequately
and accurately cited and referenced the original sources. I also declare that I have
adhered to ethics of academic honesty and integrity and have not misrepresented or
fabricated any data or idea or fact or source in my submission. I understand that any
violation of the above will be a cause for disciplinary action by the institute and/or
the University and can also evoke penal action from the sources which have thus not
been properly cited or from whom proper permission has not been obtained. This
report has not been previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma
or similar title of any other University.

Place : .......................... Signature of student : ......................................

Date : December 3, 2019 Name of student : Anitta Vincent

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude and sincere thanks
to all who helped me to complete this seminar report successfully
I thank Dr. Suresh K. ,Principal, Government Engineering College Barton
Hill,Trivandrum for his support and Cooperation.
I express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Asok Kumar A. , Head of the Depart-
ment, Electrical and Electronics Engineering,for his inspiring guidance,unstinted
support,positive criticism and valuable comments.
I deeply indebted to our Seminar Co-ordinator Dr. A. Dinesh Pai, PG Dean and
Prof. Anjana K. R. , Assosiate Professor Department of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering for their supervision, suggestion and valuable comments.
I also acknowledge my gratitude to other members of faculty in Department
of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, my Family and friends for their whole
hearted co-operation and encourage. Above all thank GOD Almighty without whose
help I wouldn’t have reached so far.

Anitta Vincent
(Reg. No. TRV19EEPN02)
M. Tech. (Power System and Control)
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Government Engineering College Trivandrum
 ABSTRACT

In the recent days, renewable energy has been becoming one of the independent
energy sources in human life; it will be the major resources for the future generation
of power. Today some people tend to use renewable energy in their home or land
such as solar, wind etc. because of the increasing integration of renewable energies
into the distribution grid, a deterioration of the grid power quality is expected. For
improving the power quality a low frequency transformer and fractionally rated
power electronic converters called Hybrid Transformer can be applied. Hybrid
transformer allows a highly dynamic control of the grid voltage as well as of the
active and reactive power flow. For the applications in todays and future AC grids, a
protection concept is required, which is developed and verified in this paper. The
presence of low frequency transformer significantly reduces converter stresses during
faults especially in comparison to solid state transformers. An efficiency of 98.48% is
achievable for the considered 100kVA hybrid transformer including protection which
is only a slightly lower than the efficiency of 98.64% for a comparable conventional
transformer. This proves that the hybrid transformer is a promising solution to
enhance the power quality.

ii
 CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i

ABSTRACT ii

LIST OF FIGURES iv

ABBREVIATIONS vi

Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Hybrid Transformer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 HT Topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Chapter 2. PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR HT 5

2.1 Causes for Overvoltages and Overcurrents . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Insulation and Short Circuit Withstand Requirements for
Conventional Transformers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 Protection Requirements for Hybrid Transformers . . . . . . 6
2.3.1 LV grid short circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3.2 MV grid short circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3.3 MV grid switching surge . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3.4 MV grid lightning surge . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3.5 LV grid voltage surges . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3.6 Converter inrush currents . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3.7 Insulation of components and auxiliary wiring 8

Chapter 3. DEVELOPMENT OF SIMULATION MODELS 9

3.1 Model to Study the Effect of LV Short Circuits . . . . . . . 9

iii
 3.2 Model to Study the Effect of MV Switching Surges and
Converter Inrush Currents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3 Model to Study the Effect of MV Lightning Surges . . . . . 11

Chapter 4. PROTECTION CONCEPT FOR 100 KVA HT PROTOTYPE 12

4.1 bypass switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2 DC-link clamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3 dc-link capacitance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.4 Filter inductance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Chapter 5. SIMULATION RESULTS 15

5.1 Verification of LV Short Circuit Protection . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.2 Verification of Switching Surge Protection . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.3 Verification of Lightning Surge Protection . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 6. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS 18

6.1 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
6.2 Critical Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.3 impact of the work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.4 suggestions for improvement and future scope . . . . . . . . 20
6.5 points of discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

REFERENCES 22

iv
 LIST OF FIGURES

1.1 HT Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 HT Prototype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3.1 Simulation model to determine the effect of LV short circuits . . . . 9

3.2 Simulation model to determine the effect of SI on MV side and of
the converter inrush current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3 Simulation model to determine the effect of MV lightning surges . . 11

4.1 Overview of the complete protection concept for the HT . . . . . . 12

5.1 Simulated current,voltage and temperature waveforms for phase to

ground short circuit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.2 Simulated surge voltage,inductor current and DC -link voltage for
different remanence flux densities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.3 Simulation results of a 125kV lightning surge . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

v
 ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviation Expansion
CM Common Mode
FACTS Flexible AC Transmission Systems
HT Hybrid Transformer
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
LFT Low Frequency Transformer
LI Lightning Impulses
LV Low Voltage
MV Medium Voltage
SI Switching Impulses
SST Solid State Transformer
VRDT Voltage Regulated Distribution Transformer
VSI Voltage Source Inverter

vi
 Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 HYBRID TRANSFORMER

In the future grid, an increasing penetration of distributed generators and power

electronic converters with high dynamics is expected. Fast grid voltage variations
due to the fluctuating generation power of renewable energy sources are a conse-
quence, especially in the low voltage (LV) distribution grid. With their ability to
control grid voltage, active and reactive power in the milliseconds range, hybrid
transformers (HTs) recently gained increasing research interest [1] [9]. HTs combine
a conventional low frequency transformer (LFT) with a power electronic converter
rated for only a fraction (typically 10% to 20%) of the power of the LFT. Since the
major part of the power is transferred through the LFT, the HT concept utilizes the
high efficiency, reliability and low cost of LFTs.

The HT concept allows to enhance the controllability in comparison to voltage

regulated distribution transformers (VRDTs) and to decrease losses and cost in
comparison to solid-state transformers (SSTs). By integrating an LFT and a converter
into a single system, the overall complexity, cost and volume can be reduced in
comparison to an LFT and a separate FACTS device [4]. A qualitative comparison
of HTs and alternative solutions like VRDTs, SSTs and flexible AC transmission
systems (FACTS) is performed in [7].Investigations on the grid level are presented
in [2] and compare the grid losses and the hosting capacity for renewable generation
if VRDTs, HTs or SSTs are applied.
The Hybrid Distribution Transformer has the potential to revolutionize the operation
of future electrical distribution grids. It is an active distribution transformer that
primarily regulates voltage and VARs, but in an enhanced form it could provide dc
output and include energy storage. The availability of these functions in a distribution
transformer will help it meet the demands of the future distribution grid, which are
changing due to the increasing penetration of renewable and distributed generation

1.2 HT TOPOLOGY

The considered HT topology for the connection of the medium voltage (MV)
and LV distribution grids is depicted in Fig. 1.1 Side A of the back-to-back con-
verter is connected in series to the LV winding. A three-phase four-wire voltage
source inverter (VSI) is considered for this investigation to provide an accessible
neutral wire [2] Converter B is connected to an auxiliary (Aux) winding of the

Figure 1.1: HT Configuration

LFT. The specifications of the considered 100 kVA, 20 kV-400V HT are given in
Tab. I. A control range of the LV grid voltage, active and reactive power of 10% is
assumed.The gradual transition towards a smarter grid requires power electronics-
based solutions like HTs, SSTs and FACTS devices to comply with the existing grid

2
protection technology, which is adapted to robust overhead lines, cables and LFTs.
Considerable voltage and current stresses necessitate the development of protection
requirements and concepts The investigations further underscore the unsuitability

Figure 1.2: HT Prototype

of SSTs to substitute LFTs in conventional AC grid applications. Reasons are the

high losses and cost as well as the limited overloading capability of SSTs. In com-
parison to SSTs, the LFT of the HT entails different propagation mechanisms for
overvoltages and overcurrents and allows further degrees of freedom for designing
the protection concept of HTs. Hence, the protection measures for SST cannot be
directly transferred to HTs.

Protection concepts for HTs are essential to ensure areliable operation and to
fully evaluate their suitability for grid applications. However, research related to HTs
has mainly focussed on analytical modeling [2], topologies [1], control strategies
[4], possible functionalities [5] and laboratory prototypes
A switch to bypass the series connected converter in case of faults is included

3
in the prototypes [3] and is presented for comparable FACTS devices. A protection
concept specifically designed for HTs has been discussed for the first time based on
simulations.
This paper extends the investigations by presenting the design, implementation
as well as simulative and experimental validation of a protection concept for a
100 kVA HT prototype system. The main targets of this paper are to evaluate the
technical feasibility of operating HTs in conventional AC grids, to derive protection
requirements and protection concepts for the most critical faults and to demonstrate
the achievable performance of HTs including protection. This enables a more
comprehensive evaluation of the potentials and limitations of HTs on a power
systems level.

4
 Chapter 2

PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR HT

The protection requirements for systems such as the HT have not been defined
in standards yet. Hence, this section deduces requirements from possible realistic
fault scenarios and, where possible, from the standards for conventional power
transformers IEC 60076 [3].

2.1 CAUSES FOR OVERVOLTAGES AND OVERCURRENTS

The variety of fault scenarios is possible for power electronic systems operation
in the grid. In general, they can be classified into internal faults, which occur within
the converter (e.g. semiconductor or control system failures) and external faults,
which occur in the grid and impose stresses on the converter. This paper focusses
on external faults,External faults can be further subdivided into scenarios where
primarily overvoltages or overcurrents reach critical values. However, it has to be
noted that overvoltages also excite overcurrents and vice versa which can be harmful
for the converter.
Transient overvoltages with very high amplitudes can be caused by lightning im-
pulses (LIs) and switching impulses (SIs) and have typical durations between a few
tens of microseconds and a few milliseconds. In contrast to that, temporary line
frequency overvoltages can last for up to hours and are mainly caused by earth faults.
Besides an overload condition, short circuits in the grid excite overcurrents, which
can last for seconds or minutes.
2.2 INSULATION AND SHORT CIRCUIT WITHSTAND REQUIRE-

MENTS FOR CONVENTIONAL TRANSFORMERS

Insulation levels and dielectric tests for power transformers are defined in the
standard IEC 60076-3.For a conventional LFT interconnecting the 20 kV and the
400V distribution grid levels, the test voltage levels are given in Tab. II. In addition,
Tab. II states a typical test current level to verify the ability to withstand short circuit
currents according to IEC 60076-5.

2.3 PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR HYBRID TRANSFORM-

ERS

If HT is applied to today’s energy grid, it has to withstand the same overvoltage

and overcurrent stresses as an LFT

2.3.1 LV grid short circuit

The selectivity of the grid protection limits the adverse impact of the fault to
the smallest possible grid region by disconnecting the fault as far downstream as
possible.In the LV grid, this selectivity is typically achieved by fuses or breakers
with staggered tripping currents and times. The HT has to provide considerable
short circuit currents for up to several seconds with the existing grid protection
infrastructure to ensure a reliable fault detection and disconnection.

2.3.2 MV grid short circuit

For radial LV distribution grids, only the generation power installed in the LV
grid (e.g. from photovoltaics) loads the HT during a MV grid short circuit. The
current stress for the HT is thus lower than for a LV grid short circuit.

6
2.3.3 MV grid switching surge

The switching line segments or capacitor banks causes overvoltages. For trans-
former winding voltages Vm <72.5kV, the standard IEC 60076-3 does not demand
switching surge tests since lightning surges are assumed to be more critical with
respect to the transformer insulation. A 250/2500 µs switching surge according to is
applied between two terminals of the MV winding in this investigation.

2.3.4 MV grid lightning surge

The lightning surges induce a fast voltage transient in overhead lines and indi-
rectly in cables.the standard IEC 60076-3 defines a 1.2/50 µs voltage surge with
a peak value of 125 kV for testing the insulation of the MV winding with respect
to lightning surges. The testing procedure described in IEC 60076-3 requires the
voltage pulse to be applied separately to each winding terminal under test, whereas
all other winding terminals of the LFT are grounded

2.3.5 LV grid voltage surges

In comparison to voltage surges on the MV side, voltage surges on the LV

side are less frequent and of lower amplitude. The protection of the HT against
overvoltages in the LV grid is similar to the protection required for standard grid
connected converters and can be realized with surge protection devices based on
spark gaps, varistors or TVS diodes.

2.3.6 Converter inrush currents

When the HT is connected to the grid, two types of inrush currents are excited.
Firstly, the DC-link capacitor of the back-to-back converter is charged by a short
pulse current of significant amplitude.Second, saturation of the LFT core results
in overcurrents on the MV side if no mitigation.This is accounted for by the LFT

7
manufacturer of the LFT.

2.3.7 Insulation of components and auxiliary wiring

Similar to IEC 60076-3, wiring providing auxiliary power to the HT should

withstand overvoltages of 2 kV,which has no significant influence on the design of
the HT. Additionally, sufficient insulation between the converter components and
ground must be ensured to avoid breakdown.

8
 Chapter 3

DEVELOPMENT OF SIMULATION MODELS

The simulation models are developed to study the effects of the most critical
cases on the converter and to verify the effectiveness of the protection concepts.

3.1 MODEL TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF LV SHORT CIRCUITS

To determine the implications of short circuits in the grid, the equivalent circuit
is applied.Due to the long fault duration of 2s , parasitic capacitances are neglected
and the LFT can be modeled by its short circuit impedance ZSC,MV −LV between the
MV and LV side. The effects of grid short circuits are investigated at full load of the
converter.

Figure 3.1: Simulation model to determine the effect of LV short circuits

If a fault is detected as in fig.3.1 and all semiconductor switches are turned off,
the filter inductors of both converter sides discharge into the DClink. To take into
account the DC-link voltage rise due to the energy stored in the filter inductances
of converter B , an energy equivalent inductanceLDC is placed in the DC-link. The
peak line current of converter B can be calculated by

r
2 PSer NMV
IˆConv.B = . . (3.1)
3 ηConv .VMV NAux

In a three-phase system, the total energy stored in the filter inductances LFB and the
connection wires LW B is given by

3 2
WLB = .(LFB + LW B ).IˆConv.B (3.2)
4

3.2 MODEL TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF MV SWITCHING SURGES

AND CONVERTER INRUSH CURRENTS

The simulation model to investigate the impacts of 250/2500 s SIs as well as

converter inrush currents is depicted in Fig.3.2. Transients in the millisecond range
are excited in both cases. Hence, the capacitive couplings of the LFT play a minor
role. However, the considerable voltagetime area causes core saturation of the LFT
as described in IEC 60076-4 for the case of SIs . Consequently, a reluctance model

Figure 3.2: Simulation model to determine the effect of SI on MV side and of the
converter inrush current

of the core with saturable magnetic paths and adjustable remanent flux densities is
included. The model furthermore comprises a DC-link clamping circuit to study the
functionality of the protection measures

10
3.3 MODEL TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF MV LIGHTNING SURGES

In case of lightning transients, the capacitive elements of the transformer have

to be taken into account since they significantly influence the propagation of fast
voltage transients to the back-to-back converter. a simplified high frequency model

Figure 3.3: Simulation model to determine the effect of MV lightning surges

of the LFT is applied, which focusses on the propagation of the voltage pulse to the
converter rather than on the internal voltage distribution across the winding.

11
 Chapter 4

PROTECTION CONCEPT FOR 100 KVA HT

PROTOTYPE

Based on the simulation models,a comprehensive protection concept is designed

for the 100 kVA HT prototype in this section.The schematic of the HT and the
picture of the converter prototype give an overview of the complete resulting concept
consisting of the six elements shown in red in fig.4.1.

Figure 4.1: Overview of the complete protection concept for the HT

4.1 BYPASS SWITCH

A bypass switch provides an alternative current path during LV grid short circuits
and converter faults. An increased LFT turns ratio NMV =NAux reduces the energy
transferred to the converter during the SI and when the HT is connected to the MV
grid. During the LI, varistors on converter side B limit the voltage at the input of
converter B . Inductors LFB reduce the current amplitude during the SI and the
converter inrush. A DC-link clamping circuit with an analog VDC supervision
clamps the DC-link voltage. Converter inrush currents can be avoided completely if
the DC-link is charged by the precharging circuit before the HT is connected to the
grid.

4.2 DC-LINK CLAMPING

In contrast to the LI, the ratio between the amplitudes of the SI and the nominal
line-to-line voltage is low. As a consequence, varistors applied in a delta connection
across the MV or Aux winding terminals do not significantly clamp the transferred
voltage pulse. Instead, a circuit clamping the DC-link voltage is installed.Varistors
with a voltage rating of 30V (S20K30) are chosen for the protection concept to
effectively limit the DClink voltage rise. To avoid overheating the varistors at the
nominal DC-link voltage, they are connected in series to a MOSFET controlled by
a hysteresis logic. Connecting several varistors in parallel reduces the maximum
DC-link voltage and the energy dissipated in each varistor.

4.3 DC-LINK CAPACITANCE

The simulation model of section III-C is used to determine the peak inductor
current during the switching surge for various combinations of filter inductance
LFB and DC-link capacitance CDC values. The peak inductor current ILFB increases
for increasing CDC since the effective impedance of the DC-link decreases. Conse-
quently, CDC should be as small as possible, while ensuring a stable operation of the
back-to-back converter. CDC = 2.1mF is chosen for the prototype.

13
4.4 FILTER INDUCTANCE

To avoid destructive DC-link voltages, the inductor current must not exceed its
saturation limit IL,Sat . The minimum required inductance value is determined which
limits the peak inrush current to ILFB < 95 % IL,Sat and the DC-link voltage to VDC
¡100V. To avoid core saturation, it is possible to attenuate the occurring current
pulse by increasing the filter inductance value LFB . Alternatively, inductors with a
higher saturation current can be designed. This results in a decreasing flux density at
nominal operation. A further constraint for the minimum inductance is the limitation
of the inductor current ripple. The maximum of the inductance values to limit the
current ripple and the inrush current is applied for the filter design. As long as
the semiconductor devices are capable of conducting the inrush current, air core
inductors with a smaller inductance could be applied.

14
 Chapter 5

SIMULATION RESULTS

A prototype including the protection concept according to the specifications has

been realized in the Laboratory for High Power Electronic Systems. In the following,
the protection concept is verified by simulations and measurements for each fault
case.

5.1 VERIFICATION OF LV SHORT CIRCUIT PROTECTION

Figure 5.1: Simulated current,voltage and temperature waveforms for phase to

ground short circuit.
 Due to the high short circuit current and the long duration, an experimental
verification of the bypass switch in the laboratory was not possible. A transient
thermal model resembling the realized bypass switch is added to the simulation
model to verify the thermal design.
A single-phase-to-ground short circuit close to the transformer terminals excites
the highest currents. With a power factor of the LV load of cosφ ∼ 1, the maximum
peak short circuit current occurs for a fault at the zero crossing of the line-to-ground
voltage.

5.2 VERIFICATION OF SWITCHING SURGE PROTECTION

Figure 5.2: Simulated surge voltage,inductor current and DC -link voltage for
different remanence flux densities

The simulated surge voltage vPulse (line-to-line), the inductor current iLFB as
well as the DC-link voltage vDC are shown in Fig. 5.2 for different remanence flux
densities before the SI is applied. With an increasing flux density , saturation of the
LFT core occurs earlier and lower maximum vDC and iLFB result deviations between
simulation and measurement are noticeable during the varistor clamping phase and

16
during core saturation, which can be ascribed to differences in the simulated and the
real clamping and saturation characteristics.

5.3 VERIFICATION OF LIGHTNING SURGE PROTECTION

Figure 5.3: Simulation results of a 125kV lightning surge

The simulation results for the 125 kV 1.2/50 s LI test . The varistors at the
input of converter B limit the phase-to-ground voltage to vAux < 120V. Although
the energy transferred to the converter is not sufficient to noticeably increase the
DC-link voltage , the LI excites an oscillation between the filter inductor LFB and the
parasitic converter capacitances . This is reflected in the simulated waveforms of the
inductor terminal and DC-link potential with reference ground . In reality, skin and
proximity effect will cause a stronger damping of the high frequency oscillations .
To avoid breakdown, the insulation requirement between the inductor winding and
the core as well as between the GaN switches and the heat sink should be at least 1
kV, which is achievable with standard insulation and gap pad materials.

17
 Chapter 6

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

6.1 CONCLUSION

Hybrid transformers allow a highly dynamic control of the grid voltage as well
as of the active and reactive power flow. For the application in todays and future
AC grids, a protection concept is required, which is developed and verified in
this paper. Short circuits, lightning surges, switching surges as well as converter
inrush currents, occurring when the hybrid transformer is connected to the grid are
identified as the most critical scenarios. Simulation models are presented and suitable
protection elements are designed. The presence of the low frequency transformer
significantly reduces converter stresses during faults especially in comparison to
solidstate transformers.
Extensive simulation and experimental results verify the protection concept for a 100
kVA hybrid transformer prototype interconnecting the 20 kV and 400V distribution
grids. An efficiency of 98.48% is achievable for the considered 100 kVA hybrid
transformer including protection. The increased controllability of the HT comes
at the expense of an efficiency reduction by 0.16 percent points in comparison to
a conventional transformer with an efficiency of 98.64%. This renders the hybrid
transformer a promising solution to enhance the power quality in todays and future
grids.
6.2 CRITICAL EVALUATION

Commercially available surge protection devices for the LV grid are capable of
clamping the surges voltage to 1.5 kV.This case is assumed to be less critical than
MV LIs with respect to overvoltage stresses for the converter. Thus, the effects
of LV side voltage surges are not investigated here.In case of higher switching
surge phase-to-phase voltages in certain grid configurations, these scenarios require
modifications of the grid setup or additional protection devices in the MV grid,
which is not within the scope of this paper.And also this paper focussed only about
100kVA hybrid transformer in MV grid

6.3 IMPACT OF THE WORK

With the target to reduce CO2 emissions, conventional large scale power plants
will be gradually replaced by distributed renewables. The increasing integration
of these renewables entails power quality problems such as voltage fluctuations
especially in the 400V low voltage distribution grid. New concepts as the hybrid
transformer enable to maintain the desired power quality even with a high share of
renewable generation.
In order to overcome the challenges arising from the integration of fluctuating
renewables, the transition towards a smarter grid is required. Being an alternative
to costly grid reinforcements or to limitations of the allowable renewable energy
infeed, hybrid transformers can be employed in the future distribution grid as a
smart replacement for conventional transformers. The hybrid transformer consists
of a standard low frequency transformer and a fractionally rated power electronic
converter. This allows to combine the high efficiency, high reliability and low cost
of conventional transformers and the flexibility of the power electronic converter
to greatly increase the controllability of the grid . In addition to controlling the

19
grid voltage, the current, the active and reactive power flow, the hybrid transformer
can balance three-phase loads and actively filter harmonics. Furthermore, grid and
transformer parameters can be monitored and transmitted to a central control station

6.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT AND FUTURE SCOPE

This paper focussed on a 100kVA ,20kV- 400V prototype,similar approaches

can be utilised for HTs of higher power ratings and other voltage levels. The hybrid
transformer is suited for limited-space applications such as in aerospace, personal
power adapters, and stacked circuit boards.Researchers have developed a hybrid
transformer that has the benefit of a full planar transformer design but uses a wire-
wound secondary winding to keep the parasitic winding capacitances lower. Alone,
planar transformers have the advantage of a lower profile and better reproducibility,
but wire-wound transformers allow for less parasitic capacitances. By combining
elements from traditional wire-wound transformers and planar transformers, the
overall performance and reliability were improved.With the wind industry moving
further offshore, High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission is becoming
increasingly popular. HVDC transformer substations are not optimized for the
offshore industry though, increasing costs and reducing redundancy.This paper
discussed about MV-LV hybrid transformers.Further work will focus on EHV,HV
voltage sides and on improving the THD generated by the primary converter without
significantly increasing its losses to mitigate the large difference in THDs between
the primary and secondary converters

6.5 POINTS OF DISCUSSION

1. What are the advantages of hybrid transformer over the ordinary transformer?

• It provides dynamic ac voltage regulation

20
 • Reactive power compenstion can be made possible by using HT

• It is easy to control Voltage and phase angle

• Harmonics mitigation can be done by using HT

• HT provides Voltage sag compensation

2. Which harmonics is most severe in transformers?

The third harmonics is most severe in transformers.In order to avoid this use
delta winding as auxiliary winding in hybrid transformer and while using this
harmoinc currents are circulated through the windings.

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