Conditions for parallel operation of transformers

Conditions for parallel operation of transformers. If you are in electrical engineering, then you may know the importance of parallel operation of transformers at various power generating stations and substations. To operate 2 or more transformers in parallel we need to take care of few necessary conditions. Some of the required conditions are

1. For single phase transformers: o Same polarity of transformers o Same voltage ratio 2. For 3 phase transformers: o Same polarity o Zero relative phase displacement o Same phase sequence o Same voltage ratio Transformers In this post we are supposed to discuss some of the above mentioned conditions. Let us take a look over them: 1. Polarity: The polarity of the transformers connected in parallel should be same otherwise it may lead to dead short circuit. 2. Voltage Ratio: The voltage ratio of the 2 transformers should be kept equal in order to avoid losses occurring in transformers due to load circulating currents. If unequal voltage ratio is used it will give rise to circulating current in the closed circuit formed by the secondary of the transformer even at no load condition. The maximum permissible no-load circulating current should be 10% of its rated value. 3. Zero Relative Phase Displacement: This is the necessary condition for the 3 phase transformers. As the name suggests, the relative phase displacement between the two transformers must be zero. 4. Phase Sequence: This is also an important condition for 3 phase transformers which needs the phase sequence of the 2 transformers to be same otherwise it may lead to short circuit of the each phase pairs.

The above mentioned conditions were the general thumb rule conditions. Apart from these, some other requirements are also there which ensures that the transformer possesses better load sharing and operating power factor. To meet those requirements, we can also make use of these two ways which are related to load side: 1. Equal per unit impedances 2. Equal resistance to reactance ratio

These are some of the general terms and necessary conditions associated with the parallel operation of transformers.

Why transformers are rated in KVA not KW

Reason why transformers are rated in KVA not KW. While enjoying electrical engineering you must have come across transformers and might have noticed that the power ratings of the transformers are in KVA not in KW which is conventionally used for denoting power ratings in electrical devices. Well in this post I am going to tell you why the transformers are rated in KVA but not in the conventional KW manner. Before going into this topic you need to know about the various kinds of losses in transformers. Well there are 2 kinds of losses in transformers, they are: 1. Iron losses 2. Copper losses

750 KVA Power Transformer

Now since Iron losses depend upon the voltage and copper losses on current so we can infer that the total loss of a transformer is dependent on 2 values that are voltage and current but not on the phase angle between voltage and current which is also known as power factor. KVA does not include the term power factor in it while KW does. So since the total losses is dependent only on Voltage and Current values (not on power factor), the ratings of the transformers are also given in terms of VA or KVA.