6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
EVALUATION OF HEAT DISSIPATION FROM
RADIATORS OF TRANSFORMER BY
MEASUREMENT AND COMPUTATIONAL
FLUID DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS
by
Dr. SACHIN B. PARAMANE
CROMPTON GREAVES LTD. MUMBAI
[Link]@[Link]
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India 1
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Agenda
• Background and Motivation
• Objective
• Problem Description
• Experimental Radiator Test Set Up
• Measurement and CFD Analysis Results
• Comparison – Catalogue Data,
Measurement and Simulation
• Conclusions
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India 2
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Introduction
Thermal Management is an important aspect for efficient and reliable
functioning of transformers.
Radiator-fan constitutes major components of the cooling system
For Optimal Thermal Design Transformer manufacturers are interested to
reduce the number of radiators and fans
Thermography image Winding failure Transformer failure
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India 3
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Radiator – Heat Dissipation Perspective
– A radiator is mechanically a simple object, but from thermo-hydraulic
point of view different parameters influence the heat transfer
characteristics of the radiator.
• Air velocity around the radiator panels, Temperature difference oil-air
• Oil velocity inside the radiator panels, which depends on :
– Pump pressure or Thermosyphon pressure :
– Hydraulic resistance of the radiator panels and hydraulic circuit.
– Oil distribution over the different radiator panels.
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India 4
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Background and Motivation Heat Dissipation Tables
Heat dissipation tables are used for selection of
radiators which are setup for air natural flow.
Correction factors - overdesign of the cooling
system and if not then too high temperature
and failures.
For optimal design, accurate heat dissipation
from radiators should be known for various
cooling configurations.
The best way to collect a trustful data is by
measurement on actual radiator test setup.
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India 5
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Objective
1. To build a flexible test set up of it’s kind for
measurement of different radiator-fan configurations
in a controlled conditions
2. Evaluate heat dissipation by measurements and
Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations
3. Compare the results of measurements and
simulations with catalogue data of radiator
manufacturer
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India 6
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Details of Radiators for Evaluation
No. of radiators – 4
No. of fins – 30
Height – 3m
Width - 0.52m
Fin spacing - 50 mm
Experiments and numerical
simulations are performed for
radiator number 1 and 2.
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India 7
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Experimental Test Set Up
An in-house experimental facility.
Temperature measurement - K type A group of 4 radiators mounted on a
thermocouples support structure and connected by pipes.
Inserted power - Wattmeter Test set up is capable of testing of
Flow rate - Oil flow meter radiators for all cooling configurations.
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India 8
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Experimental Measurement
Inlet and outlet temperatures of
radiators are recorded by the data
acquisition system.
Data reduction for the calculation of
heat dissipation after steady state
. .
Q moil c p Tin Tout
Thermography (using infrared camera)
for visualization of temperature distribution
over radiators and other parts.
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
CFD Simulation Details
Complete 3D geometry of the radiator for analysis
Hexahedral mesh for better convergence and
accuracy
Turbulence model - Shear Stress Transport (SST)
Radiation model - Discrete Transfer Model (DTM)
Ambient temperature - 36.4°C
Convergence - residuals are below 10-4
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
External Heat and Fluid Flow of Air
A plume of hot air exiting at the top of the radiator.
The radiators work as a kind of open chimney, air is heated up in between the
radiator fins and this hot air tends to move upwards due to buoyancy forces
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Heat Flux Distribution
Higher heat
flux on end fins
A red colored foot print of higher heat flux on the surface of the radiators.
The end fins has higher heat flux than middle fins.
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Heat Dissipation Distribution
Convection and radiation are comparable for end fins
Total heat dissipation of end fins is 64% more than middle fins
Average heat dissipation per fin is 3.3%: Convection 2.8% and radiation 0.5%.
Convection heat transfer is 84% and radiation 16%
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Heat Dissipation Comparison and Remarks
A Theory is Something Nobody Believes
Except the Person Proposing Theory and
Experiments are something Everybody
Believes Except the Person Doing
Experiment - Albert Einstein
CFD simulations results are within 5.8%
of measurement.
Manufacturer’s catalogue data is 20.3%
and 13.7% higher compared to experimental
and numerical results.
If these tables are directly used, trafo manufactures ends up
using less radiators for air natural and subsequently it affects
forced air cooling.
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India
6th International Conference on Large Power Transformers – Modern Trends in
Application, Installation, Operation & Maintenance
Conclusions
An in-house radiator test set up is built for heat dissipation
evaluation of radiators and dataset is generated
Results of CFD is in good agreement with measured results
Heat dissipation provided in the manufacturer’s catalogue is
20.3% and 13.7% higher compared to experimental and numerical
results.
Actual measured heat dissipation from the radiators for different
cooling configurations will help in optimal and efficient design of
the cooling system of the transformer
February 22nd - 23rd , 2017, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India
