TRAFOTECH 2014 –Ninth International Conference on Transformers
ALUMINUM WOUND POWER TRANSFORMERS
Abhay Agrawal Alper Akdag
ABB India Ltd, Vadodara ABB Zurich
ABSTRACT From technical and economical point of view,
both conductor materials can be used in
From technical view point there are two transformers: Copper (Cu) or Aluminum (Al). The
conductor materials that can be economically choice among these materials should depend
used in windings of power transformers mainly on price and availability. National and
(>10MVA) - copper and aluminum. In practice international standards on power transformers do
copper is widely used for this purpose. Historical not specifically mention which material to be
background and reasons for popularity of copper used in winding conductors. Due to historical
are described in this paper. This paper highlights reasons, transformer users are following the
prospects and challenges in adopting aluminum same practice of specifying copper as a
as winding conductor in power transformers. It conductor material in their specifications. Many
also covers various aspects of these conductors customers prescribe copper only, for different
and discusses their viability and advantages for reasons, mainly conservatism, established
power transformer windings. Electrical, customs and practices as well as perception of
mechanical and other properties of aluminum better quality.
conductors are compared with that of copper and
it is suggested that with proper design and
manufacturing a reliable power transformer with 2 ELECTRICAL, MECHANICAL AND
aluminum windings can be manufactured with THERMAL PROPERTIES
similar performance parameters and quality as Generally used aluminum for electrical purpose is
that of copper wound power transformers. “E-Al F7” according to DIN 40501-4 with
minimum aluminum content of 99.5%. Other
1 INTRODUCTION
commonly used material is called “alloy 1350,
When transformer technology was evolved, first aluminum 1350 or EN-AW-1350” according to
transformers were built with copper conductors ASTM B230/B230M-07, EN 573-3, EN 755-2 or
as it was second best available electric current EN 14121. This material, with 99.5% aluminum
carrying conductor after sliver, both in terms of content have a minimum volume conductivity of
electrical and thermal properties. Also copper 61.2% IACS (International Annealed Copper
was more easily available at that time. During the Standard,) whereas copper has a volume
Second World War, some industries began to conductivity of 100% IACS. Impurity elements in
manufacture transformers with aluminum excess of limits degrade electrical conductivity of
windings because copper became scarce due to aluminum.
increased demand of copper which was required
Comparison of various properties of copper and
to be used for weapons and ammunition.
aluminum is provided in table-1. Resistivity of
aluminum is higher than that of copper, however
During 1960s, when copper prices rose sharply, mass density of aluminum is less than that of
attempts were made to explore the possibilities copper. To estimate its net effect on transformer
offered by aluminum for its usage in many cost, we must compare the cost of copper and
electrical equipment as it was much cheaper at aluminum windings for the same load losses (I2R
that time. The use of aluminum in cables became losses for simplicity) i.e. for same resistance.
widespread and has remained that way ever Resistance of aluminum winding Ral= ƿal x lal / Aal
since. However, during that period, although
Resistance of copper winding Rcu= ƿcu x lcu/ Acu
some quite large power transformers were built
using aluminum for windings, it could not gain Where ƿal, lal and Aal are resistivity (Ω- mm2/m),
much popularity. length (m) and cross sectional area (mm 2) of
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TRAFOTECH 2014 –Ninth International Conference on Transformers
aluminum conductors used and ƿcu, lcu and Acu are about 63% more cross sectional area in
resistivity (Ω- mm2/m), length (m) and cross comparison to copper for the same performance
sectional area (mm2) of copper conductors used parameters. This increase in area works into
advantage and as a result compressive
If we consider both resistances to be equal:
(buckling) stress during short circuit is reduced
ƿal x lal / Aal = ƿcu x lcu / Acu (1) for aluminum conductors such that it may remain
In practice length of aluminum winding will be within its allowed limits.
slightly more in comparison to length of copper When we consider the critical force for tilting
winding for same power, however for simplicity of (allowed tilting force), it depends on modulus of
analysis we can assume its effect to be elasticity of conductor and conductor strand
negligible. With this assumption equation (1) will dimensions (width and thickness). Even though
change to: copper has higher modulus of elasticity in
Aal = ƿal x Acu / ƿcu (2) comparison to aluminum, allowed tilting force for
aluminum windings may remain within allowed
If we replace the values of resistivity from table-1, limits as aluminum windings will generally have
we get the following equation: more strands in parallel with higher width and
thickness to get more cross sectional area.
Aal = 0.028172 x Acu / 0.017241 Short circuit strength needs to be carefully
=> Aal = 1.63 x Acu (3) calculated and checked and generally it should
be possible to achieve required short circuit
Above equation shows that for same losses, strength with aluminum windings. In some cases,
cross sectional area of aluminum conductors particularly for inner, low voltage windings, when
should be 1.63 times that of copper conductors. compressive stresses are more and aluminum
Since prices of aluminum and copper are strip conductor may not offer required strength
compared in terms of weight, we need to convert against these stresses, it is practical to go for
above equation in terms of weight. inner LV windings with copper conductors and
Length of aluminum winding lal = Mal / (dal x Aal ) outer HV windings with aluminum conductors. In
such cases it is also possible to design inner, low
Length of copper winding lcu = Mcu / (dcu x Acu ) voltage windings, with aluminum continuously
Where Mal & dal are mass (kg) and density transposed conductors with epoxy bonding
(kg/mxmm2) of aluminum conductors respectively (CTCE) to achieve required strength against
and Mcu & dcu are mass (kg) and density compressive stresses.
(kg/mxmm2) of copper conductors used.
Heat capacity, or thermal capacity, is the
We have assumed that lengths of both measurable physical quantity that specifies the
conductors are equal: amount of heat required to change the
Mal / (dal x Aal ) = Mcu / (dcu x Acu ) temperature of an object or body by a given
amount. Aluminum windings have more thermal
Substituting value of Aal from equation-3 and capacity in comparison to copper windings, this
values of density from table-1 we get: can be derived as below:
Mal/(0.002703 X1.63 x Acu )= Mcu/(0.008890 x Acu )
=> Mcu = 2.01 Mal (4)
or
Mal = 0.5 Mcu (5) Where Mal and Cal are mass (gm) and specific
heat (cal/kgºC) of aluminum conductors used Mcu
This means, for same load losses we need 50% and Ccu are mass (gm) and specific heat
aluminum by weight in comparison to copper. (cal/kgºC) copper conductors used
If we make direct comparison between properties
of two metals, aluminum is a softer material and Above equation indicates that for the same
has a lower tensile strength in comparison to amount of losses and heat generated inside the
copper. However, in practice, when aluminum is windings, aluminum windings will have 1.189
used in transformer, windings are designed with times more heat capacity in comparison to
copper windings. This means these windings
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TRAFOTECH 2014 –Ninth International Conference on Transformers
need more heat to increase their temperature. of aluminum is less than that of copper. As
Also higher resistivity of aluminum gives explained in earlier section, in most of the cases,
inherently lower additional losses (eddy current it is possible to design aluminum wound
losses) in the windings. These two factors lower transformers with same losses as that of copper
the risk for higher temperature rise and hot spots wound units by providing more cross sectional
in aluminum windings. area.
5 ECONOMICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Copper had different trends over the years; in
Property Copper Aluminum fact the price of copper has historically been
Volume conductivity 100 61.2 highly unstable. It jumped from the 60-year low of
(%IACS) 1320USD/t in June 1999 to 8270USD/t in May
2006. It dropped to 5290USD/t in Feb. 2007, and
Resistivity (Ω- mm2/m) 0.017241 0.028172
then rebounded to 7710USD/t in April 2007. In
Density (kg/mxmm ) 2
0.00889 0.002703 Feb. 2009, weakening global demand and a
Coefficient of linear 17 23 steep fall in commodity prices since the previous
thermal expansion year's highs left copper prices at 3320USD/t.
(meter x 10-6/°C) However, aluminum has been relatively stable.
Thermal conductivity 398 210 Copper is currently much more expensive than
aluminum in terms of USD/t. The price of copper
(W/mxk)
has recently moved ahead much faster than the
Melting point (°C) 1084.88 660.2 price of aluminum.
Specific heat (cal /kgº 0.000092 0.00022
C)
Modulus of elasticity 1.1 x 105 0.69 x 105
(MPa)
Tabel-1: Properties of copper and aluminum at
20°C
4 RELIABILITY CONSIDERATIONS
Many customers do not prefer to buy
transformers with aluminum windings due to the
misconception of poor quality and related
unreliable performance. In fact, a well designed
and manufactured transformer with aluminum
windings can be as reliable as a copper wound Fig-1: Movement of copper prices
transformer.
In transformers, temperature rise limits are
specified mainly to limit the aging of paper
coming in contact with conductor. Since same
insulating material is used for aluminum wound
transformers, same temperature rise limits are
applicable and we should expect similar aging of
insulating material as that of copper wound
transformers.
ABB, worldwide has rich experience of supplying
more than 1500 power transformers (>10MVA)
with aluminum windings. Many of these
transformers are in service since long time.
Sometimes aluminum wound transformers are Fig-2: Movement of aluminum prices
considered to have more losses as conductivity
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TRAFOTECH 2014 –Ninth International Conference on Transformers
be used which are having one end with
Lower, per kg, cost of aluminum and lower aluminum and other end with copper.
weight of conductors used in these windings Aluminum end of the sleeve can be crimped
bring economic benefit in the transformer costs. with aluminum winding conductors and
On the other hand, increased volume and thus copper end can be crimped with copper
increased weight of core steel, insulation, tank cable. To reduce the quantity of such type of
and oil compensate partly these benefits. joints, it may also be practical to make only
However as copper price increases and the price regulating windings with copper conductors,
gap between aluminum and copper widens, so that available standard solution of
aluminum wound transformers become connecting them with copper cables and
economically more attractive. standard sleeves can be used. In such cases
if LV and HV windings are made with
aluminum conductors and they are connected
with copper cables, there will be only 12 no.
6 MANUFACTURING LIMITATIONS of special type of copper to aluminum joints
Transformer manufacturers may have to in a standard, 3-phase transformer.
overcome some manufacturing limitations by
having more experience with aluminum
wound transformers. Wherever cross section During testing, resistance of winding and
area is more and strip conductors cannot be load losses are measured at reference
used due to manufacturing limitations, use of temperature and resistance is corrected to
aluminum continuously transposed 75°C to calculate the losses at 75 °C. When
conductors (CTC) may be more practical. regulating winding is made with copper and
Aluminum foil windings with epoxy diamond main winding is made with aluminum, we
dotted paper insulation between turns can be can’t apply the same correction factor for
a good solution for low voltage windings of total winding resistance. We need to
smaller ratings of power transformers. separately calculate the resistance of main
and regulating windings after measuring the
resistance of complete winding at maximum,
Aluminum oxidizes when it is exposed to air. minimum and normal voltage taps. After that
A hard transparent aluminum oxide coating separate correction factors to be applied for
quickly forms, which protects the internal main winding made with copper and
layers to react with air. As Al2O3 (aluminum regulating winding made with aluminum.
oxide) is a good insulation, making Following correction factors may be applied
satisfactory connections with aluminum is for copper and aluminum portions of winding
more complicated than with copper. There are respectively, in line with Annexure-E of
many methods used to mitigate aluminum IEC60076-1, “Power Transformers- General”.
joining problems, such as welding with
tungsten inert gas, cold welding, crimping to
other copper or aluminum connector, using Rcu = Rcu1 x 310 / (235+Ɵ1)
hard alloy tabs with tin plating to make bolted
joins using standard hardware etc. Thermal
expansion coefficient for aluminum is 42% Ral = Ral1 x 300 / (225+Ɵ1)
greater than that of copper. Issues from
expansion and contraction of conductors in
electrical connections, between copper and Where Rcu and Ral are corrected resistances at
aluminum can be eliminated by proper and 75°C for copper main winding and aluminum
well-distributed forces in joints. regulating winding respectively. Rcu1 and Ral1
are measured resistances at Ɵ1 °C for copper
main winding and aluminum regulating
For practical reasons, even for aluminum winding respectively.
wound transformers, manufacturers may like
to use copper cables to join windings ends
with bushings and tap changer. For this 7 CONCLUSIONS
purpose special bi-metallic cable sleeves can
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TRAFOTECH 2014 –Ninth International Conference on Transformers
In this paper electrical, mechanical and thermal
properties of aluminum and copper windings for
power transformers are compared. Various
aspects of aluminum conductors and advantages
of using aluminum conductors for power
transformer windings are also covered. Issues
related to manufacturing are also discussed and
some suggestions to overcome these limitations
are given. It is possible to manufacture power
transformers (above 10MVA) with aluminum
windings. With proper care in design and
manufacturing, required performance parameters
like losses, temperature rises, shot circuit
strength etc can be achieved with aluminum
windings along with same quality & reliability as
that of copper wound transformers.
Globally transformer industry has a lot of
experience with power transformers
manufactured with aluminum windings and same
can be adopted by transformer manufacturers in
India with economical advantage to the buyers.
8 REFERENCES
[1] J.C. Olivares-Galvan, F. de Leon, P.S.
Georgilakis, R. Escarela-Pe´rez, Selection of
copper against aluminum windings for distribution
transformers,Published in IET Electric Power
Applications, June 2009
[2] Standard Specification for Aluminum 1350–
H19 Wire for Electrical Purposes, ASTM
B230/B230M
[3] Power Transformers –Part 5: Ability to
withstand short circuit, IEC60076-5, Edition 3.0
2006-02
[4] Power Transformers –Part 1: General,
IEC60076-1, Edition 3.0 2011-04
[5] Martin J. Heathcote, The J&P transformer
Book, Twelfth edition 1998
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