Chapter – Two

Basics of Transformer
Objectives: at the end of this chapter students will be able to
a. Define construction nature and principles of transformer.
b. Identify the application areas of transformer.
c. Explain the different types of transformer.

2.1 Definition and construction nature of transformer

Definition
- A transformer - changes AC electric quantity (e.g. V or I) at
some level to AC electric quantity (e.g. V or I) at another level
through the action of electromagnetic induction.
- The frequency and power remain the same at both sides.
- Therefore a transformer is a static machine.
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Construction nature
 Consists of primary and secondary coils of wire wrapped
around a common laminated ferromagnetic core.
 These coils are (usually) not directly connected.
 The only connection in between the coils is the common
magnetic flux present within the core.

 The ratio of the two emfs is equal to the ratio of the number of
turns in each coil when wound on a common core (Φ Β is the
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same in one turn of each winding)
2.2. Basic working principle
 Operates based on faraday’s principle of induction
between two coils, which are magnetically coupled.
 The AC current flows through the primary coil
produces a magnetic field. And the magnetic field
lines are made to pass through the secondary coil,
which results an induced potential, emf.
 The magnitude of the induced emf depends on the
turn ratio of the transformer.
 Whereas the Laminated steel sheets have low
reluctance and provides continuous magnetic flux
path across the core.

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Note:
The coil connected to the source is known as the Primary coil,
And the coil applied to the load is the Secondary coil.

A. Potential induced
The ratio of the primary potential to the secondary potential is
same as the ratio of the number of primary winding to the
secondary winding . And is represented as follows:

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 This is known as the Transformer Equation
 Based on the number of turns in both sides we have two types of
transformers
I. step-up transformer :
Increases the output voltage
The ratio is less than one
Ns > N p, V s > V p,

II. Step-down transformers:

Decreases the output voltage
The ratio is greater than one
Ns < N p, V s < V p

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Induced E.M.F. Equation of A Transformer is described as;
• R.M.S. value of the induced emf in the primary winding is:

• R.M.S. value of the induced emf in the secondary winding is:

• Where
N1 --- stands for Number of turns in primary
N2 --- stands for Number of turns in secondary
Øm--- stands for Maximum flux in core
f --- stands for Frequency of AC input in Hz

B. Current induced
1. When it is loaded, the current is inversely proportional to the
voltages.
2. Energy must be conserved; therefore, in the absence of
01/21/2025losses, the ratio of the currents must be the inverse of the ratio
6
 Ideal transformer Vs Real Transformer
An ideal transformer has the following characteristics
 No loss or gain of energy takes place
 Windings have no ohm resistances
 There are no copper losses (I2R) and core losses.
 magnetic core has infinite permeability so that the magnetizing current
required to establish the flux in the core is negligible.
 Hysteresis loss is negligible
Note: In reality no ideal transformer exists!
But a real transformer is characterized by:
 Have real power losses
 Windings have Ohmic resistance
 have finite permeability of magnetic core
 resistance in windings (I2 R)
 core losses due to eddy currents and hysteresis
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2.3. Types of transformers
 As per their construction nature there are two types of
transformers.
1. The core type transformer
 Windings surround a considerable part of the core.

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2. The shell type transformer
 The core surrounds a considerable portion of the windings

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Based on cooling system Transformers are mainly of two types.
A. The dry type
• 2% to 5% of the electrical energy is lost in a transformer, mostly
due to the resistance of the windings.
– Dry transformers use air for cooling.
– Heat is moved from the windings to the case by conduction in
smaller sizes of the dry type.
– Large dry-type transformers actually allow air to circulate
through the windings.
– Used by the electric utility.
B. The Oil filled type
– Large transformers circulate oil through the windings to
remove the heat
– Oil-filled transformers are used by the electric utility, and for
industrial or large commercial applications.
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As per application we can have the following
classifications
1. Power transformer:
– These are large transformers used to change voltage
levels and current levels as per requirement.
– Power transformers are usually used in either a
distribution or a transmission line
2. Current transformer:
– These transformers are used for the measurement of
current where the current carrying conductor is
treated as a primary transformer.

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 – This transformer isolates the instrument from high
voltage line, as well as step down the current in a
known ratio
3. Isolation transformer:
– These are used to isolate two different circuits
without changing the voltage level or current level
VOLTAGE AND TURNS RATIO
 In case of transformer
 The input winding = the primary winding.
 The output winding = secondary winding.
 If there are more turns of wire on the primary than on the
secondary, the output voltage will be lower than the input
voltage.
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• Look at the figures for step-down and a step-up transformers
illustrated above. Notice that the winding with the greater
number of turns has the higher voltage.
• In Figure ##,
 one winding has twice as many turns as the other.
 In one case the voltage is stepped down to half,
 while in the other the voltage is. stepped up to double

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 It is important to know the ratio of the number of turns of wire
on the primary winding as compared to the secondary winding.
 This is called the turns ratio of the transformer

Example
• A step-down transformer has a turn’s ratio of 4 to 1 or 4. If the transformer
secondary voltage is 120 V, determine the primary voltage.
Solution
Givens, turn ratio, a = 4:1 =4, Vout =120 V
Required; V input = Vprimary = ?
Primary voltage = 120 V X 4 = 480 V
• The turns ratio tells us that the primary voltage is four times as great as the
secondary voltage

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2.4. Connections of a single-phase transformer
 Depending on the application requirement, two or
more transformers can be connected
 in a series or
 parallel circuit
 Series connection of two single phase transformers

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 In the above example, primary total turns to secondary total
turns are in the 2:1 ratio, leading to half voltage.
 Parallel connection of two single-phase transformers

 2 - transformers are connected in series on the primary side while

the secondary sides are connected in parallel.
 On the primary side, the number of turns is added while on the
secondary side they remain as it is due to their parallel condition.
 As a result the voltage output reduces to ¼ of the input voltage.

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Three phase transformer
• The construction nature of a 3-phase transformer is a combination
of three single-phase transformers with
• three primary and three secondary windings
• mounted on a core having three legs.
 Commonly used 3-phases are:
– 3-phase - three wire (Delta)
– 3-phase - four wire (Star)

 3-phase - three wire - Delta connection

 It consists of 3-phase windings connected end-to-end and
120 degrees apart from each other electrically.
 Generally, the delta 3-wire system is used in an unbalanced

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load system. 17
• Relationship between line voltage and phase voltages:
VL = Vph
where:
VL ⇒ Line voltage and Vph ⇒ Phase voltage

• Relationship between line current and phase currents:

IL = √3 Iph
where:
IL ⇒ Line current and Iph ⇒ Phase current
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 3-Phase 4-wire (star connections)
 Allows a minimum number of turns per phase (since phase voltage is 1/√3
of line voltage), so it is the most economical method.
 Each winding at one end is connected to a common end, like a neutral
point;
 therefore, on the whole there are four wires.

Three phase 4-wire transformer star connection

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• Relationship between line voltage and phase voltages:
VL = √3 . Vph
where:
VL ⇒ Line voltage and Vph ⇒ Phase voltage

 Relationship between line current and phase currents:

IL = Iph
where:
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IL ⇒ Line current and Iph ⇒ Phase current 20
Example: A three phase transformer with 500 and 50 turns in the
primary and secondary winding respectively. If the supply voltage
is 2.4 KV find the secondary line voltage when the windings are
connected in
• A) star - delta
• A) Delta – star
Solution
Vp = VL / √3 ⇒ Vp = 2400 V / √3 = 1387.3 V
a-1) for star connection (primary)

a-2) for delta connection (secondary)

Vp = V L and

⇒ Vs = Vp * Ns/Np
⇒ Vs = 1387.3 * 50/500
= 138.7 V
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• b) for Delta – star connection

Vp = VL ⇒ Vp = 2400 V
b-1) for delta connection

= Vs = Vp * Ns/Np
= 2400V * 50/500
= 240 V

VL = √ 3 * Vp ⇒ Vs = √ 3 * 240 V = 415.2 V
b-2) for star connection

Possible combinations of star and delta

The primary and secondary windings a 3-phase transformer can be
connected in the following ways:
 Primary in delta – secondary in delta
 Primary in delta – secondary in star
 Primary in star – secondary in star
 Primary in star – secondary in delta
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A. The Delta – Delta connection

B. The Delta – Star connection

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C. The Star – Star connection

D. The Star – Delta connection

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Reading assignment!
 Why is transformer rating defined in KVA?
 Why is power transmitted at higher voltages?

Transformer rating is defined in KVA. Because;

 The total loss of transformer is due to Cu and Iron
loss, which depends on current and voltage
respectively.
 This means that the loss depends on VA and not on
the angle between current and voltage.
 Therefore, transformer rating is always defined in
terms of KVA, not in Kilowatts.

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Power Transmitted at Higher Voltages!
Because;
 A power station can supply a given amount of power (P=VI)
with either;
 A higher current and lower voltage, or
 A higher voltage and a correspondingly lower
current.
 The power lost in the transmission lines will be Ploss = I2R,
where R is the resistance in the transmission lines.
 To keep this loss as small as possible, current should be low,
which means that the voltage will be high.
 Thus;
 At a power generation station, voltage is of the step-up type.
 While at the distribution end, it is stepped-down to the
required value.
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2.5. Equivalent circuit of three phase transformer
 to understand the equivalent circuit of transformer it is often
convenient to assume that all the resistance and reactance values as
being in one side of the transformer.

I1 I2

X1 X2
R1 R2

V1
V2

 Such that the power absorbed in R2’ when carrying the

primary current is equal to that of in R2 due to secondary
winding current.
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 From the transformer equation we know that,

 This implies that;

 The total equivalent resistance in the primary circuit is

given as;

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• Substituting the R’2 by the mathematical term stated before;

Or

• by the same reasoning the equivalent reactance in the primary

circuit is given by;

• The equivalence impedance of the primary and secondary

windings as referred to the primary is given by;

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• If 𝞠 is the phase angle between I and voltage
drop I1*ZE
⇒

• Then the overall equivalent circuit will be;

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Example 1:
• A transformer has 600 turns and 150 turns in the primary and
secondary windings respectively and the windings resistance
as well as reactance are 0.25 ohm , 0.01 ohm and 1.0 ohm ,
0.04 ohm respectively then find
a) The equivalent resistance referred to the primary winding
b) The equivalent reactance referred to the primary winding
c) The equivalent impedance referred to the primary winding
d) The phase angle of the impedance

Solution
a) The equivalent resistance

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• Since number of turns of each winding are the givens of this
example; we use the following equation.

b) The equivalent reactance;

c) The equivalent impedance;

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• The equivalent impedance is calculated as

• The phase angle of the impedance

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2.6. Testing transformers
 It is possible to experimentally determine the values of the
inductance and resistance in the transformer model.
 There are only two tests used to obtain the approximate values
of the transformer model.
1) Open circuited test and
2) Short circuited test
Open Circuited Test - OCT
 The primary winding of the transformer is connected to
a full rated voltage.
 But the secondary winding is left open as indicated next
to this slide.
 During OCT;
 Vo = max and Io = 0
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• Using OCT method Input voltage, input current as well as
input power to the transformer are measured.
• From these measurement information;
• The power factor as well as
• The magnitude and angle of the excitation impedance
can also be calculated.

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 To calculate Rc and Xm first look at the following terms
 Conductance Vs resistance
 Susceptance Vs Reactance
 Admittance Vs impedance
 Conductance Gc and susceptance Bm respectively are given by;

 And the equivalent admittance YE is given by

 Because Gc is the real part but Bm is the imaginary part

(they are parallel) !
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• The magnitude of admittance referred to the primary winding
can also be found from the open circuit test as

• And from the knowledge of power factor we can calculate the

angle of admittance as follows;

that the current lags the voltage by about an angle 𝞠 = 90o .

• the power factor is always lagging for a real transformer so

i.e.

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 OCT gives us the following information
 Core loss at rated voltage and frequency.
 Parameters of the equivalent circuit of transformer.
 The transformer turns ratio.
 Mainly used to carry out some modifications

Short circuited test – (SCT)

 During SCT, of transformer
 Secondary terminals of the transformer are short circuited, and
 The primary terminals are connected to a fairly low-voltage
source .
 Vo = 0 and Io = max
 The input voltage is adjusted until the current in the short
circuited windings is equal to its rated value.
 The input voltage, current, and power are again measured.
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• SCT

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• The magnitude of the series impedances as referred to
the primary winding of the transformer is given as;
 (assuming the current flowing through the
excitation branch is negligible)

• The overall impedance angle is also calculated

from the knowledge of power factor.

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SCT – is used to obtain the following information
 Ohmic loss at rated current and frequency.
 The equivalent circuit resistance and reactance.
 Transformer efficiency.

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Voltage regulation (VR)
 A real transformer has series impedances within it,
And the output voltage of the transformer varies
with the load even if input voltage remains constant.
 The voltage regulation of a transformer is defined as
the change in the magnitude of the secondary voltage
from no load to full load condition with the primary
held fixed.

 But at no load condition

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Transformer Efficiency
Transformers are also compared and judged
on their efficiencies.
The efficiency of a device is defined by the
equation
 or

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