Acceptance No 14 Summit Paper -137

Michael Faraday IET India Summit, Kolkata, India, November 25, 2012
Organized by Young Professional Section, IET Kolkata Local Network

172

Cost-Optimal Design of a 3-Phase Core Type

3-Winding Transformer
Raju Basak

Arabinda Das

Abstract 3-phase core type transformers are extensively used as

power transformers. Some of these transformers are equipped
with a third or tertiary winding for supplying station auxiliaries
and for other reasons. Their cost is a sizable proportion of the
total system cost. A number of methodologies have already been
developed for reaching cost-optimal design. However, in this
paper an attempt has been made to develop a simplified method
for optimizing design, in presence of constraints specified by the
customer and the regulatory authorities, through exhaustive
search using nested loops. The method appears to be best at
present considering the enormous speed of the present-day
computer. A case study has been made based on this method and
has been given at the end of the paper.
Index Terms Design variable, Exhaustive search, Objective
function, Optimal design, 3-winding transformer

Symbols used
Rating, VA
S

V1 ,V2
I1 , I 2
Bm

Primary and secondary phase voltage, V

Current density, A/sq. mm

Stacking factor, window space factor

Ks , Kw
H w ,Ww
Rw
Et
T1 , T2
a1 , a2
CT

VR
TR

Io

Primary and secondary phase current, A

Maximum value of flux-density, Tesla

Window height, window width

Window height/width ratio
Volts/turn
No. of turns/phase, the primary and the secondary
C.S. of the primary and secondary, sq.mm.
Total cost of transformer inclusive of overheads,Rs.
Efficiency, %
Voltage regulation, %
Temperature rise, o C
No load current, %

Raju Basak is a research scholar in the Department of Electrical

Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata - 700 032, India (e-mail:
basak.raju@yahoo.com
Arabinda Das is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Jadavpur University; Kolkata - 700 032, India
(e-mail:
adas_ee_ju@yahoo.com)
Amar Nath Sanyal is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Academy
of Technology, Hooghly, West Bengal, India (e-mail: ansanyal@yahoo.co.in)

N st

Amar Nath Sanyal

No. of steps of the core
I.

INTRODUCTION

N empirical basis based on experience of the designer

was previously adopted for engineering design. Later on,
with the development of analytical tools and mathematical
modelling the engineers began to apply them to design
problems. This approach to design involves many variables
and constraints and complex calculations to reach a feasible
solution [2], [6]. It is highly time-consuming to solve such a
problem by long-hand calculations, using a calculator,
particularly because a set of calculations have to be performed
many times to reach an optimal solution. So, recourse to
computer is made for solving design problems. There are four
different approaches to solve a design problem. These are
enumerated below [5]:
Analytical design:
In this method the values of the design variables are chosen
by the designer from his accumulated experience. Based on
the chosen values of design variables, the dimensions of the
equipment are found out step by step and finally the
performance variables are calculated. If a feasible or
acceptable solution is not obtained by this procedure, the
designer suitably modifies the values of design variables and
restarts the process. In this method, there is no feedback
from output to modify the input, which is an inherent
disadvantage, but the method is simple and straight-forward.
It does not require skillful programming.
Synthetic design:
The performance variables are prescribed in this method.
The program itself adjusts the design variables to reach the
target as closely as possible. This method requires more
skillful programming.
Optimal design:
This is a method in which a judiciously chosen objective
function is optimized (minimized or maximized) in presence
of a set of equality and non-equality constraints. Through
appropriate loops in the program, the optimal solution is
reached without violating any of the constraints. A skillful
programmer having high degree of mathematical knowledge
can only adopt this method [1], [7], [9].

Acceptance No 14 Summit Paper -137

173
Michael Faraday IET India Summit, Kolkata, India, November 25, 2012
Organized by Young Professional Section, IET Kolkata Local Network
Standard design:
bitumen-filled. In any case, the maximum allowable
This method is used to get best possible economy in mass temperature rise must not be exceeded. The design variables
production. The stampings, frame size etc. are standardized should be chosen with a look to these points.
for a series of standard mass production items. The
manufacturing unit may itself standardize and produce the
III. 3-WINDING 3-PHASE CORE TYPE TRANSFORMER
stampings or frames or it may purchase them straight-way
from the market whichever is economically more
The distribution transformers [3] are two-winding
advantageous [1].
transformers, generally with tap-settings for adjustment of the
The synthetic design is obviously better than the analytic
design. The optimal design is, undoubtedly, the best. The
optimal design may either be static or dynamic, constrained or
unconstrained.
The mathematical techniques [3], [4] , [9]] adopted to reach
the optimal solution are Non-linear programming (NLP),
Linear programming (LP), Quadratic programming (QP),
Geometric programming (GP), Integer programming (IP) and
Method of exhaustive search.
Generally the design problems of electrical equipment are
non-linear constrained optimization problems. The solutions
may be obtained directly or indirectly. The heuristic search,
constraint approximation, feasible direction and gradient
projection methods are direct methods. The transform method
for eliminating the constraints, the interior and exterior penalty
function methods are indirect methods.
In this paper, a case-study has been taken up aiming at
optimality of production cost, in presence of specified
constraints. The transformer is a power transformer of rating
25/20/5 MVA, 66/11/3.3 kV. The minimality has been sought
and found out by the method of exhaustive search using nested
loops against key design variables.
II. CHOICE OF DESIGN VARIABLES
A 3-phase transformer may be core type or shell type. In a
shell type transformer, the coils are surrounded by the core. It
requires more iron and less copper (or, aluminium). In the core
construction, the coils surround the core. It requires less iron
and more copper. The choice depends on relative price of
copper and iron in a country. For example, in India the core
construction for 3-phase transformers generally proves itself to
be more economic [5], [6].
The 3-phase core type transformer may be either a power or
a distribution transformer. A power transformer runs at a load
near to its rating for most of the times whereas the average
load of a distribution transformer is much less compared to its
rating. As such, a power transformer should be designed in a
manner so as to have its maximum efficiency at or near its full
load but the maximum efficiency of a distribution transformer
should occur at a percent load of 40 to 60 depending upon the
load factor at the point of use.
The efficiency should not fall below a limit specified by the
board / utility. The voltage regulation should be kept within a
maximum limit for distribution transformers and the shortcircuit current should be kept within a maximum limit for the
power transformer. The allowable temperature rise depends on
the type of transformer whether oil-cooled or air-cooled or

output voltage. They do not have any third or tertiary winding.

Some special purpose small transformers may have a tertiary
winding e.g. in one used for controlled rectification using
thyristors. But in large power transformers a tertiary winding is
added for various reasons [3]. Some of the examples are given
below:

1) In a power station, the third winding is added for

supplying power to the station auxiliaries like boiler feedpump, FD and ID fan-motors etc.
2) For supplying two transmission lines from a point at two
different voltage levels.
3) Some of the H.V. transformers use star-connection for
both primary and secondary winding for economic
advantages. This practice gives rise to neutral shift during
unbalanced operation. To obviate this difficulty, a
stabilizing tertiary connected in delta is used. It suppresses
the zero sequence current as well as the triple harmonics.
These are, in essence, 3-winding transformers with
unloaded tertiary.
IV. THE DESIGN VARIABLES AND CONSTRAINTS
The key variables [5] to be chosen, to optimize a design
problem, depends on the objective function [4]. While it is
optimized to get minimum possible cost of production subject
to usual design constraints e.g. the efficiency is not less than
98%, no load current not more than 1%, voltage regulation is
not more than 5% (for a distribution transformer) or the short
circuit MVA is not more than 8 p.u. (for a power transformer)
etc., the iron loss and copper loss are kept at their maximum
possible values to reduce the cost of production but their ratio
is to be adjusted to match the load factor. Accordingly, the
flux density and the current density are kept at their maximum
possible values without violating the design constraints. In
such a case, the following design variables affect the cost:
a) The e.m.f. constant K in equation Et = K.S
Here Et = e.m.f. per turn, S = KVA rating
b) The ratio of window height to width : Rw = Hw/Ww
c) The choice of core material -- costlier CRGOS may prove
itself to be more economic than cheaper HRS considering
overall cost including that of copper.
d) The choice of conductor materials -- sometimes costlier
copper may have to be used considering overall
performance and cost.
e) The ratio of iron loss to copper loss : (P i/Pc)

Acceptance No 14 Summit Paper -137

174
Michael Faraday IET India Summit, Kolkata, India, November 25, 2012
Organized by Young Professional Section, IET Kolkata Local Network
But if the customers interest is to be secured then the Step 14: Go to transformer design subroutine with values of K
running cost towards lost energy units must also be included in
and Rw for which the cost has been found to be
the objective function. Therefore, the flux density and the
minimum.
current density are also to be chosen as design variables to find Step 15: Print out results
the minimality conditions for the chosen objective function. In Step 16: Stop
this paper, only techniques for minimizing cost of production Step 17: End
subject to given design constraints have been considered.
V. THE DESIGN PROCEDURE
From designers experience the following values of design
variables have been suggested for a 3-phase core type
transformer [1], [5]:
E.M.F. constant, K: 0.45 for distribution transformer and
0.6-0.7 for power transformer; Window height/width, Rw : 2.03.0 for power transformer and 3.0-4.0 for distribution
transformer
The following choice of materials is recommended:
Core material: CRNOS for smaller ratings and CRGOS for
larger ratings
Conductor materials: Aluminium for smaller ratings and
Copper for larger ratings
After choosing the conductor and the core material
judiciously, our task is to choose such values of K and Rw
which will give rise to minimum cost of production without
violating the design constraints. The value of flux density B m
and current density are initially chosen so as to keep the
efficiency and no load currents near to their limiting values
prescribed by the customer. The selling cost is the objective
function. Its minima is sought against two variables only.
Therefore the method of exhaustive search has been adopted
as the computer run-time has been found to be negligibly
small. Considering these the following algorithm for the
computer program [8] has been developed.
The algorithm
Step 1: Input specifications of the transformer
Step 2: Input user-specified data for design variables Bm, ,
Nst , etc.
Step 3: Choose copper as conductor material, CRS as cost
material
Step 4: For K = 0.5 to 0.7 in steps of 0.1 do
Step 5: For Rw = 2.0 to 3.0 in steps of 0.1 do
Step 6: Go to transformer design sub-routine and find the
performance variables: efficiency, voltage regulation,
and no load current
Step 7: If efficiency 98% go to step 12
Step 8: If percent Z 10% go to step 12
Step 9: If no load current 1.0% step 12
Step 10: Find the overall cost
Step 11: If the current cost is less than previous minimum then
set minimum cost = current cost.
Preserve the corresponding values of K and Rw
Step 12: end for
Step 13: end for

VI. A CASE STUDY

The optimal design of an oil-filled core-type 3-phase 3winding power transformer has been taken up. The transformer
is in the primary substation. It steps down a part of the power
to 11 kV and the other part to 3.3 kV, for feeders. The cost
minimality for the transformer is obtained for the following
values of design variables:
EMF constant = 0.42, Window height/width = 4.2 and the
minimum cost = Rs. 3964018/The design details of the optimal machine are given below:
MVA-rating of the primary, secondary and tertiary: 25; 20; 5
Nominal power factor (assumed same for secondary and
tertiary) = 0.85 lagging
Rated line voltage of primary, secondary and tertiary:
66; 11; 3.3 kV
Nominal frequency in Hz = 50
Primary, secondary and tertiary connection: Y /Y /
Conductor material: Copper
No. of taps = 9; % turns between taps = 1.25
The EMF- constant for cost-optimality = 0.42
No. of nominal turns of the primary = 572
No. of additional turns of the primary for tapping = 28
Total no. of turns of the primary = 600
No. of nominal turns of the secondary = 95
No. of nominal turns of the tertiary = 99
Current in primary/secondary/tertiary:218.69;1049.7; 252.53A
Chosen current density = 3 A/mm2
Cross section of Primary / Secondary / Tertiary (mm2):
72.898; 349.91; 84.175
Net area of core iron (mm2) = 0.17596
Stacking factor = 0.92
Gross area of core iron (mm2) = 0.19126
3-stepped core has been used.
Diameter of the core circle = 0.01288 m
Length of the core sides, m: 0.487; 0.381; 0.228
Area of the window = 1.4602 mm2
Window height/width, m : 2.4765; 0.58964
Distance between core centers = 1.0106 m
Width/height of yoke, m : 0.487 ; 0.39274
Total length of core = 2.7429 m
Total height of core = 3.2619 m
Iron loss = 40715 W; % Iron loss = 0.16286
Mean length of turn (m) of Primary/Secondary/Tertiary :
2.0617; 2.9879; 2.4322
Resistance of Primary/Secondary/Tertiary, :
0.33972 ; 0.01704; 0.06007

Acceptance No 14 Summit Paper -137

175
Michael Faraday IET India Summit, Kolkata, India, November 25, 2012
Organized by Young Professional Section, IET Kolkata Local Network
Copper loss = 116550 W ; % Copper loss = 0.4662
successfully. In this process the chance of getting locked at
Total % loss = 0.6291
local minima has been eliminated. The computer run-time has
Efficiency at full load and 0.85 lagging p.f = 0.9927
been found to be negligible.
Maximum efficiency of 0.9936 occurs at 59.11 % load.
The magnetizing current in % = 0.3451
REFERENCES
The core loss current in % = 0.1629
The no load current in %= 0.3816
[1] O.W. Anderson, Optimum design of electrical machines, IEEE Trans.
% leakage reactance between primary and secondary = 4.09
(PAS), Vol-86, pp. 707-11, 1967.
The % voltage regulation at rated power and p.f between [2] A.E. Dymkov, Transformer design, MIR publications, 1975.
[3] M.G. Say, The Performance and design of alternating current
primary and secondary = 2.551
machines, Third Edition, CBS Publishers and Distributors, Delhi,
The % leakage reactance between primary and tertiary = 3.183
1983.
The % voltage regulation at rated power and p.f between [4] M. Ramamoorty, Computer-aided design of electrical equipment,
primary and tertiary = 2.073
Affiliated East-West Press Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, ISBN 81-85095-57-4
[5] A.K. Sawhney. A course in electrical machine design, Dhanpat Rai &
Dimension of the tank (m) length, width, height:
Sons, 2003, Delhi
1.2906 x 3.4266 x 3.6119
[6] H.M. Rai, Principles of electrical machine design, Satya Prakashan,
The no. of tubes (50 mm dia.) required = 991
New Delhi,1985
The weight of tank = 6405 Kg
[7] S.S. Rao, Engineering optimization theory and practice, Third
Edition, New Age International (P) Ltd., 1996
Cost of tank sheet/Kg = Rs. 45/[8] N.S. Kambo, Mathematical programming techniques
Revised
The cost of tank = Rs. 288222 /Edition,1991,1984, Affiliated East-West Press Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi,
The volume of oil = 15974 liters
ISBN 81-85336-47-4.
Cost of oil/liter = Rs. 32/[9] K. Deb, Optimization for engineering design, PHI Pvt. Ltd., 1998.
The cost of oil: Rs. 511154 /Volume of iron = 2.2726 m3
Weight of iron = 17385 Kg
Cost of iron/Kg = Rs. 120/-; Cost of iron = Rs. 2086232 /Volume of copper = 0.37139 m3
Weight of copper = 3305 Kg; cost of copper/Kg = Rs. 380/Cost of copper = Rs. 1256046 /Direct cost allowing 15% labour charge = Rs. 4762903 /Selling cost allowing 25% overhead = Rs. 5953629 /VII CONCLUSION
The cost of transformers in a power system is an appreciable
fraction of the total cost. So they must be designed costeffectively. The design methodology suggested in refs. [1], [4]
or [5] is inadequate in the sense that it fails to give a costoptimal solution and may even fail to give a feasible solution
provided the design variables are freely chosen. Also there is
no feedback from the values of performance variables in the
process. There is as such no check against their unsatisfactory
values. Authors like Dymkov, Ramamoorty etc. have dealt
with computer-aided design and its optimization. They have
discussed several methods for reaching the optimal solution in
presence of design constraints. Such methods e.g. gradient
search technique etc. are complex. Also, it is difficult to
choose the starting point and the step length for the gradientsearch methods and in many cases the global minima is not
reached. To obviate these difficulties, the method of
exhaustive searching through nested loops with decision flyoffs has been used. Due to tremendous increase in clock speed,
the computer run-time has drastically reduced. So nesting
could be made without any appreciable increase in the
computer run-time.
Case study has been made for cost-optimality of 3-phase 3winding power transformers using copper conductors and
CRGOS core with the program developed for the purpose very