Indian Institute of

Technology, Delhi

Experiment No.8
Single Phase Transformer Open and Short circuit
test
By Anuj Choudhury
2015CS10214
CS1150214@IITD.AC.IN
Rudraksh Gupta

Harman Singh

Anand Raj

Jai Moondhra

Cs1150230@IITD.AC.IN
PH1150820@IITD.AC.IN CE1150325@IITD.AC.INCe1150309@IITD.AC.IN

Abstract
The experiment deals with studying the various losses associated with the
transformer and to study the dependence of the losses on the load current and
the input voltage and to determine the efficiency of the transformer and calculate
the primary and the secondary impedance and the resistance.

INTRODUCTION:
Economical and technological feasible voltage levels at which large
chunks of electric power can be generated are typically 11-37 kV, while
most convenient utilization voltages are 230/400 V for commercial,
industrial& domestic purposes. To reduce transmission losses, it is
desirable that when transmitting power over long distances it should be
done at highest possible voltage (.625 KV /Km line to line as in modern
practice). Transmission and distribution should be done at different
voltages. It is therefore essential to step- up voltages at the sending end
and to step down at the receiving end. This transformation of voltages
can be done more efficiently in case of AC systems due to availability of
AC transformers and in this experiment we study the constructional
details of single phase transformers, B-H curve for the core material, and
wave-forms of exciting current and induced voltages.

Objectives:To determine the parameters and losses by conducting

open circuit and short circuit tests on a single phase
transformer.

Equipment required:1
2
3
4
5
6

Transformer
Rheostat
Two voltmeters one with voltage range equivalent to the full
voltage rating and the other with 10%of the voltage rating.
Two ammeters one with current range equivalent to the full
load current rating and the other with 10%of the voltage
rating.
One multi range wattmeter.
Single phase autotransformer with full load current rating.

Background Theory and Analysis

In a transformer we generally give an AC input to one of the terminals and an output proportional to the
number of turns in the coil is obtained. This is attributed to electro-magnetic coupling. In practice, this
is accompanied by many energy losses due to leakage in magnetic flux and hysteresis losses in the
material used in the core. In order to simplify the study of energy transfer an equivalent circuit is built
with an ideal transformer.
The input source being the sole energy supply in the system compensates all the losses. The voltage
thus associated with primary flux is related to the primary input by eliminating the power losses from
the power supplied by the source. the primary Emf clearly is out of phase with the input current(I o) by
90o. A part of the input current is lost to the core losses(Ic) and the rest(Im) relates to the mutual flux
The energy losses due to leakage in the coil and the resistance of the coil are given by
Ec =I o r 1

This leakage flux does not incur hysteresis losses and thus the mutual flux is linked with the losses.
This lags the current by 90o and thus is related to an inductance.
E x =I o X 1

The relation between the primary EMF and the input voltage is
V 1=E1 + I o X l + I o r 1

The equivalent circuit can be setup as

A similar behavior is seen in the secondary coil and the corresponding relation is
V l=E 2+ I l X 2 + I l r c

The hysteresis losses are modeled by a resistor for the eddy currents linked with the mutual flux(Im) and
an inductance for the other losses which was attributed to Ic as it differs by a 90o phase shift.
The equivalent circuit can be modeled as

The Entire circuit looks with the transformer being ideal and the power losses in output are attributed to
the circuit elements looks like

with the corresponding phasor as

These parameters are derived from circuit tests as follows

a)Open circuit test
The open circuit does not induce any flux and thus does not affect the mutual flux. Thus the primary
current remains unaffected and the operation under high voltages increase the core losses are relatively
higher than the flux leakage. So the power measured is almost equal to the power dissipated in core loss
P=V l2 / Rc

and

= P/V l I l
cos

where

The equivalent circuit is modeled as

is the hysteresis lag.

We can get the value of equivalent reactance by

X c =R c cot

b)Short circuit test

As the circuit is now shorted, a large current flows in the circuit and according to Lenz's law it opposes
the flux in the coil thus decreasing the primary current. This is also compensated by the power source
and increases the current in the primary coil of the equivalent circuit to balance the effect. Moreover,
the core losses are considerable for higher values of input voltage because of insulation of the core
which increases it's resistance. Hence the power loss in this circuit is almost equal to the power
dissipated in the coil.
Corresponding circuit can be modeled as

P=V l / R01

and we have total impedance given by

Z =V l /I l

We can get the internal inductance X01= X1+ X2

X 01= Z2 R012

These parameters once determined can be used to predict the functioning of a transformer.

Procedure
Open Circuit Test
1 Mark the connections as shown in the figure

2 The secondary of transformer under test is kept open and the full voltage is applied to the
primary. Low current range ammeter and high voltage voltmeters are used.

3 Read the no load current, power and applied voltage.

4 Take readings by varying the applied voltage.
5 Plot no load current and power vs input voltage and calculate Rc and Xm.

Short Circuit Test

1 Now use the high current rating of ammeter and low voltage rating of voltmeter.
2 Short the secondary and apply the reduced voltage to the primary so that the full load
passes through the windings.
3 Take the voltage, currentand power readings.
4 Take readings at 50% and 25% of rated current.
5 Plot total short circuit power vs input current and calculate circuit parameters.

Observations

Error bars and observation

table

Serial
no.
1
2
Serial3
no.
1
2
3

Primary
Voltage
4.4+0.1
8.10.1
Primary
15.50.1
Voltage
701
1401
2201

Short circuit
test
Primary
Input Power
current
1.350.01
01
open
circuit
2.550.01
101
test
Primary
Input
4.80.01
601 Power
current
Multiplying factor=1
0.50.1
22
1.40.1
62
2.40.1
162
Multiplying factor=2

Secondary
Current
1.350.01
2.550.01
Secondary
4.80.01
Current
691
1401
2101

Impedance
3.250.01
3.170.01
Impedance
3.220.01
1400.1
1000.1
91.60.1

no load current vs input voltage(open circuit test)

6
5
4

no load current 3
2
1
0

10

12

14

16

18

input voltage

power vs input voltage(open circuit test)

70
60
50
40

power 30
20
10
0

10

input voltage

12

14

16

18

short circuit power vs input current(short circuit test)

14
12
10
8

Short circuit power

6
4
2
0

0.5

1.5

input current

2.5

Error Analysis
1.Proper care must be taken for considering the polarity of the source voltage to
be connected.
2.All the connections must be proper and tight.
3.The knob of the first transformer which controls the input voltage must be slowly
rotated and proper care must also be taken such that it does not exceeds a
prescribed maximum value.
4.The current in the primary must be sufficiently large to magnetize the material
properly.
5.Proper care must be taken to use the appropriate range voltmeter and ammeter
for the open circuit case when the load current is very less use the low current
ammeter for the input circuit and high current voltmeters are used. For the short
circuit use the more range ammeter.
6.Increase the voltage of the auto transformer slowly to reach the maximum load
current, reach a little bit less than the maximum load current.

Discussion
Regulation and efficiency of a transformer:
The voltage regulation is the percentage of voltage difference between no load and full
load voltages of a transformer with respect to its full load voltage.
Open circuit test gives core losses while short circuit test gives copper losses
In an open circuit test, current is very low because the circuit is incomplete on the
secondary side hence the only losses are those due to inductance of the core.
In short circuit test, voltage is low but the current is standard. So the only losses are due
to resistance of conductor.
The advantages and disadvantages open circuit and short circuit test
The efficiency of a transformer is always determined by these test because of:
- The power required to carry out these test is very small.
- The test gave core loss and copper loss separately.
Reduced voltage is required for short circuit test
in a short-circuit test the terminals are connected to each other with no resistance, so if
you apply the rated voltage to the terminals that (now ) are connected to each other not

a LOAD the resultant current will be much-much higher than the rated current. So this
high current will hurt your insulation.

Application in Real life

The short circuit and open circuit tests are performed on single phase transformer to
determine equivalent circuit of transformer
voltage regulation of transformer
efficiency of transformer
These tests are very applicable in real life because, these help to determine the internal
characteristics of the transformers, thus making this method invaluable in power distribution
sector.

Conclusion
Thus we learnt how to calculate the characteristic circuit parameters of the
transformer in this experiment.

References
ELL Lab Manual
V.Del Toro;Principle of Electrical engineering

 Wikipedia