NUMERICAL MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF COOLING SYSTEM OF ELECTRICAL TRANSFORMER DIPPED INTO POLYMERISED RESIN

Abstract

This paper discusses a numerical model of the heat dissipation processes in an electrical transformer dipped into polymerised resin. The transformer is cooled by both natural convection (via the ambient air) and forced convection (via the water cooling system attached to one of the transformer casing walls). Two cases have been compared, i.e. the cooler connected to the bottom or the top wall of the transformer container, respectively. In order to improve the modelling of the natural convection problem, an independent geometrical model of the surrounding air was created and considered separately. The continuity of temperature and heat flux along the interface between the transformer and air was enforced by an iterative procedure. This procedure allowed one to calculate and then prescribe local heat fluxes to the external walls of the transformer. The numerical results obtained in this project have yielded information on the efficiency of the analysed cooling system.