Energy Losses in a Transformer

Energy losses in a Transformer

An ideal transformer would have no energy losses, and would be 100% efficient. In practical transformers, energy is dissipated in the windings, core, and surrounding structures. Larger transformers are generally more efficient, and those rated for electricity distribution usually perform better than 98%.

Experimental transformers using superconducting windings achieve efficiencies of 99.85%.The increase in efficiency can save considerable energy, and hence money, in a large heavily loaded transformer; the trade-off is in the additional initial and running cost of the superconducting design.

As transformer losses vary with load, it is often useful to express these losses in terms of no-load loss, full-load loss, half-load loss, and so on. Hysteresis and eddy current losses are constant at all loads and dominate overwhelmingly at no-load, variable winding joule losses dominating increasingly as load increases.  The no-load loss can be significant, so that even an idle transformer constitutes a drain on the electrical supply and a running cost. Designing transformers for lower loss requires a larger core, good-quality silicon steel, or even amorphous steel for the core and thicker wire, increasing initial cost so that there is a trade-off between initial cost and running cost (also see energy efficient transformer)

Transformer losses arise from:

Winding joule losses

Current flowing through winding conductors causes joule heating. As frequency increases, skin effect and proximity effect causes winding resistance and, hence, losses to increase.

Core losses



Hysteresis losses

Each time the magnetic field is reversed, a small amount of energy is lost due to hysteresis within the core. According to Steinmetz's formula, the heat energy due to hysteresis is given by

, and,



hysteresis loss is thus given by





where, f is the frequency, η is the hysteresis coefficient and β_max is the maximum flux density, the empirical exponent of which varies from about 1.4 to 1 .8 but is often given as 1.6 for iron.

Eddy current losses

Ferromagnetic materials are also good conductors and a core made from such a material also constitutes a single short-circuited turn throughout its entire length. Eddy currents therefore circulate within the core in a plane normal to the flux, and are responsible for resistive heating of the core material. The eddy current loss is a complex function of the square of supply frequency and inverse square of the material thickness. Eddy current losses can be reduced by making the core of a stack of plates electrically insulated from each other, rather than a solid block; all transformers operating at low frequencies use laminated or similar cores.



Magnetostriction related transformer hum

Magnetic flux in a ferromagnetic material, such as the core, causes it to physically expand and contract slightly with each cycle of the magnetic field, an effect known as magnetostriction, the frictional energy of which produces an audible noise known as mains hum or transformer hum. This transformer hum is especially objectionable in transformers supplied at power frequencies and in high-frequency flyback transformers associated with PAL system CRTs.

Stray losses





Leakage inductance is by itself largely lossless, since energy supplied to its magnetic fields is returned to the supply with the next half-cycle. However, any leakage flux that intercepts nearby conductive materials such as the transformer's support structure will give rise to eddy currents and be converted to heat.^[31] There are also radiative losses due to the oscillating magnetic field but these are usually small.



Mechanical vibration and audible noise transmission

In addition to magnetostriction, the alternating magnetic field causes fluctuating forces between the primary and secondary windings. This energy incites vibration transmission in interconnected metalwork, thus amplifying audible transformer hum.

Core form and shell form transformers

Core form = core type; shell form = shell type

Closed-core transformers are constructed in 'core form' or 'shell form'. When windings surround the core, the transformer is core form; when windings are surrounded by the core, the transformer is shell form. Shell form design may be more prevalent than core form design for distribution transformer applications due to the relative ease in stacking the core around winding coils. Core form design tends to, as a general rule, be more economical, and therefore more prevalent, than shell form design for high voltage power transformer applications at the lower end of their voltage and power rating ranges (less than or equal to, nominally, 230 kV or 75 MVA).  At higher voltage and power ratings, shell form transformers tend to be more prevalent. Shell form design tends to be preferred for extra high voltage and higher MVA applications because, though more labor intensive to manufacture, shell form transformers are characterized as having inherently better kVA-to-weight ratio, better short-circuit strength characteristics and higher immunity to transit damage