What is transformer cooling mean?
Transformer cooling is the process of transformer heat dissipating to the surrounding atmosphere using air, oil, or both of them, to increase the transformer efficiency and prevent it from burning out due to excessive heat and temperature rise.
Why do transformers get hot?
Transformers get hot because of the energy losses that happen due to transforming power from one side to another.
These losses are magnetic losses i.e. Eddy current loss and hysteresis loss and electrical loss i.e. Cooper loss. These losses appear in the form of heat dissipation.
When current passes through a wire, a cable, or a winding it produces heat in normal conditions as losses. Transformers are not an exception, electrical transformers are mainly windings and an iron core.
When current passes through the winding it produces heat. The main source of heat in transformers is windings and core, which cause the temperature of the transformer to raise up.
So it’s essential to use cooling methods for transformers to compensate for the heat and control the transformer temperature rise.
Why Is Transformer Cooling Important?
If the heat generated in a transformer exceeds the allowable values, its temperature will increase, if no cooling method is used, the temperature rise of the transformer will cause the winding to burn out.
Losses in transformers produce heat, and serious problems like insulation failure and short circuit could happen due to excess temperature in transformers.
So it is important for transformers to have cooling methods, to cool down windings through transformer oil. The Transformer cooling method depends on its power rating.
Why Should You check transformer temperature?
It’s necessary to check the transformer temperature for any unusual rises to make the right decision if any changes happen.
In my work, we have a transformer of 2500KVA. I made thermal imaging for it to make sure it is not too hot.
Once, I find its temperature higher than normal conditions. So, we regularly checked the transformer with the thermal camera to ensure it was still safe to work.
The cooling system of this transformer had an issue. Its oil had water contaminants. We discovered that by making an oil analysis. The solution to this issue was filtering the oil.
Below are the lessons from this true story:
- All transformers have a temperature rise.
- Temperature rise should be within designed limits.
- The cooling system is the main way to keep the transformer temperature within limits.
- You should keep an eye on the temperature of the transformer. Any change should be analyzed.
Transformer Cooling Methods
Air, Oil, and water are used in cooling the transformers. Based on the type of air and oil moving system, the transformer cooling system is named. The following are these cooling types in full form:
- (ONAN) cooling means: Oil Natural Air Natural
- (ONAF) cooling means: Oil Natural Air Forced
- (OFAF) cooling means: Oil Forced Air Forced
- (OFWF) cooling means: Oil Forced Water Forced
- (ODAF) cooling means Oil Directed Air Forced.
Let’s dive into details about these transformer cooling methods.
What does ONAN transformer mean?
ONAN transformer cooling stands for the first letters of Oil Natural Air Natural. No fans or oil pumps are used in this method.
ONAN transformer (or ONAN cooling) is the simplest transformer cooling method in which the natural oil and natural air flow are used in cooling oil-immersed transformers.
How does ONAN transformer cooling work?
It’s clear from the name, ONAN, that the natural flow of the air around the transformer and the oil inside it is the main principle of ONAN cooling.
The heated oil and the heated air flow upward direction naturally. In four simple steps, we can understand the working principle of the ONAN cooling method of transformers.
- The heat generated through transformer windings and core transfers to the oil
- The oil transfers the heat to the transformer body and radiator, and the radiator is cooled by the natural airflow.
- The heated oil in the transformer flows in the upward direction naturally, the vacant place is filled up by cooled oil which is coming from the radiator, this flow keeps happening continually
- The heat from the oil will dissipate in the atmosphere due to, the natural airflow around the transformer.
ONAN cooling advantages and disadvantages
ONAN Advantages
This is the simplest cooling method and has no devices, motors, or pumps. So it has some advantages as follows.
- Reliability, as no equipment is used in this method. No fans and no oil pumps, which in turn means no faults.
- Simplicity, no special design required. No control circuits, and no temperature sensors.
- Reduced maintenance. Cooling fans and pumps need regular checks and preventive maintenance.
- And low cost. Due to no fans, pumps, or maintenance. All these costs are reduced with this method.
ONAN cooling disadvantage
Compared to other transformer cooling methods, the ONAN cooling method has a lower overall heat dissipation capacity.
Cooling fans and oil pumps increase the cooling efficiency of the other cooling methods.
ONAN is suitable for lower-power transformers.
How does cooling affect transformer power?
If we have two electrical transformers, One is ONAN cooled, and the other is ONAF. Then the ONAF cooling transformer power rating can be increased when cooling fans are working.
If the power of the two transformers is 2500KVA. Then the ONAN cooling transformer power will be 2500KVA as the maximum.
While the ONAF transformer power can be increased to up to 3250KVA depending on the number of cooling fans.
ONAN vs KNAN transformer
ONAN and KNAN are both the same principle of natural cooling using oil and air. However, ONAN transformers use mineral oil which is represented as O, while KNAN transformers use non-mineral oil which is represented by the letter K.
The application and the working environment of the transformer determine the oil to be used.
Mineral oil flash point is lower than 300°C, while non-mineral oil fire point is higher than 300°C, This makes non-mineral oil safe to use in hazardous locations where explosive atmospheres exist. Zone 1 and Zone 2 are explosive areas.
The heat dissipation of mineral oil is higher than non-mineral oil. So the tank design in the case of non-mineral oil, i.e KNAN transformer, is larger in size.
What is ONAF transformer?
ONAF, Oil Natural Air Forced, transformer cooling represents the cooling method of transformers using forced airflow with fans, and natural transformer oil flow, i.e no pumps, to enhance and accelerate the heat dissipation from the transformer.
ONAF is a cooling method for both oil-immersed and dry-type transformers.
For larger ratings, the generated heat increases and the cooling using ONAN is not enough.
Heat dissipation can be improved by applying forced air on the transformer surface. Fans are mounted near the radiator and are automatically or manually controlled.
The fans produce forced air on the transformer body and radiator to provide faster heat dissipation than the natural flow of the air.
Transformer ONAN and ONAF! What is the difference?
As mentioned above, ONAN stands for Oil Natural Air Natural. This is a simple transformer cooling method, it has no fans for air and no pumps for the oil.
While ONAF stands for Oil Natural Air Forced, we use cooling fans to increase the cooling efficiency and to speed up the heat dissipation.
This means that the transformer cooling has fans for air. These fans are installed on the body of the transformer and force airflow to cool down the transformer body.
In this way, the power rating of the transformer is increased based on the number of fans in the ONAF system.
ONAF cooling increases the power rating of the transformer, on the other hand, it needs maintenance and increases noise.
|
|
ONAN |
ONAF |
|
Oil Flow |
Natural |
Natural |
|
Air Flow |
Natural |
Forced With Fans |
|
Cooling efficiency |
Lower |
Higher |
|
Transformer Power |
One Rating Only |
More than One Power Rating depending on the Cooling Fans Stages |
|
Cost |
The lowest cooling method ever |
Higher |
|
Loading Capacity |
100% |
133% up to 167% |
|
Maintenance |
Not require |
Requires Fans Maintenance |
Which One to choose, ONAN or ONAF?
ONAF cooling is more efficient and faster than ONAN cooling method. The heat dissipation is faster and the transformer power is higher and more efficient.
You may ask, If ONAF is better than ONAN, Why do we use ONAN in the first place? the answer is one word, cost.
For simple applications where the load is fixed and small, then only ONAN cooling is the best choice. No need to add additional cooling fans and pumps with all other costs related to them, such as control circuits and maintenance programs.
Sometimes the application needs one transformer with more than one power rating.
In my working location, transformers with 3 or 4 power ratings, depending on the cooling stages. i.e the number of fans working on the stage.
This ONAF transformer is the best choice for our application. As our loads are not fixed all the time. So when the loads are high, we operate more cooling stages to raise up its power.
(OFAF) Oil Forced Air Forced transformer cooling:
OFAF represents, oil forced air forced transformer cooling class. It has oil pumps and air fans to make the transformer cooling faster and more efficient.
This is the most powerful transformer cooling method. It has pumps circulating oil through the radiator, also air fans are used to force airflow to cool down the transformer body.
OFAF methods increase the transformer power rating.
(OFWF) Oil Forced Water Forced :
OFWF represents oil forced water forced. OFWF is a transformer cooling method using pumps to circulate oil through heat exchangers and water to dissipate heat from the heat exchangers.
Separate coolers cool down the heated water to be used in a closed cycle.
(ODAF) Oil Directed Air Forced cooling
ODAF, is an improved OFAF electric transformer cooling method, to get the highest cooling efficiency from oil flow, by directing the oil to go through the windings and then to the radiator.
The oil in OFAF, has a path inside the transformer, this path doesn’t allow the cooling oil to effectively cool down the windings.
Making a redesigned path to force oil to go through the windings and then to the radiator to cool it down more efficiently is called Oil Directed (OD). While AF is using cooling fans as we discussed above.
What is Multistage Transformer Cooling System?
An electric transformer multistage cooling system is, a cooling system with cooling fans and oil pumps, work in stages depending on the transformer temperature.
The multistage cooling system is automatically controlled by temperature sensors based electrical panel.
The cooling stage is depending on the transformer temperature rise. The control system controls the number of fans and pumps that should work.
ONAN cooling is the simplest cooling method. It also has no maintenance and a low noise level. But it is just for smaller transformers.
In the case of larger transformers, fans, and oil pumps are used to enhance the cooling. In this case, the transformer power rating is enhanced too, and it has more than one power rating.
What does it mean if a transformer has more than one power rating, 45/60/75 KVA ?
If we have a transformer that has a power rating of 45/60/75 KVA, and a cooling method of ONAN/OFAF/OFAF, This means the transformer has a multistage cooling system and its power rating varies according to the cooling stage. In this case, the transformer power rating is:
- 45 KVA in case of ONAN cooling. No fans or pumps working.
- 60 KVA in case of operating the first stage of the ONAF cooling. A certain cooling number of units of fans and pumps works in this stage. In this stage no need for operating all fans and pumps.
- 75 KVA when ONAF cooling is fully operated. i.e all cooling fans and pumps are fully operated. The transformer temperature rise is higher than the rise in the first stage.
Loading capacity for multistage cooling transformer:
| Loading Capacity | Type Of Cooling |
| 100 % | ONAN |
| 100-133% | ONAN-ONAF |
| 100-133-167% | ONAN-ONAF-ONAF |
| 100-133-167% | ONAN-ONAF-OFAF |
| 125% | ONWF |
| 167% | OFWF |
Dry-type transformer cooling methods
The only applied cooling methods of dry-type transformers are :
- Air natural (AN). No cooling fans are used in this method, the natural airflow is enough to cool down the transformer.
- Air forced (AF). Fans are used to force airflow on the transformer body. This cooling method increases the transformer capacity up to 50%
There is no oil in dry-type transformers so, their cooling depends mainly on air. To make the air cool the transformer winding, the design is larger in size than an oil-immersed transformer, to make air flow easier between the windings.
If the dry-type transformer is located inside a closed enclosure, it should have good ventilation should to circulate air and dissipate the heated air to the outside.
Dry-type transformer cooling fans
Cross-flow fans are used in forced air cooling, AF, of the dry-type transformers to fast dissipate the heat of the windings of both high and low-voltage sides.
Dry-type transformer fans are single-phase induction motor fans, with overload protection, ambient temperature range of about -25℃ ~+60℃, and, usually, 220v or 110v operating voltage. The fans increase the power rating of the transformer as well as its life span of it.
I have written an article answering important questions about transformer cooling. I highly recommend you read it here.
Install My 100% Free Apps for Electricians:
- Fast Electrical Calculator. for electrical calculations
- Stable Cable, Ampacity, Voltage Drop, and Short Circuit App.
- Cables Tables. For cables most used tables that you need.
- Motors Calculator. To help in motor calculations and give help in cable sizing.
- Circuit Breaker Chooser. To help you choose the circuit breaker for motors and nonmotor loads.
Discover more great content by subscribing to My channel
Looking to stay ahead of the game in the world of electrical engineering? Subscribe to my YouTube channel and gain access to exclusive content you won’t find anywhere else!
Don’t leave empty-handed! Subscribe now.
