Heating and noise are two most notable undesirable physical impacts in transformers. In this article, ElectricalEngineering.XYZ shares the role of oil in transformers.
In addition to unwanted electrical effects, transformers may also exhibit undesirable physical effects, the most notable being the production of heat and noise. Noise is primarily a nuisance effect, but heat is a potentially serious problem because winding insulation will be damaged if allowed to overheat. Heating may be minimized by good design, ensuring that the core does not approach saturation levels, that eddy currents are minimized, and that the windings are not overloaded or operated too close to maximum ampacity.
Large power transformers have their core and windings submerged in an oil bath to transfer heat and muffle noise, and also to displace moisture which would otherwise compromise the integrity of the winding insulation. Heat-dissipating “radiator” tubes on the outside of the transformer case provide a convective oil flow path to transfer heat from the transformer’s core to ambient air:
Further Reading/Handbooks/Questions on Transformers:
- What is Dot convention on Electrical Transformers
- The Ultimate Guide to Transformers
- The Transformer Polarity Handbook
- Electrical Transformers Handbook
- What does 3000:1 indicates on Current Transformer
- Current Transformer
- Rating Factor of Current Transformers
- Transformer’s Power and Current Capacity
- Instrument Transformer Connections Handbook PDF Download
- Why noise is produced near Power Transformers
Text extracted from: Tony R Kuphaldt’s Electrical Transformers Handbook under CC BY 4.0 License