Towards the efficient refrigeration of transformer substations by means of computational fluid dynamics

The use of simulation tools has allowed companies to streamline their new product development processes reducing both cost and time-to-market. However, these virtual experimentation tools can be too complex and time consuming to be used by designers - that usually need a quick answer to compare and contrast different design solutions. This drawback is especially important when CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) is used to calculate the natural (non-forced) convection of a fluid, such as the oil inside an ONAN (Oil Natural Air Natural) distribution transformer or the air circulating in a transformer substation during the temperature-rise test. To address the situation described above, a customized simulation tool has been developed with the aim of reducing the computational cost that would require a model with the complete geometrical description. As a consequence both time-to-experiment and knowledge acquisition cost are reduced.