Investigation of the thermal head effect in a power transformer

TMs paper describes the numerical simulation for improving heat transfer in a power transformer by the difference in elevation between the center of the coils and the center of the radiators which was called the thermal head. The simulations were performed to analyze the heat transfer characteristics of the radiator in a power transformer using commercial CFD code (Fluent 6.3) and to optimize the design of radiator for obtaining reliability, safety, and low cost manufactures. By increasing the thermal head we can save the heat transfer area of radiators with increased mass flow rate of the oil. But we need to have a clear understanding of the cooling pattern in a radiator for optimizing the height of radiator due to the relation between the thermal head and heat transfer area. It is anticipated that in the design of power transformer, improving the thermal head would significantly help to minimize the cost and size of radiators.