Transformer Oil Cooler
Transformer oil coolers play a critical role in keeping electrical generation systems reliable. Transformer oil coolers are a small investment that protect the power industry’s huge capital investment in the massive transformers that make up the backbone of a nation’s energy supply.
Power plant generators produce electricity that has to be converted to high voltage for more efficient transportation across wires to substations near businesses, factories and homes. The transformers that convert the electricity to high voltage do so extremely efficiently with only something in the order of 0.5 percent of the electrical load being lost in the form of heat. Even though the loss percentage is small, the actual quantity of heat can be quite large. The heat that is produced must be carried away from the transformer and dissipated. If not, the transformer will overheat and be damaged or even destroyed.
Several other site-specific factors must be taken into account to avoid detrimental affects on cooler performance:
- Wind speed and direction can be a factor–for example if fans are blowing air away from the transformer but the prevailing wind is blowing towards the transformer, warm air will be pushed back.
- Buildings around the transformer, firewalls or other fire protection components can trap air and impede air exhaust.
- Existing transformer cooler applications elsewhere on the site could blow heated air toward the new installation.
For example, a designer may be asked to design a system based on a 30 Celsius (°C) ambient situation. However, due to one or more of the factors described above, the air immediately adjacent to the transformer might not be 30 °C, but could possibly be as high as 35 °C to 50 °C. Experienced designers know to design a system that reflects these actual ambient conditions.