1.

Wave processes in transformer windings

Impulse Voltages in Transformers: Key Facts
1. Source of Overvoltages:
– Lightning and switching surges traveling along power lines cause impulse voltages at
substations.
– These impulses affect the windings of transformers, motors, generators, etc.
2. Role of Wave Processes:
– Insulation breakdowns indicate the significant impact of wave phenomena.
– These waves lead to overvoltages between turns (longitudinal insulation) and between
windings and grounded parts (main insulation).
3. Features of Transformer Windings:
– The total wire length in high-voltage windings can reach several kilometers (long line
behavior).
– The equivalent circuit of a transformer is more complex than that of a transmission line.
– It includes:
1. Longitudinal capacitance (K) between adjacent turns/coils;
2. Mutual inductance (M(x)) between individual turns;
3. Average values of L, C, K per unit length.
4. Stages of Impulse Impact:
a) Initial stage (t = 0): voltage front acts on the winding;
b) Steady-state stage (t = ∞): transient processes have ended;
c) Transient stage (0 < t < ∞): free oscillations occur.

2. Breakdown of solid insulation

There are three main types of breakdowns of solid dielectrics:
1. Electrical breakdown occurs as a result of the development of ionization processes and
is practically independent of temperature (E~102–103 kV/mm);
2. Thermal breakdown, associated with the heating of the dielectric due to the energy
released in it during the flow of conduction current and the development of dielectric
losses (E~10–102 kV/mm);
3. The aging process of the dielectric - breakdown with prolonged application of voltage,
associated with the development of irreversible processes: chemical transformations, the
formation of microcracks, the development of partial discharges (E~10 kV/mm and less).
 The electrical strength of solid insulation depends on:
1. electric field shapes;
2. type of voltage and polarity;
3. time of exposure to voltage;
4. dielectric homogeneity;
5. electrophysical characteristics (polar-non-polar, tgd ,ε );
6. temperature and thickness;
Dependence of breakdown voltage Ubr on the time of application of solid insulation
voltage

I, II - electrical breakdown, (t<0.1s);

III - thermal breakdown, a sharp decrease in breakdown voltage over time (time from
tens of seconds to several hours);
IV - aging, a slow decrease in breakdown voltage with increasing exposure time (several
minutes or hours to 10-15 years).

3. Ohmic and Capacitive and Mixed Voltage Divider

OHMIC VOLTAGE DIVIDERS - R1- is the resistance of the high-voltage arm (liquid or wire
low-inductance resistors). Disadvantages of liquid resistors: Kd depends on temperature and
contamination by foreign ions. The inductance of wirewound resistors is greater than that of
liquid resistors. This leads to distortion of the pulse shape at short exposure times.

CAPACITIVE VOLTAGE DIVIDERS

Disadvantage of a capacitive divider: it is impossible to precisely
match the transmitting cable, which leads to the presence of a
reflected signal and distortion of the main one. For short exposure
times it is better than ohmic VD. Difficulties in calculating Kd, since it is necessary to consider
the capacitance of the transmitting cable and the measuring device.

CAPACITIVE-OHMIC VOLTAGE DIVIDERS

Difficulty in setting up a mixed voltage divider, because Kd for C

and R should be the same. Кd С = Кd R.
It has the advantages of ohmic and capacitive dividers, i.e. short and
long signals can be measured.

4. Wave Reflection and Refraction at Line Discontinuities (Node Points)

Node point – a point where the wave impedance changes abruptly, i.e., the ratio between
electric and magnetic fields shifts.
Examples of Reflection and Refraction:
1. Open-ended line (Z₂ = ∞):
o Voltage wave is fully reflected with the same sign → voltage at point A doubles.
o Current wave is reflected with opposite sign → current at point A is zero.
2. Short-circuited line (Z₂ = 0):
o Voltage wave is reflected with opposite sign → voltage at point A is zero.
o Current wave is reflected with the same sign → current at point A doubles.
3. Matched line (Z₁ = Z₂ = Z):
o No reflection or refraction; wave passes through undistorted.

Uпад
Z1 А Z2

UА

2 Z2
 Transmission coefficient: α = (range: 0 ≤ α ≤ 2)
Z 1 + Z2
Z 2−Z 1
 Reflection coefficient: β= (range: –1 ≤ β ≤ +1)
Z1 + Z 2
 Relation: α −β=1

5. Overvoltage due to asymmetrical phase disconnection

The current in phase A, after the conductor breaks, will flow to ground through the
grounding point, and then return via the capacitance C₁ back to the conductor leading to the
load. At this point, the current splits: part of it flows through the capacitance C₁₂, and the other
part through the windings (inductance) L_T of the transformer. The entire current
circuit is completed through phases B₁ and C₁ of the source. The potentials of the neutral points
of the load transformer and the star point of the interphase capacitances C₁₂ are equal.
Therefore, the circuit shown in the figure can be simplified to a single-phase equivalent.

From the diagram, it is evident that three operating modes are possible, corresponding to
points a, b, and c. Two of these modes (points b and c) are inductive, and one (point a) is
capacitive. Only two modes — points a and b — are stable. The mode at point c is unstable and
will inevitably transition to either point a or point b.
If the inductive regime dominates, the system returns to point b, and no overvoltages occur.
However, if the capacitive regime prevails, harmonic resonance (ferroresonance) may develop,
resulting in significant overvoltages — up to three times or more the nominal level.
In addition, the phase sequence at the load transformer reverses — this is known as phase
reversal. If the transformer supplies a motor load, the motor's direction of rotation will reverse
after the conductor break (or asynchronous breaker operation).

6. Initial voltage distribution along the transformer winding.

At the initial moment (t = 0), when the front of the voltage wave acts (the steepness of the
front is large, which is equivalent to a high frequency), the inductance of the winding does not
allow current. Consequently, the current will flow only through capacitors C and K and the
equivalent circuit will take the form shown in Fig.
 In the mode with a grounded neutral, the end of the winding will have a potential equal to 0.
In the mode with an isolated neutral, the end of the winding will have a capacitance Cdx relative
to ground (see equivalent diagram), at which there will be a voltage drop ΔU. In the initial mode,
the main voltage drop is applied to the beginning of the winding due to the extremely uneven
voltage distribution. In this regard, the insulation of the first turns or coils is reinforced.
7. Steady mode (or forced mode) and transient process in the transformer winding.
For a pulsed rectangular voltage wave, this mode corresponds to a long time of voltage
application t → ∞. A “through” forced current ipr flows through the winding. Capacitive currents
are zero since the capacitors are already charged. The equivalent circuit is represented only by
inductive elements .

Since the winding is homogeneous, the voltage distribution across the coils (turns) will be
uniform, but it depends on the neutral mode. In the case of a grounded neutral, the forced voltage
Upr uniformly drops to zero (Fig. 4.17, a)
 Fig 4.17
For an isolated neutral, no current flows through the winding: ipr = 0. Consequently, Upr at
the beginning and end of the winding is the same. It follows that in the case of an insulated
neutral, the end of the winding must have the same insulation as the beginning.
8. Star with grounded and insulated neutral.
From Fig. 4.17 there is an obvious discrepancy between the initial and steady-state modes in
the transformer winding. This leads to the emergence of a transient process, where the oscillation
axis is the straight lines of the steady state. The equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 4.14, b, where
each cell (L, C, K) represents an oscillatory circuit with a natural frequency of oscillations from
ω1 to ω∞. In this case, maximum potentials can be achieved in the winding greater than Uпад:

ordinates (amplitudes) of all harmonics at a given point in the winding.

The maximum potentials along the winding are described by the envelope of the maximum
potentials. The value of Umax depends on the neutral mode. With a grounded neutral, Umax ≤
(1.2…1.3) Udrop and falls on the initial turns of the winding (see Fig. 4.17a). With an isolated
neutral in the transient mode, Umax ≤ 2Ufall and falls on the end of the winding (see Fig. 4.17,
b).
Transient overvoltages are dangerous for the main insulation. Therefore, the main insulation
of the transformer must be strengthened:
• for a grounded neutral in the initial part of the winding (1/3 from the beginning of the
winding);
• for an isolated neutral, amplification must be carried out along the entire length, but
especially at the end of the winding.

9. Transmission of overvoltage waves from one winding to another.

When an electromagnetic wave falls on one of the windings of a transformer, electromagnetic
processes in it excite high potentials in the other winding. Two types of VN transmission are
possible.
1. Capacitive potential transfer in transformers (see Fig.).
 Typically, in high-voltage transformers, the capacitance to ground of the high voltage
winding is much less than the capacitance to ground of the low voltage winding, i.e. The
equivalent equivalent circuit shown in Fig. 4.23, b, allows you to estimate the voltage on the
secondary winding depending on the voltage of the wave arriving at the primary winding:

2. Electromagnetic voltage transmission in transformers. The wave incidence on the LV

winding is shown in Fig. 4.24.
In this case, two options are possible:
a) if the HV phases are connected to the overhead line, then the potential increase will be
insignificant both at the beginning and in the middle of the winding;
b) if the ABC phases are disconnected from the overhead line

10. Overvoltage when disconnecting unloaded power lines and capacitor banks
When the line is idle, the current leads the voltage by almost 90° (the line is like a
capacitor). When the line is disconnected, when the contacts of the switch begin to diverge, an
arc lights up between them. When the current passes through 0 (moment t0 in Fig. 4.25), the arc
in the switch will go out. The line remains charged.
 Fig. 4.25. Disconnecting the idle line from the source in the presence of arc re-ignition

The voltage +Uph remains on the line, and the source voltage continues to change in a
sinusoidal manner. After half a cycle, the source voltage reaches the value –Uph. Consequently,
the voltage between the switch contacts reaches a value of 2Uph. The strength of the gap
between the contacts of the switch during half a period increases to no more than 2Uph (air
switches) and Uph (oil switches).
It is very likely that the arc will re-ignite in the switch at time t1, when the source voltage
is –Uph. In this case, the line will be recharged from +Uph to –Uph. And a voltage wave –2Uph
will propagate along it and current will pass

Recharging of the overhead line occurs because of the propagation of a wave with a steep
front –2Uph along the line (compensation +Uph and charging to –Uph). At the end of the open
line, the wave –2Uph will be reflected with the same sign, i.e. it will reach –4Uph, but the
resulting voltage will be –4Uph + Uph = –3Uph. The current wave will be reflected with the
opposite sign

11. Arc extinguishing devices.

When one of the phase wires is shorted to ground, it is necessary to extinguish the current
arc (see Fig. 4.27).
One of the most common means of reducing (compensating) ground fault current is to
include a controlled reactor in the neutral of the transformer, which is called:
• arc extinguishing coil;
 • Petersen coil (named after the inventor);
• tuned inductance.
When a wire is shorted to ground, a voltage appears at the neutral with respect to ground
equal to the phase voltage, therefore the current flowing through the coil is equal to

here Lk is the inductance of the coil; ω – network angular frequency.

Fig. 4.27. Equivalent circuit of a network with an arc-extinguishing coil: Lк – inductance

of the arc-extinguishing coil; L – transformer winding inductance; C1, C2, C3 – capacitance of
the line phases among themselves (phase-to-phase capacitance); C11, C22, C33 – phase
capacitance relative to ground; I0 – short circuit current; ILk – current through the arc
extinguishing coil
12.. Long-spark arresters (LSA)
The principle of operation of the arrester is based on the use of the sliding discharge effect,
which provides a large length of pulse overlap along the surface of the arrester, and due to this,
preventing the transition of the pulse overlap into a power arc of industrial frequency current.
The RDI discharge element, along which a sliding discharge develops, has a length several
times greater than the length of the line insulator being protected.
The design of the arrester ensures its lower impulse electrical strength compared to the
protected insulation.
The main feature of the long-spark arrester is that due to the long length of the pulsed
lightning flashover, the probability of establishing a short circuit arc is reduced to zero.
There are various modifications of LSG, differing
the purpose and characteristics of the overhead lines on which they are used.
LSG are designed to protect overhead power lines with a voltage of 6-10 kV three-phase
alternating current with protected and uninsulated wires from induced lightning overvoltages and
their consequences and direct lightning strikes; designed for outdoor operation at ambient
temperatures from minus 60 °C to plus 50 °C for 30 years.
The main advantage of LSG: the discharge develops along the device through the air, and
not inside it. This allows you to significantly increase the service life of products and increases
their reliability.