23/03/2023
What is the purpose of the Radiator?
A radiator is a bank of hollow pipelines which is used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling. Some Bank is used at the power transformer for cooling the transformer oil as well as reducing the winding temperature under loading conditions. The radiators are connected to the transformer through the pipeline at the upper and lower sides of the transformer which is shown in fig.
Working principle of Radiator in Transformer:
When the transformer is under loading condition, the transformer will be heated enormously and that heat has to be reduced under limited value otherwise the transformer may be damaged due to overheating. We can easily reduce the temperature of the transformer by applying a radiator bank. Now, we describe how it reduces the temperature of transformer oil.
As per convection heat transfer law, warm oil increases in volume and comes to the upper portion of the main tank and this heated oil enters the radiator through the top valve and cools down by dissipating heat through the thin radiator wall. This cold oil comes back to the main tank through the bottom valve.
This cycle is repeated continuously till the load is connected to the transformer. Dissipation of heat radiator can get faster by force air provided by means of fans. At a higher ratting transformer( i.e