Variable Reactance Criteria to Mitigate Voltage Deviations in Power Transformers in Light- and Over-Load Conditions

Abstract

In this paper, variable reactance (VR) criteria are proposed to mitigate voltage deviations in power transformers under light-load inductive and capacitive conditions, as well as for over-load conditions. Under capacitive load conditions, power transformers are affected by the Ferranti effect as much as AC lines are and can suffer damage if a large over-voltage is present at the secondary winding. A classical solution for this is the installation of expensive and bulky inductive reactors at different locations of the AC lines to absorb the reactive power. Instead, this paper addresses VR techniques focused on power transformer reactance modification to compensate for the over-voltage. With these techniques, the Ferranti effect on power lines can also be reduced. Another benefit is the cancellation of over-voltages whose cause is different from the Ferranti effect, namely under inductive load conditions. In addition, they can also enhance the parallel operation of power transformers by allowing more flexibility for overload sharing among transformers. The VR techniques are derived from the Kapp phasor-diagram theory and have been validated experimentally at a small scale in the laboratory. When implemented in a big network, they can also improve the load-flow voltage and AC line-loading profiles and even increase the power factor of certain generators.