What is a transformer? What's up Engineering Lovers, my name is Igor Felipe and today we are going to talk a little about transformers. The powerful power lines that cross our fields or move under the city streets, carry electricity at extremely high voltages from the generating plants to our homes.
It is not uncommon for a power line to be rated at 400 or even 500,000 volts! But the appliances in our homes use voltages thousands of times lower, typically 110 or 220 volts. If you tried to plug a toaster or TV set directly into an electricity pole, it would explode instantly!
So here's a tip: Don't even think about trying to do this, because the electricity in the lines is sure to kill you. But how does a 500,000 volt line arrive at my house safely at 110 volt or 220 volt voltage? With that in mind, we need some way to reduce the voltage level of the electrical power in the transmission and distribution lines to low voltage levels used by factories, offices and homes.
And the equipment that does this is called a transformer. A transformer is a static electrical machine that transforms the voltage level of alternating electrical energy from a primary winding to a secondary winding, which means that the voltage can increase or decrease as needed. It makes this transfer of electrical energy from one circuit to another through the electromagnetic induction process.
The working principle of a transformer is very simple. Mutual induction between two or more windings, also known as coils, allows electrical energy to be transferred between circuits. It works based on the principle of Faraday's Law of Electromagnetic Induction, which says that "the magnitude of the voltage is directly proportional to the rate of change of the magnetic flux.
" Is it difficult? So let me simplify it and show you how it really works. Say you have a winding that is powered by an alternating electrical source .
The alternating current through the winding produces a continuous change and an alternating magnetic flux that surrounds the winding. If another winding approaches this energized winding, part of that alternating flow will be coupled to the second winding. According to Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction, there will be an induced voltage in the second winding.
If the circuit of this secondary winding is closed, a current will flow through it. This is the basic principle of the operation of a transformer. But let's show it in a more visual way.
The winding that receives electrical energy from the source is known as the 'primary winding'. In the diagram, this is the 'First Coil'. The winding that gives the desired output voltage due to mutual induction is known as the 'secondary winding'.
This is the 'Second Coil'. A transformer that increases the voltage between the primary and secondary windings is defined as an elevator transformer. On the other hand, a transformer that decreases the voltage between the primary and secondary windings is defined as a step-down transformer.
Whether the transformer increases or decreases the voltage level depends on the relative number of loops or turns of the coil, between the primary and secondary sides of the transformer. If there are more turns in the primary than in the secondary coil, the voltage will decrease and the transformer will be used as a voltage-lowering transformer. If there are fewer turns on the primary than on the secondary coil, the voltage will increase and the transformer will be used as a voltage-boosting transformer.
In an ideal transformer, almost all of the magnetic flux from the primary winding is coupled to the secondary winding. But in a real transformer, there are several factors that hinder this coupling of the magnetic flux. And for the maximum of this flow to be coupled between the windings, the transformer core must have low levels of magnetic reluctance.
Magnetic reluctance is the resistance of a material to the passage of a magnetic flux when it is influenced by a magnetic field. The purpose of the transformer core is to provide a low reluctance path, through which the maximum amount of flow produced by the primary winding ends up coupling to the secondary winding. So, these are the three main parts of a transformer, the Primary Transformer Winding , which produces magnetic flux when it is connected to an electrical source.
The Transformer Magnetic core where the magnetic flux produced by the primary winding, will pass through this low reluctance path connected to the secondary winding and will create a closed magnetic circuit. And finally, the Secondary Winding of the Transformer where the flow is produced by the primary winding, passes through the core and connects to the secondary winding. But the real transformer has a multitude of more complex components that help in transforming voltage, some of which are: The primary and secondary terminals with High voltage and Low voltage bushings, Insulating materials such as resins for conductors, transformer cooling oils, Radiators Oil conservators Oil level indicators Respirators Commutators Buchholz Relay And fans for forced ventilation Each construction type of transformer will have specific components, if you want us to talk about the most common construction types, leave it here in the comments.
I will leave here two videos that will add to this subject and if you liked this video you will certainly like these too. If you have made it this far, leave your like and if you are not subscribed, subscribe to the channel so as not to miss any of our content. That's it, my friends.
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