A study on the optimization of cooling performance for oil-immersed transformers in high temperature environments utilizing response surface methodology

Abstract

To enhance the thermal efficiency of self-cooling oil-immersed transformers in high-temperature environments, this study proposes a method to improve heat transfer by disrupting the boundary layer through incorporating a V-shaped raised structure on the inner wall of the transformer. Numerical calculations using COMSOL software were conducted to compare and analyze the effects of four distinct geometric shapes of protrusions on the thermal performance of 35 kV self-cooling oil-immersed transformers. The results demonstrate that among these four structures, the cone-shaped raised structure exhibits optimal heat dissipation effect and effectively mitigates winding operating temperature. Building upon this finding, response surface methodology was employed for experimental design, constructing a response surface model with minimum winding operating temperature as an objective function while considering variables such as longitudinal spacing (P), height (e), and transverse spacing (g) of cone-shaped protrusions. Through analysis, optimal geometric parameters for cone-shaped raised structures were determined. This research provides an effective solution to address energy consumption and low efficiency issues prevalent in traditional oil-immersed radiators.

Keywords

• Oil-immersed transformer
• Natural convection
• Raised structure
• Response surface methodology
• Numerical simulation