Effect of fan arrangement and air flow direction on thermal performance of radiators in a power transformer

The focus of the present numerical work is to study the effect of fan air flow direction and mounting arrangement on the thermal performance of the radiators of power transformers using Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis. The study is carried out for four radiators of 3 m height and 30 fins with 0.52 m width and two fans of 1 m diameter in vertical and horizontal air flow directions. The horizontal flows from the two fans are considered in the same and the opposite direction, with the fans located on the same and the opposite side, respectively running at the same speed of 860 rpm for all configurations. Thermal radiation is modelled using the discrete transfer radiation model. A comparison of different flow and heat transfer patterns as well as heat dissipation - for the four different configurations - is presented. Velocity and temperature contours are used to visualize the heat and fluid flow distribution over the radiators. Fans placed on one side of the radiators result in larger heat dissipation than the other arrangements studied. The reasons for the improvement in heat dissipation are presented.

---

Opracowanie ze środków MNiSW w ramach umowy 812/P-DUN/2016 na działalność upowszechniającą naukę (zadania 2017).