Experiment 3: Power Transformer Open and Short Circuit Tests

Objectives
• To conduct standard open and short circuit tests in order to find the parameters of the
equivalent circuit of a transformer.
• Evaluate the regulation and efficiency of the transformer at a given load.

Equipment
• Fluke meter.
• Two scope leads.
• 3-phase AC Variac.
• One four-winding single phase transformer

References
• A. Fitzgerald, C. Kinsley, Jr., S. Umans, Electric Machinery, Ch. 1, 6th Edition,
McGraw-Hill Inc., 2005.
• P.C SEN, Principles of Electric Machines and Power Electronics, 3rd Edition, John
Wiley, 2013

Background
A power transformer is usually employed for the purpose of converting power, at a fixed
frequency, from one voltage to another. If it is used for converting power from a high voltage
to a low voltage, it is called a step-down transformer. The conversion efficiency of a power
transformer is extremely high and almost all of the input power is supplied as output power at
the secondary winding.

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 Figure 3.1: Ideal transformer
Consider a magnetic core as shown in figure 3.1, carrying primary and secondary windings
having N1 and N2 turns, respectively. When a sinusoidal voltage is applied to the primary
winding, a flux Φ will exist in the core which links both the primary and secondary windings,
inducing the RMS voltages
V1 = 4 .44f N1 Φ in the primary winding (3.1)
V2 = 4.44fN2 Φ in the secondary winding (3.2)
The transformer is said to have a transformation ratio

(3.3)

Equivalent Circuit
The transformer may be represented by the equivalent circuit shown in Fgure 3.2. The
parameters may be referred to either the primary or the secondary side. The series
resistances R1 and R2 represent the copper loss in the resistance of the two windings. The series
reactances X1 and X2 are leakage inductances and account for the fact that some of the flux
established by one of the windings does not fully couple the other winding. These reactances
would be zero if there were perfect coupling between the two transformer windings.

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 Figure 3.2: Equivalent circuit of a transformer.
The shunt resistance Rp accounts for the core losses (due to hysteresis and eddy currents) of
the transformer. The shunt inductance Xp is representative of the inductances of the two
windings and would be infinite in an ideal transformer if the number of turns of the two
windings were to be infinite.
A knowledge of the equivalent circuit parameters permits the calculation of transformer
efficiency and of voltage regulation without the need to conduct actual load tests. But
experimental data must first be obtained in order to determine those parameters.
It will be confirmed at the conclusion of the first two parts of this experiment that the
impedances of the series branch of the transformer equivalent circuit are substantially smaller
than the impedances of the parallel branch. Because of this large discrepancy in the magnitudes
of the elements we can redraw the equivalent circuit shown in Figure 3.2 into that shown in
figure 3.3. The errors introduced into calculations using figure 3.3 in place of figure 3.2 are
quite insignificant. Furthermore, the large difference in the magnitudes of the transformer
parameters allows for the determination of the elements in the series branch using one set of
measurements and the elements in the parallel branch using another set of measurements.

Figure 3.3: Simplified equivalent circuit of a transformer.

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Open Circuit Test
The open circuit test is used to determine the values of the shunt branch of the equivalent
circuit Rp and Xp . We can see from figure 3.3 that with the secondary winding left open, the
only part of the equivalent circuit that affects our measurement is the parallel branch. The
impedance of the parallel branch is usually very high but appears lower when referred to the
low voltage side. This test is therefore performed on the low voltage side of the transformer
terminals 1 − 1' in figure 3.3) to increase the current drawn by the parallel branch to a readily
measurable level. Besides, the rated voltage on the low voltage side is lower and therefore
more manageable.

Figure 3.4: Circuit for open circuit test.

Instructions
1. Connect the circuit as shown in igure 3.4. Make sure that the low voltage side of the transformer
corresponds to the left side of the connection diagram. A low power factor wattmeter should be
used.
2. Connect the Power Quality Meter to the left side (primary) of the transformer. If a low Power Factor
Wattmeter is used, it should be connected also to primary and DVM’s connected to allow
measurement of phase voltage (V1) and primary current (IP)
3. Connect the power supply from the bench panel to the INPUT of the three-phase variac and connect
the OUTPUT of the variac to the circuit.
4. Vary the input voltage starting at 0 V in 20 V increments to go up to 220 V. At each step change,
record Ip , W0 and V1 in Table 3.1.

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 5. Turn off the variac.

Report
1. Complete Table 3.1
2. Compute the parameters Rp and Xp at the rated voltage by using

(3.4)

Table 3.1: Data for open circuit test.

V1 Ip W0 Ic = W0 / V1 cosφ = W0 / V1 Ip
Volts Amps Watts Amps
Amps

20
60
100
::
220

Figure 3.5: Circuit for short circuit test.

(3.5)

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These parameters are referred to the low voltage side.
3. Find the value s of Rp and Xp as referred to the high voltage side.
4. Plot the no-load current Ip , magnetizing current Im , core loss W and no-load power factor cos
0

Φ , against the applied voltage V1 on the same graph paper.

Short Circuit Test

Is Vs Ws
Amps Volts Watts

Instructions
1. Using the 2:1 ratio transformer of the previous part connect the circuit as shown in figure 3.5.
Make sure that the high voltage side of the transformer corresponds to the left side (primary) of

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 the connection diagram. Use the voltage terminals ± and 150 V of the standard AC wattmeter, if
used.
2. Make sure that the variac is turned all the way down before starting this experiment. Turn on the
variac.
3. Turn the variac up slowly until the current Is (consult figure 3.5) is at the rated value (about 4
amps). Record Is, Vs and Ws in Table 3.2.
4. Repeat the previous step by reducing the current Is in 0.5 A and record all values in table 3.2.
5. Turn off the variac.

Report
• Plot the copper losses Ws against the current Is.
• Compute the equivalent circuit parameter Rs and Xs at the rated high voltage winding current by
first calculating

(3.6)

(3.7)

Rs = Zs cos Φs (3.8)
Xs = Zs sin Φs (3.9)
• Calculate the values of Rs and Xs referred to low voltage side.
• Now that we have all the parameters for the transformer equivalent circuit, compute the voltage
regulation at the rated power and at a lagging power factor of 0.8.
• Calculate the per unit efficiency at the rated power and at a lagging power factor of 0.8.
• Calculate the value of the maximum efficiency of the Transformer and determine the current at
which it occurs.
• Using the laboratory data, determine percent efficiency of the Transformer at half rated power
and 0.8 lagging power factor.

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