Measurements and modelling of three‐ and five‐limb transformer behaviour during large voltage and frequency disturbances

This study presents the modelling of transformers for voltage disturbances. The focus in this study is on the security of the power supply for sensitive loads, for instance, the auxiliary systems for a nuclear power station feeding, for instance, pumps for emergency systems. Both steady‐state operation as well as transient conditions have been analysed. A five‐limb as well as a three‐limb 4 kVA transformer was designed in order to verify theoretical assumptions with experimental results. The results show that the theoretical models provided results in conformity to the actual experiments with an average discrepancy of 3%. Moreover, it is shown that a five‐limb transformer gives lower inrush currents, especially in the highly saturated region. In addition, it was demonstrated that an inductive load gives much higher inrush currents compared with a resistive load. A final observation was that the current drawn by the two transformers in their saturated state differ severely depending on the topology of the core.