A New Approach to Modeling Three-phase Transformer Connections

W. H. Kersting W. H. Phillips W. Can, P. E.

Fellow IEEE Member IEEE Member IEEE
New Mexico State University WH Power Consultants Milsoft Integrated Solutions, Inc.

IA
Abstract - The modeling of three-phase transformer + I
connectionsfor power-flow and short-circuit studies can
take on many forms depending upon the assumptions
made. Too many times simplifying assumptions lead to
answers that are totally wrong. Exact models of the
various connections must be used if correct results are to
be achieved The exact models must satisfy Kirchhoff s
voltage and current laws, the ideal relationship between
the voltages and currents on the two sides of the
transformer windings and the models must represent any
phase shifl that is a result of the particular connection.
Figure 1 - Ungrounded Wye-Delta Connection
New models for all common three-phase
transformer connections have been developed that
satisfy all of the requirements as stated above. This
paper will limit the discussion to the ungrounded wye-
delta connection and the model developed for use in The basic "ideal" transformer voltage and current
power-flow and short-circuit studies. equations as a function of the "turns ratio" are:

I. Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the exact

models for three-phase transformer connections can be
developed for use in power-flow and short-circuit studies.
Too many times approximations are made in the modeling
that result in erroneous results. The exact model of a
three-phase connection must satisfy Kirchhoff s voltage
and current laws and the ideal relationship between the
voltages and currents on the two sides of the transformer
windings. When this approach is followed, the correct
phase shift, if any will come out naturally.

Because of space limitations, this paper will be limited to

the development of the models for only the ungrounded
ye-delta connection. A small sample system is used to
demonstrate the application of the models for both power-
flow and short-circuit studies.

11. Power-Flow Model Development

Solve Equation 1 for the "ideal" delta transformer
voltages:
The connection diagram for the standard 30 degree phase
shift ungrounded wye-delta transformer connection is
shown in Figure 1.

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The line-to-line voltages on the delta as a function of the
"ideal" transformer voltages and the delta currents are
given by:

0
The delta cments can be determined by solving Equation
13:
- -
1 _ _1 -
- 1
1 0 -1

Substitute Equations 2 and 4 into Equation 6: -- -- -

- 3 3 3 -
(14)

where:

Equation 14 can be modified to include the phase c

current by:

-
The line currents on the delta si& of the transformer bank
as a function of the wye transformer currents are given by:

pabe] =[DI].[~Dabc]

1 0 -1
where: Solve Equation 2 for [Imc] and substitute into Equation
0 -1 1 17:

Substitute Equation 2 into Equation 9:

[lube] = [DI] *eA1' *[IABC] ['I] ' [ IABC ] where:

r1 -1 01
[AI]= [AV]-' .[L]= - 1
1 2 0

:1
aT 0 -aT (19)

[
3'aT -2 -1 0
where: [BI]= -aT UT

The final equation needed is to determine the line-te

neutral wye side voltages as a function of the delta side
Because the matrix [BA is singular, it is not possible to
line-to-line voltages and line currents. Solve Equation 7
use Equation 12 to develop an equation relating the wye
side line currents to the delta si& line currents. In order for [PZNmc] :
to develop the necessary equation, two KCL equations at
the nodes of the delta can be written and then the third
equation is written understanding that the sum of the delta
currents must sum to zero because the wye connection is
not grounded. The resulting three equations in matrix Substitute Equation 18 into Equation 7:
form are given by:

B2-2

Substitute Equation 18 into Equation 20:
where:
zt, -zt,
-2-ztc -zt,
111. Application to Power-Flow Studies
For radial distribution feeders, an iterative technique that
works well is the “ladder technique” [1], [2]. The ladder
technique requires that an initial estimate be made of the
voltages at the bottom of the ladder (most remote node).
For each segment of the feeder, Kirchhoff s voltage law is
used to compute the node voltages moving up the ladder
towards the source node (top of the ladder). When the
voltages at the source node have been computed they are
compared to the specified source node voltages. If the
voltages are not within a predefined tolerance, correction
factors defined as the ratio of the specified to the
computed voltages by phase are computed. The segment
currents are divided by the conjugate of the ratio and
Kkhhoff s voltage law is then used to compute the node
voltages going from the source down the ladder to the end
node. These “forward” and “backward” computations are
continued until the specified and computed sources
voltages are within a predefined tolerance.
When a feeder has an “in-line” transformer, and in this
case a transformer bank connected ungrounded wye-delta,
instead of using Kirchhoff s voltage law in the “forward”
sweep to compute the node voltages at the next rung up
the ladder, Equation 22 is used. In similar manner,
Equation 18 is used to compute the segment current at the
ungrounded wye node of the transformer bank. On the
“backward” sweep, Equations 7 and 22 are used to
compute the downstream node voltages and segment
currents.
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IV. Short-circuit Model Development
Short-circuit studies of a radial distribution feeder can be
performed in the “phase-frame” by applying the method
described in Reference 3. This method requires that a
Thevenin Equivalent circuit be developed that will include
the transmission system equivalent system as determined
at the high side of the substation transformer, the
substation transformer impedance and the impedances of
all line segments from the substation down to the point of
fault. When a feeder includes “in-line” transformers, the
impedances of these transformers must also be part of the
Thevenin Equivalent circuit. This is best understood by
referring to Figure 2.
2 3
Eur
Figure 2 - Test System
In Figure 2, the impedance matrix [ZeqS] represents the
Thevenin Equivalent 3x3 impedance matrix from the wye
side of the in-line transformer back to the equivalent
system source. The matrix [ZeqL] represents the 3x3
equivalent impedance matrix from the load side of the
transformer bank down to the point of fault.
The short-circuit analysis for faults on the delta side (load
side) of the transformer bank will need the Thevenin
equivalent circuit as seen at the delta terminals of the
transformer bank. Referring to Figure 2, Kirchhoffs
voltage law equation can be written from the infinite bus
to the wye connected primary as:
Substitute Eq. 26 into Eq.25:
The line-to-ground (LG)voltages, as given by Equation
27, will not be the same as the line-to-neutral (LN)
voltages that are across the ungrounded primary terminals
of the transformers. To determine the LN voltages the
zero sequence component of the LG voltages must be
removed. This is a two step process where first the LG
voltages are transformed to sequence components and
then the LN voltages are determined by setting the zero
sequence component to zero and transforming to phase
components using the positive and negative sequence
components. When this is done the following equation 0 0 0
1
results: PI = 0 --I30
A-
0 (3 9)
1
[V2LNABC] = * [V2LGABC] (28) 0 0 -*/-30
J5-
where: [WO]= [ A ] - [ U O ] ~ [ A - ' ] (29)

1 1
EA3 = 1 a2 a=1.0@ (30)
I a a'

[uo]= 0
[:1 I: 1 0

Substitute Equation 27into Equation 28:

Equations 41 and 42 define the required Thevenin
[V2LNABC] = [WO].[ELNABC]-[WO]'[ZeqSA,]'[IABC] equivalent circuit at the load side terminals of the
transformer bank. In Equation 41, if the source voltages
(32)
[ELNBC] axe balanced, then the Thevenin voltages
The line-to-line voltages on the load side of the [EthdJ will 'be balanced and shifted by -30 degrees from
transformer bank are determined by applying Equations the source voltages.
7and 18 which results in:
V. Example System

[v3LL&c] = [AV]-' '[v2LNABC]-[zTA,]'[AI]'[I,c] The system that will be used to demonstrate the
(33) transformer nnodels is shown in Figure 2.

Substitute Equation 32 into Equation 33 and simple: The distribution feeder segments on the source side
[ZeqS] and load side [ZeqL] of the transformer bank use
[v3LL&c] = [ELN&c ] - [zeqsdc ] [ IABC ] (34) the pole spacnng as shown in Figure 3.

where:

[ E L N d C=
] [AV]-' '[WO]'[ELNABC] (35)

[zeqs&c] =([A 'I-' -[ [zeqsABC] -k [zTABC 1) *

(36) I 35'

The equivalent line-to-neutral voltages on the load side

can be determined by:

[ V 3 L N d C ]= [W].[V3LL,,] (37)
Figure 3 - Pole Spacings

where: [W]=[A]-'o[T].[A] (38)

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The length of the source side segment is 2000 Et. and the The transformer impedance matrix in per-unit is:
length of the load side segment is 2500 fi.
.05+ j.3 0
The conductors used are:
Phase Conductors: 336,400 2617 ACSR
Neutral Conductor: 410 ACSR 0 .05+ j.3

The voltage levels are: The current transformation matrix AI from Equation 19
Source: 12,470 volts line-to-line
Load: 4,160 volts line-to-line

The lo& used are:

Unbalanced: 1500 kVA, 2000 kVA, 2500 kVA at
is:

[
[ M I = 3774
.5774

-1.1548
-.5774
1.1548 0
-3774 0
QI
0.85, 0.90 and 0.95 lagging power factor

The ungrounded wye-delta transformer bank consists of The equivalent transformer impedance matrix ZDb, from
three single-phase transformers each rated: Equation 24 is:

2000 kVA, 7200-4160 volts, Z = 1.0 +J6.0 %

The power-flow analysis and short-circuit calculations

will be performed using per-unit values based upon 10
M V A andl 12,47Q/7200-4,160/2400Volts.
i
.0096+ j.0577 -.0096- j.0577 0
[ZDtdc]= .0096+j.0577 .0192+j.1155 Q
-.0192 - j.1155 -.0096- j.0577 0

The matrices have now been defined for the ‘‘fonvard”

The 3x3 phase impedance matrices for the source and sweep using the ladder iterative technique. The matrices
load side feeder segments are determined by applying for the ‘‘backward” sweep are defined as:
Carson’s equations and the “Kron” reduction. [4]. The
per-unit impedance matrices are: Equation 8 with the example system values:

.0111+ j.0263 .0038+ j.0122 .0037 + j.0094 .0289+ j.1732 0 0

.0038 + j.0122 .0114 + j.0255 .0038+ j.0103 [ZTABC 1= .Q289+ j.1732 0
BO37 + j.0094 .0038 + j.0103 .0112 + j.0259 0 .0289+ j.1732

r
Equation 12 with the example system values:
,1251+J.2949 .0426+ j.1372 .0420+ J.1052
[ZeqL]= .0426+j.1372 .1276+j.2868 .0432+j.1159
.042O+J.1052 .0432+j.1159 .1263+j.2914

In applying the per-unit method to this example, the line-

I
to-neutrd base voltage is used as the base voltage for both
.5774

[
[B’]= -.5774
0
0
s774
-5774
-.5774

5774
O I

VI. Example System Power-Flow Stules

line-to-neutral atad line-to-line voltages. Because of this,
the transformer winding ratio in per-unit is: The iterative process for the power-flow study starts with
an assumption of the per-unit line-to-line voltages at the
loads. For this example the assumed line-to-line voltages
aT = 7200’ 7200 = 0,5774
4160 I 2400 at Bus 4 are:

The transformer matrix AV as defined by Equation 1 is:

B2-5
The per-unit constant PQ loads are: 1.8887m
[vLL3]=[D]*[vLN,]=
.3825+ j.2371
1.93051124.7

.7125+ 4.2342
1 0 -1
where: [D] =[ 0 1 -11
The per-unit currents in the delta connected loads are:
-1 0 1
.2598/ - 3 1.8
Now apply Equation 23 to compute the line-to-neutral
voltages on the high side of the transformer bank:

1.1298/45
The per-unit line currents are: [vLN,] = [AV].[VLL,]+[ZDt,,].[I,,] = 1.0954/ - 112.7
1.1592m
.64041- 6 1.1

Equation 18 transforms the currents:

.5539/ - 3 1.7
1 0 -1 [ I A B C ] =[AI]*[I,,]=
where: [DI]
=

The source computed line-to-neutral voltages are:

In order to calculate the voltages at the transformer
terminals, it is necessary to compute “equivalent” line-to- 1.139 6 M
neutral voltages based upon the line-to-line load voltages. [I.ZN1]= [ E N 2] + [ZeqS].[IABC]=
1.16901127.7

The source line-to-neutral voltages are specified as:

where: [w]=
‘2- -
3 3
0 -
1

2
3
[
[ELNdc] = 1.0/ - 120
l . o ]

1 The computed voltages are not within 0.0006 specified

- 0 voltages so the ratio of source voltage to computed voltage
3
for each phase is determined:
The “equivalent” line-to-neutral voltages at the
transformer are: .8745- j.0719

1.1197/-26.8
[VLN3]=[VLN4]+[ZeqL].[l,b, I=[ 1.0626/-146.6]
1.088/72.2 The source side line currents [IABc] are divided by the
ratio conjugate to give:
The line-teline voltages at Bus 3 are:

82-6
 .6313/- 36.4 VII. Example System Short-circuit Studies

To perform short-circuit studies for faults either on the

.7993/87.7 low voltage terminals of the transformers or at the load,
Equations 41 and 42 are used to determine the Thevenin
The "backward" sweep uses the specified source voltages Equivalent circuit as it appears on the load side terminals
and the high side line currents as shown above to of the transformer bank.
recompute the bus voltages working from the source bus
to the transformer, through the transformer and then Equation 41 with the example system values:
down to the load bus. Equations 7 and 11 are used to
transform the voltages and currents across the transformer
bank.

after the first backward sweep, the equivalent line-to-

neutral voltages at the load bus are:
Equation 42 with the example system values:
31361-38.9

.8429/78.0
.0241+j.1173
The line-to-line voltages are computed as:
-.0241-j.1164
1.45281- 6.0
[VLL, ] = [D]*[VLN,]=
For faults at the load bus, the 3x3 impedance matrix of the
1.4251108.9 load side line segment [ZeqL] must be added to the
Thevenin impedance to give the total impedance between
The above values of line-to-line load voltages are now the source and the fault bus.
used to start the "forward'' sweep. This process of the
"forward" and "backward" sweeps is continued until the [ZTOT]= [zth,,] + [ZeqL]
speclfed and calculated source voltages are within a

I
.1493+ j.4122 .0426+ j.1384 .0410+ j.1052
specified tolerance. For this example a tolerance of .0006
was used and after 5 iterations the final line-to-line [ZTOT]= .0426+ j.1364 .15 18 + j.4000 .0431+ j.1159
voltages at the load are: .0179-j.0111 .0191+j.0015 .263+j.2914

1.4259- The circuit diagram for a line-to-line (b-c) fault at the

load bus is shown in Figure 4.
1.37301108.6

3424.7B

3297.61108.6

This example is a severe test for the iterative technique

since the loads are badly unbalanced and they are located
C
a great distance from the source. However, the system did
converge and shows the load voltages to be very
unbalanced as a result of both the unbalanced loads and Figure 4 - b-G Fault at the Load bus
the unequal mutual coupling between phases.

B2-7
For the b-c fault note that: References

[l] W.H. Kersting and Dave Mendive, “An Application

of Ladder Network Theory to the Solution of Three-
Phase Radial Power-Flow Problems”, 1975 PES
IEEE Winter Power Meeting Conference Record,
With these “initial” conditions the matrix equation
January 1976.
defining Figure 4 is given by:
[2] W.H. Kersting and W.H. Phillips, “A Radial Three-
Phase Power Flow Program for the Personal

1[ib1
ZTOT,,, ZTOT,,, ZTOT,,, Computer”, Proc. Ofthe 987 Frontiers ofpower
zToTZ,l zToTZ,2 Conference, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater,
ZTOT,,, ZTOT,,, ZTOT,,, OK, OCt 26-26, 1987.
’
[3] W. H. Kersting and W. H. Phillips, “Distribution
System Short-circuit Analysis”, 25thIntersociety
Writing Kirchhoffs voltage law around the closed loop Energy Conversion Engineering Conference ”, Reno,
and solving for the fault current results in: NV, August 12-17, 1990.
[4] W.H. Kersting, “Distribution Feeder Analysis”,
IEEE Tutorial on Power Distribution Planning,
IEEE publication #92 EH0 361-1-PWR, January
1993

The line currents on load side of the transformer for the

line-to-line b-c fault at Bus 4 are:

Equation 18 is used to determine the currents on the

[
W O / - 9.4
I, = 1519.0/170.6
755.01- 9.4
1
source side of the transformer ban%:

amps

VIII. Summary

A method of accurately modeling three-phase transformer

connections for power-flow and short-circuit studies has
been demonstrated using the ungrounded wye-delta
connection. Similar models have been developed for all
standard three-phase connections including the various
two transformer open connections.

B2-8