High Voltage Vs. Low Voltage Transformers

Category: Transformers

Category: Transformers

If your company is planning to invest in a power transformer, it is best to get as well acquainted with these devices as possible, before you ask for quotes and go about buying one. A transformer is a complex and vital component of power transmission and once installed, its life could span anywhere from two to three decades. It is therefore important to make a wise and knowledge-based choice.

There are a few basic things about transformers that you must know. The first is the voltage aspect. There are broadly three voltage ratings in which transformers are available, high voltage, medium voltage, and low voltage. Below is a brief that should help you understand each of them better.

High voltage transformers

The high voltage transformer deals with voltages that cannot be used directly by the consumer, but are used in power transmission applications. High voltage transformers usually handle electrical energy in the range of 230,000 to 35,000 volts. Due to the particular demands of transmitting these voltages across long distances, a highvoltage transformer has considerably different core geometry, winding methods, and insulation methods than low voltage transformers.

High voltage transformers that have the capacity to increase the primary voltage to transmission-level high voltage are called step-up transformers. Conversely, highvoltage transformers can also be used to step-down voltages, depending on where they are in the transmission chain. Some of the applications of high voltage transformers are in electrical isolation, instrumentation and power distribution and control. This type of transformer can also be easily configured from single phase to three phase.

Medium voltage transformers

Transformers in this range are typically deployed in the local distribution sector of the power delivery system. They range from 35,000 volts to 2,400 volts and are used to deliver power from local distribution circuits to end users. Where residential customers are the end user, the output voltage can be as low as 120 volts, or for industrial customers, it can be 5,000 volts. This transformer can be viewed as a link from the end user to the utility provider.

These transformers are most often seen mounted on utility poles or as green boxes with tamperproof enclosures for connections located in shopping malls, residential subdivisions, schools and mobile home parks, in newer residential developments they can even be seen along sitting curb-side in front of the users home. These are usually liquid filled and are by far the most numerous of the three sizes.

Low voltage transformers

A lowvoltage transformer, also sometimes called a magnetic lowvoltage transformer, is typically used at the consumer end of the energy grid. A lowvoltage transformer is a distribution transformer with both the primary and secondary windings designed to operate at system voltages in the low voltage classes. Typically, electronic lowvoltage transformers convert 120 volts into 12 volts or 24 volts. A DC low voltage transformer uses a rectifier to convert its output to direct current (DC) and to lessen radio frequency interference (RFI). Lowvoltage transformers offer a variety of mounting configurations and are often small in size.

So unless your company is a huge steel plant, has a huge furnace, or runs machinery for the mining or petrochemical industry, in all probability your company will have to invest in a medium or low voltage transformer. The exact rating (expressed in terms of kVA), of course, will depend on your energy requirement.

Whatever your eventual requirement, it is important that you consider vendors that can provide customized, environmentally friendly units that conform strictly to DOE standards.

by: MikeD

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