Simulação numérica da condução e convecção em transformadores imersos em ar e óleo via OpenFOAM

Abstract

The article addresses the growing global demand for electrical energy, driven by technological advancements, which requires robust energy infrastructures. The research focuses on the thermal analysis of this equipment, which is essential to guarantee efficiency and safety.Transformers, composed of silicon-steel cores and copper coils, utilize cooling systems to dissipate the heat generated by the Joule effect.The study uses computational simulations with air and oil cooling, employing the chtMultiRegionFoam solver from the OpenFOAM (version 12) software along with the heatedDuct tutorial, applying the FiniteVolume Method to investigate the thermal efficiency of air-cooled (ANAN) and oil-cooled (ONAN) transformers.The simulations consider the geometry, the properties of air and mineral oil, and the turbulence model 𝑘 − 𝜀.The results showed that the air-cooled transformer exhibits slower heat dissipation, while the oil-cooled transformer provides more efficient heat exchange, with more uniform temperatures, although with greater heat retention in some regions.The study concludes that the choice of the cooling fluid directly impacts the thermal behavior, being essential for optimizing the performance and reliability of electrical systems.