Faculty of Electrical Engineering

On September 30, 2023, the BIOTRAFO project was completed, financed by the European Research Council, Maria Skłodowska Curie Action, Research and Innovation Staff Exchange ( RISE), Horizon 2020. As part of the BIOTRAFO project, the thermal performance of power transformers using biodegradable, ecological ester oils instead of classic transformer oils were analysed, and the impact of these liquids on the environment, their material parameters in the full life cycle and fire resistance were assessed. The project results clearly show that switching to biodegradable oils is possible without losing the technical parameters and performance of devices, but with benefits for the environment. It is also worth remembering that power transformers and distribution transformers are very common in power distribution systems because, once generated, electricity passes through an average of four transformers before reaching households.

Results of numerical analysis of power losses distribution in the transformer obtained during the project

Results of numerical analysis of velocity of oil circulation in the transformer

The project was implemented by a consortium consisting of 6 European universities, 4 research units and 3 industrial partners from outside Europe. At the Silesian University of Technology, the project in the field of thermal analyses was carried out at the Department of Thermal Technology of the Faculty of Environmental and Energy Engineering, and in the field of electromagnetic analysis at the Department of Power Electronics, Electric Drive and Robotics and the Department of Metrology, Electronics and Automation of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.

As part of the project, employees of the above-mentioned departments completed several foreign internships at the Universidad National del Litoral (UNL) in Santa Fe in Argentina and the company Balıkesir Elektromekanik Sanayi Tesisleri A.Ş. (BEST) in Balikesir, Turkey, while UNL and BEST employees visited our university for several internships.

In addition to the exchange of knowledge and experience and joint research, the cooperation resulted in several scientific articles, including:

1. B. Melka et al., Effective cooling of a distribution transformer using biodegradable oils at different climate conditions, IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 1557–1565, 2023.
2. L. Garelli et al., Thermo-Magnetic-fluid dynamics analysis of an ONAN distribution transformer cooled with mineral oil and biodegradable esters, Thermal Science and Engineering Progress, vol. 23, p. 100861, 2021.
3. M. Stebel et al., Thermal performance study of power transformer filled with biodegradable oil using the effective approach for electromagnetic and computational fluid dynamics models multiple coupling, 2022 IEEE 21st International Conference on Dielectric Liquids (ICDL), 2022.
4. M. Stebel et al., Thermal analysis of 8.5 MVA disk-type power transformer cooled by biodegradable ester oil working in ONAN mode by using advanced EMAG–CFD–CFD Coupling, International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, vol. 136, p. 107737, 2022.

Contact persons: Prof. Jacek Smołka (jacek.smolka@polsl.pl) and Prof. Mariusz Stępień (mariusz.stepien@polsl.pl)

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