Delta-Star Connection of Transformer

(3) Delta-Star Connection of Transformer

• In this type of connection, the primary connected in delta fashion while the secondary current is connected in star.

• The main use of this connection is to step up the voltage i.e. at the begining of high tension transmission system. It can be noted that there is a phase shift of 30° between primary line voltage and secondary line voltage as leading.

Key point:                

• As primary in delta connected:
• Line voltage on primary side = Phase voltage on Primary side.
• Now Transformation Ration (K) = Secondary Phase Voltage / Primary Phase Voltage
• Secondary Phase Voltage = K X Primary Phase Voltage.
• As Secondary in Star connected
• Line voltage on Secondary side = √3 X Phase voltage on Secondary side. So,
• Line voltage on Secondary side = √3 X K X Primary Phase Voltage.
• Line voltage on Secondary side = √3 X K X Primary Line Voltage.
• There is s +30 Degree or -30 Degree Phase Shift between Secondary Phase Voltage to Primary Phase Voltage

Advantages of Delta-Star Connection:

• Cross section area of winding is less at Primary side: On primary side due to delta connection winding cross-section required is less.
• Used at Three phase four wire System: On secondary side, neutral is available, due to which it can be used for 3-phase, 4 wire supply system.
• No distortion of Secondary Voltage: No distortion due to third harmonic components.
• Handled large unbalanced Load: Large unbalanced loads can be handled without any difficulty.
• Grounding Isolation between Primary and Secondary: Assuming that the neutral of the Y-connected secondary circuit is grounded, a load connected phase-to-neutral or a phase-to-ground fault produces two equal and opposite currents in two phases in the primary circuit without any neutral ground current in the primary circuit. Therefore, in contrast with the Y-Y connection, phase-to-ground faults or current unbalance in the secondary circuit will not affect ground protective relaying applied to the primary circuit. This feature enables proper coordination of protective devices and is a very important design consideration.
• The neutral of the Y grounded is sometimes referred to as a grounding bank, because it provides a local source of ground current at the secondary that is isolated from the primary circuit.
• Harmonic Suppression: The magnetizing current must contain odd harmonics for the induced voltages to be sinusoidal and the third harmonic is the dominant harmonic component. In a three-phase system the third harmonic currents of all three phases are in phase with each other because they are zero-sequence currents. In the Y-Y connection, the only path for third harmonic current is through the neutral. In the ∆ -Y connection, however, the third harmonic currents, being equal in amplitude and in phase with each other, are able to circulate around the path formed by the ∆ connected winding. The same thing is true for the other zero-sequence harmonics.
• Grounding Bank: It provides a local source of ground current at the secondary that is isolated from the primary circuit. For suppose an ungrounded generator supplies a simple radial system through ∆-Y transformer with grounded Neutral at secondary as shown Figure. The generator can supply a single-phase-to-neutral load through the -grounded Y transformer.
• Let us refer to the low-voltage generator side of the transformer as the secondary and the high-voltage load side of the transformer as the primary. Note that each primary winding is magnetically coupled to a secondary winding The magnetically coupled windings are drawn in parallel to each other.

• Through the second transformer law, the phase-to-ground load current in the primary circuit is reflected as a current in the A-C secondary winding. No other currents are required to flow in the A-C or B-C windings on the generator side of the transformer in order to balance ampere-turns.
• Easy Relaying of Ground Protection: Protective relaying is MUCH easier on a delta-wye transformer because ground faults on the secondary side are isolated from the primary, making coordination much easier.  If there is upstream relaying on a delta-wye transformer, any zero-sequence current can be assumed to be from a primary ground fault, allowing very sensitive ground fault protection.  On a wye-wye, a low-side ground fault causes primary ground fault current, making coordination more difficult.  Actually, ground fault protection is one of the primary advantages of delta-wye units. 

Disadvantages of Delta-Star Connection:

• In this type of connection, the secondary voltage is not in phase with the primary. Hence it is not possible to operate this connection in parallel with star-star or delta-delta connected transformer.
• One problem associated with this connection is that the secondary voltage is shifted by 30⁰ with respect to the primary voltage. This can cause problems when paralleling 3-phase transformers since transformers secondary voltages must be in-phase to be paralleled. Therefore, we must pay attention to these shifts.
• If secondary of this transformer should be paralleled with secondary of another transformer without phase shift, there would be a problem.

Applications:

• Commonly used in a step-up transformer:As for example, at the beginning of a HT transmission line. In this case neutral point is stable and will not float in case of unbalanced loading. There is no distortion of flux because existence of a Δ -connection allows a path for the third-harmonic components. The line voltage ratio is √3 times of transformer turn-ratio and the secondary voltage leads the primary one by 30°. In recent years, this arrangement has become very popular for distribution system as it provides 3- Ø, 4-wire system.
• Commonly used in commercial, industrial, and high-density residential locations: To supply three-phase distribution systems. An example would be a distribution transformer with a delta primary, running on three 11kV phases with no neutral or earth required, and a star (or wye) secondary providing a 3-phase supply at 400 V, with the domestic voltage of 230 available between each phase and an earthed neutral point.
• Used as Generator Transformer:The ∆-Y transformer connection is used universally for connecting generators to transmission systems because of two very important reasons. First of all, generators are usually equipped with sensitive ground fault relay protection. The ∆-Y transformer is a source of ground currents for loads and faults on the transmission system, yet the generator ground fault protection is completely isolated from ground currents on the primary side of the transformer. Second, rotating machines can literally be