Improving thermal modeling of power transformers

Accurate thermal modeling of power transformers is essential for efficient asset management since thermal stress has a large impact on the condition of a particular power transformer. By accurate temperature determination it is possible to describe the degradation rate of the component condition and hence determine more accurately the end of life of that component which is beneficial during for instance replacement.
The project will be a co-operation between The School of Electrical Engineering at The Royal Institute of Technology and ABB Corporate Research hence the student will get two supervisors.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Within the scope of this master thesis project, the impact of the weather aspects: wind and solar radiation, on the top-oil temperature are to be investigated. At the moment, there exists a thermal model which describes the dependence of the top-oil temperature on loading and ambient temperature, which has been developed by IEEE and IEC. Hopefully these models are to be refined within the scope of this project, in order to provide better thermal models.

This project is second in line, after the project “Short-time overloading of power transformers” which was conducted by Nawzad Rashid. During that project the choice of thermal parameters during thermal modeling was investigated.

ABOUT ABB CORPORATE RESEARCH
ABB Corporate Research is located in Västerås, Sweden, for further information about the company please visit the following link;

http://www.abb.com/cawp/abbzh254/c88a9570464dc1fbc1256b570051a4bd.aspx

ABOUT EE AT KTH
The School of Electrical Engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology (swe. Skolan for elektro vid Kungliga Tekniska högskolan) is located in Stockholm, Sweden, for further information about the university please visit the following link;

http://www.kth.se/ees?l=en_UK

YOU ARE…
This project is suited for students involved in the programs: engineering physics, and electrical engineering.
Desired Prerequisites: self-dependent, proven ability to co-operate, communicative and the ability to solve practical problems self-dependently. Prior experience in power system electronics and keen interest in modeling and calculation is considered advantageous.

FURTHER INFORMATION
Start date: According to agreement.
Type: Full time
Location: Västerås, at ABB Corporate Research (not imperative)
Selection is done continuously; so please apply as soon as possible. For further questions please contact Johanna Rosenlind at [email protected] – be sure to write Master thesis project in the subject field.