Flexible transformer system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11538614-B2
Application number	US-201916689438-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 20, 2019
Priority date	Nov 20, 2019
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

A system includes conductive windings extending around a magnetic core and impedance-varying windings extending around the magnetic core. The impedance-varying windings include positive windings and negative windings. The conductive windings and the impedance-varying windings conduct electric current around the magnetic core. The system includes a first impedance tap changer that is electrically coupled with the positive windings of the impedance-varying windings and a second impedance tap changer electrically coupled with the negative windings of the impedance-varying windings. A controller controls the first impedance tap changer and the second impedance tap changer to change an impedance of the system by changing which portion of the positive windings and which portion of the negative windings are conductively coupled with the conductive windings, and which portion of the positive windings and which portion of the negative windings are disconnected from the conductive windings.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
changing an impedance of a system that includes conductive windings and impedance-varying windings extending around a magnetic core by operating a controller coupled with the impedance-varying windings and the conductive windings to simultaneously control which portion of positive windings of the impedance-varying windings is conductively coupled with a first impedance tap changer and which portion of negative windings of the impedance-varying windings is conductively coupled with a second impedance tap changer, wherein the impedance of the system is changed to a desired impedance value.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising changing the impedance of the system while the system is operating.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising changing the impedance of the system to control one or more of an amount of power that passes through the system or a fault current level allowed to move through the system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the system is a three-phase power transformer, and further comprising controlling the impedance of one or more transformer phases of the three-phase power transformer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the system is a three-phase power transformer, and further comprising controlling the impedance of one or more transformer phases of the three-phase power transformer to balance an amount of power configured to flow through each of the one or more transformer phases.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the system includes voltage-varying windings extending around the magnetic core, the voltage-varying windings also configured to conduct electric current around the magnetic core, and further comprising changing a voltage ratio of the system by one or more of changing a direction of current flow in the voltage-varying windings by controlling a voltage switch coupled with the voltage-varying windings or conductively decoupling a portion of the voltage-varying windings from the conductive windings.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein changing the direction of the current flow the voltage-varying windings includes conductively coupling the voltage-varying windings with the conductive windings in a common direction when the current flows in the common direction, or conductively coupling the voltage-varying windings with the conductive windings in an opposite direction when the current flows in the opposite direction.

8. The system of claim 6 , further comprising reducing the voltage ratio of the system by conductively coupling the voltage-varying windings with a portion of the conductive windings having a common polarity, and further comprising increasing the voltage ratio of the system by conductively coupling the voltage-varying windings with a portion of the conductive windings having opposite polarity.

Assignees

• Gen Electric
• General Electric Technology Gmbh

Inventors

• Ndiaye Ibrahima
• Mendez-Zamora Omar
• Betancourt-Ramirez Enrique
• Elasser Ahmed
• Bebic Jovan Z
• Jiang Yazhou
• Avila-Montes Jesus

Classifications

• H01F29/025 Primary

  Constructional details of transformers or reactors with tapping on coil or windings · CPC title

• H01F29/04

  having provision for tap-changing without interrupting the load current · CPC title

• H01H9/0005

  Tap change devices · CPC title

• H01F27/004 Primary

  Arrangements for interchanging inductances, transformers or coils thereof · CPC title

• G05F5/00

  Systems for regulating electric variables by detecting deviations in the electric input to the system and thereby controlling a device within the system to obtain a regulated output · CPC title