Numerical simulation and optimisation design for ventilation and heat dissipation in high-temperature and high-load indoor substations

Abstract

Under high-temperature and high-load operational conditions, inadequate ventilation and suboptimal cooling arrangements within indoor substations result in high oil temperatures, posing a threat to the secure and steady operation of transformers. In this paper, the ventilation and heat dissipation effect of a 110 kV indoor substation is studied by the computational fluid dynamics method. Initially, the three-dimensional simulation model of the main transformer chamber is constructed to mirror the actual substation structure. Subsequently, the impact of the upper outlet on ventilation and heat dissipation is explored. The results show that the proximity of the upper outlet to the fan on the side wall prompts the fan to draw air from the upper outlet, diminishing the air volume entering the lower intake outlet by 38.8 %. It proves detrimental to the transformer's heat dissipation efficiency. Lastly, with the upper outlet closed, the study delves into the impact of various configurations of intake and exhaust ports on optimizing ventilation and heat dissipation. A total of six cases of two scenarios for the air inlet location and three exhaust vent positions are explored. According to the simulation results, the optimal case of substation ventilation and heat dissipation is obtained by considering four evaluation parameters.