Numerical modelling of the natural ventilation of underground transformer substations

Ventilation by natural convection of two underground transformer substations has been numerically modelled. The model has been verified in terms of discretization errors and it has been validated with the experimental results of eight temperature rise tests carried out under different conditions of ventilation and transformer power losses. The results of the simulations serve to analyse the air flow pattern and the air temperature distributions inside the substation. A correlation for the air mass flow rate as a function of the ventilation conditions (discharge coefficient and area of the grilles) and the heat dissipated by the transformer has been fitted. The heat transfer coefficients on the surfaces of the transformer and the walls of the enclosure can also be obtained from the simulations of the model. All this information will be used in a future paper to develop a zonal thermal model of the ventilation of the substations that can be employed as a design and optimisation tool.