Center-Tapped Transformer and 120-/240-V Secondary Models

Distribution engineers have treated the standard ldquosingle-phaserdquo distribution transformer connection as single phase because, from the primary side of the transformer, these connections are single phase and, in the case of standard rural distribution, single phase line to ground. However, with the advent of detailed circuit modeling, we are beginning to see distribution modeling and analysis being accomplished past the transformer to the secondary, which now brings into focus the reality that standard 120-/240-V secondary systems are not single-phase line-to-ground systems, but they are three-wire systems with two phases and one ground wire. Furthermore, the standard 120-/240-V secondary system is different from the two-phase primary system in that the secondary phases are separated by 180^deg instead of three phases separated by 120^deg. What all of this means is that analysis software and methods must now deal with an electrical system requiring a different set of algorithms than those used to model and analyze the primary system. This paper will describe the modeling and analysis of the single-phase center-tapped transformer serving 120- and 240-V single-phase loads from a three-wire secondary.