Impacts of automated natural ventilation in the temperature and humidity of a distribution transformer room

Recent research has shown that it is beneficial in reaching a long power transformer lifespan to be in an environment with thermal stability contrary to a situation where excessive ventilation causes unneeded thermal stress. It has also been widely signaled as a source of malfunctions in power equipment the high values of humidity which create harmful condensation inside distribution stations. Most of the current solutions in the market for controlling the internal ambient conditions focus either on installing forced ventilation or increasing the amount of ventilation through the addition of more ventilation ports. This paper presents a solution to achieve an internal control of temperature and humidity by using only natural ventilation without recurring to either excessive ventilation or an active ventilation system. A prototype of an automated shutter is proposed. This prototype manages the amount of natural ventilation through the opening or closure of the ventilation grills. A working prototype was built and installed in two pilot distribution stations and the control algorithm was successfully simulated. This paper presents the prototype as well as the results of the tests carried out and the following conclusions.