17 Jul
2025
17 Jul
'25
12:55 p.m.
Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
> I wonder about "they were certain it would
not work". That should be a question of fact, not belief.
-snip-
For power supply transformers, 50 vs. 60 Hz is
unlikely to matter. People with CDC mainframes that want 400 Hz power do need a solution,
with motor-generators as the traditional answer. I wonder if a VFC would work for that,
perhaps with post-VFC filtering to turn the waveform into something closer to a sine
wave.
paul
Operating a 60Hz transformer at 50Hz will require a higher magnetizing
current (and flux density) in order to maintain the same operating
voltage. This is very likely to send the transformer into a B vs H
region with reduced permeability, thus creating a much more distorted
magnetizing current waveform with sizable peaks. This will in turn
increase primary copper losses, and overheating can happen easily,
depending on the transformer specifics. For power distribution and
transmission transformers, this is definitely a no-no. There is a
reason that 50Hz utility transformers have roughly 20% more iron and
copper in them than 60Hz ones.
Carlos.