Transformers step up or down voltage through two copper wire coils around a magnet. Transformer losses occur due to magnetic flux density and result in lost energy and thermal energy. Efficiency is improved by reducing losses, and transformers range in size from small computer components to large industrial power plants. Heat from lost electrons can cause explosions if not removed quickly.
A transformer is a basic component in electronic circuits that steps up or steps down the voltage. This is accomplished through two windings of copper wire, the primary and secondary coils, around a continuous magnet, called the core. Transformer losses refer to the electrical energy that is lost as the voltage ramps up or down.
Another way this can be seen is that nothing comes without a cost in electronics that operate at normal operating temperatures. The amount of power fed into the primary winding of the transformer is always less in the secondary winding. The primary coil does not physically touch the secondary coil, as would be expected in other types of electrical connections. The connection is actually made by the magnetic field and the interaction with the electrons. This connection is known as induction, which makes sense because the magnetic field induces, or causes, electricity to move from the primary to the secondary coil.
Transformer losses are a direct result of magnetic flux density and can be predicted mathematically. To understand this, one can consider what a magnetic field looks like. If iron filings are scattered on a piece of stiff paper placed over a magnet, the iron filings form into curved lines. Electricity is lost in transformers because the curved magnetic lines carry some of the energy into the open air and surrounding materials rather than directly to the secondary coil.
When people are first introduced to transformer losses, the reaction may be that transformers are too inefficient to be useful. The engineering challenge, however, is to reduce transformer losses to unimportant amounts in the rest of the circuit. Transformers range in size from the very small ones found on computer motherboards to the very large ones used in industrial power plants. Large transformers can afford to lose more energy than their smaller counterparts.
Thermal energy is an important result of transformer losses. The lost electrons interact with the materials around them, including some gases in the air, and this is where the heat comes from. If the heat isn’t removed fast enough, the transformer could burst and, in larger models, explode. Bangs and explosions can also occur if a relatively large electrical power surge is driven into the primary coil. This is why you need to do the math first to determine the operating limits of a particular transformer design.
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