Three-phase

transformers contain
three separate primary
and secondary windings
on a common core.
Using a common core
provides better magnetic
coupling and improves
the efficiency of the
transformer.
 The windings are
connected in either wye or
delta. Most three-phase
transformers will have at
least one of the windings
connected in delta. This is
done to stabilize the
voltage when load is
added to the transformer.
Recall that the line voltage
and phase voltage are the
same in a delta
connection.
 A wye-wye connection can be used if the load is
a balanced three-phase load. The phase and
line voltage will remain stable provided the
current on each line is the same
 A wye-wye connection can be used to provide both
three-phase and single-phase loads provided the
electric utility company supplies a fourth wire
neutral to the primary of the transformer. Four wire
wye connected secondary windings are very
common in commercial locations. Common
voltages for this connections are 208/120 and
480/277 volts.
 Large three-
phase pad
mounted
transformers
are often used
by utility
companies,
industries, and
commercial
customers.
 Single-phase
transformers are often
connected to form a three-
phase transformer bank.
Transformer banks have a
disadvantage is that they
are not as efficient as a
true three-phase
transformer, but they do
have a advantage in that if
one transformer should fail
only that one transformer
has to be replaced.
 In this example, the
primary winding of
three transformers
have been connected
in delta and the
secondary windings
have been connected
in wye. The primary
and secondary
windings can be
connected in any
combination such as
delta-wye, delta-delta,
wye-delta, or wye-
wye.
 In this example, a three-phase transformer has a its
primary winding connected in wye and its secondary
winding connected in delta. The line voltage connected
to the primary is 4,170 volts and the line voltage of the
secondary is 240 volts. The load is constructed of three
resistors connected in wye. Each resistor has an
impedance of 2.77 ohms.
 Since the load is connected directly to the output of
the transformer secondary, the line voltage of the
load will be the same as the line voltage of the
secondary.
 The next step is to determine the phase voltage of
the load. In a wye connection, the phase voltage is
less than the line voltage by a factor of the square
root of 3 or 1.732.

EL 240
EP  EP  EP 138.6 Volts
3 1.732
 The phase voltage is the voltage dropped each of the
resistors that form the wye connected load. The
phase current can now be determined using Ohm’s
Law.
EP 138.6
IP  IP  I P  50 A
Z 2.77
In a wye connection, the line current and phase
current are the same. Therefore, 50 amperes of line
current is necessary to supply the 50 amperes of
phase current in the load. Since only one load is
connected to the transformer secondary, the line
current of the secondary will be 50 amperes also.
 In a delta connection the phase current is less than
the line current by a factor the square root of 3 or
1.732. The phase current of the transformer
secondary is 28.9 amperes.

IL 50
IP  IP  I P  28.9 A
3 1.732
In a delta connection the phase voltage and line
voltage are the same. The phase voltage of the
transformer secondary is 240 volts. At this point, all
values of the connected load and secondary winding
have been determined. The next step is to determine
the values that apply to the primary winding.
In a wye connection the phase voltage is less than the
line voltage by a factor of the square root of 3 or 1.732.
The phase voltage of the wye connected primary is
2407.6
volts.
EL 4170
EP  EP  EP  2407.6V
3 1.732
When determining values of current, voltage, and turns ratio
for the transformer, only phase values can be used. In the
illustration shown, three separate transformers have been
designated as A, B, and C. The wye-delta transformer
windings have also been labeled A, B, and C. Note that the B
phase of the wye connected primary is actually the primary
winding of transformer B, and that the B phase of the delta
connected secondary is actually the secondary winding of
transformer B. All transformation occurs between the primary
and secondary windings of the transformer. The primary and
secondary windings of the three transformers form the phase
windings of the three-phase transformer connection.
 The turns ratio of the transformer can now be
determined using the phase values of the primary and
secondary voltages. Since the primary voltage is
higher than the secondary voltage, it has more turns
of wire. The turns ratio is, therefore, 10:1. This
indicates that there are 10 turns of wire in the primary
for every 1 turn in the secondary.
Higher Voltage 2407.6
Turns Ratio  Turns Ratio  Turns Ratio 10
Lower Voltage 240
A basic rule of transformers is that power in must
equal power out. The volt-amperes of the primary
must equal the volt-amperes of the secondary. Since
the primary has a higher voltage, it will have less
current. The current will be less by a factor equal to
the turns ratio.
I P( Seco ndary) 28.9
I P(Pr imary)  I P(Pr imary)  I P(Pr imary)  2.89 A
Turns Ratio 10
In a wye connection the line current is equal to the
phase current. Therefore, the line current supplying
the primary of the transformer is 2.89 amperes.

I Line  I Phase
 The calculation can be checked by determining if the
input power is equal to the output power. Use the
formula for determining the apparent power in a three-
phase connection to determine if the primary and
secondary values are approximately equal. There
may be some difference due to rounding off of values.

VA(Primary)  EL(Pr imary)  I L(Pr imary)  3 VA(Primary)  4170  2.89 1.732 VA(Primary)  20,873
VA( Secondary)  EL( Secondary)  I L( Secondary)  3 VA( Secondary)  240  50 1.732 VA( Secondary)  20,784
In this example a three-phase transformer contains a
delta connected primary and wye connected
secondary. The line voltage supplying the primary is
13,800 volts and the secondary line voltage is 480.
Two loads are connected to the transformer. The first
load contains three 4 ohm resistors connected in wye.
The second load contains three 6 ohms resistors
Since both loads are connected to the secondary of
the three-phase transformer, both have the same line
voltage as the secondary.
In a wye connection the phase voltage is less than
the line voltage by a factor of the square root of 3 or
1.732. The phase voltage of the wye connected load
is 277.1 volts.

EL 480
EP  EP  EP  277.1V
3 1.732
A voltage of 277.1 volts is applied across each of the
4 ohm resistors. The phase current of the wye
connected load can be determined using Ohm’s Law.

EP 277.1
IP  IP  I P  69.3 A
Z 4
In a wye connection the line current and phase
current are the same. Therefore, the line current
necessary to operate the wye connected load is 69.3
amperes.
In a delta connection, the line voltage and phase
voltage are the same. Therefore, the phase voltage
of the delta connected load is 480 volts.
A voltage of 480 volts is applied across each of the 6
ohm resistors. The phase current can be determined
using Ohm’s Law. The phase current of the delta
load is 80 amperes.

EP 480
IP  IP  I P  80 A
Z 6
In a delta connection, the line current is greater than
the phase current by a factor of the square root of 3 or
1.732. The amount of line current necessary to
supply the delta load is 138.6 amperes.

IL  IP  3 I L  80 1.732 I L 138.6 A
The secondary of the transformer must supply the
line current for all connected loads. Therefore, the
line current supplied by the secondary is the sum of
all connected load. The secondary has a line current
of 207.9 amperes.

I L(Total)  I L(Wye Load)  I L( Delta Load) I L(Total)  69.3 138.6 I L(Total)  207.9 A
In a wye connection, the phase current and the line
current are equal. Therefore, the phase current of the
transformer secondary is 207.9 amperes.
In a wye connection, the phase voltage is less than
the line voltage by a factor of the square root of 3 or
1.732. The phase voltage of the secondary is 277.1
volts.
EL 480
EP  EP  EP  277.1V
3 1.732
In a delta connection, the line voltage and phase
voltage are equal. The phase voltage of the primary
is 13,800 volts.
 Now that the primary and secondary phase voltages
are known, the turns ratio can be determined by
dividing the larger voltage by the smaller. The turns
ratio is 49.8:1. This indicates that there are 49.8
turns of wire in the primary winding for every 1 turn in
the secondary.
Higher Voltage 13,800
Turns Ratio  Turns Ratio  Turns Ratio  49.8
Lower Voltage 277.1
The phase current of the primary can be determined
with the turns ratio. Since the primary voltage is
greater than the secondary voltage, the primary
current will be less. Divide the secondary phase
current by the turns ratio to determine the primary
phase current.
I P( Seco ndary) 207.9
I P(Pr imary)  I P(Pr imary)  I P(Pr imary)  4.2 A
Turns Ratio 49.8
In a delta connection the line current is greater than
the phase current by a factor of the square root of 3
or 1.732. The line current necessary to supply the
primary is 7.3 amperes.

IL  IP  3 I L  4.2 1.732 I L  7.3 A

The calculation can be checked by determining if the
input power is equal to the output power. Use the
formula for determining the apparent power in a
three-phase connection to determine if the primary
and secondary values are approximately equal.
There may be some difference due to rounding off of
values. In this calculation there is a difference of
1643. Although this may appear to be a large
difference, the two values are within 1% of each
other.
VA(Primary)  EL(Pr imary)  I L(Pr imary)  3 VA(Primary) 13,800  7.31.732 VA(Primary) 174,482
VA( Secondary)  EL( Seco ndary)  I L( Seco ndary)  3 VA( Secondary)  480  207.9 1.732 VA( Secondary) 172,839