> Large transformer making is a craft
Dumb question: why can’t we mass manufacture smaller transformers and join them up?
Dumb question: why can’t we mass manufacture smaller transformers and join them up?
If you’re really careful you could have parallel sets of series transformers feeding into a common feed.
At a much larger scale, that is exactly what the grid is, actually.
It just sucks dramatically from an operational perspective compared to having one correctly sized transformer.
Could you parallel two (or more) sets of three single-phase transformers into a single circuit on the secondary side assuming they were all identical and the conductors are all the same length? I assume it’s more economical to just have one three-phase transformer for instrumentation/control and switching reasons, just wondering on a theoretical level.
To an extent, you can do this, as long as you have systems in place to shed load and prevent the components from failing in quick succession by circuit breaking.
Also i believe transformers are much more graceful handling overcurrent than silicon. But everything has its limits.
And yes, you could parallel sets of even series transformers together. It will work fine, until something happens and then it doesn’t (or explodes). Making that not happen is relatively non trivial and is a lot of why keeping a working power grid working is non trivial and a lot of work.
At larger scales, when this goes wrong it can cause grid blackouts. Smaller scales, fires.
Since a single transformer rated for the load it will carry is pretty simple and ‘just works’ in almost all scenarios, it’s more economical just using a single one when you can.
No sane way to do that with two different power plants on opposite sides of the state, of course.
It’s the same kind of problem.
(And notably, it’s not that it’s actually completely impossible to do it that way - just impractical compared to the alternative. You could actually make something that kind of sorta worked for an aircraft carrier by joining tens of thousands of small pontoons and support ships. Operationally, it would just suck compared to the alternative.)
In fiction: "Tom Swift and his Ocean Airport" (1934) [1] In reality, a floating pontoon airport, with over 10,000 pontoons, was built during WWII, as "Project Sock".[2] It worked OK in a protected bay. Once large planes could cross the Atlantic, and small carriers with small planes were built for convoy protection, there was no military need. Floating airports have been tried a few times since, but it's never been worth the trouble.
Prefabricated pontoons were a big thing in WWII. Used for bridges, barges, docks, etc. Useful when you really need a temporary structure in a hurry, and aren't too concerned about its long term lifespan.
Putting multiple transformers in series is quite possible, but it's rarely done because it's less efficient than a larger transformer and takes up more space.
[1] https://www.tomswift.info/homepage/oceanair.html
[2] https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2024/f...