Measurement of Losses in Dry-Type Air-Core Reactors Using Infrared Thermography

This paper aims to present a technique to estimate the losses of a dry-type air-core reactor (DTACR) assembled with one cylinder based on calorimetry principles while employing infrared thermography techniques. The technique is intuitive, practical, and easy to apply both in a laboratory and in the field. Nowadays, the losses on DTACR can be measured only inside of specific laboratories and the equipment shall be disconnected from system and powered-off. Instead of installing contact temperature sensors in the reactor’s internal and external surfaces, temperature measurements were remotely performed with equipment in regular operation and the losses can be obtained by the method proposed. The paper presents the nature of the losses and the theoretical basis of the proposed method. The results obtained from the proposed technique are compared to those achieved by the standard method and used to calculate results through tests performed on prototypes.