In order to reduce greenhouse gases thus prevent global warming, high energy efficiency and low electric power consumption should be achieved. One of the major challenges of transformer manufacturers is to reduce the power loss generated in transformers. Presently, majority of transformer cores are made of silicon steel which is one of soft magnetic materials. By replacing silicon steel to amorphous alloy, transformer power losses can be reduced.


For a distribution transformer to achieve low no-load losses, cores made with low-loss permeability silicon steel or amorphous (non-crystalline) metal alloys are used, using these types of materials result to higher initial cost to the manufacturer and consumer, however, this is offset over the life of the transformer due to its lower losses at light load.


What is an amorphous metal?

When molten metal is cooled to solid state at a very high-speed rate, it retains a random atomic structure which is not crystalline. This metal is called amorphous. This resembles glass and also referred to as “glass metal”.  


What are its properties?

Compared with crystalline metals, amorphous metals are more ideal as soft magnetic materials. Iron-rich amorphous metals have properties highly suited for use in transformer cores, such as a high magnetic flux density and a nature that is easily magnetized by small magnetic fields.


Why are amorphous core transformers more efficient and environmentally-friendly?

Conventional transformers have cores assembled from stacks of laminations that are made from silicon steel with an almost uniform crystalline structure.

Transformers with amorphous cores have ribbons of steel that is wound into a rectangular toroid shape to form the core. Although the material used for the core is still a form of silicon steel, it is produced in such a way that it has no regular crystalline structure - hence the name amorphous, which means

without structure. The benefit is that amorphous steel has lower hysteresis losses. This structure results to less energy wasted in magnetizing and demagnetizing it during each cycle of the supply current.


In addition, the construction of amorphous cores means that they have higher electrical resistance than conventional cores, so losses due to unwanted eddy currents in the core are also reduced.

FPMTC:  The only amorphous core manufacturing plant in the Philippines.


The FPMTC plant is located within the Philec Compound in Manila East Road, Barangay Dolores, Taytay, Rizal.  It is the only amorphous core manufacturing plant in the country.  The plant is capable of producing over 700 metric tons (MT) of amorphous cores per year.  FPMTC expects this capacity to grow as demand for more efficient and environmentally-friendly transformers increases.


FPMTC’s amorphous cores are sold to Philec, which uses these cores in the transformers supplied to Meralco.  FPMTC has also started exporting amorphous cores to other transformer manufacturing companies in Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and other countries in the region.