NON-CONVENTIONAL CURRENT TRANSFORMERS LIVE TANK CIRCUIT BREAKERS

P. ROUSSEL
ALSTO~ Villeurbanne,France

ON

J.P. DUPRAZ, Member IEEE

ALSTO~ VilleurbarmqFrance

G. MONTILLET,
ALSTO~

Member IEEE

Charleroi, PA USA

Abstract Todaynon-conventional current transformers (NCCTS) have achieved high performances with a very small volume. In addition the digital output complies with the most stringent requirements of protective relays and meters. The designs take into account the harshest envirotrmental conditions of temperature, vibrations and electromagnetic compatibility.

This paper identifies the technical constraints, describes the sensors, enumerates the various interfaces and discuss the impact on the network of these new technologies.

A few current transformers of these types are already in serviee

on several networks all over the world as stand alone units. As the energized part of these current transformers are now very small, it is possible to integrate them direetly on a live tank circuit breaker (in opposition to a dead tank circuit breaker). By doing this it is possible to limit the number of insulators and the architeetare of the substation. On a single chamber live tank circuit breaker, the cument transformer can be mounted either on the top of the chamber (Fig. 1) or between the chamber and eohmm. On a T shaped live tank circuit breaker (2 chambers in series), current transformers are located on the far end of the chamber (Fig, 6). This arrangement

Fig 1. Example of NCCTs at the top of the interrupting chamber of a 245 kV livetank circuit breaker. The box at the top iucludee2 Faraday and 2 Rogowski sensors. The sawers can be located at the bottom of the intermptiugchamber also.

is electricallyequivalentto a dead tank circuitbreaker. Keywords : AC high voltagecircuitbreakers,non-conventional currenttransformers(NCCTS),instrumentstransducers,digital communication. 1. INTRODUCTION During reeent years electronic current transformers (ECTS) and voltage transformers (EVTs) have been the subjeets of considerable research, development and evaluation by manufacturers and potential users. Although spectacular progress has reeently been made in the technical credibility of the solutions developed during the last 20 years, the emergence of these technologies in high voltage networks is now overdue.

Thepi&ure shows a 245 kV livetauk circuit bteakerpole aad NCCTS undershort eircait withstaadtests at the CERDA Laboratories.

2. TECHNICAL CONSTRAINTS 2.1. Electrical insulation design. The primary insulation is simplified relative to conventional free-standing current transformer (or also for voltage transformers). The insulation is provided by a supporting conventional porcelain or composite insulator when used on a circuit breaker. The composite insulator has an advantage as it can wind through the polymer an optical fiber to ground. This is a non-expensive form of insulation, and reliable. 2.2. Mechanical design. Electronic current transformers are less bulky than freestanding current transformers and are lighter then ring type

0-7803-6674-3/00/$10.00 (C) 2000 IEEE 0-7803-6672-7/01/$10.00 (C) 2001 IEEE

306

donut current transformers used on dead tank circuit breakers. For ex,ample, (Fig.2) we can insert them in Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) directly on the busbar or on a dead tank.

because the cost of maintenance over the life of equipment must include the preventive control in substations. The intelligent electronic fanctions such as redundancies, selfdiagnosis, remote alarms, can play an important role. Time savings in cmnmissioning and configuring the transducer, in addition to the relaying equipment must also be taken into account. Today, the higher the voltage, the better is the economic solution with the NCCTS with live tank circuit breakers compared to dead tank circuit breakers. Digital optical interface with relaying equipment provides flexibility at low cost: the same signal can be broadcasted and transmitted over hundreds of meters without any effect upon its accuracy and its reliability. Overall cost of substation is therefore reduced compared to conventional technology. 2.5. Safety

Fi~2. Elecimnic currmt transformerwithinthree singlephase 145 kV (MS Secticlls.

The inclusion of an NCCT in a live tank circuit breaker allows a great savings of space, (as in Fig. 1) but it has to withstand the mechanical vibrations caused by the operation of the circuit breaker. In addition the NCCT has to withstand any pollution, temperature swings and strong magnetic fields. 2.3. Thermal design. The simplified insulation and the practical disappearance of the secondary coil mike the NCCT less sensitive than conventional technologies to the temperature constraint of conventional equipment. The sensors are sensitive to the ambient temperature. This requires the use of compensation systems that vary from design to design. 2.4. Reliability and availability. Conventional technologies are static and sturdy. To achieve the same reliability objective in an electronic device, redundancies are required for the sensors and for the associated electronics. Self-monitoring of NCCTS allows for real time alarms in case of failure. Thanks to redundancy, a single failure does not affect operation. current The conventiomd Maintenance: transformer requires practically no maintenance. The electronic part of NCCT requires maintenance operations which are reduced by redundancies. The advantage is that the electronic part allows self monitoring and checking the accuracy and the calibration is performed by electronic means. Costs: In the context of market deregulation, of competition between power suppliers and distributors, the lowest cost possible for users is always the rule. The total cost over the Me of the equipment of NCCTS integrated within live tank circuit breakers is lower than a dead tank circuit breaker with conventional CTS at voltages of 345 kV and up. This is sometimes a difkult problem to assess

Electronic technologies are per design anti-explosive in case of internal faults. The risk to people and the risk of fire and destruction is near zero. The risk of electrocution for the personnel or of explosion if the secondary of the NCCTS is accidentally opened as in conventional dead tank CT is also near zero. The insulation provided by the optical fiber data transmission between the sensor and the secondary electronics or between the secondary electronics and relay systems overcomes the high frequency spurious voltage transmission problems which are sometimes seen with conventional instrument transformers.
2.6 Environmental aspects

There is no longer any need to use SF6 or synthetic oil for CT insulation to insulate a Faraday or a Rogowski NCCTS. If a neutral insulating gas is required to prevent the moisture ingress within the volume sensor, nitrogen can be used. Transducers integrated with the circuit breaker can reduce the number of compartments to be insulated. 2.7 Industrial aspects NCCTS allow current sensors a degree of rationalisation of production. In fact a single sensor can handle all the applications for all the voltage levels. By contrast, cmventional CT insulation requires dimensioning each time, as for a 69 kV dead tank to a 800 kV dead tank circuit breaker. It is also pssible to change easily the parameters of the secondary electronic of the NCCT, such as transformation ratios, and limit the risk of connection errors. The output becomes common: a single type of measurement output, a single type of protection output. 3. CURRENT SENSORS 3,1 Principles: Faraday effect and Rogowski coil. Two systems are today in competition: the ring gtass that is based on the Faraday effect of polarisation of the light, and the Rogowski coil that was used in testing laboratories

0-7803-6674-3/00/$10.00 (C) 2000 IEEE 0-7803-6672-7/01/$10.00 (C) 2001 IEEE

307
0-7803-6674-3/00/$10.00 (C) 2000 IEEE

for many years but is in the process of being industrialised. The Rogowski coil output is the instantaneous measure of the di/dt of the current.

3,3 Performance The results of performance that can be achieved by this type of sensor are shown in the figure below. Qver an operating temperature range of -50 C to +85C, we can see that in this test, in which the sensor and the primary converter are both subjected to cyclical temperature changes, there is a total drift amounting to 24.104 /C To put it another way, the ANSI accuracy of 0.2 is true over a range of 135C, (Fig. .5) which is an exceptional perliormance for conventional donut current transformers.

Fig. 3. Sideby sidepiciureaof a Rogowski coil seusor and of a Ring Glass sensor.

05>

&

The sensors (Fig. 3) offer: Stability over time Performances unaffected by impact and vibration Determinist behavior in relation to temperature. It is in fact very easy to correct the residual temperature sensitivity automatically Performances unaffketed by external electromagnetic fields: the proximity of neighboring phases does not have any effect Performance unaffected by fluctuations in the position of the primary conductor passing through it. 3.2 Signal processing. A small electronic module called the primary converter processes the image of the rate of change of the primary current or the ampacity of the current. This converts the analogue signals into coded digital signals and transmits them to the secondary equipment via a multimode optical fiber. Enclosed below (Fig. 4) a schematic figure of the signal processing.
Pi Plimary Wwwter

-0.54 40

i -4a

, .20

t 0

20

40

60

So

100

Fig 5. Dri6 of electronicCT duringcyclical temperaturechangea

4. DIRECTING THE INFORMATION It is not enough to have high performance sensors and interfaces to solve the protection and metering prc~blemsof a substation. We need to route this information to the relays that need it. This muting should meet the following criteria: high dependability
. .

considerable flexibility the lowest cost possible,

examples.

CWmll Iv

5eliwl

IYh-i=+
I I

4.1 Conventional

D
primary MR. Maitienance req.tesl

pawer

=TQY

b
/

In the case of applications intended for Metering. metering, the power levels required by ANSI startdards for ~R$ 4,V the current channels are low - a few tens of watts. Such power levels can be handled by standard electronic S1 convetier * components with sufficient reliability and accuracy. This an matvoltage w%pti solutio% although bulky and costly, can be considered for az MR particular applications where changing the existing relays . . EF [ I is not feasible.
Swondary

secolw?aw pwer SuFQly

Fig 4. GeneralBIOC Diagram of an Electronic Currmt Transformer. (Accordingto iEC 61850 andIEC!60044-8)

The dynamic range required for protective applications on current sensors are of the order of 10 to 50. The power levels to be supplied in case of short circuit are then much too high to be supplied by power electronics (several tens of kilowatts). It is then necessary 10 change over to new interfaces. Protection.

0-7803-6674-3/00/$10.00 (C) 2000 IEEE 0-7803-6672-7/01/$10.00 (C) 2001 IEEE

308
0-7803-6674-3/00/$10.00 (C) 2000 IEEE

4.2 Low level analogue signal

4,3,2 Fieldbus The second solution consists of considering NCCTS, relays and meters as part of a network which can be either a local network connected to the station network or the station network itself. However, standardization of such a solution is not easy in view of the high sampling frequencies, the time Synchronization%the reliability and the high resolution demanded by the communications between the CTS and the relays. These constraints lead to the use of high performance networks, (using expensive switches, in case of Ethernet), the behaviour of which still remains to be determined. (Such an investigation is the object of the so called << Pinocio }) experiment carried out by the KEMA Laboratories). Other difficult points ara management of common failure mode constituted by the network itself, and management of longevity of electronics used. Despite these impediments, the fieldbus solution is still attractive, as it seems to be the best overall solution for the intelligent substation of the future, from the standpoint of architecture.
5. IMPACT ON THE NETWORK

The simple way of interfacing the transdwers electronics with the seeondary equipment is to supply an output voltage, typically with a nominal level of a few volts for metering and a few tens of millivolts for protection. This solution is very attractive for the following reasons: .
q

It does not alter the traditional wiring diagram% It only involves a minor modification of the secondary equipment conneeted to the transducers. This comes down to removing the input transformers in the secondary eqpipment and replacing them by a small protection circuit).

This solution must also take into consideration the output signals which must be protected against electromagnetic interferences. Therefore, the digital to analogue conversion must be performed at the closest vicinity of the relay or device. Assuming usual precautions for insulation and cable shielding, these signals will supply their relay with their fill aceuraey.
4.3 Digital solution.

Digital output offers the most attractive and the most promising way of integrating NCCTS into high voltage circuit breakers and substations. It combines several advantages: . lightness, q safety, q insensitivity of the measurement to electromagnetic interference, q insensitivity of the measurement class of the whole of the system to the characteristics of the cables (no more line losses) and to the accuracy of rated burden. The transducers accuracy beeomes the nominal accuracy of the whole measurement chain from the primary to the output of the energy meter. There are two major families of solutions for this digital output :
4.3.1 Point-to-point digital link This first solution is close to the one being used today for conventional outputs. If the output is optical, the use of @assive) optical muhiplexers allows the information to be distributed easily to a large number of seeondary equipment. The advantage of such a solution in terms of operating reliability, compared with a fieldbus type solution, is that it limits the common failure modes. It is a simple solution since the electronic circuits can be set up with programmable logic, a fast DSP port, etc... Because of its independence compared with a specitic communication component, this solution also guarantees exeellent longevity.

5.1 Cabling An important advantage of electronic NCCTS with digital output on optical fibre lies in the savings made when they are installed: A single optical cable carrying all the back-up U and I information comes out of the junction box instead of 7 or 8 cables conventionally (HV). Moreover, the weight of an optical cable is much lower than that of a standard copper cable, making it easier to install.
5.2 Secondary supply

The electronic part of the NCCTS (and NonConventional Voltage Transformers) which processes the information must have a power supply. The necessary power can only come from the stations batteries. This power supply is provided in a simple manner when the secondary electronics are in the relay building and are conneeted to the sensor by optical fibres. In this case, the electronics can be considered as those of a relay with the same requirements in terms of resistance to disturbances and with equivalent or superior operating reliability. The case of a seeondary electronics unit in the switchyard or of digitd electronics at the HV potential is more complicated. This power supply constraint is a disadvantage compared with conventional trmvdiormers, but the state of the art in electronics allows it to be overcome while still meeting the operating reliability and cost requirements.

0-7803-6674-3/00/$10.00 (C) 2000 IEEE 0-7803-6672-7/01/$10.00 (C) 2001 IEEE

309
0-7803-6674-3/00/$10.00 (C) 2000 IEEE

5.3 Civil engineering The integration made possible by electronic NCCT and also VTs also leads to important savings in civil engineering at the time of installation. This saving, which is already considerable for a combined unit, becomes very large for compact switchgear with an integrated transformer fimction (Fig. 6).

transformers. These are used for the metering fimction and meet the accuracy, safety and cost requirements of the relaying market. Once the digital intefiace communication will be firmly establishe~ the advantages of the electronic NCCT will be available to all users. Their attractive features, their reliability, and their cost and performances will result in a wide spread application of NCCTS in a near Mure. The applications described in this paper with new live tank circuit breakers designs give an alternative the industry of the dead tank circuit breakers.
7. REFERENCES [1] C. Baudart, J.P. Dupraz, J.P. Gris, E. Thuries, New Numerical Treatment of the Digital Signal of Electronic Current Transformers,CIGRE 1996.Rapport34-110. [2] D. Chatrefou, J.P. Dupraz, E. Legmnd, Process bus for electronic VTs and CTS , CIGRE 1999 SC 23.99, Zurich eolluquium [3] D. Chatrefou, M. Dhaussy, J.P. Dupraz, T.Jung, F. Martin, J.F. Mironneau,C. Moreau, P. Tantin Siiretede fonctionuement des transducteurs de mesure opto-dectroniques SEE Journees MATPOST1999.

,.~.! ::+

550Id/ sirq$e@s

Iii tmk ckuit brdar withNCCTS on bfi sides of Ihe pole.

[4] J.P. Dupraz, Transformateurs de mesnre, Collections Techniques de lingtieur, Electrical Engineering Treatise, sectionD, pages 4720 et seq. [5] E. Thuries, J.P Dupraz, C, Baudart, courant, CIGRE,session
J.P Gris, Apport du

.; .
Fig,6. 550 kV singlepole livetaok with elrdrooic NCCT on both side of the pole with m extremely small footprint

traitement nmm$rique du signal aux transformateurs 1996, group 34/110.

de mesure de

6. CONCLUSION Electronic Non-Conventional Current Transformers are nowadays ready for substation installation, but their field applications are still today limited. This paper described the experience and concepts acquired with relaying and metering of NCCTS in live tank circuit breakers and substations. We have seen that there is a main factor in the di.flknlt task of standardizing the interf%e with the digital relays and consequently the absence of a large demand. In the last ten years, work has been carried out at the IEC on electronic CT/VTs and at the IEEE. Draft stan&rd IEC 60044-8 for electronic current transducers, distributed at the CDV stage ({< committee draft for vote >})in 2000, contains the description of a point-to-point digital intetiace, in addition to accuracy requirements for the harmonics. The publication of this standard in less than two years time seems possible. Deregulation is a phenomenon, which has lead to the need of electronic metering of non-conventional current

[6] D.Chatrefou, 1Sensors , In Electrical Power Systems Reference Guide, part 4-1, tome 2, $6, ELEC International Symposium Technology, 1998 edition. [71D.Chatrefou, Application of optical sensors to EHV substations, Power Technology International, Autumn 1995.
[8] J.P. Dupraz, T. Jung, Ph. Roussel, H. Aeschbach, The

integration of electronic CTS and VTs in power switchgear challenges and choices, Paper No. 12/23/34-01, Cigre Session 2000, August 2000. [9] J.P. Dupraz, T. Jung, P. Kirchesch, D. Chatrefou, C. Moreau, P.Tant~ Integration of Electronic CTS and VTs in High Voltage Substations , Paper No. 12/23/34-02, Cigre Session 2000, August 2000.

0-7803-6674-3/00/$10.00 (C) 2000 IEEE 0-7803-6672-7/01/$10.00 (C) 2001 IEEE

310
0-7803-6674-3/00/$10.00 (C) 2000 IEEE