CURRENT TRANSFORMERS

S.D.Kurhekar Ex. Chief Engineer, MSEDCL

CURENT TRANSFORMERS C.T. transforms higher current in to a more

manageable secondary current. This transformation is made possible by copper coils wound around an iron core. Ratio between primary & secondary current is determined by the ratio between number of primary & secondary turns. Bar/ ring type CTs dont have physical primary winding. Hence those are considered to have one primary turn.

When current flows through primary winding, the following actions occur
The iron core inside the CT is magnetized.
The magnetic field in the iron core induces voltage in the secondary coils. If the secondary circuit is closed, a current flows through the secondary circuit in proportion to the CT ratio. The current transformation requires a small amount of energy to magnetize the iron core that creates small energy losses such as eddy currents & heat caused by current flowing through the windings. Hence Is is not a perfect representation of Ip.

Types of CTs
Four typical types Window type, Bushing Bar type Wound CTs.

Types of CTs
Window CTs/Ring type CTs Most commonly used. No primary winding & are installed around a primary conductor. Electric field created by current flowing through the conductor interacts with the CT core to transform the current to the appropriate secondary output. Primary conductor needs to be disconnected when installing solid window CTs.

Types of CTs Bushing CTs

Bushing CTs
These CTs are specially constructed to fit around a bushing. Usually they cant be accessed & their name plates can be found on the transformer or circuit breaker cabinets.- eg. CTs in Bulk oil Circuit Breakers

Types of CTs
Bar type CTs
These CTs operate on the same principle of window/ ring type CTs but have a permanent bar installed as a primary conductor. Wound CTs: These CTs have one primary & one secondary winding like a normal transformer. These CTs are rare & used at very low ratios & currents typically in CT secondary Circuits to compensate for low currents, to match different CT ratios in summing applications or to isolate different CT circuits

CONSTRUCTION OF CTs
Low Primary Impedance, Primary Connected in Series

Construction
1) Core Rectangular / Shell type / Ring form
a) Rectangular L shaped Laminations Primary wound on secondary therefore Ample space for insulation. b) Shell form Windings placed on Central Limb, therefore Good Protection. But this form is difficult to build. c) Ring form Most commonly used. Primary is a Single bar when Ip is large. Robust Construction Joint less core, therefore low reluctance

PRINCIPLE OF CTs
Principle Primary in series. Sec. Connected to metering or relay Burden means VA Burden of Relay coil + Sec winding impedance + lead Burden (I2 R) I Primary has Two components i) I sec which is transformed in inverse ratio of Turns Ratio. ii) Exciting current which supplies eddy current & hysterisis losses & magnetizes the core. This is not transformed therefore this is a cause for error in C.T. A1T1 = A2T2 + A.T. required to magnetize the core.

CONSTRUCTION OF CTs
2) Windings Should be enclosed together to
reduce leakage reactance as this increases Ratio error. Large forces created during short ckts, therefore Bar primary CTs are most suitable from this point of view. 3) Insulation Windings are seperately wound & insulated by tape/varnish below 7 KV level. For 7 KV & above, CTs are oil immersed or compound filled (cooling is poor).

Core material for CTs

1) Measuring CTs High Permeability core material with low saturation levels is suitable e.g. (Nickel-Iron alloys) 2) Prorective CTs This basically requires High Saturation level, since they offer advantage of high KPV. Therefore here grain oriented steel core is used.

Specifications of CT
1) Rated Trf ratio 100/5A, 500/1A 2) Rated Burden VA 2.5 VA, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 30 VA

3) Accuracy class Should match the duty required. Else large size CTS. Errors increase with under loading.
30/5P 10 means 30 VA, AC-5, P-Prot, ALF-10 4) No. of cores - 3 or 5 core CTs 5) Knee Point Voltage 6) Accuracy Limit Factor(ALF)/ Saturation factor 5,10,15,20,30 = Highest Ip at which CT maintains compo.Error accuracy Rated IP 7) Over current factor or short time current e.g. 13.1 KA/1 sec.

Specifications of CTs
1) Rated Transformation Ratio
2)

3) Composite Error Ec=

100

Ip

1 T

(Kn X is-ip)2.dt

Where Ip RMS Value of Iprim. Kn Rated Transformation ratio. ip,is - Instantaneous Values of Primary & Sec. Currents. T - duration of one cycle . This error is important for Protective CTs. During faults, high currents pass through CT Primary winding, the core Saturates and may not maintain wave shape exactly Sinusoidal & may be deformed. Hence the difference (Kn.is-ip) is integrated over one complete cycle.

Specifications of CTs
4) Phase displacement Error - Difference in phase angles of Ip and reversed Is vectors. 5) Exciting current - RMS Value of current taken by sec. Winding of CT, when an A.C Voltage is applied to its terminals.

Specifications of CTs
6) Knee point voltage It is defined as that Sinusoidal voltage of rated freq.applied to Secondary terminals (all other windings being open circuited) which when increased by 10% causes the exiting current to increase by 50 %, Beyond knee point the CT is said to have entered into Saturation. Thereafter the secondary Currents may not be proportional to Primary Currents & may depart from sine wave.

KNEE POINT VOLTAGE(KPV)

Defined as that Sinusoidal Voltage at rated frequency applied to sec. terminals of CT, which when increased by 10%, causes the exciting current to increase by 50%. Beyond knee point CT is said to have entered in Saturation.

CT Saturation Curve Tester

Apply voltage ( O-1000V AC adjustable) to secondary winding of CT under test. Sec. Excitation voltage gradually increased from zero by using an adjustable auto transformer while incremental voltage & current readings are taken. A step of 10 ma is a good first step. Excitation voltage & corresponding currents are plotted. This is then compared with the manufacturers published curves. A deviation from these curves indicates- either a primary one turn short circuit due to improper mounting or a shorted secondary turns.

Magnetising Characteristic of C. T.
Magnetising Characteristic of a CT is a plot between the secondary applied voltage and the corresponding magnetising current taken by the C. T. as shown in the fig. below
Saturation VK Exciting Voltage Knee Point Linear Region Ankle Point

Exciting Current

Specifications of CTs
7) Rated outputThe output of a CT consists of individual burdens of instruments, meters/relays and of connecting leads. The performance of C.T depends upon its actual connected burden. Hence the rated output of the C.T. Should be chosen as near to (but not less than) the actual output at which it has to operate.

Accuracy class of CT
A classification assigned to a CT, the errors (current ratio error in case of measuring CTs and the composite errors in case of protective CTs) of which lie within the specified limits as per IS. Measuring CTs - Std. Accuracy class0.1,0.2,0.5,1,3,5 Protective CTs- 5P,10P,15P CTs for special protections- PS Class

Accuracy Limit Factor (ALF)

It is the ratio of highest value of Ip, at which the CT will comply with the appropriate limits of composite error under the prescribed conditions,to the rated Ip. Standard ALFs are- 5,10,15,20, & 30. To have an economical CT of a given accuracy class, the product of VA burden and ALF chosen should be nearly 150 Over Current Factor (OCF) for a Specified time

OCF of CT Let CTR = 50/5, 11 KV ckt. Br. Capa. = 150 MVA. Therefore I rms of Ckt. Br. = 150,000 /11 x \/3 = 7900 A OCF = 7900/50 = 158 for 0.5 sec.

Burden
The CT burden is the amount of impendence (A.C. resistance) connected to the CT secondary & is usually rated in ohms.The manufacture only guarantees CT accuracy up to a maximum burden rating, & CT performance with degrade if secondary burden is larger than rated.

General VA burdens of diff. Instruments Metering VA burdens Iron Ammeter 1VA, Induction Am. 6VA, Induction Watt meter 1.5 VA Watt-hr meter 1.2 VA, p.f. meter 1VA Protective VA burdens Solenoid Relay 15 VA, Induction Relay 6 to 10 VA, OCB Trip coil 35 VA. VA burden X ALF = 150 =constant

CHOICE OF CT SECONDARY CURRENT

Choice of CT sec 5A or 1A. Relay Burden 10 VA, Lead Resistance = 0.1ohm, CT Sec. current 5 A Therefore total VA burden 10 + IR = = 10 + (5 x 5 x 0.1) = 12.5 VA. If I sec. Of CT = 1A, then total VA burden = 10 +(1) x 0.1 = 10.1VA.

Choice of CT secondary Rating

5 A secondary CT
Preferred where lead burden is insignificant (e.g. used in indoor switchgear cubicles with closely located Relays or where primary ratings are very high e.g. 10000A/5A). Comparatively low peak voltage when secondary gets opened. Fine Turns Ratio adjustment is not possible when primary rating is low particularly for Bar primary CTs (e.g. 25/5A).

Choice of CT secondary Rating

/1 A secondary CT Preferred where lead burden is1 high e.g. CTs are located out door. Comparatively high peak voltage when secondary gets opened. Fine Turns Ratio adjustment is possible.

Ratio Changing Arrangements in CTs

On sec. Side -S1S2 = 20Turns Turns Ratio 20/1, CT Ratio 100/5A S1S3 = 40 Turns Turns Ratio = 40/1 CT Ratio = 200/5 On primary side-Series Conn. C1 to C2 Lower Ratio e.g. 100/5 Parallel Conn. P1 to C2 & C1 to P2 Higher Ratio} 200/5

Testing of CT
1) Polarity Test
DC ammeter Positive Connected to S1 & Negative to S2 Battery Cell (2 cells) -+ve to P1, Negative to P2 through a switch.

2) Ratio Test
Current injected by Prim. Injection Kit or loading Trf & Prim & sec. currents are measured.

3) IR Test
Prim to Earth, Sec to Earth , Prim to Sec

Specifications of Measuring CTs

Measuring CTs (IS 2705 1992 Part II) Specified in terms of Accuracy class 1 (Std. Classes are 0.1, 0.2,0.5,1,3,5 VA Rating - 15 Higher errors are permitted at lower currents e.g. class 1 CT will have ratio error of +- 1% for 100120% of rated I (+/- )1.5% for 20% of rated I (+/- )3% for 50% of rated I

Specifications of Protection CTs

Protection class CTs are not as accurate as metering class CTs but are designed to operate over a wide range of current. This wider range is necessary to allow the protection relay to operate at different fault levels. Protection class CTs are typically rated to operate accurately up to 10 or 20 times the CT rating.

Specifications of Protection CTs

(IS 2705 1992 Part III) Specified in terms of Accuracy class 5 P, 10 P, 15P ALF 5, 10, 15, 20, 30. VA Rating VA 5, 10, 15, 30 VA Errors are specified at rated I and ALF times rated I with rated burden connected. Illustration 5P10/15VA Prot. CT will have composite error of +- 5% at 10 times rated I, and ratio error of +-1% at rated I with rated burden of 15VA connected. VA x ALF = constant = 150

Protective CTs for Special applications (PS)

Special Application CTs are used where balance is required between associated CTs, e.g. Distance, Diff, REF, B/B diff
They are specified in terms of -a) Knee Point voltage (Vk) b) Imagnetisting at Knee Point voltage or % there of c) CT sec. winding Resistance (RCT) Turns Ratio errors limited to (+/-) 0.25%, which helps in maintaining the balance of protective systems during maximum through fault conditions Illustration- For PS class CT Ratio 100/1 A Vk >/ 100 V Im </ 30 A Winding RCT </ 100 hm

 Open circuiting of CT sec, When Ip is flowing? Fuse to be used in CT Sec. Circuit ?

Comparison of CT & PT
Current Transformers
CT Primary is connected in series with the load or Line Should have very low Primary winding Impedance. Bar Primary CTs with one turn are popular Primary no of turns are low. Large no of Secondary winding turns. Primary current depends on the load connected. Secondary current depends on primary current Primary has two terminals one Incoming and other out going. CT secondary should never get open circuited when Primary current is flowing. Otherwise excessively high voltages will appear across secondary open circuited terminals and may damage CT secondary insulation Fuse should never be provided in CT Secondary Circuit

Potential Transformers
PT primary is connected across the line i.e. between Phase & Earth Primary of PT should have high Impedance Primary has large no of turns and secondary has less no of turns. Primary current depends on secondary current. Both currents are comparatively low. Secondary voltage depends upon Primary voltage. Primary one terminal is connected to line or Bus and second terminal is connected to earth. PT secondary should not be short circuited. Other wise PT may get damaged due to excessive heating.

Fuse Should be used PT Secondary Side to protect the PT from damage due to excessive heat produced due to short circuit currents.

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