CURRENT TRANSFORMERS Basics of Operation and In-Service Testing Norbert J. Ackermann, Jr. CEO, Spinlab 1.

INTRODUCTION

Current transformers are used in electric metering for large load situations to reduce the current level presented to the metering circuit in order to make it m ore manageable and safe. This paper presents the basics of operation of current transformers and discusses the in-service testing of current transformers to ass ure accurate performance. 2. 2.1 BASICS OF OPERATION Ratio

A current transformer (henceforth called a CT) is designed to produce a secondar y current, Is, that is directly proportional to its primary current, Ip, which i s also called the load current. In metering this proportionality is called the r atio of the CT and is represented by: Ip Ratio = Is 2.2 Rated Ratio

x 5

The ratio of a CT is referenced to a 5 amp secondary output for nominal full val ue input current such that a CT ratio of 200 to 5 means that the CT would produc e a secondary current of 5 amps when exposed to a primary current of 200 amps. T he CT manufacturer classifies its CT s by its ratio value called the rated ratio whi ch is stamped on the nameplate of the CT and that is the certified operating val ue of the CT. 2.3. Accuracy Class

The CT accuracy is determined by its certified accuracy class which is also stam ped on its nameplate. For example, a CT accuracy class of 0.3 means that the CT is certified by the manufacturer to be accurate to within 0.3 percent of its rat ed ratio value for a primary current of 100 percent of rated ratio. For primary currents of 10 percent of rated ratio the specified accuracy for a given classif ication is double that of the 100 percent value or 0.6 percent for the above-sta ted case. The accuracy is relatively linear between these two points. Hence a CT with a rated ratio of 200 to 5 with accuracy class of 0.3 would operate within 0.45 percent of its rated ratio value for a primary current of 100 amps. To be m ore explicit, for a primary current of 100.00 amps it is certified to produce a secondary current between 2.489 amps and 2.511 amps. 2.4. Rating Factor

Some CT s are certified to be accurate for primary current values greater than 100 p ercent of the rated ratio, called over-range. This over-range is designated by a rating factor representing the factor by which the upper limit of the primary c urrent can be increased and still remain within certified accuracy. Hence a 200

to 5 rated ratio CT with a rating factor of 2 will remain within its accuracy ce rtification up to 400 amps (200 amps times 2). The rating factor of the CT is st amped on the nameplate of the CT. Typical rating factors are 1, 1.5, 2, 3, and 4 . 2.5. Burden

When a CT is used in a metering circuit it will have a secondary current loop co nnecting its output through a test block to a meter . This current loop will con sist of a secondary wire from its X1 terminal to a test block and go through a s horting switch. From the shorting switch the current loop will have a wire conne ction over to the meter, go through the meter, and have a wire connection back t o the test block. From there the current loop will go through the secondary curr ent test switch and have a wire connection return to the X2 terminal of the CT w ith a connection to neutral either at the output of the current test switch or a t the X2 terminal of the CT . This secondary current loop has an electrical impe dance called its burden. This burden will have a resistance component and may ha ve an inductance component. Usually the inductance component is small and is tre ated as negligible. The burden of the secondary circuit, as installed, is design ated the natural burden of the circuit. If installed properly the natural burden should be less than a few milliohms. The CT is designed to operate accurately u nder certain burden conditions as specified. The accuracy class certification of a CT is presented for a stated upper value of burden, called the CT s rated burden. For example it may have an accuracy class of 0.3 for burden of 1, meaning that the CT s rated burden is 1 ohm and the CT will maintain accurate rated ratio perfor mance within 0.3 percent for secondary circuit burdens up to 1 ohm. This rated b urden classification is also stamped on the CT nameplate. If the natural burden of the secondary circuit is larger than the rated burden, then the CT is not cer tified to have accurate performance. For this condition, called over-burdened, t he secondary current will not be accurate tending to be somewhat less to signifi cantly less than the accurate value causing the metering to be in error in favor of the customer. Furthermore, secondary circuits may have burden build up as th ey age due to loose connections, corrosion, broken stranded wires, etc. CT s, as ins talled, need to have enough excess burden capacity over the natural burden to al low accurate performance over time even if there is additional burden build up i n the secondary circuit.

3. 3.1.

IN-SERVICE TESTING OF CT-METERED INSTALLATIONS Introduction

Electrical utilities have significant concerns about revenue loss due to inaccur acies from metering. Metering inaccuracies are caused by installation errors, ag ing and environmental failures, and theft. Studies have consistently shown that the majority of revenue loss in their system comes from their CT-metered install ations. This occurs because these are the larger customers of the utility such t hat an error will create obviously a much larger loss and because CT installatio ns are more complex and comprise more components resulting in a higher probabili ty of failures. The attached Table presents the 32 different failure modes that you can have in a CT-metered installation. In nearly all cases these failure mod es result in errors in favor of the customer resulting in under-billing of the c ustomer. To protect against this revenue loss, utilities have implemented in-ser vice testing of their CT-metered installations. These test programs may consist of ratio testing, burden testing, ratio/burden testing, and wire verification te sting. 3.2. Ratio Testing

Ratio testing involves simultaneously measuring the primary current and the seco ndary current in order to calculate the operating ratio of the circuit. This rat io value is compared to the rated ratio to determine the percent error for that CT. Ratio values greater than the rated ratio result in under-billing and ratio values less than the rated ratio result in over-billing. As presented in the Tab le, ratio errors can be caused by manufacturer error, shorting bar left connecte d at the CT, shorted primary turns, shorted secondary turns, magnetization, etc. Most utilities use an error threshold of plus or minus 2 percent to determine a dequate ratio performance of installed CT s. Others choose to have an error threshol d of 1 percent for their large CT customers and 2 percent for their smaller CT c ustomers. 3.3. Burden Testing

Burden testing of CT-metered installations involves measuring the secondary curr ent of the CT circuit while introducing additional burden in graduated steps, us ually up to the rated burden of the CT, into the circuit and assuming constant c ustomer load during the duration of the test. If the measured secondary current remains constant during the duration of the test then the CT is deemed to have p assed the burden test as rated. This allows the determination of the performance of the CT under the build up of additional burden in order to evaluate future p erformance if such additional burden does occur. If the customer load does chang e sometime during the burden test then the secondary current will correspondingl y change giving a false indication of burden error. This is a major limitation o f burden testing. As presented in the Table, burden errors can be caused by exce ssively long secondary wires, wrong wire gauge, loose connections, corroded conn ections, etc. In a majority of cases, burden errors are caused by loose or corro ded connections in the secondary circuit. Hence when a burden error is detected a tightening of the screws in that circuit will usually correct the error. Other wise, a search for and elimination of the high burden component will be necessar y. 3.4. Ratio/Burden Testing

The dependence on constant customer load during the duration of the test is a ma jor limitation for burden testing. To overcome this limitation, a technique call ed ratio/burden testing is recommended. Ratio/burden testing involves measuring the CT ratio while imposing a series of additional burdens into the secondary ci rcuit usually up to the rated burden of the CT. In this test any customer load c hange will create a corresponding change in both the primary current and the sec ondary current so that the ratio should be unaffected. Hence any change in the r atio value during the test will unquestionably be due to burden error. 3.5. Wire Verification

Wiring errors in CT-metered installations are detected through use of phase angl e analysis of the primary current signal, secondary current signal, and secondar y voltage signal. For a particular meter type and secondary wiring network there will be an appropriate phase angle relationship among these signals. Errors in wiring such as CT reversal, CT cross phasing, or CT-PT cross phasing will introd uce particular additional phase shifts that are readily identifiable indicating the presence of a wiring error. 3.6 Comprehensive CT-System Testing

To assure the absence of all of the possible 32 failure modes that can occur in a CT-metered installation (see Table) a comprehensive in-service test is require d that comprises ratio testing, ratio/burden testing, and wire verification test ing in tandem. Passing a comprehensive test assures accurate CT and secondary ci

rcuit performance at that site. 4. 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 EXAMPLES OF CT CIRCUIT FAILURES CT with Shorted Turns Wrong Selection of Dual Ratio CT Magnetized CT Burden Failure in Secondary Circuit Wiring Error