attainable at the point on the curve where TI/Tmax is unity (see Figure 5). The Z in this case is 0.14.

UNSTRESSED LENGTH FACTOR Once Z for the loaded condition is known, finding the unstressed length factor is an easy matter. The calculations are straightforward and are tabulated in Table IV. It should be noted that this unstressed length factor is based on the L for the loaded condition. It is necessary to refer all unstressed length factors to the unloaded condition. To accomplish this, the unstressed length factor calculated in

Table IV is multiplied by a factor which is L/L'. The permanent set, 0.000316, is subtracted from this unstressed length factor to get the initial unstressed length factor for 0 degrees Fahrenheit. The unstressed length factors for the other temperatures are calculated from the equation lt = Zl [1 +-0(t-t) 1. From the resultant unstressed length factors, the auxiliary C curves for the specified range of temperatures are plotted, see Figure 1. The intersection of these auxiliary curves with the basic C curve will give the values of Z for temperatures ranging from 0 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

The results are shown in Figure 1. The tensions have been calculated for 0 degrees and 60 degrees and are, respectively, 4763.6 and 4303.7 pounds for the upper support and 4722.9 and 4263.1 pounds for the lower supports. The sags for the different temperatures are recorded in Figure 1.

References
1. TRANSMISSION LINE CATENARY CALCULATIONS, D. 0. Ehrenberg. AIEE Transacltonzs (Electrical Engineerinzg), vol. 34, July 1935 pp. 719-28. 2. ELECTRIC POWER TRANSMISSION, L. F. Woodruff. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New- York, N. Y., 2nd ed., fourth lprinting., Feb. 1946, pp. 201-05.

No Discussion

The Zero-Flux Current Transrormer

A. HOBSON
Synopsis: A method is described of reducing the core flux of a current transformer by supplying the necessary voltage to the secondary circuit. For one load current, the flux may be eliminated, giving zero errors, and at other loads the ratio and phase angle are so small as to be difficult to detect in many cases. Applied to reasonably good transformers, extremely high accuracies are obtained, with small weight and bulk. The scope of low ratio bushingtype transformers is also increased, but the addition of triple-frequency auxiliary flux still further extends the use of the method, and test results are given for ratios down to 20/5 amperes.
N A PERFECT current transformer, the primary and secondary ampereturns would be exactly equal in magnitude and precisely opposite in phase position for all conditions of service. In practice, the ideal is never attained because a voltage must be induced in the secondary winding to overcome the impedance of the circuit. This gives rise to a corresponding magnetic flux in the core, and it is the ampere-turns needed to maintain the flux which constitute the error of the transformer. They subtract 7ectorially from the input ampere-turns, and the result is that the secondary current is a little less than it ought to be and not quite in its proper phase position. When considering how to make a transformer without errors, the obvious line of attack seems to try and make up for the magnetising losses by supplying corrective ampere-turns to the transformer.
NONMEMBER AIEE

This is a most difficult task. A current transformer has to work over a fairly wide range of current. The magnetising and iron-loss ampere-turns vary in a most complicated manner as the primary current changes, and while it mav be feasible to correct for one particular condition, it is too much to hope that a complex curve can be followed with accuracy. Nevertheless, a number of attempts have been made in the past, but the success attained has been limited because of the extreme difficulties involved. In most of these and other methods, efforts have been made to secure a flat characteristic by balancing the upper and lower halves of the magnetising curve against each other, using saturated cores for the purpose. In thisway, someinventorshave improved the ratio error, some the phase angle, and some both, but in all cases the benefit has been achieved by making critical adjustments on the individual transformers. It has not been possible to predetermine the results by ordinary design methods. A more reasonable approach to the problem is to consider supplying the necessary voltage to the secondary circuit. If this is done properlv there is no
Paper 53-194, recommended by the AIEE Transformers Committee and approved by the AIEE Committee on Technical Operations for presentation at the AIEE Southern District NMeeting, Louisville, Ky., April 22-24, 1953. -Manuscript submitted October 24, 1932; made available for printing March 16, 19.3. A. HoBsoN is with Smith Hobson Limited, Kingston, Surry, England.

need for anv voltage to be induced in the secondary winding consequently the core flux is zero and the transformer operates with neither ratio nor phase-angle error. In other words, the current transformer is no longer obliged to supply energy and is able to concentrate fully on its proper task of measuring the current. Moreover, a current transformer generally works into a fixed impedance so that the secondary voltage is not onlproportional to the current, but also keeps the same phase position with respect to it, offering a much simpler problem than the provision of a whole magnetising curve.

Principle of Operation
In the method to be described here, the voltage source is a second current transformer, which mav be called a compensator, worked by the same primary current as the first one. The diagram in Fig. 1 shows one suitable arrangement for a

500/5 ampere-ring-tvpe current transformer. The explanation will be simpli-

TRANSFORMER

CURRENT

COMPENSATOR
AI7GUIST 1953

- IVvvYTVWVV

Fig. 1. 500/5 compensated transformer

608

608THobson-The Zero-Flux Current Transformer

fied by ignoring magnetising losses for the time being and assigning numerical values to the various quantities. Since the transformer has a bar primary, the secondary has 100 turns. For convenience coils B and C on the compensator are each given 50 turns, although they may in fact have many other values. The 1-ohm resistance represents the lumped impendance of the whole secondary circuit, comprising coils A and B, together with the load. Consider the conditions with 500 amperes in the primary bar. The secondary circuit carries 5 amperes. This current is decided solely by the 100 secondary turns, since the presence of the closed winding C on the compensator core prevents B from acting as a choke in the path of the secondary current. Another current of 5 amperes flows in C and the variable resistance R to make up the ampereturn balance on this core. Clearly a voltage equal to 5R must be induced in C to send the current through R. The resulting core flux is also embraced by coil B, and an identical voltage appears across this winding, because both coils have the same number of turns. By varying R, therefore, any voltage chosen can be injected into the secondary circuit. The drop across the 1-ohm load is 5 volts, and this cannot change as long as the current remains constant. It follows that the vector sum of the electromotive forces in A and B must total 5 volts, in phase with the current for this noninductive burden. If one of the coils is somehow made to supply a particular voltage, then the other will automatically adjust its output so that the total is 5 volts, in the proper direction. When R is zero, for instance, coil B contributes nothing and the full voltage is induced in A, in which case the current transformer behaves normally and has its customary errors. The compensator flux is zero for this condition. If R is now steadily increased there is a gradual transfer of flux from one core to the other, since B generates more and more voltage, less and less being required from A. When R is I ohm, B supplies all the voltage, none is induced in A, and the flux in the main core is zero. All the work in both circuits is now done by the compensator, and the current transformer has neither ratio nor phase-angle error. Should R be still further increased so as to exceed 1 ohm, more than 5 volts will be supplied, and under this condition A actually provides a reverse voltage to bring the total down to 5 volts. The current transformer would then show errors

CURRENT TRANSFORMER

COMPENSATOR

Fig. 2. Alternative connection

of the opposite sign to those usually experienced, that is, it would have a positive ratio and a lagging phase error. It is apparent that simply by varying R, a very flexible control may be exercised over the transformer, which can be made to have a whole series of error curves at will. Using an impedance of variable magnitude and power factor in place of R extends the control still further, since the phase position of the core flux may also be varied. In Fig. 2 another method of connection is shown which achieves the same effect. Comparing it with Fig. 1, coils B and C are now combined into a single 50-turn winding carrying 10 amperes. The resistance R now bypasses the difference between this current and the secondary 5 amperes, the resultant being 5 amperes in the opposite direction to the secondary current. Because of this reversal, the voltage drop across R actually becomes a boost in the secondary circuit, and serves to reduce the flux in the main core; in other words, helping to compensate the transformer. When R is 1 ohm complete compensation is obtained, as before. A moment's thought shows that in both diagrams the compensation is correct not only for 500 amperes, but also for any other line current, since all the voltages and currents change in proportion. If the impedance of the secondary circuit had some other value and power factor, the zero-flux condition would be restored by replacing R with an equal impedance.

pensed with altogether. Actually, of course, this core has a very important part to play, and a practical transformer would be of little use without it. Tables of test results, given later in the p-aper, show that the ideal condition may be approached verv closely on occasion. Generally, however, it is difficult to eliminate the flux entirely over the whole range of current, although simple to reduce it to a fraction of its normal value. The reason is that the compensator, being a kind of current transformer. has errors of its own. The current in coil C of Fig. 1 is really a little less than a amperes, and R would in practice have to be made slightly more than 1 ohm to produce the full 5 volts. Assuming this adjustment were accurately made, the main-core flux wotuld indeed be zero, but when the line current changed, so also would the compensator errors, and the new value of voltage would not be exactly right. A small flux would then appear in the main core and the current transformer would have corresponding errors.

Losses in Compensator
In the examples used so far, the voltamperes consumed in the compensating load have been equal to those in the secondary circuit. The additional loss is not important, considering the benefit obtained, but it is good practice to keep it as small as possible, compatible with satisfactory performance. Its value may be lessened by having more turns on coil B, which means that the compensation works on fewer ampere-turns, and has a somewhat poorer performance. In practice the loss varies from about 5 per cent, up to 100 per cent of the total volt-amperes in the secondary circuit, depending on the type of transformer under consideration. If it has a large number of ampere-turns, such as a highprecision laboratory transformer would have, the loss can be made very small with scarcely and reduction in accurac-.

Change in Load and Frequency

To obtain the lowest errors the compensating load should match that of the secondary circuit. It is often convenient to supply a transformer with a fixed compensation, chosen to give best performance at some stated load, probably that of a particular instrument. If a different load is used, either in magnitude or power factor, errors will appear, depending on how much voltage has to be induced in the main secondary, and this is clearly a function of the fractional change in the

Full Compensation
From the theory as so far explained, it would seem possible to construct a current transformer having perfect accuracy over the whole range of primary current. Indeed, it might appear that the main core, since it carries no flux, could be dis-

AUGUST 1953

9Hobson-The Zero-Flux Current Transformer

609

Table 1. Ring-Type Current Transformer (500 Ampere-Turns) Mumetal Core: 3 Inches Total Depth, 3-Inch Inside Diameter, 41/2-Inch Outside Diameter
5-Volt-Ampere Load Compensated Plain Transformer Ratio Ratio Phase Error, Phase Error, Angle, Per Angle, Per Cent Minutes Minutes Cent
25-Volt-Ampere Load Compensated Plain Transformer Ratio Ratio Phase Error, Phase Error, Angle, Per Angle, Per Minutes Cent Minutes Cent
...

Nominal Secondary Amperes

5 3
..

-0.042 ... -0.053 ... I ....... -0.068... 0.5... ...- -0.077...

.
......

+4.0 ... 0.000 .... 0.00 +4.9 ... 0.000 .... 0.00 ... +5.6 ... +0.001 ... +0.04 ... +7.3 ... +0.002 .. . +0.06 ...

-0.297.... + 6.8.... -0.320.. + 8.1.... -0.318. .. . +13.7.... 2. -0.273. ... +19..

+0.003 ... 0.00 +0.013. .. +0.21 +0.021. .. +0.35

+0.005... 0.00

Table IL. Ring-Type Current Transformer (500/5 Amperes) Silicon-Iron Core: 4 Inches Total Depth, 5-Inch Inside Diameter, 7-Inch Outside Diameter
5-Volt-Ampere Load Compensated Plain Transformer Ratio Ratio Phase Error, Phase Error, Angle, Per Angle, Per Cent Minutes Minutes Cent
-

Nominal Secondary Amperes

5

15-Volt-Ampere Load Compensated Plain Transformer Ratio Ratio Phase Error, Phase Error, Per Angle, Angle, Per Minutes Cent Minutes Cent

3 .....0.0.30 ...+25....+0.02 1 ..... - 0.33 .. +42 . +0.13 +0.25 0.5 ... -0.37 . +60

0.27 ...

+18 .

0.00

...

'.

0. + ....i 2. o5. .
.

0.

-0.50 ... . -0.55 ... -0.62 ... -0.65 .

+22 . 0.00 +30 ..+.+0.02 +54 . +0.19 +78 ... + 0.45

.
.

+13

0 +5

-1

Table Ill. 100 !5-Ampere Bushing Transformer Mumetal Core: 8 Inches Total Depth, 5-Inch Inside Diameter, 7-Inch Outside Didmeter
Plain Transformer Ratio Phase Error, Per Angle, Minutes Cent

Nominal Secondary Amperes

5 3 1

5-Volt-Ampere Load Compensat Ratio P. Error, A: Per Mi Cent

.....

Plain Transformer Ratio Phase Error, Angle, Per Minutes Cent

15-Volt-Ampere Load Compensated Ratio Phase Error, Angle, Per Minutes Cent

0.40 .... + 17 ...... +0 .03 -0.40 ... +22 . .+ 0:3 -0.35 ......+32 . +0.07 0.5 - 0.30 ... +36. +0.10
....... -

.0 -0.85 ... +24 ... 0. -0.90 ... +33 .. 0.83 +55... 0... 0.75 .... 72 .. .0 ..

+0.04 ....
0 06. -0.14 ....

+1 -0 20 .... -I

+3 +5

total impedance of the secondary circuit. An increased load means that the transformer is under-compensated and has a negative ratio error and a leading phase angle. Similarly a reduction results in overcompensation, and the errors are reversed in sign. At all reasonable loads, the performance should still be a good deal better than for the equivalent plain-current transformer. A considerable part of the secondary circuit is located in the transformer itself, and changes in the external-instrument load often have only a relatively minor effect on the total. Change of operating frequency, to a first approximation, has no effect on the performance of a fully compensated transformer. In practice, the compensator flux varies in inverse proportion to the frequency, and the errors of the compensator change accordingly. The current transformer consequently shows errors which are of the

second order of magnitude when compared with those of a plain transformer.

the kind used at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, England. On the coarse range, the largest errors which can be measured are 5-per-cent ratio and 250-minutes phase angle. The most sensitive range will detect differences of 0.001-per-cent ratio and 0.01-minute phase angle, and in Table I some results are given to these limits. This is done only for comparison; it is not claimed that the final figure is accurate. The standard transformer used had a ratio error of about 0.01 per cent and a phase angle of about 0.5 minute. These errors, small in themselves, were too large to enable the compensated transformer in Table I to be tested by a comparison method. This transformer was therefore wound for a ratio of 5/5 amperes, and the spill current between primary and secondary measured directly by the method shown in Dr Arnold's paper.1 The transformer in Table I, uncompensated, would be considered a good one for metering but not so good when judged as a precision unit for a test room. The addition of compensation causes the errors virtually to disappear. On 25 voltamperes, the compensator core flux approached saturation, yet the degree of correction obtained was still very remarkable. With silicon-iron, see Table II, the improvement is also considerable, but here the effect can be seen of the change in the compensator performance as the line current falls. To bring this point out more clearlv, the compensation was in each case adjusted to give minimum errors at full rated current. The figures could have been made superficially more impressive by using another value of compensation, which would have miade the errors smaller by balancing them about the zero line.

Test Results
Tables I and II give test figures showing the effect of compensation on two ring current transformers. For a true comparison between plain and compensated transformers, the same total amount of core should be used in both cases, if possible the identical core itself. Accordingly each transformer was first wound in the normal way and its natural errors measured. Then it was stripped down and the core divided into two packets. one of which was used for the main core and the other for the compensator. Finally it was rewound with compensation, and the required tests were carried out. All the measurements were made on an Arnold-type testing equipment which is

Practical Applications
PRECISION TRANSFORMERS The better a transformer is to start with, the more easilv and effectivelv can it be compensated. For this reason, the method is extremelv useful in "perfecting" reasonably good transformers, such as are used in test rooms and laboratories. The compensator needs onlv a small core section, it will work well on as few as 100 ampere-turns, and the extra loss may be less than 1 watt. On high precision standard transformers, the lowest errors obtainable by normal design are about 0.01-per-cent ratio, and 0.5-minute phase angle. Such a transformer is very bulky and expensive. It must have a heavy nickel-iron core, wound with up to 5,000 ampere-

610

610THobson-The Zero-Flux Current Transformer

AUGUST 19053

turns, and of sufficient diameter to accommodate the large amount of copper required. It is very difficult to reduce these errors much, even if the core section and ampere-turns are made greater, because the increasing copper loss and core diameter both react unfavorably, while other factors such as internal capacitance suddenly begin to upset the calculations. In Table 1, a Mumetal core weighing 7 pounds, wound with only 500 ampereturns, is made to have errors almost immeasurably small. True, this transformer is more susceptible to change of load than would be a laboratory standard, but with 1,000 or 2,000 ampere-turns, excellent performance may be obtained over a fairly wide range of load, using a fixed compensation, with a loss of perhaps 1 watt. Moreover the difference in the errors as the operating frequency is changed from 25 to 100 cycles is very small indeed. A multirange transformer for use with an electronic wattmeter was compensated to have maximum errors of 0.1 per cent and 2 minutes, over a frequency range of 50 to 500 cycles. It was wound with 30 ampere-turns, and measured 8 cubic

Table IV. 100/5-Ampere Bushing TransFormer Silicon-iron Core: 8 Inches Total Depth, 5-Inch Inside Didmeter, 7-Inch Outside Diameter
5-Volt-Ampere Load

Nominal Secondary Amperes

Plain Transformer Phase Angle, Ratio Error, Minutes Per Cent

+115 .. .-2.35 ... 5 +155 .. 3 .-2.60 ... +280 .. .-3.4 .. ..off scale

Plus Triple Frequency Phase Angle, Ratio Error, Minutes Per Cent
-0.80 ... -0.75 ... -0.70 ...

Plus Triple Frequency and Compensation Phase Angle, Ratio Error, Minutes Per Cent

1 0.5

-0.55..5

+20 .......... -0.13 ......... +2 +19 ......... -0. 11. +2 . 0 .. +17 ........ -1 0 +17 .. +0.15 ...
... 0

5 3
1

.-4.2 .-4.9

0.5

off scale .. .off scale ..

.. ..

+145 .. +210 ..

15-Volt-Ampere Load +40 .. -1.7 .. +40 .. -1.7 . -1.5 ....... +38 .. +35 . -1.5 ....

0 +0.15 +0.30 ......... -1

-1

Table V. 50/5-Ampere Bushing Transformer Two Cores: One, Mumetdl; One, Silicon-Iron. Edch Core: 4 Inches Deep, 5-Inch Inside Didmeter, 7-Inch Outside Didmeter
7.5-Volt-Ampere Load

Nominal Secondary Amperes

5

Plain Transformer Phase Ratio Error, Angle, Per Cent Minutes

+ 75 ... + 82 ... +153 ... +210 ...

Plus Triple Frequency Phase Ratio Error, Angle, Per Cent Minutes

Compensated Plus Triple Frequency Phase Angle, Ratio Error, Per Cent Minutes
+1

inches. It is possible to make compensators as separate units to work with existing current transformers. This involves no practical difficulty; the two primaries and secondaries being connected in series.

-2.65 ... .-2.90 ... 3 1 .-3.25 .... -3.20 ... 0.5 .

-2.05 ...

-2.20 ...

-2.00 ... -2.00 ...

+73 .......... 0 ....... +60 . -0.05 ......... 0 ........ +48 ......... +40 . +0.03 ..

-1

-1 -2

Table VI. 30/5-Ampere Bushing Transformer Core-See Table V

2.5-Volt-Ampere Load Compensated Plus Plain Transformer Triple Frequency Ratio Ratio Phase Phase Error, Error, Per Per Angle, Angle, Minutes Minutes Cent Cent
-3.2 ...
+ 78 ...

The main difficulty is that the primary is only a single turn carrying the line current of the system. In the author's opinion the full implication of this fact is not fully appreciated by many engineers. To demonstrate what the designer is really up against on the lower ratios, let us consider the weight of core needed for a 100/5 transformer, when compared with one of ratio 200/5 amperes, having the same errors and output. First, there must be only half as many ampere-turns lost in the core. Because of the unfavorable shape of the magnetising curve, however, the flux density could not be more than one third that in the 200/5 unit. Next, since there are only half the number of secondary turns, the total flux must be doubled to obtain the same inAUGUST 1 953
AUUT

BUSHING TRANSFORMERS OF Low RATIO It is well known that current transformers of the bushing type offer immense advantages in cost, safety, and simplicity, but that their use on low ratios is severely limited because the inherent accuracy is very poor. It is not surprising that, in the past, many engineers have endeavored to improve their performance sufficiently to render them suitable for metering.

Nominal Secondary Amperes

5 3 1
.

Error,
Per Cent

7.5-Volt-Ampere Load Plain Compensated Plus Transformer Triple Frequency Ratio Ratio
Minutes
scale .....

Angle,

Phase

Error,
Per Cent

Minutes

Angle,

Phase

....... -3.5 ...... + 112 ..... +0.04 ......

+0.02 .... +0.12 .... +0.15 ....

0.5

. .

-3.6 ...

-3.6 ...

+225 ... +280 ...

0. off 0............ off off -1. -3 .off

scale ..... scale .....

scale ......... +0.02..... -2

+0.35..... +9

+0.05..... +5 -0.06..... +15

duced voltage. It follows that the core weight must be about six times greater when the ratio is halved. On this basis a 50/5 would have more than thirty times, and a 20/5 more than three hundred times the weight of a 200/5-ampere transformer. Even these figures, formidable as they are, do not fully represent the difficulties involved because they assume that the mean core diameter is the same for all ratios. If this were so, the transformers would have to be ridiculously long to obtain the full core section, and the only remedy is to make the outside diameter greater, which not only increases the magnetic path, but also the weight, to an

Table III shows the improvement made by compensating a 100/5 bushing transformer which had a poor inherent accuracy. It is apparent without further comment that the simple application of this device considerably widens the scope for this type of transformer. There is still, however, a limitation. The duty of the compensator is to provide a voltage proportional to the line current. and of constant phase position; unless its performance is reasonably good to start with, it will not do its job sufficiently well, on the low ratios being considered, to make the complete transformer sufficiently accurate.

enormous degree.

3Hobson-The Zero-Flux Current Transformer

611

USE OF TRIPLE-FREQUENCY FLUX The possibilities of compensated-bushing transformers ma- be considerably increased by applying triple-frequeney auxiliary excitation in a manner similar to that described by Bovajian and Camilli.2 They have shown that the addition of the higher frequency flux reduces the errors to a fraction of their original values. But that is not all: more striking still, in the opinion of the present author, the magnetising and iron-loss curves for the normal-frequency flux are rendered remarkably straight, so that the ratio and phase errors are practically- constant for all line currents. The triple frequency is easily obtained from a 3-phase bank of small single-phase transformers, with primaries in start and secondaries in open delta. The device i! well known and needs no further comment. The author has carried out tests on this method using silicon-iron and Mumetal cores, and has found that by far the greatest benefit is obtained with the silicon-iron. Numetal was not improved nearly so much, nor was the resulting performance so linear. For this reason the use of the orthomagnetic principle, used in the manner shown by Boyajian and Camilli, appears to be limited to transformers tor moderately low currents. The performance of, say, a 50/5 siliconiron bushing transformer would be so poor inherently, that even the utmost benefit of triple-frequency flux would fail to reduce the errors to the limits required for metering. On the other hand, a nickel-iron core could not be improved sufficientlv to justifv the extra trouble involved. It seemns to the present author, however, that orthomagnetism might well be applied with advantage to the zero-flux transformer. d Since the dolcuty of the compensator

Table VII. 20/5-Ampere Bushing Transformer Core See Table V

Plain Transformer Ratio Error, Phase Angle, Per Cent Minutes

Nominal Secondary Amperes

0 3
I
......

2.5-Volt-Ampere Load Compensated Plus Triple Frequency Ratio Error, Phase Angle, Per Cent Minutes
+ 3 + 4 + 18

......

O .5a

......
..I.

..

off scale ..... +0. 10 . .off scale ..... 0 .off scale ....... +0 10. . . 0 17. ,off scale ....

+28

is to provide a linear voltage, the magnitudes of its errors, considered from the current transformer angle, are of no importance, provided that they remain constant for all line currents. It was thought, therefore, that the results obtainable with a silicon-iron compensator, rendered linear by triple-frequency flux, might even be superior to those with a Mumetal core. A further advantage would be that the working flux density could be twice that in the Mumetal, thus halving the core weight and bulk. The main core would probably be Mumetal, at least on the very low ratios. Although the relative benefit of triplefrequency flux on this alloy is less, its ultimate performance is still considerablv better than that of silicon-iron. Furthermore, since the compensator was in any case to be rendered orthomagnetic, it would be a simple matter to excite the Mumetal from the same source. To test this reasoning, a 100/5 transformer was built having the same core size as the one of Table III, but using silicon-iron instead of Mumetal. The main and compensator cores were each divided into two equal parts and supplied with triple-frequency excitation.

Results are given in Table IV. The natural errors are very large, but it is interesting to see that triple-frequency flux alone reduces the phase angle to the same order of magnitude as that of the plain Mumetal transformer of Table III, with the extra advantage that it is constant. The further addition of compensation makes the performance equal to the compensated Mumetal transformer. Table V, VI, and V'II give the results of similar tests on 30/5, 30/5, and 20, 3 ampere bushing-type transformers. The same core was employed in each case. It was first wound for 50/ 5 amperes, and turns were taken off as the ratio was reduced. The silicon-iron was, of course, the compensator core. The triple-frequency excitation was supplied to both cores, but at different flux densities. On the 20/5 transformer the main core had four, and the compensator two secondarv turns. The latter was thus working on only 10 ampere-turns at full current, and 1 ampere-turn at 10 per cent of full current. Its working flux density approached 33,000 lines per square inch, and about half its input was lost in magnetisation. It is interesting to note that for equal performance with a plain design, this transformer would have to be about 50 feet long, using a solid Mumetal core weighing more than 1 ton.

References
1. CURRENT TRANSFORMER TESTING, A. H. M. Arnold. Journal, institution of Electrical Engineers, London, England, vol. 74, 1934, pp. 424-44.

2. ORTHOMAGNETIC CURRENT TRANSFORMERS FOR METERING, A. Boyajian, G. Camilli. AIEE Transactions (Electrical Engineering), vol. 64, March 1945, pp. 137-40. 3. INSTRUMENT TRANSFORMERS, A. Hobson. Journal, Institution of Electrical Engineers, London, England, vol. 91, part II, April 1944. 4. INSTRUMENT TRANSFORMERS (book), B. Hague Sir Issac Pitman and Sons, London, England, 1936-

Discussion
in current transformer accuracy attainable by Mr. Hobson's method of compensation, and especially when Boyajian and Camilli's orthomagnetic principle is combined therewith, speak for themselves. Test frequency used is not stated, but if 50 cycles is assumed equally good results could be expected at 60 cycles. Mr. Hobson follows recommended practice of the International Electrotechnical Commission in stating percentage ratio error, wherein ratio error is positive when secondary current multiplied by the nominal ratio exceeds the primary current. On this continent the sign is reversed, presumably because the thought is concen-

C. K. Duff V Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada): The remarkable improvements

stead of per ceilt ratio errors would eliminate any ambiguity.

trated on the ratio correction factor (RCF) which is high when the secondary current is too low and vice versa. Section 13.032 of the American Standards Association Standard C57.13 states: Per cent ratio error = 100 (RCF 1) Tabulation of ratio correction factors inREFERENCE
1. INSTRUMENT TRANSFORMERS. ASA C57.131948, American Standard Association, New York, N. Y., 1948.

Harold P. Knopp (Electrical Facilities, Inc., Oakland, Calif.): The content of the paper with its interesting and revealing test results on various types and capacities of

transformers is, in the writer's opinion, a worth-while further contribution to the work done and being done toward developing practical current transformers with negligible ratio and phase-angle errors. The author's work seems to follow and extend that of Boyajian and Camilli of this country, to which the author makes reference. In reading this paper it occurred to me that it would be interesting to have further information from the author as to the effect of his compensating method on the leakage fluxes in various transformer designs. Was it Mr. Hobson's experience from test results that errors resulting from the placement of the primary winding as found by Dr. Arnold' were reduced or eliminated? It would seem that one of the main practical benefits obtained from the author's

612

612THobson-The Zero-Flux Current Transformer

AUGUST 195)3

results.
1.

compensating method is that the ratio and phase-angle performance is improved so as to give excellent accuracy over a wide range of load current. This advantage should be particularly valuable in metering applications such as where bushing-type current transformers are employed and where the load current fluctuates and should be measured with equal accuracy regardless of load. On the other hand, I think that the foregoing advantage of Mr. Hobson's compensating method becomes relatively unimportant when considering multirange transformers which, because of their multiplicity of ranges, need not be used over a wide range of load current but are used primarily between 60 and 100 per cent of full-load current. It is possible and very practical to design and build transformers of the laboratory type employing a fractional-turn ratio-compensating method and a separate phase-angle compensation which have negligible ratio and phase-angle errors over the foregoing range of load and ampere-turns that do not have to exceed 800 to 1,200, depending upon the secondary burden. It is true it would seem that the author's compensating method would make possible a reduction in the ampere-turn value, but if this is done, the values of primary current ranges would be limited, and also, as the author pointed out, the transformer, as a result, would be more susceptible to change of burden. It was of particular interest to me to note that Mr. Hobson, in order to test the compensated transformer of Table I of the paper with sufficient sensitivity, used a method described by Dr. Arnold2 whereby the difference between the primary and secondary currents was measured directly on the 5/5-ampere range, or the 1-to-I ratio. This method, except for a difference in the type of detector employed, has been used in this country in connection with the current (and also potential) transformers manufactured by the firm with which the writer is associated. This test method, known in this country as the Knopp one-to-one method or, more briefly, the one-to-one method, was developed and used by Otto A. Knopp in 1912.3 Knopp employed two watt-hour meters as the detector to determine the difference between the primary and secondary. Later, for this purpose, he developed the torsion-head detector wattmeter.4 The use of this detector wattmeter in the oneto-one method was further dlscussed in an AIEE paper.5 Because of my experience with the oneto-one method, I can fully understand and appreciate why the author employed this method where it was necessary for him to measure very small ratio and phase-angle errors and with the most direct means available so as to eliminate the need of applying correction factors to the measured

4.

TORSION HEAD OVERCOMES WATTMETER ERROR, 0. A. Knopp. Electrical World, New York, N. Y., vol. 89, Feb. 19, 1927, p. 407. O. SOME APPLICATIONS OF INSTRUMENT TRANSFORMERS, 0. A. Knopp. Electrical Engineering, vol. 55, May 1936, pp. 480-89.

G. Camilli and L. W. Marks (General Electric Company, Pittsfield, Mass.): This paper represents another worth-while addition to the long list of the methods which have been developed for the improvements of bushing-type current transformers. The underlying principles incorporated in the method of compensation described in this paper may be better appreciated by briefly reviewing the nature of the problem involved in improving the accuracy of the bushing-type current transformer. In a current transformer, the inaccuracy is caused by the exciting current required to magnetize the core. Operating at a reasonable flux density, a transformer requires a certain number of ampere-turns so that the more the turns the less the current will be. As the bushing-type current transformer has only one primary turn, its exciting current has to be larger than that of units with many turns. But this is not the only difficulty. The exciting current varies nonlinearly with the load and thus resists simple

corrective measures such as compensation by modification of turn ratio. It may be appreciated on reflection that the magnitude of the ratio correction factor would be of little or no consequence if it were constant through the range of the current values to be measured. The case of phase angle is more complicated because, even if the phase-angle shift were constant, the ultimate correction would differ for different power factor of the load to be measured. The problem, therefore, is to make the ratio error at least constant and the phase angle as small as possible. In the scheme described in this paper the exciting current is 1. reduced to a very small value by the help of an auxiliary exciting transformer'; 2. minimized in some cases by the use of low-loss, high-permeability material such as Mumetall; and 3. straightened by the use of the orthomagnetic principle.3 The results obtained are certainly startling when compared with noncompensated bushing-type current transformers. Since the most accurate results were obtained by the combination of three schemes, it may be well to discuss the contribution of each scheme to the total performance. 1. Compensation by the use of an auxiliary core (zero flux current transformer).

Table I. Test Data Bushing Current Transformer; Cores Mdde of Silicon Steel. Two Cores Edch 93/4-Inch Inside Diameter by 11 /4-lnch Outside Diameter by 4 Inches High. Burden 12.5 Volt-Amperes dt 90-Per-Cent Power Fdctor
Uncompensated Transformer
Nominal Secondary,

Zero Flux Compensation

RCF
0.9927 0.9990
...

Amperes
5.0

RCF
0. .1.0175 ... .1.0076 ...

Phase Angle, Minutes

+97 +24
.....
.....

Phase Angle, Minutes

+46 - 5

...

Table II. Effect of Burden Change Using Zero Flux Method Bushing-Type Current Transformer, 300/5 Amperes, 2 Cores of Silicon Steel Each 93/4-Inch Inside Diameter by 113/4-Inch Outside Diameter by 4 Inches High. Transformer Compensated by the Zero Flux Method for a Burden of 12.5 Volt-Amperes at 90-Per-Cent Power Factor
Secondary Amperes
0 5.0 ....

RCF
+46 0.0. 9927...

Phase Angle, Minutes

5

0.5

5.0

....

0.9990 . Test results at 2.5 volt-amperes 90-per-cent power factor 0.9673 .

0.9885

-76 -30

Table Ill. Comparison of Zero Flux and Biased-Core Compensation 300/5 Amperes, Two Cores Each 93/4-Inch Inside Diameter by 113/4-lnch Outside Diameter by 4 Inches High. Burden 12.5 Volt-Amperes at 90-Per-Cent Power Factor
Zero-Flux Compensation

REFERENCES
TRANSFORMERS, A. H. M. Arnold. Journal, Institution of Electrical Engineers, London, England, vol. 74, 1934, pp. 413-23. 2. See reference I of the paper.
3.
COMMERCIAL STANDARDIZATION OF INSTRUMENT

Biased-Core Compensation
RCF

LEAKAGE PHENOMENA IN RING-TYPE CURRENT

Secondary Amperes
0.5
.

RCF

Phase Angle

Phase Angle
+41 - 1
+35

TRANSFORMERS, 0. A. Knopp. Electrical World, New York, N. Y., vol. 67, Jan. 8, 1916, pp. 92-93.

0.9927 .... +46 .. 1.0095 .... 5.0 .0.9990 .... 5 ...1 .0044 .... Burden changed to 2.5 volt-amperes without change in compensation 0.5 .0.9673 .... -76.1.0041 .... 5.0 1 0021 ....0 .0.9983 .... -30.
-

AUGUST 1 953

Hobson The Zero-Flux Current Transformer

613

Using a silicon iron core: Comparative results between the compensated and uncompensated transformer are shown in Table II of the paper. The scheme seems particularly effective in reducing the phase-angle error. The slope of the ratio error is increased over the uncompensated transformer. Some test data shown in Table I of the discussion were also obtained by the authors of the present discussion on a 300/5 bushing current transformer with the same trend in accuracy. 2. Using Mumetal cores. As expected (see Tables I and III of the paper) the errors with this type of core material are much smaller. Again the zero-flux compensation is very effective in reducing the phase angle. 3. By the orthomagnetic principle. Table IV of the paper shows that the orthomagnetic scheme reduces both the ratio and phase-angle error to a small fraction of the original errors.
GENERAL COMMENTS The data presented in the paper seem to indicate that excellent results can be obtained by the simultaneous use of a special material for the core, the zero-flux compensation and the orthomagnetic excitation. It should be noted, however, that such good results could have been obtained by the use of the orthomagnetic scheme alone if the author had taken advantage of the fine adjustments which have been incorporated in the scheme.3,4 It should also be noted that the zero-flux compensation is only effective at the particular burden to which the transformer has been compensated. This is shown in Table II of the discussion.
COMPARISON WITH BIASED-CORE COMPENSATION In Table III of the discussion the ratio and phase-angle error of the transformer shown in Table I of this discussion are given for both the zero-flux and the biased-core

Table IV. Metering Performance at 60 Cycles on a 300-5 Biased-Core Bushing Current Transformer for 1 38-Ky Oil Circuit Breaker
Secondary Burdens and Power Factor

2.5 Volt-Amperes, 90 Per Cent Nominal Secondary Current, Amperes RCF Phase Angle, Minutes

5 Volt-Amperes, 90 Per Cent

12.5 Volt-Amperes, 90 Per Cent

RCF

Phase Angle, Minutes

RCF

Phase Angle, Minutes

- 3 - 1 + 4 +14

0.9996 . ...... -3......... 0.9998 - 3. . -2 3 .... .... 0. 9996 . - 2......... 0.9998 1 ......... 1.0002 ....-.1.. ......... 1.0004 ... +2. +4 ... 0.5 ... 1.0006 . 1.0011 ....+6.

1.0005 ... 1.0005 ... 1.0012 ... 1.0023 .

5 Volt-Amperes, 100 Per Cent

12.5 Volt-Amperes, 100 Per Cent

RCF
.

RCF Minutes .-3 0.9998 .1.0005 5 .-1.. 3 ................ 0.9998 .1.0005 1 ................ 1.0002 .+2. 1.0005 ...... +8. 0.1
...

Phase Angle,

.1.0015 ...

1.0012 .

Phase Angle, Minutes - 2 0 + 8 +15

compensation. From Table III of the discussion it will be seen that the biased-core compensation

leads to accuracy which compares very favorably with the zero-flux compensation when this latter has been adjusted to the particular burden at which the test is made. The superiority of the biased-core compensation is evident when the burden is changed to other values without modifying the compensation. It should also be mentioned that for an equivalent total cross section of the core the biased-core transformer will saturate at much higher overloads than the zero-fluxcompensated current transformer.
REFERENCES
1. 2.

See reference 3 of the paper.

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS WITH NICKEL-IRON CORES, Thomas Spooner. AIEE Journal, vol. 45, June 1926, pages 540-45. 3. See reference 2 of the paper. 4. A NEW LINE OF ORTHOMAGNETIC BUSHINGTYPE CURRENT TRANSFORMERS, John W. Farr. AIEE Transactions, vol. 69, pt. I, 1950, pp. 42428.

C. A. Woods, Jr. (Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa.): The zero-flux current transformer described in

this paper is an ingenious addition to the various schemes which have been devised to improve the metering accuracy of current transformers over a wide range of load currents and secondary burden impedances. 1 The principal applications of this scheme are to current transformers used for laboratory test standards and low-ratio bushing current transformers. In the latter case, the principal disadvantage of the scheme is the complications of added equipment and installation adjustments; this is the same disadvantage encountered in most other methods devised for the improvement in metering accuracy of bushing current transformers. In commercial applications of low-ratio bushing current transformers for billing metering there is a desire for the simplicity, ruggedness, and economy of bushing transformers having the accuracy and minimum secondary wiring of wound-type current transformers. Any attempt to meet this desire presents major difficulties, as is clearly illustrated by the author in his description of the sizes that would be required to obtain the same accuracy performance on various ratings of usual design low-ratio bushing transformers. The maximum simplicity commensurate with accuracy and secondary burden requirements often may be obtained without auxiliary adjusting devices. Bushing current transformers using special alloy core materials such as Hipernik and/or simple compensating schemes such as the biased-core2 design, where auxiliary devices and wiring are not required, will usually have adequate billing metering accuracy over the primary current ranges encountered on present-day systems. In the interests of reducing the number of auxiliary devices, and further evaluation of the zero-flux compensating scheme, the test results given in Tables IV to VII of the paper would be enhanced if data were made available on the performance of these transformers with the compensating scheme minus triple frequency excitation. Again from the data given it appears that the compensator was adjusted for best performance at rated current for each burden. It would be of interest to know what the performance would be for a single comp)eisator adjustment when used with a fairly wide range of burdens. For example, Table IV of the discussion shows the 60-

cycle performance of a biased-core 300-5 bushing current transformer suitable for use on a 138-kv oil circuit breaker. The transformer was compensated for a secondary burden of 5 volt-amperes at 90-per-cent power factor lagging and tests at all other burdens were made without any change in compensation. REFERENCES
1. A SURVEY OF BUSHING-TYPE CURRENT TRANSFORMERS FOR METERING PURPOSES, G. Camilli. AIEE Trantsactionzs, vol. 69, pt. I, 1950, pp. 429-40. 2. BIASED-CORE-CURRENT-TRANSFORMER DESIGN METHOD, Theodore Specht. AIEE Tranisactio'ts (Electrical Engineering), vol. 64, Sept. 1945, pp. 635-40.

A. Hobson: Mr. Duff's kind remarks on the efficacy of my method are much appreciated. I agree that the term "ratio correction factor" avoids confusion of signi, but think that in estimating the effect of instrument transformers on meter readings it may be simpler to deal with the percentage ratio error. Mr. Knopp remarks that my work seems to follow that of Boyajian and Camilli. This is true only for the latter part of the paper. The zero-flux transformer represents a totally different approach, and further work is being done in England which, it is hoped, will extend the use of the method to still lower ratios and at the same time render the errors independent of the burden. The effects of magnetic leakage on the errors are much smaller when compensation is used, providing the cores are not saturated. Multirange transformers may be compeusated very simply with very little extra material. What is more, the performance is predetermined by normal design methods, and a number of similar units will have the same errors even though the individual cores differ in quality. Fractional turn-ratio and

capacitor phase-angle compensation were formerly used by me. They serve only to raise or lower the whole curve and do not reduce its slope. I was most interested in Mr. Knopp's account of the one-to-one method of testing, which was so useful to me. Mr. Camilli and Mr. Marks seek to show that the orthomagnetic design gives the superior performance, and for this purpose

614

64Hobson The Zero-Flux Current Transformer

AUGUST 1 953

have chosen the particular conditions Nwhich suit the method best-a fairly high ratio of 300/5 arid a silicon steel core. Evenl then the results are not really good enough for metering and recourse must be made to the fine adjustments to which he refers, adjustments which are extremely complicated if one is to judge by J. W. Farr's paper on the subject. Much better figures could have been obtained with a Mumetal core of the same size using zero-flux compensation alone. The total cost would be little or no greater since no triple frequency transformer would be needed, and the extra trouble of a separate source of supply would be avoided. It is impossible to judge the merits of Mr. Woods' biased-core tranisformer from

his test results since no information is given either about the core size and material or the performance of an equivalent plain transformer. His wording seems to suggest that Hipernik may have been the core used in the tests. If this is so, then zero-flux compensation would undoubtedly have given better figures, while the change in error with burden would not have been appreciably greater. I am familiar with the paper by Mr. Specht referred to by Mr. Woods and I just do not see how the biased-core design can be considered as either simpler or more rugged than the zero-flux transformer, which does not require any installation adjustment as he suggests. Strictly speaking, of course, the two

biased-core methods quoted by Mr. Camilli and Mr. Marks and by Mr. Woods should be compared with each other, but not with my transformer which is totally different in character and conception. Both their schemes aim at an artificial improvement of the core material, and although the orthomagnetic transformer gives the better results it is much more trouble to apply. On the other haiid the zero-flux transformer aims at eliminating the core flux, and in difficult conditions the addition of bias flux helps it to do its job more effectively. Used separately then, each method has its merits. Used side by side, the zero-flux arid biased-core principles form a powerful tool in the difficult task of constructing low-ratio bushing transformers of high accuracy.

Negative-Phase-SequenceGenerator

O vercurrent Relay ror

withstand unbalanced faults has been expressed as a function of 12 and of time t, present relay practices should be examined to determine whether they provide adequate generator protection.

Protection
ASSOCIATE MEMBER AIEE

Present Relaying
\When a generator is connected to a system in which all elements have primary and backup protection such that any fault is cleared before the ]22t characteristic of the machine is exceeded, there is no need for additional backup relaying at the generator. In many instances this desirable condition is not realized and hence additional relaying is necessary to p)rovide adequate protection of the generator against unbalanced faults. Some of the relays now used for this purpose are time-overcurrent relays, time-overcurrent relays with voltage restraint, single-zone distance relays, and phase-balance relavs. W"hen time-overcurrent relays are used, their application is limited by the requirement that they be adjusted for sufficient time delay to co-ordinate with the other relays on the system, and for high enough pickup to prevent operation on anticipated overloads. Frequently the sustained fault current is too low to operate such a relay reliably. The addition of voltage restraint to the overcurrent relay overcomes the problem of sensitivity but requires that the voltage at the generator be determined for the various fault conditions. Furthermore, after the voltages have been calculated, it is still necessary to determine whether a time setting can be made which will co-ordinate with other relays on the system and still provide adequate generator protection. Single-zone distance relays have been used to back up the generator bus and part of the system. However, such relays are instantaneous in operation, and

W. C. MORRIS

ASSOCIATE MEMBER AIEE

L. E. GOFF

R ECENT investigations,'-' including tests and theoretical considerations,

by the manufacturers of synchronous machines, have indicated that a revision in the ASA Standard C50, paragraph 3.1301 is desirable. The reference papers show that when a generator is sutbjected to an unbalanced fault, the stator current inclucdes a negative-phase-sequence component which causes a double-frequency current to flow in the rotor iron, slot wedges, and amortisseur windings, resulting in local heating. This heating has been expressed by the following relationship

clause is:

heating is proportional to aI,(t. IThiis

"A machine shall be capable of withstanding, without injury, a 30-second, t :hree-phase short circuit at its terminals whet 1 operatinlg at rated kva and power factor, with fixed excitation at 5 per cent overvolttage. The machine shall also be capable of withstanding without injury any other shor t circuit at its terminals, provided the maclhine phase currents under fault conditions are such that the negative-phase-sequence current in machine per unit stator curren t (1c2) and the duration of the fault in seco nnds (t) are limited to values which give an integrated product 122t of values equal to o Ir less than those shown in the accompanyring table, Also the maximum value of ins tantaneous phase current shall be limited b3y means of suitable reactance or resistance to a value which does not exceed the maxirnum phase current obtained from the three-p)hase fault,
Type of Synchronous Machine

f,122d t=K
where 12 = negative-ph;ase-sequence currenit t = time K = a constant A revised clause has been suggested which takes inito account the factors influencing the magnitude of the negative-phase-sequence current, and which takes advantao-e of the fact that rotor
Paper 53-178, recommended by the AIEE Relays Committee and alpproved by the AIEE Committee on Technical Operations for presentation at the AIEE North Eastern District Meeting. Boston, Mass., April 29- May 1, 1953. Mianuscript submitted Februars 2, 1953; made available for printing March 2, 1953. M;. C. MORRIS and L. E. GOFF are wvitli the General Electric Companv, Philadelphia, Pa.

Permissible 12t*

Turbine generators.................. 30 Hydraulic-turbine- driven generators .. ... .40 Engine-driven generators............ .. 40 30 Synchronous condensers............. Frequency-changer sets.............. ....30
* "Machines subjected to faults falling between the above limits and 200 per cent of thes ;e limits may suffer varying degrees of damage and an early inspection of the rotor surface is recomi mended, and for faults in excess of 200 per cent limits, serious damage should be expe ct:ed."

Now that the capability of mlachines to

AUGUST 1953

Morris, Goff Relay for Generator Protection6

610-