Knee Point Voltage of Current Transformer PS Class

Current Transformer PS Class Instrument Security Factor or ISF of Current Transformer Accuracy Limit Factor or ALF of Current Transformer Knee Point Voltage of Current Transformer Why CT Secondary should not be ke t ! en"

Current Transformer PS Class

#efore understanding Knee Point Voltage of Current Transformer and Current Transformer PS Class $e should recall the terms Instrument Security Factor of CT and Accuracy Limit Factor%

Instrument Security Factor or ISF of Current Transformer

Instrument Security Factor is the ratio of Instrument Limit Primary Current to the rated Primary Current% Instrument Limit Current of a metering Current Transformer is the ma&imum 'alue of rimary current beyond $hich Current Transformer core becomes saturated% Instrument Security Factor of CT is the significant factor for choosing the metering Instruments $hich to be connected to the secondary of the CT% Security or Safety of the measuring unit is better( if ISF is lo$% If $e go through the e&am le belo$ it $ould be clear to us% Su ose one Current Transformer has rating )**+)A and ISF is )%, and another Current Transformer has same rating $ith ISF -% That means( in first CT( the metering core $ould be saturated at )%,.)** or ),* A( $hereas is second CT( core $ill be saturated at -.)** or -**A% That means $hate'er may be the rimary current of both CTs( secondary current $ill not increase further after ),* / -**A of rimary current of the CTs res ecti'ely% 0ence ma&imum secondary current of the CTs $ould be )%, / -%* A% As the ma&imum electric current can flo$ through the instrument connected to the first CT is )%,A $hich is less than the ma&imum 'alue of electric current can flo$ through the instrument connected to the second CT i%e% -A% 0ence security or safety of the instruments of first CT is better than later% Another significance of ISF is during huge electrical fault( the short circuit current( flo$s through rimary of the CT does not affect destructi'ely( the measuring instrument attached to it as because( the secondary current of the CT $ill not rise abo'e the 'alue of rated secondary current multi lied by ISF

Accuracy Limit Factor or ALF of Current Transformer

For rotection current transformer( the ratio of accuracy limit rimary current to the rated rimary current% First $e $ill e& lain( $hat is rated accuracy limit rimary current" #roadly( this is the ma&imum 'alue of rimary current( beyond $hich core of the rotection CT or sim ly rotection core of of a CT starts saturated% The 'alue of rated accuracy limit rimary current is al$ays many times more than the 'alue of instrument limit rimary current% Actually CT transforms the fault current of the electrical o$er system for o eration of the rotection relays connected to the secondary of that CT% If the core of the CT becomes saturated at lo$er 'alue of rimary current( as in the case of metering CT( the system fault $ill not reflect ro erly to the secondary( $hich may cause( the relays remain ino erati'e e'en the fault le'el of the system is large enough% That is $hy the core of the rotection CT is made such a $ay that saturation le'el of that core must be high enough% #ut still there is a limit as because( it is im ossible to make one magnetic core $ith infinitely high saturation le'el and secondly most im ortant reason is that although the rotection care should ha'e high saturation le'el but that must be limited u to certain le'el other$ise total transformation of rimary current during huge fault may badly damage the rotection relays% So it is clear from abo'e e& lanation( rated accuracy limit rimary current( should not be so less( that it $ill not at all hel the relays to be o erated on the other hand this 'alue must not be so high that it can damage the relays% So( Accuracy Limit Factor or ALF should not ha'e the 'alue nearer to unit and at the same time it should not be as high as )**% The standard 'alues of ALF as er IS 1 -2*, are ,()*( ),( -* / 3*%

Knee Point Voltage of Current Transformer

This is the significance of saturation le'el of a CT core mainly used for rotection ur oses% The sinusoidal 'oltage of rated fre4uency a lied to the secondary terminals of Current Transformer( $ith other $inding being o en circuited( $hich $hen increased by )*5 cause the e&iting current to increase ,*5% The CT core is made of C67! steel% It has its $on saturation le'el% The 89F induced in the CT secondary $indings is 8- : ;%;;<fT-

Where( f is the system fre4uency( < is the ma&imum magnetic flu& in Wb% T- is the number of turns of the secondary $inding% The flu& in the core( is roduced by e&citation current Ie% We ha'e a non 1 liner relationshi bet$een e&citation current and magneti=ing flu&% After certain 'alue of e&citation current( flu& $ill not further increase so ra idly $ith increase in e&citation current% this non1liner relation cur'e is also called # 1 0 cur'e% Again from the e4uation abo'e( it is found that( secondary 'oltage of a Current Transformer is directly ro ortional to flu& <% 0ence one ty ical cur'e can be dra$n from this relation bet$een secondary 'oltage and e&citation current as sho$n belo$( It is clear from the cur'e that( Linear relation bet$een V / Ie is maintained from oint A / K% The oint >A> is kno$n as >Ankle Point> and oint >K> is kno$n as >Knee Point>%

In ?ifferential and 6estricted 8arth Fault @68FA rotection scheme( accuracy class and ALF of the CT may not ensure the reliability of the o eration% It is desired that( ?ifferential and 68F relays should not be o erated $hen fault occurs outside the rotected transformer% When any fault occurs outside the ?ifferential Protection =one( the faulty current flo$s through the CTs of both sides of 8lectrical Po$er Transformer% The both LV / 0V CTs ha'e magneti=ing characteristics% #eyond the Knee Point( for slight increase in secondary emf a large increasing in e&citation current is re4uired% So after this knee oint e&citation current of both Current Transformers $ill be e&tremely high( $hich may cause mismatch bet$een secondary current of LV / 0V Current Transformers% This henomena may cause une& ected tri ing of Po$er Transformer% So the magneti=ing characteristics of both LV / 0V sides CTs( should be same that means they ha'e same knee oint 'oltage Vk as $ell as same e&citation current Ie at Vk+-% It can be again said that( if both knee oint 'oltage of current transformer and magneti=ing characteristic of CTs of both sides of Po$er Transformer differ( there must be a mismatch in high e&citation currents of the CTs during fault $hich ultimately causes the unbalancing bet$een secondary current of both grou s of CTs and transformer tri s% So for choosing CT for ?ifferential Protection of Transformer( one should consider Current Transformer PS Class rather its con'ectional rotection class% PS stands for rotection S ecial

$hich is defined by Knee Point voltage of current transformer Vk and e&citation current Ie at Vk+-%

Why CT Secondary Should ot !e Ke"t #"en$

The electrical o$er system load current al$ays flo$s through current transformer rimaryB irres ecti'e of $hether the Current Transformer is o en circuited or connected to burden at its secondary%

If CT secondary is o en circuited( all the rimary current $ill beha'e as e&citation current( $hich ultimately roduce huge 'oltage% 8'ery Current Transformer has its $on Con 1 Linear magneti=ing cur'e( because of $hich secondary o en circuit 'oltage should be limited by saturation of the core% If one can measure the rms 'oltage across the secondary terminals( he or she $ill get the 'alue $hich may not a ear to be dangerous% As the CT rimary current is sinusoidal in nature( it =ero )** times er second%@As fre4uency of the electric current is ,*0=A% The rate of change of flu& at e'ery current =ero is not limited by saturation and is high indeed% This de'elo s e&tremely high eaks or ulses of 'oltage% This high eaks of 'oltage may not be measured by con'entional 'oltmeter% #ut these high eaks of induced 'oltage may breakdo$n the CT insulation( and may case accident to ersonnel% The actual o en 1 circuit 'oltage eak is difficult to measure accurately because of its 'ery short eaks% That is $hy CT secondary should not be ke t o en%