1732
4, November 1990
GAPPED CORE CURRENT TRANSFORMER CHARACTERISTICS AND PERFORMANCE
An IEEE Power System Relay Committee Report*
ABSTRACT
The results of an IEEE working group's study of the
gapped core current transformer (ct) are presented.
The characteristics and performance of ct having small
gaps are discussed. The effect of remanent flux in ct
cores on ct performance, and of small gaps to control
remanence for improved transient performance of ct are
also discussed. Advantages and disadvantages of
gapped core ct are enumerated. Proposed performance
requirements for gapped core ct are presented and a
method of specifying gapped core ct to produce the
required performance for protective relaying
application of such ct is proposed. A short
description of terms are included for clarity of the
discussion.
Keywords: Protective relaying; instrument
transformers.
INTRODUCTION
Current transformers in general use today are commonly
manufactured with continuous steel cores having no
intentional gaps. High power system fault current
levels have amplified problems in the response and
performance characteristics of conventional ct partly
because of remanence. A special concern is that due
to remanence the ct may saturate before the high-speed
protective relaying have a chance to operate. In
order to overcome or minimize these problems, current
transformers which have various sized intentional gaps
in their steel cores are being manufactured. Such
gaps may be filled with non-magnetic material and not
necessarily air. Gaps in ct cores limit the remanence
to acceptable levels. The physical and electrical
characteristics of gapped core ct have not been
standardized nor have the results of studies of the
performance capabilities and characteristics been
widely published.
The intent of this document is to present the
collective efforts of an IEEE working group formed to
study the characteristics of current transformers
having small gaps in their core, and to propose
methods of classifying these ct and of determining
their performance. This document also furnishes, to
both the user and the manufacturer, a method for
specifying gapped core ct. Gaps of 0.0001 to 0.0003
per unit of mean length of magnetic path will be
considered.
*Present Members of the PSRC Working Group are:
B. Bozoki, Chairman, H.J. Calhoun, C.M. Gadsden,
K.J. Khunkhun, W.C. Kotheimer, R.J. Moran. Former
Members were: J. Berdy, F.B. Hunt, E.C. Wentz,
C.F. Burke, J.M. Vanderleck, M . Rosen, J.W. Walton.
89 SM 802-0 PWRD A paper recommended and approved
by the IEEE Power System Relaying Committee of the IEEE
Power Engineering Society for presentation at the IEEE/
PES 1989 Summer Meeting, Long Beach, California, July 9
- 14, 1989. Manuscript submitted March 16, 1989;
made available for printing May 19, 1989.
0885-8977/90/1100-1732$01.00 Q 1990 IEEE
IEEE Transactionson Power Delivery,Vol. 5, No.
REMANENCE FLUX
Remanent flux, or remanence, results from the
interruption of the primary current of a ct when the
core flux is not zero as can happen during severely
offset faults. Careless use of dc in testing ct
circuits or in determining ct polarity also may be
responsible for remanence. Remanence is defined as
the magnetic flux density that remains in a magnetic
circuit after the removal of an applied magnetomotive
force, it should not be confused with residual flux
density, which is the magnetic flux density at which
the magnetizing force is zero when the core material
is in a symmetrically cyclically magnetized
~0ndition.l~ Depending on the type of steel, the
remanent flux may be as high as 90 percent of the
saturation flux.6 The effects of remanence on the
performance of protective relays should be fully
understood and the need for its reduction
stressed.2, lo
During normal load, the core flux may contain a
remanent component, its magnitude being dependent on
the initial trapped flux and the magnitude of flux
swing. Remanent flux does not gradually disappear,
but remains constant once the appropriate equilibrium
condition has been attained. The percentage decrease
in the remanent flux for a given alternating flux
depends upon the core material and the minor B-H loop
around which normal operation occurs. It is not,
therefore, possible to precisely predict the remanent
flux level following a fault. In metering current
transformers, the normal full load flux approaches the
saturation level with the result that remanent flux is
reduced to an insignificant level in a very short time
following supply restoration. Remanence in relaying
accuracy class ct can therefore remain for an infinite
period.
Once remanent flux is established in the core of a
transformer, it will take special effort to remove. A
voltage in excess of saturation voltage must be
applied and gradually reduced to zero in order to
reduce the remanent flux to less than 10 percent of
saturation flux. Such high voltages are not
ordinarily induced in the winding of current
transformers under normal operating conditions,
because the voltage across the ct winding is limited
by the burden connected to the ct. The remanent flux,
then, may remain in the ct core until the next
occurrence of a high magnitude fault current or other
transient condition which could provide the necessary
flux to effect demagnetization. Demagnitization by
this means is rather unlikely since one would expect
the fault-clearing to occur at, or near, a current
zero at which time the ct core will be near maximum
excitation and will in all likelihood continue to have
excessive remanent flux. A transient condition which
produced a flux opposite in polarity to the remanent
flux could possibly reduce the remanence to a more
acceptable level, also an unlikely occurrence.
Under operating conditions, remanent flux can be left
in the core when the primary current is interrupted
while the flux density in the core of the transformer
is high. The flux in the core depends on many
factors, the most important of which are the magnitude
of the primary current, the magnitude of dc offset
transient, and the impedance of the secondary circuit.

Remanent flux in a ct contributes to distortion in the
secondary current, particularly in the first few
cycles after the inception of a fault. The distortion
of the secondary current is greatly influenced by the
amount of remanent flux as can be seen in Figure 1,
which is reproduced from reference 5. The distortion
can have an adverse effect on the operation of the
high-speed relays.
(a) zero T-emnent flux
-200 I 1
1 I
(b) " e n t flux = 50%of saturation flu>
-200 I
+ma 1
I
- I
PRIMARY
(c) "nt flux = 75% of saturation flu:
-200
0 I 2 3
CYCLES
Figure 1 -
Distortion of secondary fault current due
to remanence for a ct operating under transient fault
conditions.
CONTROLLING REMANENCE IN CURRENT TRANSFORMERS
The remanent flux in the core can be effectively
reduced by inserting gaps in the magnetic circuit of
the core. The amount of remanent flux can be limited
to a low value, such as 10% of the saturation flux, by
addition of quite small gaps in the core. The effect
of adding gaps in the iron core of a ct is shown in
Figure 2 . Gaps in the order of 0.0001 - 0.0003 per
unit of mean length of magnetic path will reduce the
remanent flux to acceptably low levels. The actual
size of gaps depend on the physical dimensions of the
ct core and the magnetic properties of the core
material. The reduction of remanence in the core
provides a proportional increase in the amount of the
core available for flux excursions, thus improving the
transient performance of the ct.
1733
1. Loop for Iron
B
4 ,Air Gap Line
LH
L 2 . Loop with Gap
Figure 2. How air gap reduces remnant flux
1 EFFECTS OF GAPS ON TRANSIENT PERFORMANCE
Some loss in the transformation of the dc transient in
fault current will result in gapped core ct, but this
loss can be minimized by appropriate sizing the
gap(s). When a good replica of the dc transient in
the primary of a ct is not needed in the secondary
relaying circuits, then the time-to-saturation can be
substantially increased by the embodiment of larger
gaps in the core. Increasing the gaps reduces the ct
shunt impedance and magnetizing time constant.
Although the loss in the transformation of the dc
transient may be quite large, the ct can be designed
1
to conform to a standard relaying accuracy class. It
should be recognized that because of the higher
exciting currents of gapped cores at current levels
below 20 times rated, errors approaching 10% in ratio
and 3 O in phase angle may also occur over an operating
range from one to 20 times rated current.
Since gapped cores cause higher exciting current, the
magnified effects of idle ct should be considered.
For example, bus differential relays are desensitized
by ct on bus connections not contributing current to
an internal fault. Similarly, the unfaulted phase(s)
4 exciting current desensitizes the ground relays.
Undesired breaker failure relay operation can occur
where two or more gapped core ct are paralleled, such
as on a ring bus.
At the instant of fault clearing, the flux in the core
can be at saturation level. While this flux decays to
the remanence level a secondary current will flow.
With a closed core there is relatively little flux
change to sustain a secondary current after the
primary circuit opened, because the remanent flux
value is not much lower than the value at time of
fault clearing. With the gapped core ct the flux is
heading for a much lower remanence value so the
secondary current is sustained by a larger flux
change, consequently its decay will take a longer
time .lo
EFFECTS OF GAPS ON STEADY STATE PERFORMANCE
It is assumed that steady state conditions in a power
system involve normal current levels associated with
loading and power flows within the system. For these
conditions, the ct used in the system would be
operating at current levels well below those which
might produce saturation in the ct cores. In general,
the steady state performance of gapped ct is of
greater concern for instrumentation and measuring
devices than for protective relaying. Since the
practice of inserting various measuring devices, such
1734
as ammeters, wattmeters and current transducers, in
protective relaying circuits is fairly common, the
performance of the ct under steady state conditions
merits consideration only in particular situations.
The effect of the gaps on performance is some loss of
accuracy under steady state conditions. A gapped core
ct provides a secondary current substantially
representative of the primary current, both in ratio
and phase angle, up to the normal rating of the ct.
In limited applications, such as on large generators,
gapped core ct can be used for metering purposes.
Excessive secondary burdens may cause steady state
performance which is unacceptable in very sensitive
differential relay circuits or other current balancing
schemes.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF GAPPED CORES
The study of characteristics and performance of gapped
ct can perhaps be best done by enumeration of their
advantages and disadvantages.
There are several significant advantages of gapped ct
over conventional ct, as follows:
1. Reduction in the remanent flux, or remanence,
results in improved transient performance of the
ct .lo
2. Reduction of the time constant of the ct permits
use of a smaller core cross section and,
consequently, smaller physical size.3
3. Less core oversizing is required to avoid
saturation for a ct with gaps than for a closed
core ct for the same primary current.
4. The effect of burden power factor on oversizing to
prevent saturation is less for gapped cores than
for closed cores.(
5. The open circuit voltage across the secondary
terminals produced by a sinusoidal primary current
is smaller for a gapped ct.3
The disadvantages of gaped ct are as follows:
1. The magnetizing current is higher, resulting in
greater ratio and phase angle error. Increasing
the core area partially offsets this effect, but
economics and physical size limitations impose
practical limits to core area increases.8
2. When the core flux decays to its final value after
fault interruption, the energy stored in the
magnetic circuit must be dissipated in the
secondary circuit and results in a unidirectional
discharge of long duration (approximately 1 sec).
Since the change in flux required to reach the
remanence level is greater for a gapped ct, the
discharge voltage is higher. The time of decay
may be so long that high-speed reclosing can take
place before the remanence level is reached.
Another risk associated with this phenomenon is
the decay current following fault interruption may
delay a current relay from dropping out to
indicate that the circuit breaker is open and thus
cause a false operation of the breaker failure
protection .8,10*11
3. The significant increase in the magnetizing
current falsifies the secondary current,
especially the dc component. The secondary
current error is serious if a resultant current is
generated by paralleling two or more ct, or if
accuracy in zero crossing time is desired.
4. Higher magnetizing current will be supplied to the
secondary of a ct, whose primary is
open-circuited, by a parallel ct. This current
may cause the overcurrent relay of a breaker
failure scheme to indicate that a circuit breaker
is still closed, or may produce a false operation
of a differential relay during an external fault.
This latter case is an argument for using a
differential restraint winding on each ct and not
connecting ct in parallel to supply one restraint
winding .lo
5. Current transformers with core gaps, whether
filled with air or nonmagnetic material, could be
mechanically weaker and more expensive than those
with closed cores.
APPLICATION CONSIDERATIONS
The use of gapped core ct may require additional
application considerations:
1. Ideally, gapped ct should not be mixed with
conventional ct in differential circuits.
However, such situation might occur in a generator
unit differential relay scheme in which gapped ct
on the generator neutral bushings are used while
the unit high voltage breakers may have continuous
core ct. Similarly a breaker with gapped core ct
might be added in a bus differential scheme which
previously involved only continuous core ct. In
this case it is advisable to confirm that the
stability of the differential relays are not
affected.
2. Replacement of ct or interchanging ct must be done
with caution because of the large effect the gap
construction has on the electrical
characteristics. Operation of gapped ct in
parallel may produce more errors in the output
than with closed core transformers even though
remanence has been substantially reduced.
3. The physical position of the gap or gaps relative
to the return conductor, or close proximity to
other phases can affect the accuracy during fault
current conditions.
4. The gaps in the core may increase the secondary
leakage reactance and may adversely affect the
settings of high impedance differential relays.8
5. The size and shape of the gaps may change over a
period of time without detection, if periodic
excitation tests are not made.
PROPOSED PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS
In order to provide a means of comparison of the
performance characteristics of gapped core ct, it is
essential that practical evaluation of the finished
product can be established. The criteria proposed for
use in evaluating the performance of gapped core ct
are listed following:
1. Measurement of the secondary voltage and exciting
current to establish the upper part of the
excitation characteristics of a ct. For example,
the exciting current of a CEO0 accuracy class ct
must not exceed 10 A when producing 800 V at the
secondary terminals for a burden of 8 ohms.
2. Measurement of the kneepoint. For closed core of
the kneepoint is defined as the 4 5 " target point
on the excitation curve, as shown in Figure 3 .

For gapped ct this dtfinition was changed to a 30°
point because it may not be possible to find a 45O
tangent point on the gapped ct's excitation
curve. The inability to draw a 30° tangent to the
excitation curve constitutes noncompliance to the
proposed limitations on excitation characteristics.
In the next edition of ANSI C57.13 an additional
relaying rating will be introduced, designated as
'K' classification. The 'K' rating is the same as
the 'C' rating except that the kneepoint voltage
is not to be less than 70% of the accuracy class
secondary voltage. For example, a K800 ct will
have a kneepoint at 0.7 x 800 V or higher. In all
other respects the class K ct is equal to, or
better than, a class C ct. The class K ct will be
preferred for protective relaying applications.
Measurement of the remanent flux should be
conducted after the core has been subjected to a
magnetizing force of 500 ampere-turns per meter
and the flux has been allowed to subside to a
constant value after removal of the magnetizing
force. A test procedure is described in
reference 10.
It should be noted that all of the foregoing
statements apply to the entire secondary winding if
the ct being considered is multi-ratio.
Exciting Current (Amperes)
Figure 3. The effect of gaps on the excitation curves.
ADDITIONAL SPECIFICATION
Since there is no special classification in ANSI
C57. 13-197812 for relaying requirements of gapped
core current transformers, they must be specified as a
class C or class K ct with the following additional
requirements:
1. The remanent flux in the core shall not exceed 10%
of the saturation flux after the core has been
saturated with a magnetizing force of 50b
ampere-turns per meter, and the flux has subsided
to a constant value after removal of the
magnetizing force.
2. Excitation curves on log-log coordinate paper
shall be made available by the manufacturer. The
curves and tolerances shall conform to ANSI
C57.13. An example of such curves is shown in
Figure 4.
1735
Routine excitation tests on Every unit should be
made to verify the excitation curves provided by
the manufacturer, with sufficient points measured
to provide, at a minimum, the kneepoint and the
general shape of the curve below and above the
kneepoint.
Routine remanence test should be conducted on
every unit. Methods have been described in the
literaturelo f o r the field measurement of ct
remanence, which can be used to determine
conformance to specification.
A",.
Figure 4. Typical gapped ct excitation curve.
CONCLUSIONS
In some cases the use of gapped core ct can offer a
significant physical size reduction and accordingly
provide an economic advantage. Gapped core ct can
offer improved transient performance over that
available from similarly sized closed core ct, which
may contribute to greater reliability in relay
operation. The chief advantage of gapped core ct is
that remanence can be kept to a low level resulting In
improved transient performance. This is significant
where consistant high speed operation of the
protection is important.
The advantages of using gapped core ct must be weighed
against possible disadvantages in any given protective
relay application.
The method of specifying gapped core ct presented in
this paper should supplement the relaying requirements
now contained in ANSI C57.13-1978, and may be used in
specifying gapped core ct for relaying applications.
Perhaps in the future a special classification should
be developed for gapped core ct which will include
these requirements.
TERMINOLOGY
Accuracy Class Secondary Voltage
The voltage the ct will deliver to a standard burden
at 20 times rated secondary current without exceeding
10% ratio error. Furthermore, the ratio error must be
limited to 10% at any current from 1 to 20 times rated
secondary current at the standard burden or any lower
standard burden used for secondary terminal voltage
rat io. 12
1736
Burden
The e x t e r n a l l o a d i n ohms or volt-amperes at a
s p e c i f i e d c u r r e n t , on a c t is p r o p e r l y c a l l e d t h e
burden.
C o n t r o l l e d Remanent Flux
A c t c o n s t r u c t e d t o meet c e r t a i n r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r f l u x
e x c u r s i o n from maximum down t o a remanence v a l u e a f t e r
t h e primary c u r r e n t i s i n t e r r u p t e d . Usually, a c t
having small gaps i n t h e c o r e t o l i m i t t h e remanent
f l u x t o no more t h a n 10% o f t h e maximum f l u x . The g a p
is sufficient to absorb about twice as many
ampere-turns as t h e i r o n c o r e .
Core O v e r s i z i n g
The d e s i g n of a c o r e l a r g e r t h a n n e c e s s a r y f o r r a t e d
s t e a d y s t a t e o p e r a t i o n i n o r d e r t o produce a c c u r a t e
operation during t r a n s i e n t conditions.
DC O f f s e t T r a n s i e n t
The magnitude of d c o f f s e t c a n v a r y between z e r o and
t h e p e a k v a l u e of t h e t r a n s i e n t ac c u r r e n t O K f a u l t
current. The d c c u r r e n t is r e q u i r e d t o match ( w i t h
o p p o s i t e p o l a r i t y ) any c u r r e n t t h a t t e n d s t o change
t h e e x i s t i n g c u r r e n t a t t h e i n s t a n t o f f a u l t . The
d e g r e e of o f f s e t i s t h e f r a c t i o n o f t h e maximum
p o s s i b l e c u r r e n t t h a t a c t u a l l y a p p e a r s or i s assumed
f o r d e s i g n purposes.7
D e t e r m i n a t i o n of t h e E x c i t a t i o n C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
An e x c i t a t i o n c u r v e s h a l l e x t e n d a t l e a s t up t o t h a t
p o i n t a t which a 10% i n c r e a s e i n t h e v o l t a g e r e s u l t s
i n a 100% i n c r e a s e i n c u r r e n t . The v o l t a g e s h a l l be
measured by means of a n a v e r a g e v o l t a g e r e a d i n g
v o l t m e t e r and by a n rms r e a d i n g v o l t m e t e r . When t h e
s u p p l y is measured w i t h o u t l o a d t h e measured v a l u e on
t h e a v e r a g e v o l t m e t e r s h a l l n o t d e v i a t e from t h a t
measured on t h e rms v o l t m e t e r by more t h a n 2% o f t h e
measured v a l u e o v e r t h e i n t e n d e d measuring range. The
s u p p l y s o u r c e s h a l l be c o n s i d e r e d a d e q u a t e i f t h e
e r r o r between i n s t r u m e n t r e a d i n g s d o e s n o t exceed 10%
of t h e measured v a l u e s o v e r t h e range o f a p p l i e d
v o l t a g e s .9
E f f e c t i v e Flux C a p a c i t y
The p o s s i b l e f l u x e x c u r s i o n s from t h e remanent f l u x
v a l u e t o a maximum n e a r s a t u r a t i o n is t h e s i g n i f i c a n t
quantity which determines the actual transient
performance o f a c t . The c o r e w i l l s a t u r a t e i n a much
s h o r t e r time i f t h e remanent f l u x is n o t n e g l i g i b l e
( w i t h remanent f l u x i n t h e u n f a v o r a b l e d i r e c t i 0 n 1 . l ~
E f f e c t i v e Remanent Flux
The remanent f l u x t o u s e f o r c a l c u l a t i o n s . When a c t
h a s small g a p s i n t h e c o r e t o c o n t r o l t h e remanent
f l u x , t h i s f l u x may b e i n t h e o r d e r o f 1 0 % o f t h e f l u x
produced by a n e x c i t a t i o n t e s t c u r r e n t o f 1 0 amperes.
A c t w i t h no c o r e gaps may have a remanent f l u x a s
high as 90% of a r e c e n t e x c i t a t i o n peak.
E x c i t a t i o n Curve
An e x c i t a t i o n c u r v e is a p l o t of e x c i t i n g c u r r e n t
versus voltage applied t o t h e secondary with t h e
p r i m a r y open. The e x c i t a t i o n c u r r e n t produces t h e
f l u x required t o induce t h e voltage f o r transformer
action. I n normal s e r v i c e t h i s c u r r e n t i s s u p p l i e d by
t h e p r i m a r y winding and i n a c t i t is t h e e r r o r
current.
For a Class C c t , t h e t y p i c a l e x c i t a t i o n c u r v e s are
p l o t t e d w i t h log-log c o o r d i n a t e s , w i t h s q u a r e d e c a d e s ,
f o r e a c h p u b l i s h e d r a t i o , e x t e n d i n g from 1% of t h e
accuracy c l a s s secondary terminal voltage t o a voltage
t h a t w i l l c a u s e a n e x c i t a t i o n c u r r e n t o f 5 times r a t e d
secondary current.
I t must b e k e p t i n mind t h a t t h e c u r r e n t shown on t h e
c u r v e i s n o t even a p p r o x i m a t e l y s i n u s o i d a l . Yet this
s o r t o f c u r v e h a s found so many p r a c t i c a l u s e s t h a t i t
i s recognized a s a useful c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of a
transformer.I2
F l u x Excursion Measurement
The f l u x e x c u r s i o n , remanent f l u x t o maximum, can b e
measured by t h e v o l t a g e induced by p u l s a t i n g d c ,
c o n v e n i e n t l y f u r n i s h e d by a half-wave r e c t i f i e r , which
c a u s e s a f l u x v a r i a t i o n from remanent t o a maximum
value.6
F u l l y D i s t r i b u t e d Windings
The w i n d i n g s o f a c t a r e e v e n l y d i s t r i b u t e d around t h e
c i r c u m f e r e n c e o f t h e t o r o i d a l c o r e , and between each
t a p , making t h e l e a k a g e r e a c t a n c e n e g l i g i b l y small and
normally c o n s i d e r e d zero.13
I d l e CT
A c t having no primary c u r r e n t , b u t having i t s
s e c o n d a r y i n p a r a l l e l w i t h , and e x c i t e d by, a c t
having p r i m a r y and secondary c u r r e n t .
Kneepoin t
For a gapped c t , t h e k n e e p o i n t is d e f i n e d a s a p o i n t
on t h e e x c i t a t i o n c u r v e where a s t r a i g h t l i n e a t 30°
is t a n g e n t when p l o t t e d on a log-log c o o r d i n a t e s
h a v i n g s q u a r e d e c a d e s .lo,l2
Large Gaps
One or more g a p s i n t h e c o r e having a t o t a l l e n g t h of
a t l e a s t 0.0005 p e r u n i t o f t h e mean c i r c u m f e r e n c e .
Leakage F l u x
CT a r e c l a s s i f i e d on t h e b a s i s o f l e a k a g e f l u x . Where
t h e l e a k a g e f l u x is n e g l i g i b l e , such a s a bushing c t ,
a c c u r a c y c a l c u l a t i o n s a r e p e r m i t t e d and a C class is
used. For a T ( f o r t e s t ) class c t t h a t h a s
a p p r e c i a b l e l e a k a g e or s t r a y f l u x i t is n o t p r a c t i c a l
t o r e p r e s e n t t h e c t by a n e q u i v a l e n t c i r c u i t and
c a l c u l a t e accuracy.
Maximum Flux D e n s i t y
ANSI C57.13 now s p e c i f i e s i n e f f e c t a maximum f l u x
d e n s i t y a t which c t i s u s a b l e . This is t h e f l u x
d e n s i t y a t t a i n e d when 10 amperes rms e x c i t i n g c u r r e n t
is c i r c u l a t e d i n t h e secondary winding, a d e n s i t y
t y p i c a l l y i n t h e neighborhood of 1.8 T, a d e n s i t y n o t
g r e a t l y a f f e c t e d by r a t h e r l a r g e changes i n e x c i t i n g
c u r r e n t , and a d e n s i t y a t which t h e f l u x e x c u r s i o n
from remanence t o maximum is meaningful.6
P e r c e n t Remanent Flux
The p e r c e n t of t h e peak f l u x remaining i n the core
when t h e primary c u r r e n t r e t u r n s t o z e r o .
Residual Flux Density, Residual Induction
The magnetic f l u x d e n s i t y , ( i n d u c t i o n ) a t which t h e
magnetizing f o r c e i s z e r o when t h e material is i n a
s y m m e t r i c a l l y c y c l i c a l l y magnetized c o n d i t i o n . It is
 1737

distinguished from remanence by the symmetrically
cyclic requirement.14
Saturation
The state of a ferromaanetic substance placed in a
field so strong that the intensity of magnetization
becomes independent of the field: the substance is
then said to be saturated.
That value of flux below which the corresponding
exciting current can be considered negligible.9 The
effective saturation or maximum flux density in
silicon iron alloys is about 2 T (20,000 Gauss).
The maximum intrinsic value of induction possible in a
material. Note: This term is often used for the
maximum value of induction at a stated high value of
field strength where further increase in intrinsic
magnetization with increasing field strength is
negligible.l4
10. 'Transient Response of Current Transformers',
Power System Relaying Committee Report 76-CH1130-4
PWR, IEEE Special Publication. As summary report
and discussion, IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and
-
Syst., PAS 96, Nov/Dec 1977, pp. 1809-1814.
11. N. E. Korponay, 'Non-gapped Cores, Antiremanence
Gapped
._ Cores or Linear Cores for Current
Transformers,. IEEE Transactions on Power
Apparatus and Systems, March/April 1978 pp. 569-74.
12. ANSI/IEEE Standard C57.13-1978, "Requirements for
Instrument Transformers'.
13. L. J. Powell, .Current Transformer Burden and
Saturation,' IEEE Transactions on Industry
Application, Vol. IA-15 13, May/June, 1979,
pp. 294-302.
14. IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electrical and
Electronics Terms, ANSI/IEEE Std 100-1988.

Saturation Flux

That value of flux in a core which is arbitrarily

determined as 10% greater than the flux at the
kneepoint of the excitation curve.

REFERENCES

1. R. A. Pfuntner, 'The Accuracy of Current

Transformers Adjacent to High Current Busses,'
AIEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems,
1951, pp. 1656-61.

2. R.G. Bruce and A. Wright, 'Remanent flux in

current-transformer Cores. Proc. of IEE, Vol. 113,
No. 5, May 1966, pp. 915-920.

3. Jagsich, Mowa and Wuss, 'Transient Conditions in

Current Transformers and Their Repercussion on the
Reduction of Operating Time of Protective
Devices,. CIGRE Paper 131-07, Paris, 1968

4. N.E. Korponay, 'The Transient Behaviour and Uses

of Current Transformers", Brown Boveri Review,
Nov/Dec 1969, pp. 597-608.

5. 0. W. Iwanusiw, 'Remanent Flux in Current

TKanSfOKmeKS,. Ontario Hydro Research Quarterly,
Third Quarter, 1970, pp. 18-21. .
6. E. E. Conner, R. W. Greb and E. C. Wentz, 'Control
of Residual Flux in Current Transformers,' IEEE
Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems,
JUl/AUg, 1973, pp. 1226-33.

7. W. J. Smolinski, 'Design Considerations in the

Application of ct for Protective Relaying
Purposes,. IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus
and Systems, Jul/Aug, 1973, pp. 1329-36.

8. B.L. Avent, 'Current Transformer Transient

Response,' Western Protective Relay Conference,
Spokane, WA, Oct, 1974.

9. E. E. Conner, E. C. Wentz and D. W. Allen,

.Methods for Estimating Transient Performance of
Practical ct for Relaying,' IEEE Transactions on
Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. 94 11 Jan/Feb,
1975, pp. 116-122.
1738
DISCUSSION
B. L. AVENT and C. F. HENVILLE
B. C. Hydro, Vancouver, B. C. Canada
This Paper is a useful addition to the literature for
dissemination of information about the application of
cts with small air gaps. However, the discussors
feel the authors have painted an unnecessarily
pessimistic picture of the drawbacks. Although all
the application concerns mentioned in the Paper are
true to a degree, B. C. Hydro's experience is that
cts with anti-remanence gaps can be applied with
little concern about the drawbacks. Experience in
this regard extends back 20 years and includes
virtually all 500 kV cts associated with circuit
breakers on a system of over 5000 km of 500 kV lines.
In addition, gapped core cts are B. C. Hydro's
standard for circuit breaker associated cts above
138 kV, and have been for about 15 years.
Several years ago, there were some manufacturing
problems in maintaining stability of the gaps, but
there have been negligible problems in the field with
stability in the last eight years. Since B. C. Hydro
specifies excitation tests as routine production
tests, any gap problems in new cts are discovered and
corrected before they leave the factory.
Following, are some comments on the disadvantages
cited. The comment numbers refer to the disadvantage
numbers in the Paper.
1. In practical terms the increased ratio and phase
angle error caused by small gaps is usually
negligible except for very low ratio cts.
Fig. 1 of this discussion shows the calculated
comparative performances of two of the cts with
the approximate excitation characteristics of
Fig. 3 of the Paper. The difference in perfor-
mance of the two cts cannot be easily seen until
after saturation, because the difference in
magnetizing currents up to the knee point is
less than 1% of the fault current.
s actual performance corresponds well with perfor-
5
.o
0 5 , O , ~ m x ~ ~
TI* I..)
FIGURE I - COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF SOLI0 h QAPPEO CORE CTS
2. The fact that the flux in a gapped ct may not
have decayed to its steady state remanence level
before high speed reclosing takes place, is not
a disadvantage. The flux in the gapped ct will
still decay to a lower level than in a non-
gapped ct. Incomplete decay of flux can be
catered for by specifying the reclosing duty of
the ct, using the transient performance specifi-
cation of Ref. 1 of this discussion.
It is theoretically possible for the decay
current to cause misoperation of breaker failure
protection, but B. C. Hydro has no known such
misoperations with the conventional breaker
failure protection routinely applied at 132-
230 kV. The breaker failure protection B. C.
Hydro provided on 500 kV breakers is designed to
be immune to this decay current.
3. The discussors are not aware of any serious
error in secondary current caused by paralleling
two or more sets of three phase cts, providing
both sets are gapped, as B. C. Hydro routinely
does. There could be significant neutral
current error if dissimilar cts are connected in
a three phase set. Computer programs exist,
which allow the determination of ct performance
when dissimilar cts are parallelled.
4. The possible misoperation of a breaker failure
relay due to magnetizing current in an idle ct
is real. One way to avoid the problem is to
size the cores such that the magnetizing current
is below the sensitivity of breaker failure
relays at the voltage of the shared burden.
Following, are some comments on the application
considerations cited. The comment numbers refer to
the consideration numbers cited in the Paper.
1. B. C. Hydro has routinely mixed gapped core cts
with solid core cts in differential circuits.
W and E W cts at circuit breaker positions are
normally gapped, transformer bushing cts and
lower voltages are ungapped so transformer
differentials routinely include both. We find
the mismatch no more severe than that for the
much different W and LV solid core cts normally
found in such a differential circuit. Many
year's of experience with numerous installations
has not produced identifiable problems.
4. In practice small gaps have not been found to
significantly affect leakage reactance. This
has been demonstrated by several direct
transient performance tests which show that
mance predicted from the excitation curves.
B. C. Hydro routinely neglects leakage reactance
when setting high impedance bus differential
relays with no known problems so far.
There is no doubt about the stated need for proposals
to specify gapped ct performance requirements. How-
ever, neither the new "K" accuracy class nor the
existing "C" accuracy specifies the transient perfor-
mance. It would be better to adopt the transient
specification terminology of IEC in their classes
TPS, TPX, TPY and TPZ. This has already been done
successfully for Canadian Standard CSA CAN3-C13-M83
(Ref l ) , which the discussors recommend for consi-
deration. Section 8 of that standard covers cts for
which transient performance is important, including,
4 4 4 5 ~
but not limited to, gapped cts. B. C. Hydro has
purchased cts in accordance with this standard since
its publication in 1983 with little difficulty.
Could the authors please explain the need for the
proposed routine remanence tests? It is appreciated
that this should be a type test, but remanence is
only a function of the core material (hysterisis) and
excitation characteristic. Since the excitation
characteristic is proposed to be a routine test (and
indeed, it should be), and the core material perfor-
mance is determined by type test, routine remanence
measurements seem superfluous.

It should be noted that there is an additional impor-
tant reason to try to reduce the premature ct satura-
tion caused by remanence. This is the need for
protection systems to be secure during external
faults. This is particularly important when
reclosing onto a permanent fault with a breaker which
is part of a ring bus. In ring bus arrangements the
adjacent line protection is also a bus protection
system for the line terminal. During reclosing onto
a permanent fault, all fault current flows through
one ct set. If there was remanence in this ct,
(possibly due to the initial fault) its performance
could be degraded enough to cause misoperation of the
adjacent line protection zone.
In the protection business, good ct transient perfor-
mance is the name of the game and cts with anti-
remanence gaps (Type TPY) offer more advantages than
disadvantages. Ct saturation problems will manifest
themselves for heavy close-in faults, the worst case.
For this reason, there should be further considera-
tion of existing IEC terminology and Ref. 1 which has
been tested and found adequate as a means of defining
et transient performance requirements. As an experi-
enced user of gapped core cts, B. C. Hydro is firmly
convinced that the advantage of improved transient
performance outweighs the disadvantages.
REFERENCES
1. CSA Standard CAN3-Cl3-ME3, Instrument
Transformers.
Manuscript received July 12, 1989.
DISCUSSION
By: P.W. Labaj
Ontario Hydro Research Division
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The committee members are to be commended for producing
a paper on a subject that is long overdue. The paper,
while full of useful information, lacks clarity in some
parts and in the terminology section, more use could be
made of existing instrument transformer standards along
with the IEEE and IEC dictionaries.
The discusser has several points to raise with regard
to this committee report.
1. With regard to metering ct operating at a level
approaching saturation under normal full load, this
has never been our experience, and in fact the
normal operating flux is usually quite low. An
illustration of this fact is the accuracy curve
which normally takes the following form:
Secondary Current
'rated
If the ct were operating beyond the point of maximum
permeability, the accuracy curve would look more
like a parabola.
~
1739
2. There may be advantages to using a different core
material having inherently lower remanence, such as
an amorphous metal (metallic glass) or hot rolled
silicon steel. There viability as alternatives to
gapped GOSS cores should be considered.
3. Should caution not be exercised when applying
gapped-core ct for metering purposes? Based on our
limited accuracy measurements on minimally-gapped
(0.0001-0.0003 pu length) core protective ct, we
have found that their ratio error and phase angle
are significantly different than their metering
councerparts, with the same metering burden
connected. Also, their accuracy varied
significantly depending upon the location of the gap
in relation to the return conductor.
4. From what we have observed, there is a wider
variation in the excitation curves for gapped core
ct. This would suggest that wider acceptance
criteria may be advisable for gapped-core ct than
is allowed in the currentANSI/IEEE C57.13-1978 and
Canadian Standard CAN3-C13-M83. These standards
only allow for +25% variation in the excitation
current below the kneepoint.
5. With regard to the additional specification on
testing for remanent flux, some elaboration on the
subject of driving a gapped-core ct into saturation
may be helpful. With permeability on the order
3,000 (11 mil Allegheny M4 @ 500 At/m) a gap
equivalent to 0.00033 pu adds as much additional
reluctance as the steel itself provides. For
example, if 500 At/m were required to fully saturate
a given closed core, then twice as much, or 1000
At/m would be required to fully saturate the same
core with a 0.00033 pu gap. Similarly, 2000 At/m
would be required to fully saturate the same core
with a 0.001 pu gap.
6. While the committee's reference 6 appears to be a
fairly simple and straightforward means to measure
flux excursion and thereby remanence, there may be
some serious drawbacks in its implementation; such
as applied voltages exceeding the ct insulation
strength, suitable kVA rated supply with low source
impedance, and selection of suitable diodes. We
have found up to this point in time, that dc methods
as those discussed in references 5 and 10 and
Canadian Standard CAN3-C13-M83 can be universally
applied and are quite reliable.
7. The definition given for saturation flux appears to
be inconsistdntwithmany standards; can you explain
why this definition was chosen? A definition of
saturation flux arbitrarily determined as 50%
greater than the flux at the kneepoint might be more
appropriate than 10%. The 50% figure appears to be
a reasonably obtainable flux that would still ensure
that a ct core was fully saturated for all practical
purposes.
Manuscript received July 17, 1989.
B. BOZOKI: The interest expressed and the
informative comments included in the
discussions is greatly appreciated by the
working group. The discussers contributions
significantly increased the value of our
paper.
Mr Labaj asked why we did not discuss issues
related to the use of gapped ct for meterin?.
We did not consider these issues because it
1740
was assumed that most utilities would use
gapped ct only for relaying and would specify
a separate closed core ct for metering.
Mr. Labaj also asked why the saturation flux
was defined differently from the standard
definitions. In our opinion the definition
given in the paper is in agreement with the
IEEE dictionary, where a note allows for a
Itstated high valuell of flux to be defined as
a practical value of the saturation flux. The
flux level 10% above that at the kneepoint
was selected in order to limit the
magnetizing current to a relatively low value
during testing. For example, the kneepoint
of the ct described in Figure 4 is
approximately 800 V on the 1200-5 A tap. The
magnetizing current required to bring the
flux level 10% above the kneepoint is 2 A.
To raise it 50% above the kneeDoint value
would require approximately 100 A-magnetizing
current.
Messrs. Avnet and Henville questioned the
need for routine remanence tests. The answer
depends on the accuracy limits placed on the
excitation test. In the Canadian Standard a
close tolerance is placed on the calculated
excitation curve, therefore, a test based on
the CSA standard is sufficient to verify the
existence of the gap in the core. The
tolerance on the excitation curve in ANSI
C57.13, however, only limits the magnetizing
current in the positive direction,
consepently a routine test based on it ?ay
not indicate if a closed core ct is supplied
in place of gapped ct. Our recommendation
was based on the assumption that it is more
economical to request routine remanence tests
than to specify close tolerance on the
calculated excitation curve. This question
underscores the conclusion of our paper that
there is a need for a special classification
in ct standards for gapped ct.
B. BOZOKI: The interest expressed and the
informative comments included in the
discussions is greatly appreciated by the
working group. The discussers contributions
significantly increased the value of our
paper.
Mr Labaj asked why we did not discuss issues
related to the use of gapped ct f o r meterinq.
We did not consider these issues because it
was assumed that most utilities would use
gapped ct only for relaying and would specify
a separate closed core ct for metering.
Mr. Labaj also asked why the saturation flux
was defined differently from the standard
definitions. In our opinion the definition
given in the paper is in agreement with the
IEEE dictionary, where a note allows for a
"stated high value" of flux to be defined as
a practical value of the saturation flux. The
flux level 10% above that at the kneepoint
was selected in order to limit the
magnetizing current to a relatively low value
during testing. For example, the kneepoint
of the ct described in Figure 4 is
approximately 800 V on the 1200-5 A tap. The
magnetizing current required to bring the
flux level 10% above the kneepoint is 2 A.
To raise it 50% above the kneepoint value
would require approximately 100 A magnetizing
current.
Messrs. Avnet and Henville questioned the
need for routine remanence tests. The answer
depends on the accuracy limits placed on the
excitation test. In the Canadian Standard a
close tolerance is placed on the calculated
excitation curve, therefore, a test based on
the CSA standard is sufficient to verify the
existence of the gap in the core. The
tolerance on the excitation curve in A N S I
C57.13, however, only limits the magnetizing
current in the positive direction,
consepently a routine test based on it may
not indicate if a closed core ct is supplied
in place of gapped ct. Our recommendation
was based on the assumption that it is more
economical to request routine remanence tests
than to specify close tolerance on the
calculated excitation curve. This question
underscores the conclusion of our paper that
there is a need for a special classification
in ct standards for gapped ct.