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Simple Geomagnetic Induced Current Detection and Monitoring in Power

Transformers

Article  in  Measurement and Control -London- Institute of Measurement and Control- · September 2016
DOI: 10.1177/0020294016663973

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research-article2016
MAC0010.1177/0020294016663973Simple Geomagnetic Induced Current Detection and Monitoring in Power TransformersSimple Geomagnetic Induced Current Detection and Monitoring in Power Transformers

Contributed Paper

Simple Geomagnetic Induced

Measurement and Control
2016, Vol. 49(7) 230­–233
© The Institute of Measurement

Current Detection and

and Control 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0020294016663973

Monitoring in Power
mac.sagepub.com

Transformers
José Ramírez
Instituto de Investigaciones Eléctricas, Cuernavaca, México
Joaquín H Rodríguez–Rodríguez
Instituto de Investigaciones Eléctricas, Cuernavaca, México
jrr@iie.org.mx
Rito Mijarez
Instituto de Investigaciones Eléctricas, Cuernavaca, México

This paper presents a detection system of geomagnetic induced currents based on the measurement of the magnetic
field outside the magnetic core; it is possible to evaluate the core operating conditions of power transformers under
the effect of geomagnetic induced currents. The nonlinear behavior of the core due to asymmetric saturation pro-
duces a distortion in the external magnetic field which can be evaluated by the measurement of the magnitude of even
harmonics; we describe the experimental setup and the instrumentation required for real-time detection of asymmetric
saturation caused by quasi-DC magnetic fields. The experimental results obtained by simulating the presence of geo-
magnetic induced currents are presented.

I. Introduction transformers, are reported. Moreover, The effects on the transformers can be
Geomagnetic induced currents (GICs) when the DC magnetic flux is super- summarized as the main effects on the
are the currents that are related to imposed on the AC flux, the magnetic relative permittivity of the magnetic core
current flow in the ionosphere that cores in the transformers are asymmetrically and the magnetization impedance
interact with the power systems. These saturated.2,3 The reported failures in decreases significantly.5,6 The magnetic
currents are associated with solar storm transformers due to GICs are mainly core losses increase due to hysteresis,
activity and produce currents in the dielectric and not a result of overheating. and eddy currents and the losses in the
power grid that flow through The effects of GICs at the electric grid windings due to the Joule effect increase.
transmission lines. These currents are of level can be summarized as the main Furthermore, the skin effect that is
very low frequency in the range from effects: first, when the reactive loads in associated with harmonics in the current
0.01 to 0.001 Hz (quasi-DC) with the system are changed, the protections and in the magnetic flux increases.
average magnitudes of 10–15 A and are misaligned and the internal resonant Additionally, heat increases in the fittings
peaks of up to 100 A for 1–2 min.1 frequencies of the transformer change. and tank due to the effects of eddy
Transformers with star connections This process generates voltage surges currents that are associated with
and grounded neutrals that are linked by that eventually degrade the insulation. increasing stray flux and with the
long transmission lines are susceptible to Second, the magnetization impedance appearance of even harmonics.7–10 The
GIC problems due to the induced decreases, and the magnetizing current first harmonic vibration component in the
currents that flow through the and the losses without loading increase. transformer arises due to magnetostriction.
transmission line and the neutrals that Reactive load absorption can cause Residual magnetism occurs in the core
are grounded to close the circuit. instability in the electric grid.4 Third, the even when GICs are no longer present
Several undesirable effects, produced harmonics are contributed to the system, and the inrush phenomenon occurs until
by GICs in electrical power grids and and even harmonics are generated. the transient has died away.

230  Measurement and Control  l  September 2016  Vol 49  No 7


Simple Geomagnetic Induced Current Detection and Monitoring in Power Transformers
Figure 1.  Monophasic transformer GIC
simulator block diagram
Several solutions have been
proposed for the detection of the GICs;
one of the solutions consists of a
monitoring system to detect
geomagnetically induced currents
flowing in the neutral earth points of key
transmission transformers.11 Some
reports show that it is feasible, for
example, to detect deviation from an
average value of 0 for the core-flux
operating point in a transformer; the
other option is an electronic method of
measuring large DC levels also exists
and is instructive. Other alternative
possibility is to use a Hall device to
measure the flux in a current
transformer core; another option
involves waiting until harmonics are
detected in the system.12 Work done to
the measured vibration patterns of core
and tank shows a DC dependency.1
The solution proposed in this work
considers the placement of a magnetic
sensor near the core of a transformer to
monitor and measure the magnetic field
distortion, and the even harmonic is
generated as a key variable to determine
the operating conditions of the
transformer core. The advantages of this
solution are as follows: no modifications
to the electrical parts are required to
implement the solution, total galvanic
insulation and simple signal processing
to filter any of the even harmonics.
II. Experimental Setup
The experiment comprises a single-
phase small transformer, a controllable
DC source, a resistive load and the
electronic instrumentation for measuring
the AC primary and secondary voltages
and currents, the DC used to simulate
GICs and the density stray magnetic flux
Figure 2.  Waveforms of the primary currents with and without GIC (red and blue lines, respectively)
outside the magnetic core. Figure 1
shows a simplified schematic diagram of
the experiment.
The single-phase transformer was
designed to be fed with a voltage of 120
V in the primary and 6.0 V in the
secondary, a load current in the
secondary of 100 mA, shell-type
construction and a resistive load of 50 Ω.
The objective of this circuit is to evaluate
the harmonic generation due to the effect
of DC simulating GICs with the
transformer operating at its rated load.
The transformer is fed by a variac that
allows changing the supply voltage from
0 to 120 Vac.
The source of DC “IDC,” which
simulates the GICs, allows the current
supplied to the secondary of the
transformer to be adjusted from 0 to 250
mA DC, from 0% to 250% of the value
root mean square (RMS) of nominal
current. The IDC mainly flows through
the secondary winding of the transformer
because its resistance is 1/50 of the load
resistance.
The currents in the primary and
secondary transformers are measured by
resistive shunts, and the voltage
measurement points have voltage
September 2016  Vol 49 No 7  l  Measurement and Control  231
Contributed Paper
dividers that are appropriate for not
exceeding the voltage limits of the data-
acquisition system.
The stray magnetic flux density is
measured with a Hall effect sensor that is
located in the external portion of the
core, at the central leg and parallel to the
magnetic flux that is produced by the
transformer winding. This localization
was chosen to determine the leakage
flux which leaves the magnetic core
when GICs are present.
The instrumentation is based on a
commercial signal acquisition card that
digitizes the measured variables at a rate
of 20,000 samples/s. A control program
that was developed in graphical
language allows the instrument to
acquire the waveforms of the measured
variables simultaneously.
The control program allows the user
to visualize the behavior of the
variables in time and frequency
domains. The frequency spectrum of
the measured waveforms is spread out
by using a discrete Fourier transform
(with a Hamming window), and the
RMS values and the total harmonic
distortion (THD) of the involved
variables are also spread out.
 Contributed Paper
Simple Geomagnetic Induced Current Detection and Monitoring in Power Transformers
Figure 3.  Stray magnetic flux waveforms with and without GIC (red and blue lines, respectively)
Figure 4.  Spectral behavior of the primary currents with and without GICs (red and blue lines,
respectively)
III. Results and Discussion
A. Asymmetric nonlinearity with
GICs and its effect on waveforms
The voltage waveform in the primary
corresponds to the supplied AC power,
which is a low-impedance source. The
primary current shows significant
changes as the IDC increases in the
232  Measurement and Control  l  September 2016  Vol 49  No 7
secondary. The average value of the
primary current is 0, but the waveform
indicates half-wave asymmetry. The peak
value of the current is higher by a half-
wave compared to the other. This
difference demonstrates the decreasing
magnetization impedance in the half-
cycle, when the peak current is larger.
Figure 2 shows two current waveforms
that are seen from the primary. The red
curve has no DC component, while the
blue curve corresponds to the primary
current affected by a DC component in
the secondary which simulates the GICs.
The voltages at the secondary positive
and negative peaks are deformed due to
symmetrical saturation under normal
conditions. However, when the IDC
component is present, the half-wave
symmetry is lost, and the duty cycle is
asymmetrical.
B. The generation of harmonics
The operating point of the magnetic core
is determined by design to use the
minimum amount of iron. Under normal
operation, the magnetic flux density
changes as the alignment of the magnetic
domains changes within the magnetic
circuit. When all the magnetic domains
have been aligned, the saturation point is
reached, and it further increases in the
magnetic field H and has a little change in
the values of the magnetic flux B.
A qualitative analysis indicated that the
saturation curve is symmetric about the
vertical axis when no DC is present.
However, when the DC component is
present, the curve shifts increasing
saturation in accordance with the DC
polarization. In contrast, the saturation
decreases in the inverse polarization.
The waveform of the magnetic flux
density measured in the outer portion of
the core is similar to the current
waveform measured in primary of the
transformer. Figure 3 shows stray
magnetic flux waveforms with and
without GIC. Thus, the magnetic flux
density and the current in primary of the
transformer have the same harmonic
content. Likewise, the magnetic flux
density has a DC component only when
GICs are present. Figure 4 provides a
comparison of the two spectrum
waveforms. The curve in blue
corresponds to the presence of GICs,
and the curve in red corresponds to the
absence of GICs.
The voltage and current waveforms in
the secondary of the transformer during
nominal operating condition of the
fundamental frequency have symmetry of
 Contributed Paper

Simple Geomagnetic Induced Current Detection and Monitoring in Power Transformers

that the measurement of harmonics

Figure 5.  Behavior of the harmonics magnitude as a function of the DC magnitude
allows developing protection systems to
be scaled to large power transformers.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support
for the research, authorship and/or
publication of this article.

half-wave and are associated with
symmetric saturation of the magnetic
core. This behavior only has odd
harmonic components. Thus, the
harmonic components of 1, 3, 5, 7,…
represent the components that have
these waveforms and satisfy the
following property
T  the measurement of the magnetic field
 (1)
f ( x ) = −f  x + 
 2
where T is the period of the periodic
signal.
When the GICs flow through the
secondary winding, even harmonics are
generated as a product of asymmetric
nonlinearity and the magnitude of the
odd harmonic components remains
constant. Even harmonic components
appear in the primary and secondary
current and secondary voltage. Figure 4
shows the harmonic components of the
References
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magnitudes of the IDCs.
IV. Conclusion
A detection system of GICs in power
transformers was presented, based on
outside the magnetic core. The
transformer core operating conditions are
possible to evaluate by the measurement
of the even harmonics caused by
asymmetric saturation. The odd
harmonics caused by symmetric
saturation does not affect the
determination of the presence of DC like
GICs. The experimental setup and the
instrumentation required for real-time
detection of asymmetric saturation
caused by quasi-DC magnetic fields
were presented. The results obtained by
simulating the presence of GICs show
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