Selection of Current Transformers

and Wire Sizing in Substations

Sethuraman Ganesan
ABB Inc.
Allentown, PA

Presented to:
59th Conference for Protective Relay Engineers
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
April 4-6, 2006

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Discussion Paper

„ Characteristics of CT
„ Metering and Protection Class
„ Specifications of CTs
„ CT Wiring and other issues
„ IEEE Std C57.13, Guide C37.110
„ IEC Std 60044-6

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CT Simplified Circuit and Phasor

IP 1:n IP/n IS e

a c RCT

Xm IE RB

b d
f

Vef
ISRCT

IS
IP Vcd=n. Vab
n

IE
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Metering

„ Metering class Typical Spec 0.3 B-0.1

„ Meters can be off Protection CTs
• Thermal stress
• Auxiliary CTs
• Burdens of auxiliary CTs, accuracy
„ Summation CTs

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Protection Class CTs

„ Ratings, Ratio
„ Polarity
„ Class, Knee point voltage, Excitation
characteristics
Vx
Vk
Magnetizing
Voltage

10A(10%)

Secondary Current
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AC Saturation

„ Severe Saturation
„ Too large CT secondary burden,
currents
Ideal Actual

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CT ratings to avoid AC saturation

Vx > If (RCT+RL+RB)
Vx = Saturation Voltage
If = CT secondary current during fault
RCT= CT Secondary Resistance- Ohms
RL = CT lead Resistance- Ohms
RB = CT Connected burden Resistance-
Ohms

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CT Transient Saturation

„ Caused by DC Transients in the power

system

DC
1 AC
Current

0
1 2

-1

-2 Cycles

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CT Transient Saturation (Minimum Math!)

i = current , v = voltage Φ = Flux in the magnetic core,

all instantaneous;
i α v α (d Φ/d t)
where d Φ/d t represents the rate of change of flux.
i α (d Φ/d t)
Integrating,
∫i α Φ
Rewriting,
Φ α ∫i (Flux is decided by area under the
time function ‘i’)
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Flux during AC currents

v α i α dΦ/dt

Φ
Φα ∫i

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Flux during DC Transients

v α i α dΦ/dt

Φ
Φα ∫i

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CT ratings to avoid Transient saturation

Vx > If (1+X/R) (RCT+RL+RB)

Where,
X, R= Primary system reactance and
resistances
Avoiding CT saturation may not always be
possible.

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Waveforms during AC+DC Transients

Ideal CT secondary current

Actual CT secondary current

I

Time

DCΦ (Ideal CT)

Φ Saturation Φ

AC+DC Actual Φ in CT

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Typical ANSI Class C CT

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Specifications for ANSI CTs
„ Classification Letter C, K or T
„ C – Performance can be ‘C’alculated, low leakage
reactance
„ K- Same as C but with Knee point 70% of secondary
terminal voltage
„ T- Performance to be ‘T’ested
„ Recommended maximum secondary current
100A
„ Error max: 10% at 100A, so 10A error

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Class C CTs
„ C800- Develops >800V
„ At 100A current
„ At connected burden of 8 Ohms
„ Internal voltage > 800 + 100RCT

„ Burden 1,2,4,8 Ohms for C100, C200,

C400,C800 etc (RBx100A = C Volt Rating)

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Class C CTs

„ To avoid AC Saturation, in C800,

„ 100(RCT+ 8) > If (RCT+RL+RB)
„ Typically
„ If < 100A
„ Connected burden RL+RB < 8 Ohms

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Class C CTs
„ To avoid DC Saturation, in C800,
„ 100(RCT+ 8) > If (1+X/R)(RCT+RL+RB)
„ Normally If < 100A, Connected burden is less
than design burden;
Define Ni = 100/ If ( Ideally >1)
Define Nr = (RCT+ 8) / (RCT+RL+RB ) (Ideally >1)
„ The equation above becomes
Ni. Nr > (1+X/R)
In other words CT saturation is avoided if
(1+X/R) < Ni. Nr
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Remanence
„ Remanence, Residual flux
„ Similar to permanent magnetism
„ Reduces available ‘excursion’ of flux to
translate currents
„ If ψ is the per unit of maximum flux remaining
as residual flux, CTs have to be oversized by a
factor
1/(1- ψ)
If ψ = 0.9, the above factor is 10, that bigger
CT is required!!!

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Remanence
„ Reduce
„ Gap in the steel core
„ Different core materials
„ Biased core
Account for remanence-
„ Increase the CT size- Not an option always
„ Reduce the burdens, leads etc.
„ Make the relay faster- to operate before CT
saturation starts
„ Increased slope
„ Special relays with algorithms

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CT- Time to saturate

2
t/T

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Vx / (IRT)
Vx = Saturation Volts
I = Symm. Secy Current, A
R = Secy. Circuit Resist, Ω
Ie = Exciting Current, A
T = Primary Circuit Time Constant, Cycles
t = Time to saturate in Cycles
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Calculating Lead Resistance - Example
„ Data
„ CT C400, 1000/5A, RCT = 0.25 Ohms
„ Fault Primary = 10kA at X/R = 15
„ Relay burden = Negligible
„ Calculations:
If = 10000/CTR = 10000/200 = 50A
Ni= 100/ 50 = 2
Nr = 4.25/(0.25+RL)
Checking for adequacy,
(1+X/R) > Ni.Nr
(1+15) > 2 x 4.25 /(0.25 + RL)
RL < 0.28 Ohms
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 CT Lead wires

„ AWG Numbers are logarithmic

„ Numbers ‘increase’ with resistance
(= ‘decrease’ with thicker wires)
„ AWG #10 has “1” Ohms for “1000”feet wire
„ Note: AWG # 13 has double the resistance
„ AWG #10 is most popular (easier to calculate the
resistances!)
„ AWG#12 is adequate in most of the applications

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Case Study Fig 1

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Case Study Fig 2

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Case Study Fig 3

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Case Study Fig 4

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Conclusion
„ A thorough understanding of the application of
CT is required
„ Previous experience of CT wire sizing may not
always be correct in a newer application
„ More than adequate CT sizes and cable sizes
waste resources
„ Application check is recommended, always for
critical applications

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