NGEE ANN POLYTECHNIC

SCHOOL OF ENGINNERING - ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DIVISION

MODULE: DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM & PROTECTION

EXPERIMENT NO.: 2

EXPERIMENT TITLE: Current Transformer Tests - Characteristic Curve

Warning: Do not switch on the power supply to any equipment before and during the
connection of the circuit.

Switch off the supply before you disconnect the circuit.

Do not leave the secondary terminals of the current transformer open-circuited.

Ensure that an ammeter is always connected to the secondary terminals before
switching on the supply.

Objective: To plot the characteristic curve of a current transformer.

Equipment: 1 No. current transformer

1 No. secondary injection test set
1 No. a.c. voltmeter
1 No. a,c. ammeter

Procedure: 1. Ensure that the test set is switched off and the current adjustment knob set to
zero.

2. Connect the circuit shown in Fig. 1.

A. C. Ammeter
(0 – 5 A)
A
S1
A. C.
Secondary CT V Voltmeter
Injection Set
(0 – 15 V)
S2

Fig. 1

DSP Experiment 2 (Oct 2016)Revised by tgh 1

 3. After the lecturer/supervisor has checked and approved the connections,
switch on the secondary injection test set.

4. Increase the current until the voltage is 3.5 volts, record the current.

5. Repeat for voltages of 3.85V, 4.24V, 4.66V up to 14.64V as given in the

Table 1 below, record the corresponding currents. Please note that the
voltages are given in 10% voltage steps. For example, (4.24V-3.85V)/3.85V
= 0.1 = 10% voltage step increase. You can only measure voltages up to one
decimal point with the analogue ac voltmeter.

6. Switch off the injection test set. Disconnect the circuit.

7. Plot the graph of voltage against current. [Voltage is on the y-axis and current
on the x-axis.]

8. The knee point is generally defined as the voltage at which a further 10%
increase in volts will require a 50% increase in excitation current.
Identify the knee point on your current transformer characteristic
(voltage Vs current) curve from the graph.

9. Calculate the percentage increase in current for all the recorded currents in
the Table. You can determine the approximate knee point from the
calculation when one of the recorded currents gives the percentage increase
in current closest to 50%.

DSP Experiment 2 (Oct 2016)Revised by tgh 2

Name: _____________________________________ Student No.: _______________

Class Group: ___________________________________ Date: ______________________

MODULE: DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM & PROTECTION

EXPERIMENT NO.: 2
EXPERIMENT TITLE Current Transformer Tests -- Characteristic Curve

Results:
A. Characteristic curve
Record your results in the Table 1 below.

Voltage Current Percentage increase in current

Volts Amps %
3.5

3.85

4.24

4.66

5.13

5.64

6.2

6.82

7.51

8.26

9.09

10

11

12.1

13.31

14.64

10% voltage steps

PDP Experiment 4 (May 2005) revised by tgh

B. Determination of approximate knee point from Table 1

Knee point voltage: _________V.

Current at knee point: ________________A.

1.1 x knee point voltage: ___________V.

Current at 1.1 x knee point voltage: ________________A.

Percentage increase in current: ______________.

Discussions:

1. The knee point is at _____________V and ________________ A.

2. Identify the part of curve that you would normally use for your measurement or
protection devices. Why do you use this part of the curve?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

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3. Why does the voltage remain constant as the current is increased beyond the knee point?

_____________________________________________________________________

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4. How does the voltage-current characteristic of the current transformer provide

protection for your measuring instruments under overload or fault conditions?

_____________________________________________________________________

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PDP Experiment 4 (May 2005) revised by tgh