Comparison of two Reference Setups for Calibration of

Power Transformer Loss Measurement Systems

G. Rietveld1*, E. Mohns2, E. Houtzager1, H. Badura2, D. Hoogenboom1, and H. Khalilnezhad1
1 VSL, Thijsseweg 11, 2629 JA Delft, The Netherlands; *gert.rietveld@vsl.nl
2 Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany

Abstract — A comparison has been performed of the VSL and measurement system. Presently, slightly different approaches
PTB reference setups for the calibration of industrial power are used for generation of the calibration signals [3] – [5].
transformer loss measurement systems (TLMS). Both setups are
developed within the “ELPOW” European joint research project, A. VSL reference system
with the aim to calibrate industrial TLMS as a complete system,
rather than just via its individual components, with an overall Fig. 1 gives a schematic of the VSL reference setup for
uncertainty of better than 50 PW/VA, for voltages up to 100 kV, TLMS system calibration [4]. It follows the approach taken by
currents up to 2 kA, and power factors down to zero. The initial NRC in that the test voltage is applied by the power transformer
comparison results show excellent agreement of the PTB and VSL
reference setups, with typical differences less than 15 PW/VA, well manufacturer, with the reference setup generating the test
within the uncertainty of the setups. current at the required magnitude and phase via a feedback loop
[3]. In the case of the VSL setup, the feedback loop is realized
Index Terms — comparison, load loss, loss measurement, no- via a digital signal processing (DSP) unit [4]. The test signals
load loss, power measurement, power transformers, precision are measured via a current-comparator-based capacitive
measurements, measurement uncertainty, reactors. voltage divider (VT) and an electronically-compensated current
transformer (CT). The VT and CT outputs are simultaneously
I. INTRODUCTION sampled by two 24-bit ADCs, from which the loss power is
calculated. A verification measurement is performed using an
Increasing energy efficiency is an important way to not waste
additional CT and a reference watt meter. The total uncertainty
scarce energy resources. Impact studies have revealed that
of the setup is estimated to be 25 PW/VA [4]. A key property
power transformers constitute significant losses in our society,
of the VSL reference setup is its ability to calibrate TLMSs on-
up to 3 % of the total energy demand [1]. This has led the EU
site at the premises of power transformer manufacturers.
to require that transformers put on the EU market since 1 July
2015 have to meet certain efficiency requirements [2]. So, it is
more than ever before important for power transformer
manufacturers to perform reliable and accurate measurement of
the actual losses of their products. This requires calibration of
the commercially available transformer loss measurement
systems (TLMSs) that are used to determine these losses.
NRC has pioneered the calibration of TLMS as a complete
system [3], rather than just calibrating the individual TLMS
components. Such a “system calibration” has the major ad-
vantage that it covers all possible systematic errors of the
TLMS as installed in the test bay of the power transformer
manufacturer. Within the framework of the “ELPOW” joint Fig. 1. VSL approach for TLMS system calibration with the three-
European research project, both VSL and PTB have developed phase DUT (top) and the single-phase reference setup (bottom).
reference setups with slightly different approaches for system
calibration of TLMS [4,5]. After a brief description of the B. PTB reference system
respective VSL and PTB setups, this paper gives the approach
and first results of a full comparison of these setups. A core element of the PTB reference system is a phantom
power source that separately provides both the required high
voltage and high current at a programmable phase angle (see
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE TLMS CALIBRATION SETUPS
Fig. 2). The generated voltage UP (< 100 kV) and current IP
An essential element of all reference setups for TLMS system (< 2 kA) are fed to the voltage transformer (VT) and CT of the
calibration is the generation of the calibration signals: high power standard and to the DUT. The VT and CT transform the
voltage and high current, with adjustable phase. These signals primary voltage UP and current IP into the precise secondary
are applied to both the TLMS under test and to the reference voltage US and current IS, respectively. A precise commercial

978-1-5386-0974-3/18/$31.00 ©2018 European Union

digital power comparator (DPC) measures the relevant
quantities at the secondary of the instrument transformers.
Dedicated software controls the DPC and reads the measured
voltage, the current, their corresponding phase angle, and the
active power of the DPC. Subsequently, from these results the
respective power quantities at the primary of the instrument
transformers are calculated using their transformer ratios and
all relevant corrections. These are the ratio errors and phase
errors of the VT and CT, and the errors of the DPC in the
different voltage and current ranges. The attainable uncertainty
is conservatively estimated as 40 μW/VA [5].
Fig. 2. Schematic of the PTB TLMS calibration setup.
III. COMPARISON PLAN
To verify the claimed uncertainty levels of the VSL and PTB
reference setups, a comparison was performed at the PTB
premises. The comparison consisted of two parts: first, the main
components of the setups, the high voltage (VT), high current
(CT) and the power (watt meter, DPC) were compared. This
was followed by a comparison of the setups as a whole, using
different schemes for generation of the test signals. In case of a
significant difference between the VSL and PTB reference
setups in the second part of the comparison, the results of the
first part could be used to trace the cause of this difference.
IV. FIRST COMPARISON RESULTS
The comparison of the VT, CT, and power measurements
making up the total TLMS reference setups appeared to be
extremely informative. In general, they confirmed the trace-
ability chains for voltage ratio, current ratio and primary power
maintained by PTB and VSL. For example, the PTB traceability
of voltage ratio is maintained by a series of reference VTs with
significant voltage dependence of the ratio error and phase
displacement. Taking these into account, the excellent linearity
of the VSL capacitive voltage divider was confirmed in the PTB
– VSL comparison. Fig. 3 shows a typical result of a compa-
rison of the complete VSL and PTB systems, using the PTB
phantom power generator to generate the test signals. The VSL
and PTB systems show an excellent agreement of better than
15 PV/VA. The 13 PV/VA deviation of the VSL verification
978-1-5386-0974-3/18/$31.00 ©2018 European Union
measurement from the other results might be due to instabilities
of the reference watt meter used in the verification. Further-
more, the larger than usual standard deviation in the PTB
measurements is possibly caused by loss of internal lock in the
DPC. Both issues are presently subject of further study.
572.0
8 μW/VA
571.8
Power [kW] (at 25 MVA)
571.6
571.4
571.2
VSL - ref. system
VSL - verification
PTB
571.0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Time [s]
Fig. 3. Typical result of the system comparison of the VSL and PTB
reference setups at 51 Hz, 50 kV, 500 A, and PF = 0.022.
V. CONCLUSION
A comparison has been performed of the VSL and PTB
reference systems for calibration of TLMSs, using voltages in
the range from 10 kV to 75 kV, currents ranging from 100 A to
2000 A, and power factors between 1 and 0. Initial evaluation
of the comparison results indicates that excellent results have
been achieved, with typical differences of less than 15 PW/VA,
well within the uncertainty of the two reference systems.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project has received funding from the EMPIR program
co-financed by the Participating States and the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.
REFERENCES
[1] VITO, ErP study, Final Report, LOT 2: Distribution and power
transformers, 2010/ETE/R/106, 2011.
[2] Commission Regulation No 548/2014, “on implementing
Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council with regard to small, medium and large power trans-
formers”, Official Journal European Union, L 285, pp. 10–35,
May 2014.
[3] E. So, P.N. Miljanic, and D.J. Angelo, 1995, “A computer-
controlled load loss standard for calibrating high-voltage power
measurement systems”, IEEE Trans. Instr. Meas., vol. 44, no. 2,
pp. 425-428, 1995.
[4] G. Rietveld and E. Houtzager, “High-accuracy reference setup for
system calibration of transformer loss measurement systems,”
Proc. of the 20th International Symposium on High Voltage
Engineering (ISH 2017), pp. 1-6, 2017.
[5] E. Mohns, P. Raether, and H. Badura, "An AC Power Standard
for Loss Measurement Systems for Testing Power Transformers,"
IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 66, no. 9, pp. 2225-2232, 2017.