Simulation and Impact Analysis of Remanent Flux on Power

Transformer Inrush Current

Wenqi Ge1, Youhua Wang 2
1
School of Control and Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University,Tianjin, China
2
State Key Lab of reliability and intelligence of electrical equipment, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, China

The electromagnetic characteristic of power transformer is a dynamic phenomenon. It is characterized by the changes happened in
current and magnetic flux state over time. Mathematically, the dynamic process of power transformers can be described by nonlinear
differential equations. The core nonlinear magnetic properties must be considered when electromagnetic equipment performance and
accurate calculation of the magnetic field was analyzed. By adding Jiles-Atherton (J-A) model to realize the simulation of the
transformer iron core nonlinear dynamic phenomenon, the characteristics of transformer hysteresis loop under different remanent
flux conditions are simulated. In the final stage, to determine the effect of remanent flux on the inrush current, the single-phase and
three-phase transformer no-load closing transient process is simulated. The inrush current is identified by the various characteristics
of the fundamental factors, and the corresponding inrush current curves under different remanent fluxes are analyzed. The remanent
flux is determined as the main impact factor of the inrush current through this study. By reducing the remanent flux, the performance
of the transformer, and furthermore the quality of the power system can be improved. This study has practical significance to provide
an adequate theoretical basis for the identification and suppression of the inrush current.

Index Terms—Inrush current, remanent flux, power transformer, Jiles-Atherton.

the parameters of the model are computed considering the

I. INTRODUCTION1 variations of the transformer electromagnetic behavior under

P ower transformer is the major electrical equipment in

power system, which was operated under complex
conditions. The inrush current may cause the harmonic, the
ferromagnetic resonance, the grid voltage sag, transformer
differential protection misoperation and damage to the power
system. Nowadays some researchers pointed out that the
inrush current damage may be more serious than the
shortcircuit current condition [1-2]. Calculations were necessary
for the switching-on process, for the high amplitude of inrush
current related to no-load transient and remanent flux
conditions.
With the industry standard requirementsˈ the transformer
should be able to endure the damage that caused by the
abnormal conditions and to avoid the unbearable loss that
caused by system failures. It is essential to consider the
remanent flux influence on the inrush current. In this study, in
order to examine and identify the inrush currents influenced
by the remanent flux, the studies of the ferromagnetic
properties were carried out with the application of J-A
hysteresis model. In this paper, a simulated model was
applied to single-phase and three-phase two-winding
transformers are proposed with the J-A model. The model is
effective for the study of the performance of transformers
during power system transients. First, some parameters of the
J-A model equations could be identified by the experimental
values of the hysteresis curves. The J-A model of hysteresis is
a phenomenological model that describes the change in the
state of the magnetization of ferromagnetic materials by using
simple differential equations for the magnetization as a
function of time, which takes into consideration the applied
field, demagnetization, and domain pinning energies. Then,
different operating conditions. The proposed model is tested
with single-phase and three-phase transformers respectively
for the calculation of inrush currents. Finally, comparative
analyses are made of the main impact factors of transformer
inrush current. The damage of the remanent flux has been
determined. For a given set of factor conditions, the inrush
current can be derived from the variation of the remanent flux.
The model could also be used for inrush current and
differential protection studies, harmonic studies, and switching
transient studies.
II. ANALYSIS ON THE TRANSFORMER INRUSH CURRENT
The inrush current may cause high starting current,
harmonics, vibration/geometric movement of winding and
reduce transformer service life, causing an actual fault, etc.
Remanent flux does a conspicuous influence on the inrush
phenomenon. In fact, such events may result in high levels of
transient current, which may last for quite significant periods
of time [2-3]. Due to this inrush current, electromechanical
force and its corresponding influence may affect the
transformer mechanical structure and its lifetime. Research is
related to the technology of power transformer modeling and
the closing angle for which controlling the switching
phenomenon associated with transformer inrush is taken into
account [4]. PSCAD/EMTDC is utilized to investigate inrush
currents phenomena by modeling a practical power system
circuit for single phase transformer, taken the switching-on
angle and remanent flux into consideration [5]. X. Wang et al.
and Vahidi B. et al. used J-A theory and presented a new
algorithm on a sample transformer for modeling transformer
core including hysteresis [6-7].

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation for Young
Scientists of China (Grant No.51707128)

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 2018 IEEE International Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG)

A. Impact Factors of Transformer Inrush Current η Hc

χ Hc =
In this regard, many researchers have studied the power 1 − αη Hc ˄4˅
transformer inrush current, and some numerical and analytical And,
methods have been proposed. The inrush effect is impacted by
(1 − c)(1 + αχ Hc ) M an ( H c )
a number of factors. The factors associated with inrush current k=
dM an ( H c )
included switching phase angle of voltage, the remanent flux χ Hc − c(1 + αχ Hc )
dH e
˄5˅
in the core, magnitude of voltage, supply/source impedance,
saturation flux, core material, loading on the secondary (3) At the remanent flux point (H=0, M=Mr), the expression
winding, and the size of the transformer. for the permeability of the remanent flux point is:
In reality, transformers are made of ferromagnetic material M r − M an ( M r ) dM an ( M r )
η r = η H =0,M = M = (1 − c) +c
and hence they have hysteresis effect. This means they always r
k dH e ˄6˅
have remanent flux present. When the transformer is fixed, ηr
transformer size, the core material, and the saturation flux are χr =
1 − αη r ˄7˅
fixed accordingly. In addition, a number of possible
controllable factors are included in the contributing factors, And α can be defined in terms of the following relation˖
just as loading on the secondary winding, and the magnitude (1 − c)(M r − M an (M r )) dM an (M r )
χr − ( +c )
of voltage. k dH e
α=
However, the analysis of the influence of all the impact (1 − c)(M r − M an (M r )) dM an (M r )
χr ( +c )
factors on the inrush current has not been sufficient at present. k dH e
˄8˅
The investigation is focused on the preceding 4 factors of (4) Based on the expression of the initial susceptibility of
inrush current, including energizing voltage, switch-on angle, the hysteresis curve:
remanent flux, and supply/source impedance. In current study, dMan dMan dHe M s H a dM
χan = = × = [1 − coth( e ) 2 + ( )2 ] × (1 + α )
the effect of the remanent flux on inrush current in singlephase dH dHe dH a a He dH ˄9˅
and three-phase transformer will be determined, by analyzing
Ms
the specific data of the impact factor of inrush current. χan =
3a − αcMs ˄10˅
B. Research on the simulation of J-A hysteresis Model
From the above formula,
In order to meet the requirements of practical engineering Ms 1
precision and describe the relationship between the a= ( +cα)
3 χan ˄11˅
transformer ferromagnetic characteristics and the magnetizing
current accurately, this study derives the mathematical In the above equations, Ms was the saturation value of the
expression J-A model in detail based on the original J-A output. Parameter α was introduced to account for the
hysteresis model [6-7]. Firstly, the saturation hysteresis loop demagnetization energy, and parameter k was introduced to
of the ferromagnetic material is measured by experiments, and account for domain pinning, and parameter c was introduced
then seven of the characteristic parameters are determined: to separate explicitly the reversible and irreversible
(1) χ in ,the initial magnetic permeability of the general
components of the magnetization. The remaining four
parameters, a, c, α, and k were parameters that could be
magnetization curve; (2) χH c
,magnetic susceptibility of the identified by fitting simulations to the experimental values of
coercivity point; (3) H c , coercivity; (4) χ r ,magnetic the hysteresis curves.
The basic parameters of ferromagnetic materials were
susceptibility of remanent flux point; (5) Br ,remanent flux; (6)
measured by magnetic characteristics measurement
χ an ,initial magnetic susceptibility of the non-hysteresis experiment. Iteration method was proposed for solving five
magnetization curve; (7) vertex value of the hysteresis loop parameters. By substitution of the parameters, the hysteresis
˄ H sˈBs ˅ . The output variable satisfies the following loop alternate magnetization curves of transformer core
differential equation: permeability were calculated. The J-A hysteresis model of the
(1) At the initial point (H=0, M=0), the initial susceptibility core-type power transformer was established through
calculation expression is: MATLAB S-Function module. The simulation model of the
dM ηin cM s transformer iron core and the functional block diagram was
χin = ( )H =0,M =0 = =
shown in Fig.1. The S-Function module was based on the
dH 1 − αηin 3a − α cM s ˄1˅
program calculation process of the transformer model and was
So, written in C language. Under a given transformer terminal
3 a χ in
c= voltage condition, the relationship among the transformer
(1 + α χ in ) M s
˄2˅ excitation current, the magnetic field strength H, the
(2) At the coactivity point (H= Hc, M= 0), the susceptibility magnetization M, and the magnetic flux B in the core could be
of the coercive force is expressed as: obtained using the simulation circuit. The input and output
(1 − c)M an ( H c ) dM an ( H c ) signals of the Transformer S-Function module were Simulink
ηHc = ηH =Hc, M =0 = +c
k dH e ˄3˅ signals, however, the output signal of the voltage source was

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an electrical signal. Thus the signals of the two modules could changed with the hysteresis loop’s variation.
not be directly connected. Therefore Voltage Measurement
C. Model and simulation parameter settings
module was used, the electrical signal output from the voltage
source was converted to Simulink signal input to the S- Taken the 500kV single-phase core-type transformer as an
Function module. The Simulink signal output from the S- example, the specifications of the power transformer model
Function module used a controlled current source module were shown in Table I.
TABLE I
converted to a current electrical signal. The AC power U in SPECIFICATIONS OF THE POWER TRANSFORMER MODEL
the simulation circuit was the rated AC voltage source of the
primary winding of the transformer. Symbol Parameter Value

SN Rated capacity 230MVA

f Frequency 50Hz
High voltage rated voltage / Low voltage rated
V1/V2 512/24kV
voltage
Turns of high voltage winding / Turns of low
N1/N2 720/60
voltage winding
Resistance in high voltage winding / Resistance 0.8/0.003
R1/R2
in low voltage winding 
Zk% Percentage of short-circuit impedance 16.70%
I0% Percentage of no-load current 0.14%

The simulation of the transformer under no-load switching

condition had been carried out. Result in Table II showed the
simulation parameters and the simulated maximum values of
magnetizing currents under different conditions.
TABLE II
SIMULATION DATA
Parameter Value
Energizing
24kV 24kV 24kV 24kV 25kV 24kV
voltage
Switch-on
0° 30° 90° 0° 0° 0°
angle
Remanent
0 0 0 0.7T 0 0
flux
Resistance 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.03
Current 637A 511A 122A 2391A 798A 571A

III. ANALYSIS OF THE SIMULATION RESULTS

Fig. 1. The functional block diagram and simulation model of the transformer The waveforms of the exciting current were simulated
iron core.
under the different factors respectively.
A model was established to determine the relationship
between remanent flux and excitation current by SIMULINK. A. Single-phase transformer simulation based on J-A
Hysteresis loops were simulated with the remanent fluxes: hysteresis model
0.7T, 0.3T and no remanent flux condition (Fig. 2).

Fig. 3. Simulation model of single-phase transformer

Fig. 2. Hysteresis loops under different initial remanent flux.
Therefore, under the supplying voltage for the primary
winding of the no-load state transformer, inrush currents were
The simulation results of the inrush current waves were
analyzed and summarized based on the single-phase
transformer. When other conditions were constant, according
to the comparison of the results, under excitation phase 30°,
the amplitude of inrush current decreased 19% than the
condition of 0°. While under excitation phase 90°, the

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amplitude of inrush current decreased 77.8% than the
condition of 0°. Under identical conditions, the amplitude of
the inrush current was decreased by changing the switch-on
angle from 0° to 90°. During the process that excitation
voltage was changed, when the supply voltage was increased
from 24kV to 25kV, and then the inrush current amplitude
became 1.26 times than the original. With the increased the
primary winding resistance, the time constant of the system
would be reduced to speed up the decay of the transient flux,
so that the peak value of inrush current was decreased.
Similarly, the remanent flux influence on the inrush current
under the same conditions of other factors was analyzed (Fig.
4). When other conditions were constant, the remanent flux
varied from 0 to 0.7T.We could observe that the inrush current
was strongly influenced; the current values in the first period
of the wave were about 3.5 times greater than those simulated
without remanent flux.
2500
2000 Br=0.7T
Magnetizing current I (A)
1500
Br=0.3T
1000
500
Br=0T
-500
0 0.05
Time t (ms)
Fig. 4. The inrush current waveforms correspond to different remanent
magnetic fluxes.
B. Three-phase Transformer Simulation Based on J-A
Hysteresis Model
To consider the mutual inductance of the windings of the
three-phase transformer, delta connection (Ƹ connection) the
three single-phase transformers. Then the three-phase
transformer simulation circuit of the no-load closing process
was established through SIMULINK, which is shown in fig. 5.
Fig. 5. Simulation model of three-phase transformer
Comparing and analyzing the simulation results, when the
other conditions were constant, the waveform of the excitation
current of the three-phase transformer changed with the
change of the initial phase angle of closing. Through
numerical calculations: compared with the closing angle was
0°, when the closing angle was 90°, the excitation current of
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2018 IEEE International Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG)
A-phase changed from 600A to 60A, which was reduced to
10% of the original value. When the rest conditions were
constant, the peak value of the three-phase excitation current
was increased with the increasing of the power supply voltage.
When the power supply voltage was increased from 24kV to
25kV, the A-phase excitation current was increased from
600A to 800A, and there was an increase of 33.3% if
compared with the original.
Without changing the rest conditions, when the remanent
flux in the iron cores of the transformer A-phase winding and
B-phase winding was increased, the magnitude of the
excitation inrush current of the two phases was
correspondingly larger; the remanent flux in the transformer
iron core of the C-phase winding was reversed, and the peak
value of the magnetizing current in C phase was decreased
accordingly. Therefore, the amplitude of the magnetizing
current was increased consequently as the remanent flux
increasing, and vice versa. Based on the numerical calculation,
it could be found that when the remanent flux increased from
0 to 0.7, the maximum amplitude of inrush current was
increased from 800 to 1750, which was about 2.2 times of the
original value (Fig. 6.).
0.1 0.15 0.2
Fig. 6.The inrush current waveforms of the C-phase winding correspond to the
remanent flux Br= 0 and Br= 0.7T in the transformer iron core.
Neither single-phase nor three-phase transformer, from the
simulation results, that the influence degree of the remanent
flux was the most significant compared with the other factors.
Hence, the remanent flux was the main influencing factor of
the inrush current.
IV. CONCLUSION
In this study, to gain an analytical of the inrush, the research
of the inrush current under various impact factors has a
practical significance. In a transient state, the inrush current of
the single-phase and three-phase under different remanent flux
values were determined, respectively. These results illustrated
that remanent flux had a direct influence to the inrush current.
Detection and analysis were necessary for remanent flux
further work. Simulation modeling in this paper is expected to
be useful in the analysis and design of power transformers. As
the inrush currents produces mechanical forces which deforms
transformer windings and causes malfunction of the
differential protection. A 3D finite element model will be used
in the simulation in the future work to validate the
electromagnetic behavior of the transformer model based on
the results of this study.
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