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Inrush Current Modeling in a Single-Phase Transformer

Article in IEEE Transactions on Magnetics · March 2010

DOI: 10.1109/TMAG.2009.2032929 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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578 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 46, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010

Inrush Current Modeling in a Single-Phase Transformer

Jawad Faiz and Saeed Saffari
Center of Excellence on Applied Electromagnetic Systems, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran,
Tehran, Iran

This paper introduces a proper model for ferromagnetic core which includes hysteresis, saturation, eddy current losses, and anomalous
losses. This model can generate symmetrical and asymmetrical loops with high accuracy. An artificial neural network is used to present
the major dc hysteresis loop and initial magnetization curve based on a set of experimental data. This ferromagnetic core model is then
used to estimate the inrush current of a single-phase transformer. Differential equations system obtained based on the equivalent circuit
is converted into a nonlinear algebraic system of equations and then solved by Newton–Raphson routine. The predicted results are in
good agreement with the experimental results.
Index Terms—Core losses, hysteresis, inrush current.

I. INTRODUCTION
NRUSH current is the transient response to the switching
I of a sinusoidal voltage supply upon the transformer, arising
from a temporary saturation of the core. Although many papers
deal with the prediction of amplitude of the inrush current and its
modeling analytically [1]–[3], there is still a need to introduce Fig. 1. Equivalent circuit of proposed transformer for inrush current.
more analytical methods to accurately predict the inrush current
with high resolution and better accuracy for power system op-
eration and protection.
gion, versus is linear with slope equal to the air-core induc-
This paper introduces an analytical method for modeling tance [5]. The suggested hysteresis model is the modified
inrush current of a single-phase transformer. Proposed model of and extended of the model that introduced in [6]. In this model,
the core is capable to generate symmetrical and asymmetrical the descending (ascending) hysteresis minor paths are generated
hysteresis minor loops, core saturation, classic eddy current by displacing the major dc hysteresis descending (ascending)
losses, and anomalous losses. Differential system of equations curve in parallel with axis with varying value of .
from transformer model is solved to determine the input current Fig. 2 shows a change of typical magnetization operating point.
of transformer by time stepping and then Newton–Raphson In the minor descending path 6-7-4, in which and
routine. Finally estimated inrush current of a single-phase are its beginning and ending reversal points, is
transformer is compared with the experimental results. the vertical distance from an arbitrary point on this path, up
to point , upon major descending dc hysteresis curve, and
II. EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT is the flux-linkage at point . and are the values of at
points and . in the suggested model is as follows:
Fig. 1 shows the equivalent circuit of a no-load single-phase
transformer. and are the summation of the transformer
primary winding, transmission line and supply resistances and
inductances respectively. The non-linear magnetization induc-
tance models the core magnetization characteristic. Linear
resistance and non-linear resistance model the classic
eddy current losses and anomalous losses respectively [4].
(1)
A. Magnetization Characteristic Model
Flux-linkage/excitation current relationship for in- where and are the parameters that depend on the core mate-
ductance is divided into two sections; low level and with rial and , where is the saturation flux-linkage.
hysteresis of the magnetic characteristic over It is noted that (1) is modified form of the corresponding equa-
and core high saturated regions over and tion in [6]. and are estimated as follows:
where its characteristic is a single-value. In this re-
(2)
Manuscript received June 09, 2009; revised September 02, 2009; accepted (3)
September 15, 2009. Current version published January 20, 2010. Correspon-
dance author: J. Faiz (e-mail: jfaiz@ut.ac.ir). where is the major descending dc hysteresis
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. curve. Consequently, for this minor descending path,
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMAG.2009.2032929 flux-linkage/magnetization current equation is as follows:
0018-9464/$26.00 © 2010 IEEE
FAIZ AND SAFFARI: INRUSH CURRENT MODELING IN A SINGLE-PHASE TRANSFORMER 579

Fig. 4. Proposed ANN, where f (v) = tanh(v ).

The suggested model needs function as input.

Fig. 2. Magnetization paths. It can be obtained by fitting the set of experimental data. Al-
though the suggested hysteresis model is independent of the def-
inition of this curve, to enhance the accuracy of the curve fitting
procedure a feed-forward artificial neural network (ANN) [8]
is used as shown in Fig. 4. The input of the ANN is the flux
of the major dc hysteresis descending curve data and its output
is the corresponding magnetizing current. The numbers of the
hidden layer neurons have been obtained using trial and error
routine. This network has been trained using back-propagation
algorithm. Similarly, an ANN has been used for initial magne-
tization curve modeling.

B. Core Losses Modeling

Fig. 3. Variation of a symmetrical minor hysteresis loop for different and . Resistance for is estimated for a core with thin laminations
as follows [4]:

(5)
(4)
where is the classic eddy current losses coefficient, is the
Similarly the minor ascending paths can be generated from the
core material density, is the flux density, is the core cross
ascending branch of major dc hysteresis loop. In this case,
section, is the average length of the core, and is the turn
in (1) is replaced by . As shown in the next section,
number of primary winding. is [4]
results obtained by (1)–(4) are closer to the experimental results
than those obtained by the model represented in [6].
The reversal points can be determined using two features
of the magnetization paths [7]; the magnetic path tends to re-
turn to the reversal point previous-to-the last (e.g., the evolution (6)
2-3-4-5-6-7-4 in Fig. 2). Meanwhile, the closing minor loops
have no effect on the next paths of the magnetization operating where is the anomalous losses coefficient and is obtained
point. To determine the reversal points, a stack have been used as follows:
which stores the reversal point coordinates. When the magneti-
zation path of the material passes a reversal point, coordinates of (7)
this point are stored in the top position of this stack. Coordinates
of two reversal points above stack are eliminated by closing one The anomalous losses and classic eddy current losses coeffi-
loop. When the stack is empty, the magnetization path of the ma- cients are calculated using core loss separation procedure from
terial is the initial magnetization curve. When only coordinates experimental losses curve.
of the reversal point exist in the stack, the magnetization path of
the material is one of the ascending or descending branch of a C. Solution of Equivalent Circuit Equations
symmetrical hysteresis loops which goes toward the conjecture The following equations are held for circuit shown in Fig. 1:
of reversal point (in respect to the origin).
The slope of the minor path between two reversal points can (8)
be varied by varying two parameters and . Fig. 3 shows the
effect of variations of these parameters in a typical symmetrical (9)
minor loop. As seen, variations of mostly affect the beginning
of the minor path (ascending or descending) while is used to (10)
adjust the ending of the curve. The best values of these param-
eters are obtained by comparing the generated magnetization (11)
paths using (1)–(4) with the paths obtained experimentally. (12)
580 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 46, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010

Equation (11) gives the proposed hysteresis model. Integration

of (8) and (9) yields

(13)

(14)

Equations (10)–(14) form a system of differential equations. To

solve it, first the system is converted into a system of algebraic
equations. By discretizing time into intervals with small time
steps , as and , and considering Fig. 5. Major dc hysteresis loop.
the sinusoidal input supply as , (13) and TABLE I
(14) will be as follows: SPECIFICATION OF THREE-PHASE 5 KVA, 50 HZ TRANSFORMER

(15)

(16)

where and are calculated as follows:

(17)

(18)

Equations (10)–(12), and (15)–(16) form a nonlinear algebraic

system of equations and its solution gives ,
and . Newton–Raphson method has been used to solve this
system of equations.

III. CALCULATIONS RESULTS

To verify the proposed model, simulation results are com-
pared with the test results. A three-phase, core type transformer
with three legs, 5 kVA, 380/100 V is used as a single-phase
transformer in which the middle leg as the HV winding is ener-
gized and LV side is open. Specifications of the transformer have
been summarized in Table I. The major dc hysteresis loop of the
transformer core is determined using the technique described in
[7]. In the modeling of this loop using ANN (see Fig. 4) the
middle layer neurons are 5. Fig. 5 shows this loop. The loop
presented by the continuous line, is obtained by ANN. The dis-
crete line in Fig. 5 is obtained by fitting the experimental points
with the following equation:

(19)
As seen, the ANN-based method leads to more accurate results
than that of the tangent function.
To compare the accuracy of (1) with the corresponding equa-
tion in [6], the results based of (1) are compared with those ob-
Fig. 6. Comparison of first-order reversal curves calculated by: (a) proposed
and Preisach models and (b) model presented in [6] and Preisach model.
tained using the Preisach model and [6]. Fig. 6 shows a number
of first-order reversal curves obtained by (1)–(4) with
and, , the Preisach model and [6]. As seen, the first-order
FAIZ AND SAFFARI: INRUSH CURRENT MODELING IN A SINGLE-PHASE TRANSFORMER
Fig. 7. (a) Inrush current of the transformer, (b) dynamic hysteresis curve for
V = 250 V,  = 30
, and  =0 0.6 WbT.
reversal curves obtained by the proposed model are closer to the
precise Preisach model results. To model the hysteresis based on
[6], the major dc hysteresis loop is required as input.
The system of equations in subsection C is solved in order to
calculate the inrush current of the transformer with 160 s
and . Fig. 7 shows the current and dynamic
characteristic of flux-current of the transformer ( versus
) for a sinusoidal input voltage 250 V and supply
switch-on angle of . The residual flux of the transformer
core is equal to 0.6 WbT. Also, Fig. 8 presents the similar
curves for sinusoidal input voltage 225 V and supply switch-on
angle , where the residual flux of the transformer core
is equal to 0.4 WbT.
IV. CONCLUSION
A new model was introduced for modeling the soft ferro-
magnetic core materials. In this model hysteresis phenomenon
with symmetrical and asymmetrical loops, saturation effect,
eddy current losses, and anomalous losses were included.
Modeling hysteresis phenomenon and saturation was possible
only using a few simple equations; therefore, this model can
be easily implemented. This model was used to estimate the
inrush current in a single-phase transformer. To calculate the
inrush current, a system of differential equations was solved by
time stepping, recursive method and finally Newton–Raphson
routine. The experimental results are well agreed with the
results of the suggested model. Use of the suggested model
requires determination of parameters and which vary over a
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581
Fig. 8. (a) Inrush current of the proposed transformer, (b) dynamic hysteresis
curve for V = 225 V,  = 055 , and  =0 0.4 WbT.
small range. Although the envelop of the inrush current with the
current peak values can be calculated using a piece-wise linear
approximation of unique characteristic flux-linkage versus
magnetizing current curve, where the hysteresis and eddy
current losses are neglected, here a complex model was used to
accurately predict the inrush current with high resolution and
better accuracy for power system operation and protection.
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