Components & Periphery

Heft 6/2012
1
Measuring principles and
inuence for harmonic
vibration measurement
Instrument transformers of various
different construction and from various
different manufacturers vary greatly in
their frequency response behaviour.
The causes of this are varied and ex-
tend from manufacturing tolerances in a
series up to various different operating
conditions. For the frequency response
behaviour, in addition to the structure,
Because of design restrictions,
instrument transformers are used for
transmission as close as possible to
the illustration of the primary techno-
logy measuring parameters, such as
current or voltage. This requirement of
the response behaviour applies to the
range of measurement frequency and is
ensured by the instrument transformer
manufacturers. In order to be able to
assess the network quality and compli-
ance with existing standards as well as
at the fundamental frequency we need
to accurately measure harmonics up to
50 times the rated frequency in terms of
both magnitude and phase angle.
Frequency Response of
Instrument Transformers in the kHz range
Kerstin Kunde, Holger Dumling, Ralf Huth, Hans-Werner Schlierf, Joachim Schmid
As the number of non-sinusoidal sources and loads in the network
continues to grow, the importance of information concerning the quality
of the current and the voltage becomes ever more important. Each
deviation in frequency can be regarded as harmonic contamination of
the network that can cause issues for the network operator and the
users. It is questionable, however, whether the instrument transformers
so far used for measuring the Power Quality can cope with the
accuracy requirements for the analysis of network quality.
Dr. Kerstin Kunde is responsible for product life-cycle management
in the Business Segment Instrument Transformers at Siemens AG in
Erlangen.
Email: kerstin.kunde@siemens.com
Dr.-Ing. Holger Dumling is Managing Director of
Ritz Instrument Transformers GmbH in Hamburg.
Email: info@ritz-international.com
Dipl.-Ing. Ralf Huth is Asset Manager for Substations at Tennet TSO
GmbH in Bayreuth.
Email: ralf-huth@tennet.eu
Dipl.- Ing. Hans-Werner Schlierf was, until recently, Manager of the
Service Teams Primary Technology at Amprion GmbH in
Lampertheim.
Email: info@amprion.net
Dr.-Ing. Joachim Schmid has global responsibility for R&D in the
Instrument Transformer Sector at
Siemens Schweiz AG in Zrich.
Email: joachim.schmid@siemens.com
Because of the harmonic contamina-
tion in the network, users require that
the network operators demonstrate
and ensure the quality of the prepared
energy supply is in accordance with
DIN EN 61000-4-30 (VDE 0847-4-30) [1]
and DIN EN 50160 [2]. From the point of
view of the network operator it is im-
portant to determine the cause of the
harmonic contamination of the network,
in order to be able to carry out counter-
acting measures. The execution of the
required measurement of current and
voltage should, where possible, be car-
ried out using the existing measuring
systems from the inductive or capaci-
tive instrument transformers.
Frequency
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n

e
r
r
o
r
-50
0
50
150
250
%
100
200
300
100
-100
10 100 1000 10000 Hz 100000
GIS VT
36 kV
MS VT
36 kV
SF6 Kombi
120 kv
MS VT
12 kV
GIS VT
800 kv
GIS VT
215 kv
l VT
120 kv
Fig. 1. Transmission errors with various different inductive instrument transformer types
the most signicant responsible fac-
tors are the voltage level and the con-
nected load impedance. Measurements
have shown that the resonance points
move to lower frequencies the higher
the voltage level. With the connected
load impedances (protection, measu-
ring system), the frequency behaviour
is generally unknown. However, it has
a considerable inuence on frequency
response.
Inductive voltage transformers con-
vert the high voltage to a low voltage
signal using the transformer principle.
In this case the secondary voltage be-
haves in the linear area of the opened
transformer in a reciprocal manner to
the response ratio.
Components & Periphery
Heft 6/2012
2
Depending on the selected insulation
(oil-paper, gas or cast resin) various
different geometric structures of the
primary and secondary windings are
produced, and these lead to various dif-
ferent response behaviours depending
on the concentrated parameters ca-
pacitance, inductance and resistance.
On the other hand, capacitive vol-
tage transformers produce the se-
condary voltage as a transmission ratio
between the primary and secondary
capacitance. They consist of a stack
of condensers wired in series and an
inductive unit required for the power
provision on the low voltage side. Capa-
citive voltage transformers are prima-
rily structured with a mixed dielectric in
the condenser stack (C1/C2) in order to
achieve the class accuracy even in va-
rious different temperature ranges.
Conversion with inductive current
transformers is carried out using the
transformer principle, as is the case
with the voltage transformers. How-
ever, the windings are almost short-
circuited.
Fig. 2. Amplitude and phase errors of an inductive voltage transformer at various different
frequencies
Fig. 3. Frequency of the rst resonant point for various different voltage levels
Fig. 4. Amplitude and phase errors of a capacitive voltage transformer
Frequency
R
e
l
.

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
P
h
a
s
e
100
200
0
0 500 1000 2000 Hz 2500 1500
400
%
500
300
-50
0
-100
100
150
50
Frequency
S
y
s
t
e
m

v
o
l
t
a
g
e
900
kV
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 Hz 6000
Frequency
R
e
l
.

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
P
h
a
s
e
50
100
0
0 200 300 100 400 500 900 1100 Hz 600 700 800
200
%
250
150
-150
-100
-200
0
50
-50
Components & Periphery
Heft 6/2012
3
Frequency response behaviour
of instrument transformers
The frequency response of inductive
and capacitive voltage transformers is
determined by the geometrical struc-
ture of each individual product. For this
reason, there may be differences in the
resonant frequencies between oil, gas
and cast resin insulated voltage trans-
formers. The inuencing factors are:
The winding resistance in the high
voltage winding,
The leakage inductance in the high
voltage winding,
The leakage inductance between the
high and low voltage windings,
The layer capacity,
Capacitance between the high
voltage coil and the earth-side end of
the insulation,
The inductance of the iron core
Resistive losses in the iron core.
On inductive current transformers
the transmission property is less se-
verely determined by the capacitive
layer inuences, so that a higher linear
transmission frequency spectrum is to
be expected. This process is supported
by light loading. The size of the errors
that can arise in the various different
converter types in the frequency range
up to 50 kHz is shown in Fig. 1. For ex-
ample, Fig. 2 shows the error in an oil-
paper insulated, inductive 420 kV volt-
age converter for the frequency range
up to 2.5 kHz according to magnitude
and phase.
For the same types of design and in-
sulation principles we can determine
that the occurrence of the rst reso-
nance point falls depending on the vol-
tage level. That is shown in Fig. 3 using
various different voltage transformers.
Capacitive voltage transformers are
set to the nominal frequency of 50 Hz or
60 Hz. The accuracy is guaranteed only
for a narrow band (Fig. 4). The lowest
resonant frequency is a few hundred Hz.
The frequency range to which the vari-
ous different technologies are suited is
clearly shown in Fig. 5. The class error
is taken into account here.
Inductive current transformers trans-
mit the signals over several kHz without
major errors. Fig. 6 shows the measure-
ments at various different frequencies.
The error can be ignored up to 5 kHz.
However, the existing measuring equip-
ment does not allow differentiation bet-
ween amplitude and phase errors.
Also, investigations were undertaken
to show the difference between primary
and secondary signals with frequencies
overlaid in different ways. An amplitude
or phase measurement is not under-
taken in this investigation. The result of
this analysis also conrms the suitabi-
lity of inductive current transformers for
the measurement of higher frequency
harmonics.
electronic
voltage
transformers
optical VT/RCVT
R-divider
1
5

H
z
5
0

H
z
1
0
0

H
z
1

k
H
z
1
0

k
H
z
1
0
0

k
H
z
1

M
H
z
1
0

M
H
z
HV MV LV
C-divider
capacitive
voltage
transformers
inductive
voltage
transformers
Frequency
Current
E
r
r
o
r
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 A 140
-0,2
0
0,2
%
-0,1
45 Hz
500 Hz
1800 Hz
5000 Hz
3000 Hz
200 Hz
1000 Hz
Fig. 5. Frequency response behaviour of various different voltage transformer technologies
in accordance with IEC/TR 61869-103 [3]
Fig. 6. Amplitude errors in an inductive current transformer at various different frequencies
Components & Periphery
Heft 6/2012
4
Literature
[1] DIN EN 61000-4-30 (VDE 0847-4-30):
2009-09 Electromagnetic Compati-
bility (EMC) Part 4-30: Test and
measuring procedure - procedure
for measuring the voltage quality.
VDE VERLAG
[2] DIN EN 50160:2011-02 Voltage
characteristics in public electricity
supply networks. Berlin: Beuth
[3] IEC/TR 61869-103:2012-05 Instru-
ment transformers - The use of
instrument transformers for power
quality measurement. Geneva/
Switzerland: Bureau Central de la
Comission Electrotechnique Inter-
nationale
Result
Both inductive and capacitive vol-
tage transformers, at the current state
of technology, are not suited for the
measurement of harmonics without
additional measures, because of the
occurrence of resonant frequencies,
particularly at high voltage. Both types
of transformers are dimensioned for
the measurement and protection at
nominal frequencies. Resonances bet-
ween the winding inductance and the
stray capacitance (between the layers)
can cause large amplitude and phase
errors.
If the measuring task is the measure-
ment of higher frequency harmonics,
then we need to use RC dividers for
high voltage and C- or R-dividers for
medium voltage. These are suitable
both for the measurement of harmon-
ics and for the measurement of DC
voltages (albeit with negligible power
output). Inductive current transformers
transmit harmonics up to several kHz
in correct phase and with negligible
errors. If you need more detailed in-
formation concerning the resonant
frequencies of a conventional mea-
suring converter this should initially be
requested from the instrument trans-
former manufacturers.

Protection requirements
Because the majority of protection
principles are based on fundamental
frequency values, protection systems
evaluate these signals in the permis-
sible frequency working range. Digi-
tal protection devices are capable, in
this case, of precisely ltering out un-
wanted frequency components.
Although harmonics play a subordi-
nate role in the protection, there are
also protection principles that use
them. The current differential protec-
tion assesses the 2nd to 5th harmon-
ics for stabilization purposes in the
current. This is not critical because
current transformers transmit these
frequencies without any problems.
Earth short wiper principles are based
on the evaluation of higher frequency
current and voltage signals (< 5 kHz) in
the rst periods after the occurrence
of the error. The principle is used ex-
clusively in the distribution network, in
other words, at medium voltage. At this
voltage level, the frequency response
behaviour of the voltage transformers
is considerably better. Principles for
protection of capacitor banks are also
based on the assessment of higher fre-
quency signals. The protection criteria
that are used use current measuring
principles.