UNIT IV

Instrument Transformer
Current transformers and
potential transformers –
principle working,
ratio and
phase angle errors.

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 Introduction
•Transformers are used in a c. systems for the measurement of current, voltage, power
and energy.
•They are also used in connection with measurement of power factor, frequency and
for indication of synchronism·
•Transformers find a wide application in protection circuits of power systems for
the .operation of over current, under voltage and various other types of relays.
• In all the above applications, the transformer is put for measurement purposes, the
actual measurements being done by measuring instruments.
•Transformers used in conjunction with measuring instruments for measurement
purposes are called "Instrument Transformers".
•The transformer used for measurement of current is called a ''Current Transformer" or
simply "C.T."
•Transformers for voltage measurement are called "Voltage Transformers" or "Potential
Transformers" or simply "P.T.“ for short.
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Use or Instrument Transformers:
•The extension of instrument range, so that current, voltage, power and energy can
be measured with instruments or meters of moderate size is of vary great
importance in commercial metering.
•Here currents and voltages handled are very large and, therefore, direct
measurements are not possible as these currents and voltages are far too large for
any, meter of reasonable size and cost.
•The solution lies in stepping down these currents and voltages with instrument
transformers so that they could be metered with instruments of moderate size.

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Fig. 9.1 shows current being measured by a C.T. The primacy winding is
so connected that the current being measured passes through it and the
secondary is connected to an ammeter. The "C.T." Steps down the. current
to the level. of ammeter.

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Fig. 9.2 show voltage measurement with P.T. The primary is connected to
the voltage being measured and the secondary, to voltmeter. The 'P.T.'
steps down the voltage to the level of voltmeter.

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It might appear that extension of range could be' conveniently
done by the use of shunts for currents, and multipliers for
voltage measurements. But this method is suitable only for
small values of current and voltage. There are certain
disadvantages with the use of shunts and multipliers.

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Disadvantages of Shunts.
(i) It is difficult to achieve accuracy with a shunt on a.c., since division of current between a meter and
shunt depends upon the reactance and resistance of two paths. For proper measurements, time constants of
meter and shunt should be the same. Therefore, a separate shunt would be needed for each instrument. Also
since measurements are made over a wide frequency range it becomes difficult to obtain good accuracy
with shunts.

ii) The shunt method is limited to capacities of a few hundred ampere at most, since the power consumed by
shunts at large currents would be considerable large.

(iii) The problem of insulation of instrument and shunt Is quite difficult to solve if measurements are done at
high voltages of several hundred or thousand volt above ground, ' ·

(iv) The measuring circuit is not isolated electrically .from the power circuit.

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Disadvantages of Multipliers.
Multipliers for voltage measurements do not present any serious difficulties below 1000 V. But their use
above this limit becomes impractical owing to the following reasons :

(i) The power consumed by multipliers becomes large as the voltage increases. A power dissipation of
about 7.5 W is the upper limit for a self contained instrument.

(ii) Care has to be exercised to keep leakage currents In high voltage multipliers down to negligible
values . However, insulation of multipliers required to prevent leakage currents and the reduction of
distributed capacitance to avoid shunt capacitance currents becomes very difficult above a few thousand
volt. Special types of construction are needed to prevent the above effects. Hence the construction of
multipliers for use at high voltages is very costly and complicated.

(Iii) The measuring circuit is not electrically isolated from the power circuit.

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Advantages of instrument transformers.
The current and voltage transformers are extensively used for very precise measurements as well as for routine measurements

as they have many advantages :

(i) When instruments are used in the junction with instrument transformers, their readings do not depend upon their

constants (R, L C) as is the case with shunts and multipliers. The instrument transformer produce practically the same

instrument reading regardless of the constants of the instrument or, in fact, the number of instruments connected in the

circuit.

(II) Current transformers have been standardized at 5 A secondary current and the voltage transformers at from 100 to 120 V

secondary voltage. These are very moderate ratings and the instruments for measurements are rated near these. Thus a 5 A

ammeter may be used to measure 1000 A with the help of a 1000/3 A ratio current transformer or a 110 V voltmeter may be

used to measure a voltage of 66 kV with the help of a 66,000/110 V potential transformer. Therefore, very cheap moderate

rating instruments may be used to measure large currents and high voltages.

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(iii) With the standardization of C.T. and P.T. secondary ratings, it is possible to standardize instrument& around these ratio and,
therefore, there is great reduction in the costs of transformers and instruments. Replacement is also very easy.

(Iv) The measuring circuit is isolated from the power circuit. The fact that the meters in the secondary circuit of an instrument
transformer are isolated electrically from the primary side is of very great importance in high voltage systems. Large alternators
usually operate at voltages between 11 kV to 20 kV whit transmission voltage as high as 750 kV are being used. Therefore, in all
electrical systems it is necessary to have a measure of currents and voltages, both for metering purposes and for the operation
of protective relays and other equipment. It is Impossible to bring the high voltage lines directly ,to the switch board to be
connected to instruments as even for voltages up to a few thousand volt. It would be difficult to insulate the equipment to
provide safety for the operating personal.

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Some definitions

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Burden:

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CURRENT TRANSFORMERS

•The current transformer is used with its primary winding connected in

series with line carrying the current to be measured and therefore, the
primary current is not determined by the load in the current transformer
secondary.
•The primary consists of very few turns and, therefore, there is no
appreciable voltage across it.
• The secondary of the current transformer has larger number of turns,
the exact number being determined by the turns ratio.
•The ammeter, or wattmeter current coil, is connected directly across the
secondary terminals. Thus a current transformer operates its secondary
nearly under short circuit conditions.
•One of the terminals of the secondary winding is earthed so as to protect
equipment and personnel in the vicinity in the event of an insulation
breakdown in the current transformer. Fig. 9.3 shows a circuit for
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measurement of current and power with a current transformer.
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Potential transformer

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Potential transformer

•Potential transformers are used to operate voltmeters, the potential coils of watt
meters and relays from high voltage lines.
•The primary including of the transformer is connected across the lines carrying
the voltage to be measured and the voltage circuit is connected across the
secondary winding.
•The design of a potential transformer is quite similar to that of a power
transformer but the loading of a potential transformer is always small,
sometimes only a few volt-ampere. The secondary winding is designed so that a
voltage of 100 to 120 V is delivered to the instrument load.
•The normal secondary voltage rating is 110V. 33
Difference between C.T. and P.T
There are a few differences in the operation of a current transformer and a potential transformer.

(i) The potential transformer may be considered as a 'parallel' transformer with its secondary nearly under
open circuit conditions whereas the current transformer may be thought as a 'series' transformer under
virtual short circuit conditions. Thus the secondary of a P. T. can be open-circuited without any damage being
caused either to the operator or to the transformer.
(ii) The primary current in a C.T. is independent of the secondary circuit conditions while the primary current
in a P.T. certainly depends upon the secondary burden.
(iii) In a potential transformer, full line voltage is impressed upon its terminals whereas a C.T. is connected in
series with one line and a small voltage exists across its terminals. However, the C.T. carries the full line
current.
(iv) Under normal operation the line voltage is nearly constant and, therefore, the flux density and hence the
exciting current of a potential transformer varies only over a restricted range whereas the primary current and
excitation of a C.T. vary over wide limits in normal operation.
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