Transient Performance of Capacitor Voltage Transformers (CVT)

Introduction
In steady state, the secondary voltage of a capacitor voltage transformer mirrors the primary voltage. Because of the energy-storage elements used, the transient output, caused by sudden change in primary voltage, is no longer a replica of the primary. This distorted output may last for a few cycles of the supply frequency. These errors may be termed as the CVT linear transient since they would still occur in the event that all of the components of the CVT were linear. In addition to this, ferroresonance may occur resulting in voltage measurement error. Ferroresonance is caused by the saturation of the electromagnetic unit or inductive burden. Unlike the linear transient it does not occur with every change in primary voltage.

A CVT system can be represented by its Thevenin equivalent circuit. The analysis of a simplified L-C-R circuit for the case of a sudden collapse of the primary voltage (assuming a given set of initial conditions) produced the following conclusions: 1 If the equivalent capacitance Ce is larger and assuming a fixed value of the burden, the magnitude of the residual transient voltage becomes smaller. The intermediate voltage should also be maximized in order to achieve a high value of the equivalent capacitance. 2 The effect of the burden is so profound that it can dominate the CVT behavior. The burden configuration is insignificant since it determines the way in which energy can be stored and the path through which it can discharge. Pure resistive burden dissipates and does not store energy. Stored energy burdens (lagging or leading) create harmful effect on the transient response producing oscillations of low frequency nature. The oscillograms shown below illustrate the variation in the residual voltages as a function of burden at crest fault initiation. At zero fault initiation, the transient response worsens.

Linear Transient Error (Transient Response)

The linear transient error is mainly influenced by the following factors: 1 The Thevenin equivalent capacitance referred to the secondary voltage level, Ce. 2 The burden value and configuration. 3 The point of wave voltage interruption.

3 During the sudden application or sudden disappearance of primary voltage, the distribution of energy stored in the CVT is a major factor in understanding the effect of the point of wave voltage interruption. The transient performance in those cases is similar with the transients in the case of the primary short circuit. The amount of energy accumulated by the capacitor at zero initiation is equivalent to the energy stored by the series reactor at crest voltage initiation. The discharge time constant will vary depending upon where the maximum energy is stored. A typical example of transient response ( see below) indicates the worse case with the maximum energy on the capacitor at the time the primary voltage wave is going through the zero voltage interruption.

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E 214.60 Subject to change without notice (05.2006) Printed in Canada.