Professional Documents
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Study Of the Impact of Transformer Inrush Current on Power
Quality
PERFORMED BY
Btech ELECTRICAL
Sanket Doiphode 111505011
Rushikesh Ghodake 111505013
Gaurav Gore 111505014
Abhijeet Rojtakar 111505046
Contents:
1) Abstarct
2) Introduction
3) Theroy
3.1) Inrush Currents
4) Various Cases
4.1) Study on Transformer Inrush Current and CT
Saturation as well as the Impact of Their Coupling
Effect on Protection
4.2) Temporary overvoltages due to transformer
Inrush Current
5) Inrush Current Mitigation Technique
6) Conclusion
7) REFERENCE
1)Abstract —
Transformers are essential elements, which facilitate the transmission of electric power at high
voltages over long distances and transformer energization is a common occurrence. The
energization can lead to excessive transient inrush current, especially when the transformer
core has remnant flux that adds to the flux build‐up after switching .
Inrush current sags the system voltage, thereby affecting the power quality of the network in
proximity of the transformer. The extent to which power quality is degraded depends on short
circuit MVA at the source bus, and the magnitude and decay time constant of the transient
current. Present day Thyristor ‐Controlled machinery used in mining, pulp and paper industries
and semiconductor manufacturing require high quality power.
2) Introduction
TRANSFORMER energization is a regular operation in an electric power system. Often
energization results in the transformer drawing large inrush current, which eventually decays
down to a small magnetizing current. The time it takes inrush current to decay depends on the
resistance and reactance of the circuit, including the transformer’s magnetizing reactance.
Since the magnetizing inductance of transformer is high, the inrush current can take a long time
to reach its steady state value. The inrush current causes a temporary voltage drop due to
impedance of the network between the sources and the energized transformer. If the short
circuit MVA available at the transformer bus is low (or the source impedance is high), the
resulting voltage drop can be significant. The voltage drop reduces with decay of the inrush.
Short duration voltage drops that are caused by faults or large inrush currents are called
voltage dips or sags.
Until a few years ago, the voltage sags due to faults and inrush currents were of little
consequence. Use of adjustable speed drives and programmable logic‐based process control in
mining, pulp and paper, and electronic chip manufacturing plants has escalated over the last
decade. It has made power quality problems associated with voltage sags an important design
issue. Voltage sags of as little as 10% of the nominal voltage and of duration as short as 2 or 3
cycles can affect critical equipment and adversely impact the production processes. As an
example, ac voltage is rectified and converted to pulsed dc when it is applied to an adjustable
speed drive. This pulsing dc is stored in a capacitor, which in turn supplies smooth dc. Since the
capacitor stores energy, it allows the system to ride through some sags. But if a sag is of
sufficient depth and duration, the capacitor voltage will drop below a critical level (typically
several cycles after the sag begins), at which point the drive may misoperate or simply shut
down, resulting in process disruptions. Outages due to poor power quality can have as
detrimental impact as sustained power interruptions.
3) Theroy
3.1) Inrush Currents
Inrush Current, Input Surge Current or Switch – On Surge Current is the maximum,
instantaneous input current drawn by an electrical device when it is first turned on. It can last
for few cycles of the input waveform. When electrical power transformer runs normally, the
flux developed in the core is quadrature with the applied voltage. Inrush current occurs in a
transformer whenever the residual flux does not match the instantaneous value of the steady –
state flux .
For explaining the cause of inrush current in transformers primary winding when connected to
an AC voltage source, we consider the equation (1);
v = d∅ /dt (1)
where Ø and v are the instantaneous flux in transformer core and voltage drop across the
primary winding respectively.
From equation (1), we can understand that the voltage cross the transformer primary is
proportional to the rate of change of flux in the transformer core. The flux because of the non –
linear characteristics of the magnetising curve causes the saturation of the transformer core.
The flux waveform can be treated as the integral of the voltage waveform. In a continuously
operating transformer, these two waveforms are 90˚ shifted. When voltage is at zero, the flux
waveform will be at its negative peak. This is not the case during energisation of the
transformer. At this time, the flux will start from zero. The figure (1) shows the generation of
inrush current in a transformer. As we can see, in certain cases the flux exceeds the knee point
resulting in large magnetising current which can be even 10 times as that of the rated current in
the transformer. According to Faraday’s law of Electromagnetic Induction, the voltage induced
across the winding is given by:
e = d∅/ dt (2)
Where Ø is the flux in the core. Hence the flux is the integral of the voltage. If the transformer
is switched on at the instant of voltage zero, the flux is initiated from the same origin as that of
the voltage. Therefore, the value of the flux at the end of the first cycle will be:
Where Øm is the maximum value of the steady – state flux. The transformer core generally gets
saturated above the maximum steady – state value of flux. During switching on of the
transformer, the maximum value of flux will increase to double the steady state maximum
value. As the core becomes saturated, the current required to produce rest of the flux will be
very high. So the transformer primary will draw very high peak current
4) Various CASES TRANSFROEMER AFFECT POWER QUALITY
4.1) Study on Transformer Inrush Current and CT
Saturation as well as the Impact of Their Coupling
Effect on Protection
For the construction of the smart grid, protection needs to be accurately measured, and the
current transformer needs to correctly transfer the transient process. The transient
process of nonlinear ferromagnetic elements mainly includes the transformer inrush current
and CT saturation. Differential protection Maloperation is rarely caused by a single factor. It
involves the coupling effect between the transformer inrush current and CT saturation
In the event of disturbance and failure of the grid, the transient process of non‐linear
ferromagnetic elements such as transformers and current transformers can affect the correct
measurement of protection, resulting in the misoperation of protection (mainly current
differential protection). For example, in recent years, there have been many power grid
accidents due to transformer airborne, leading to the operation of adjacent transformer
transformers, generators and transmission lines to protect the misoperation. Another example,
the transmission performance of the current transformer is deteriorated due to the increase of
the aperiodic component attenuation constant of the large power network fault. It also causes
some differential protection misoperation.These situations seriously threaten the safe
operation of the power grid, causing widespread concern of experts in various
fields.This type of transient analysis and protection of the misoperation is not only related to
transformer, current transformer and other non‐linear ferromagnetic component of
the transient process respectively, but also related to the transient sympathetic interaction
between the transformer and current transformer. The transient process of the nonlinear
ferromagnetic element mainly includes the transformer current inrush current, the sympathetic
inrush current between the transformer and the sympathetic inrush current and the transient
saturation of the current transformer. These phenomena are usually intertwined. Its
manifestations are diverse, and the mechanism of action is very complex. It has not been a very
good analysis so far, thus to cause protection misoperation lack of knowledge and effective
measures to deal with. This situation makes the existing differential protection
in the complex grid of this transient interaction process performance is difficult to meet the
practical requirements of engineering applications. At present, domestic and foreign research
mainly involves the transformer inrush current, and the sympathetic inrush current, as well as
the current transformer transient process characteristic analysis and the related protection
countermeasure aspects. The analysis methods of magnetizing current and sympathetic inrush
mechanism are mainly mathematical analytic method and flux linkage analysis
method. Aiming at the problem of differential protection misoperation caused by inrush
current, some countermeasures have been put forward. These methods have some
shortcomings in the analysis of the complex inrush current and the analysis of the saturation
characteristics of the current transformer, especially the analysis of the influence of the
synthesis.
The Discuss method of determining the amplitude of the fundamental current is proposed
based on the waveform characteristics of the fundamental wave amplitude change process.
The accuracy of the inrush identification method is based on the fact that the current
transformer can effectively transmit primary current. Therefore, to weaken the coupling effect
of the transformer inrush current and the CT saturation on the differential protection is to
propose a solution to the saturation of the current transformer. Different types of current
transformers also exhibit different saturation characteristics due to differences in material
properties, structural design.Transformer saturation recognition method (such as time
difference method additional braking zone method harmonic braking method and waveform
symmetry method and the use of the linear transmission part of CT’s secondary current.
They have a good effect in their respective applications. Under certain conditions, the
protection device can take a variety of measures to mitigate the impact of transient saturation,
without the need for special requirements for the device itself, which can reduce investment
costs. But still need to point out that, in view of the various protection algorithms to deal with
saturated still have their own limitations and the complexity of power grids and equipment,
current transformer selection also considers a wide range of factors. For the 500kV system and
generator or generator group, due to the large time constant, need to ensure that the
transformer transient performance can meet the protection of the application requirements.
The transient problems and the impact of the results in 220kV system and the lower‐voltage
system is relatively light than the 500kV system, it is generally used P class, PR type current
transformer in accordance with the steady‐state characteristics.
4.2) TEMPORARY OVERVOLTAGES DUE TO TRANSFORMER
INRUSH CURRENTS
During transformer energization, the inrush current is asymmetrical and contains DC and
fundamental components as well as all odd and even harmonics of the fundamental power
frequency. In weak systems, i.e. in systems with relatively low short circuit power,
transformer energization through an overhead line can produce resonance with a low
frequency. If this resonance occurs and coincides with one of the harmonics produced during
transformer energization, overvoltages can be provoked. The most important characteristics of
these overvoltages are their relatively long duration, usually 0.1 to 1 sec, extremely 10 sec
Namely, during energization, transformer behaves like a harmonic current source and flows
through the lowest impedance point in the power system. Harmonic voltage at a certain point
of the system can be expressed as:
U(n) = I (n) ⋅ Z(n) (1)
where n is order of the harmonic component, Z(n) is the impedance seen from the given
system point at the harmonic frequency of order n, and I (n) is the injected harmonic current
to the system of order n. Based on the relation (1), during resonant conditions, when resonant
frequency of system impedance 0 f n f r = n f0 ⋅ f 0 = 50 Hz, coincide with corresponding
harmonic current source, temporary overvoltages which contain high voltage harmonic will
be established. Magnitude of harmonic voltage has a strong dependence on the corresponding
magnitude of the harmonic current. If a magnitude of harmonic current at the resonant
frequency of impedance has a relatively low value, then temporary harmonic overvoltage will
no appear. Mentioned temporary harmonic overvoltages may considerably energy stress
metal‐oxide arresters which are located close to the transformers [7]. Energy stresses
depended on the network configuration, transformer and arreseter parameters and initial
conditions (breaker switching time and residual transformer flux). Magnitude and duration of
these temporary overvoltages as well as energy stresses of surge arrester are sustained
significantly in weak power systems.
The transformer energization may produce a large inrush current that contains high order
harmonic components. These currents generally reduce power quality in the system and may
have unfavourable effects, as is an irregular tripping of transformer differential protection
relays, a deterioration of the insulation and mechanical support structure of transformer
windings. Furthermore, in a relatively weak power systems, such as is the Bosnian system,
inrush current harmonic components may coincide with system resonance frequencies,
producing sustained temporary harmonic overvoltages, whose main characteristics are the
relatively long time duration and slowly decreasing magnitude.
5) Inrush Current Mitigation Techniques
Various Mitigation Technique Are as follow ‐
a. Neutral Earthing Resistors
Optimal neutral resistor on the transformer can significantly reduce the inrush current
magnitude and duration. The neutral earthing resistor limits the current going through the
neutral which in turn controls the inrush of current during the first and second phase
energisation.
b. Pre – Insertion of resistors
Resistors are typically inserted into the capacitor – energising circuit for 10 – 15msec prior to
the closing of the main contacts, through the closing of an additional set of contacts.
Synchronisation between the resistor and the main contact is required and is usually achieved
by connecting the resistor contact rod directly to the main contact control rod. Once the
switching has been achieved, the resistor is then switched off from the circuit.
c. Controlled Switching
The high inrush current can lead to the mal – operation of relays and other protecting devices.
With this result, there are chances of high mechanical stress on to the transformer winding due
to the magnetic forces and can result in power quality issues. The use of resistors can only
reduce the magnitude of inrush currents, whereas the use of controlled switching technology
can limit the inrush current to greater extend. This strategy is also known as Point – On Wave
Controlled Switching [9]. In this method, simply the transformer will be energised phase by
phase at the corresponding voltage peak (switching angle of voltage will be Π/2). This strategy
of switching seems to be accurate and reliable. However, the drawback of such a mechanism is
the cost involved in the implementation of the technique. The practical power system employs
the use of gang operated circuit breakers. When using the point – on wave switching strategy,
the circuit breakers are needed to be replaced with single pole circuit breakers. The following
figure , shows the block diagram of this strategy. This paves the way for the three pole
switching strategy. This is done by using a gang operated circuit breaker, a control circuit to
monitor the voltage waveform and send a closing signal to main pole at the zero crossing of the
voltage waveform. The other poles are mechanically linked to the main pole and are staggered
by 120˚ apart so that all poles are closed at the zero crossing of the voltage waveform.
6) CONCLUSIONS
1) When a transformer is energised from a standard power source it draws high charging
current which can be as high as 10 times the rate current. This high current can lead to
deterioration of the transformers life.
2) Voltage sag during transformer energization can cause problems to voltage sensitive loads,
especially when the source is weak. A simple back‐of‐the‐envelope technique, which uses
source and transformer short circuit impedances, provides a reasonable estimate of the worst
case voltage sag due to inrush current. A decision on whether to perform a detailed study can
then be made based on this estimate.
3) The peak value of magnetizing inrush current is very high as compared to the normal
magnetizing current and when the transformer was operated at an angle of 90 degree the value
8of the inrush current was found out to be minimal.
8) Reference
1) IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 21, NO. 2, APRIL 2006
2) Okan OZGONENEL, Ondokuz Mayis University,Caner AKUNER, Marmara University “A study
on magnetizing inrush current of different core Materials”
3) Omar A.S. Youssef, A Wavelet‐Based Technique for Discrimination Between Faults and
Magnetizing Inrush Currents in Transformer, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 18, No.
1, January, 2003.
4) http://www.electrical4u.com/magnetizing‐inrush‐current‐in‐power‐transformer
5) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kn9QOF5d‐SW#menu