2896 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 41, NO.

10, OCTOBER 2013

Current Sensing System for Protection of High

Power Frequency Converters
Česlovas Šimkevičius, Nerija Žurauskienė, Member, IEEE, Saulius Balevičius, Senior Member, IEEE,
Voitech Stankevič, Skirmantas Keršulis, and Algirdas Baškys

Abstract— The design and test results of a current-sensing the output stage of the frequency converter as well as the motor
system used for the protection of frequency converters, which itself. Thus, a current-sensing system has to be incorporated
are used for controlling the speeds of ac induction motors, are into the frequency converter. It is used to monitor the current
presented. The proposed pulse current-sensing system consists
of a magnetic field sensor, which is made of thin polycrystalline and to generate a current fault signal when the current exceeds
La-Sr-Mn-O manganite film exhibiting the colossal magnetore- a limiting value.
sistance (CMR) effect, and a microcontroller with a 12-bit A/D Such current sensors have to guarantee galvanic insulation
converter that is used for recording the fault current signal. between the circuits in which the current is being measured
The magnetic field generated by the high power current cable is and the circuit in which the sensor’s signal is being conditioned
fed using a flux concentrator to the manganite magnetic field
sensor (CMR-resistor). The design of the contactless current and processed. The most widely used sensors are based on
sensor, consisting of two manganite resistors, is developed and the Hall effect with concentrators for the amplification of the
investigated. The system is tested in the ambient temperature magnetic field [6]–[8]. Contactless current sensors based on
range of 0–45 °C. The possibilities of using this method in other magneto-resistive elements are of more simple construction,
pulsed power systems are discussed. usually without concentrator. However, these require the keep-
Index Terms— AC induction motors, colossal magnetoresis- ing of a small distance between the sensor’s circuit and the
tance, current sensor, magnetic field sensor, microcontroller, object being measured [4]–[6], [7].
pulsed power systems, thin manganite films. Contactless current sensors can also be based on magne-
toresistive elements using manganite thin films. The colossal
I. I NTRODUCTION magnetoresistance (CMR) phenomenon found in manganite

C URRENT sensors and current-sensing systems based on

these sensors are used extensively in industrial applica-
tions, such as automotive equipment, motor speed controls,
perovskites produces very large magnetoresistance (MR) val-
ues in a temperature range close to the Currie temperature
(TC ), the temperature of the ferromagnetic ordering of man-
and power systems. Various promising designs of such current ganese spins [9]. Sensors based on such manganite perovskites
control elements in pulsed power systems, such as trans- are widely investigated, but most of these have exhibited
portable pulse power generators, relay protectors, switched large sensitivity only in temperature ranges considerably lower
mode power supplies [1]–[4], and others are suggested. One than room temperature. They are also sensitive to temperature
of the reasons for the development of such current-sensing variation. The experimental results obtained in [10], however,
systems is their use for the protection of frequency converters showed that polycrystalline manganite films have sufficient
that are used to convert the standard one or three phase MR values along a wide range of temperature, including room
ac voltage into variable-frequency, variable-amplitude three- temperature.
phase ac voltage for the supply of ac induction motors. These This paper describes the design of a current-sensing sys-
are used to control the speed of such motors [5]. tem consisting of a contactless current sensor based on
Such motors often become overloaded, thus the current CMR manganite thin film and a microcontroller with a
passing through them can increase significantly and damage 12-bit A/D converter, which is used for converting the sig-
nal of the current sensor to a digital output and for fur-
Manuscript received November 30, 2012; revised March 19, 2013 and
April 30, 2013; accepted May 23, 2013. Date of publication June 18, 2013; ther processing. This current-sensitive system can be used
date of current version October 7, 2013. Research conducted in the scope for the measurement of the current in general and for
of the European Pulsed Power Laboratories known as the EPPL. This work power management in particular. For example, it can be
was supported in part by the Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology,
Lithuania, the High-Tech Development Programme Projects MAGEPS under used to protect the frequency converters operating at room
Grant 31V-27, and KEITIKLIS under Grant 31V-37. temperatures. The peculiarities of the proposed system are
C̆. Šimkevičius, N. Žurauskieně, S. Balevičius, V. Stankevič, and discussed.
A. Baškys are with Semiconductor Physics Institute, Center for Physical
Sciences and Technology, Vilnius LT-01108, Lithuania, and also with Vil-
nius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius LT-03227, Lithuania (e-mail:
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]). II. D ESIGN OF THE C ONTACTLESS C URRENT S ENSOR
S. Keršulis is with Semiconductor Physics Institute, Center for Physical Sci-
ences and Technology, Vilnius LT-01108, Lithuania (e-mail: [email protected]). The design of the contactless current sensor based on
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPS.2013.2266199 manganite CMR-resistors sensitive to magnetic fields is shown
0093-3813 © 2013 IEEE

Authorized licensed use limited to: University of South Florida. Downloaded on May 21,2020 at 02:32:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
ŠIMKEVIČIUS et al.: CURRENT SENSING SYSTEM 2897

in Fig. 1. The current sensor consists of a magnetic field

concentrator and two magnetic field sensors (CMR-resistors).
The current to be measured flows through the wire which
is wound around the concentrator. The number of windings
n depends on the measurement conditions. The concentrator
increases the field available to the magnetoresistor in pro-
portion to the current strength, the number of windings n
and is inversely proportional to the width of the gap. One
of the CMR-resistors (active sensor S1) is placed in the gap
of the concentrator and is used as the active element, the other
(passive sensor S2) is used for the compensation of the thermal
Fig. 1. Design of contactless current sensor: S1 is active CMR-resistor, S2
resistance drift of the first manganite CMR-resistor. During is passive CMR-resistor.
experiments, a stabilized dc power supply SM 120-50 (Delta
Elektronika) is used as the measured current source.
The active elements of this current-sensing system can be
made of epitaxial or polycrystalline manganite thin films [11].
The main requirements for the magnetoresistive manganite
films used in these contactless sensors are the linearity of
their changes of resistance because of changes in the magnetic
flux (magnetic induction), small hysteresis during the reversal
of the direction of the magnetic field and small temperature
coefficients of their resistance.
Epitaxial and polycrystalline La1−x Srx MnO3 (LSMO) and
La1−x Cax MnO3 (LCMO) thin films with Sr or Ca content
x = 0.17–0.33 are investigated to pick the best candidate for
use in the contactless current sensor. The films are grown using
a metal–organic chemical vapor deposition technology onto
a dielectric lucalox substrate (polycrystalline films) and onto
SrTiO3 (epitaxial ones). The thickness of the films is ∼400 nm.
Fig. 2. Dependence of MR of polycrystalline LSMO film on the magnetic
The electrical contacts of the fabricated CMR-resistors, spaced induction at 27 °C temperature. The magnetic field is (1) parallel to the film
by a 50-μm gap, are made by thermal deposition of Ag, using plane and perpendicular to the direction of current, and (2) perpendicular to
a Cr sublayer. The dimensions of the resistor chips are as low film plane.
as 1.0 × 0.5 × 0.3 mm with a sensitive area of ∼0.025 mm2 .
Two 0.1-mm diameter Cu isolated bifilarly twisted wires are
soldered to the chip. The chip is encapsulated with special Fig. 2 shows the dependence of the MR of a 400-nm thick
inert silicone. LSMO polycrystalline film on the magnetic field at different
Our investigations have shown that the polycrystalline orientations in respect to the film plane at 27 °C temperature.
manganite La0.78 Sr0.22 MnO3 films best satisfy all the above One can see that up to 400 mT, the sensitivity of the sensor
mentioned requirements for contactless current sensors. Such to magnetic induction is poor when the magnetic field is
films exhibited nontextured single-phase polycrystalline struc- perpendicular to the film plane. But when the magnetic field
tures with clusters consisting of small crystallites and having is parallel to the plane and is perpendicular to the direction
average dimensions of 300 nm. These films have resistance of current, the MR is about 0.8% at 200 mT. It should to be
changes in their magnetic fields of about 4%/T (the resistance noted that as the resistance of these CMR-resistors is ∼3 k
of a manganite film decreases when in a magnetic field), in a zero magnetic field, it is easy to measure its changes when
sufficient linearity of their changes of resistance because of in this field.
changes in the magnetic flux, negligible hysteresis at tem- Thus, the first CMR-resistor (active sensor S1) is placed
peratures higher than temperature TC and small temperature in the gap hence its plane is parallel to the direction of the
sensitivity when close to room temperature. magnetic field and the direction of the electric current in the
To eliminate the influence of such temperature sensitiv- sensor is perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field
ity, two manganite resistors with identical resistances versus (Fig. 1). The second CMR-resistor (passive sensor S2) used
temperature dependencies are used [12]. These resistors (S1 for compensation of the temperature drift is placed outside
and S2) are connected into an unbalanced Wheatstone bridge the concentrator at a sufficient distance from the gap (where
[6]. It is obvious that the second (compensating) resistor magnetic induction is more than ten times lower than in the
needs to be positioned where its change of resistance due to gap), hence the plane of the manganite film is perpendicular
the magnetic field generated by the current being measured to the direction of the magnetic field. Therefore, the resistance
would be negligible. This requirement can be realized by the change produced by the passive resistor upon magnetic field
appropriate placement of the second resistor and employing for is negligible. This sensor has similar temperature dependence
this purpose the anisotropic behavior of the MR in these films. of its resistivity as the first CMR-resistor placed in the gap.

Authorized licensed use limited to: University of South Florida. Downloaded on May 21,2020 at 02:32:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
2898 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 41, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2013

Fig. 3. Block diagram of the current-sensing system.

Fig. 5. Relation between the measured current and the output signal of the
microcontroller calculated according to (1).

produced by the electromagnetic disturbances. After reading

the signals U1 and U2 , the microcontroller calculates the value
of the current and sends this data to the controller of the
frequency converter.
The equation for the calculation of the current value is
expressed by the following expression:
I = (U2 − U1 )/(a0 + a 1 U2 + a 2 U22 )
+ b 0 + b 1U2 + b 2 U22 (1)
where a0 , a1 , a2 , b0 , b1, and b2 are the coefficients. These
coefficients are obtained in advance by calibrating the sensors
Fig. 4. Current sensor’s signal (U2 − U1 ) at temperature (1) 12 °C and (2) (CMR-resistors). This calibration is performed in the following
27 °C. Supply voltage 3.5 V, number of turns n = 10. way: The dependences of the signals U1 and U2 (output
data) versus current are measured at various temperatures
in the temperature range of 0–45 °C in steps of 5 °C. The
For the provision of identical thermal conditions for both typical output characteristics (U2 –U1 ) at two temperatures are
sensors, they are glued to a holder made from material having shown in Fig. 4. One can see that as the sensitivity of the
high thermal conductivity. sensor and the zero signal depend on the temperature, thus
further data processing using a microcontroller is required. The
III. D ESIGN OF C URRENT S ENSING S YSTEM coefficients a0 , a1 , and a2 , which adjust the sensors’ signals to
We used a microcontroller in the contactless current-sensing the maximal value of the current at the various temperatures,
system for signal conditioning and for the compensation of are obtained from the (U2 –U1 ) versus current dependence. The
the zero and sensitivity drifts due to the temperature of coefficients b0 , b1 , and b2 , which adjust the temperature drift
the manganite CMR-resistors. Because of there not being of the sensors’ zero signals, are obtained from the U2 versus
exact identical temperature dependences of the resistances in temperature dependence. The values of these coefficients are
both CMR-resistors, a certain zero signal temperature shift is stored in the memory of the microcontroller.
observed. In addition, as it is mentioned above, the CMR- After the current-sensing system is calibrated, the further
resistors have a high temperature drift of their sensitivity to measurement of the current by a user is simple enough: the
magnetic field (magnetoresistance). As this is a disadvantage microcontroller calculates the current values by using (1) and
when measuring the magnetic field, thus it has to be compen- sends them to the control unit.
sated for.
A block diagram of this current-sensing system is shown in IV. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
Fig. 3. The voltage drops U1 across CMR-resistor S1 and U2 The parameters of the current sensor are as follows: length
across CMR-resistor S2 are supplied to the two inputs of the of the median line of concentrator rc = 63 mm, the relative
microcontroller (a PIC18F2458 from Microchip), which has a permeability of the concentrator material μc ≈ 8000, the width
12 bit A/D converter with a full-scale measurement range of of the gap δ = 1.3 mm. For these parameters, the magnetic
2.5 V. The signals U1 and U2 did not exceed 1.8 V because field in the gap at current I = 10 A and number of turns
the resistance of resistors R1 and R2 is approximately equal n = 10 is ∼190 mT.
to the resistance of the sensors S1 and S2 (CMR-resistors). As it can be seen from Fig. 4, the signal change is ∼7.73 mV
Capacitors C1 and C2 are used for filtering the noise signals at temperature 12 °C and 5.53 mV at 27 °C, while the zero

Authorized licensed use limited to: University of South Florida. Downloaded on May 21,2020 at 02:32:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
ŠIMKEVIČIUS et al.: CURRENT SENSING SYSTEM 2899

the A/D converter of this microcontroller is ∼0.61 mV. It

corresponds to a current value of ∼1 A (at supply voltage
3.5 V and number of turns n = 10).
The proposed current-sensing system is tested in the current
overload protection systems of frequency converters that are
developed at the Semiconductor Physics Institute of the Center
for Physical Sciences and Technology (Vilnius, Lithuania)
[13]. A block diagram of the frequency converter used with
this current-sensing system is shown in Fig. 6. The frequency
converter consisted of a rectifier that produces the dc voltage
and delivers it through the dc bus to the inverter. The inverter
converts the dc voltage to a variable-frequency, variable-
amplitude, three-phase ac voltage for the supply of the ac
induction motor. The control of the frequency converter is
provided by a control unit based on the digital signal processor
dsPIC30F6010. The current-sensing system, based on the
microcontroller PIC18F2458, processes the data obtained from
the current sensor and sends it to the control unit. The current
sensor measures the dc bus current. Thus this system protects
Fig. 6. Block diagram of the frequency converter with the current-sensing
system.
not only the motor against overload, but also protects the
rectifier in the case of a failure of the inverter’s transistors as
well. This system is tested in an ambient temperature range
of 0–45 °C and is able to protect the frequency converters at
signal temperature drift is ∼0.62 mV in this temperature range, threshold current values of higher than 10 A.
i.e., about 8% of the sensor’s signal at 12 °C. It is observed It has to be noted that the proposed current measurement
that there is sufficient nonlinearity of the characteristics in the system could be used also for other applications. For exam-
0–5 A range, but this has a small influence on the sensor’s ple, this system could be applied for the measurement of
operation as the actual values of the current that is to be current and control in pulsed power generators in place of
controlled are more than 10 A. Rogowski coils, which need signal integration [1]. This would
The typical output signal of the microcontroller [results be especially useful in cases where the measured current pulse
calculated according to (1)] versus the measured current at has a wide frequency band [11], which makes integration a
different temperatures is shown in Fig. 5. The current-sensing difficult procedure. It is also possible to increase the highest
system is calibrated in advance and the appropriate coefficients frequency limit of the measured signal by using a higher-
are entered into the microcontroller. One can see that the speed microcontroller. For measuring higher pulsed currents
absolute current measurement error does not exceed ±0.45 A (few kA), a concentrator with a single-turn winding may be
at both temperatures. This error can be reduced by using used.
more terms in the polynomial expression (1). However, the
digital processing capabilities and memory resources of the
V. C ONCLUSION
microcontroller being used are not sufficient to realize such
improvements. This programmable pulse current-sensing system, consisting
The relative error in the temperature range of 0–45 °C of a contactless current sensor and a microcontroller, was
and the current range of up to 100 A is < 2.5%. Additional proposed for the protection of frequency converters against
investigations have shown that during transient time when pulsed fault currents. It was shown, that in this case, sensors
current slowly changes from its minimal to its maximal value, made from polycrystalline La-Sr-Mn-O manganite films can be
some heating of flux concentrator (closed core) occurs and, used as the magnetic field sensing devices. To minimize the
therefore, the thermal conditions for both resistors become signal of the zero temperature drift, the sensing system used
dissimilar (nonidentical). This can increase the measurement two CMR-resistors incorporated into an unbalanced Wheat-
error up to 5.5%. This error can be reduced by increasing the stone bridge. The displacement of the CMR-resistors in flux
heat dissipation in the part of the flux concentrator where the concentrator, used for the amplification of the magnetic field
turns of the current leads are mounted. generated by the high current, allowed the achievement of a
The response speed of these CMR manganite sensors is maximal difference of the effect of the magnetic field on these
sufficiently high (rise time < 0.05 ms) as it was shown resistors. For signal conditioning and for the compensation
in [11]. Thus, it can be used to measure fast current changes. of the influence of the temperature drift, a microcontroller
A microcontroller with a 20-MHz clock frequency is suffi- with 12-bit A/D converter was used. The investigations of this
ciently fast to compute the current value during ∼0.1 ms. current-sensing system showed that it was possible to record
This processing time is sufficient fast, allowing this current- the current changes during 0.1 ms with ±2.5% measurement
sensing system to be used in the overload controllers of most error. The system was tested in an ambient temperature range
frequency converters. The voltage step linked to one bit of from 0 to 45 °C and was able to protect frequency converters,

Authorized licensed use limited to: University of South Florida. Downloaded on May 21,2020 at 02:32:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
2900 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 41, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2013

used for control of the speed of ac induction motors, at Nerija Žurauskienė (M’10) received the Ph.D. degree in physics from the
threshold current values higher than 10 A. Semiconductor Physics Institute, Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1996.
She is currently a Senior Research Scientist with the Semiconductor
Physics Institute, Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius, and
R EFERENCES a Professor with Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius. He is the
co-author of more than 100 scientific papers. Her current research interests
[1] B. M. Novac, I. R. Smith, P. Senior, M. Parker, and G. Louverdis, include investigation of the influence of short high power electric and magnetic
“Transportable high-energy power generator,” Rev. Sci. Instrum., vol. 81, pulses on low dimensional solid-state materials, and investigation of optical
pp. 054706-1–054706-5, May 2010. properties of semiconductor quantum dots.
[2] L. A. Kojovic, “Application of Rogowski coils for advanced power Dr. Žurauskienė received the Lithuanian National Award in Science in
systems solutions,” in Proc. 18th Int. Conf. Exhibit. Electr. Distrib., 2000.
Jul. 2005, pp. 1–4.
[3] J. Pelegrí, D. Ramírez, E. Sanchis, A. E. Navarro, and S. Casans, “Giant
magnetoresistive sensor in conductance control of switching regulators,”
IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 3578–4580, Sep. 2000.
[4] P. Ripka, “Electric current sensors: A review,” Meas. Sci. Technol., Saulius Balevičius (SM’01) received the Ph.D. degree in physics from Vilnius
vol. 21, p. 112001, Sep. 2010. University, Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1980, and the Habilitation Doctor degree in
[5] V. Bleizgys, A. Baskys, and T. Lipinskis, “Induction motor voltage physics from the Semiconductor Physics Institute, Vilnius, in 2002.
amplitude control technique based on the motor efficiency observation,” He is currently the Head of the Department of Material Sciences and
Electron. Electr. Eng., vol. 109, no. 3, pp. 89–92, Mar. 2011. Electrical Engineering, Semiconductor Physics Institute, Center for Physical
[6] C. Reig, M.-D. Cubells-Beltran, and D. Munoz, “Magnetic field sensors Sciences and Technology, and a Professor with Vilnius Gediminas Technical
based on giant magnetoresistance (GMR) technology: Applications in University, Vilnius. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 scientific
electrical current sensing,” Sensors, vol. 9, pp. 7919–7942, Oct. 2009. papers and holds 24 inventions. His current research interests include the
[7] P. Ripka, “Current sensors using magnetic materials,” J. Optoelectron. influence of high-power electric, magnetic, and light and shock wave pulses
Adv. Mater., vol. 6, pp. 587–592, Jun. 2004. on solid-state materials.
[8] R. Popovic and W. Heidenreich, “Magnetogalvanic sensors,” in Sensors. Dr. Balevičius received the Lithuanian National Award in Science in 2003.
A Comprehensive Survey, vol. 5. New York, NY, USA: VCH, 1989,
pp. 76–81.
[9] M. Ziese, “Extrinsic magnetotransport phenomena in ferromagnetic
oxides,” Rep. Prog. Phys., vol. 65, pp. 143–249, Jan. 2002. Voitech Stankevič received the Ph.D. degree in physics from the Crystallog-
[10] N. Žurauskiene, S. Balevicius, P. Cimmperman, V. Stankevic, raphy Institute, Moscow, Russia, in 1986.
S. Keršulis, J. Novickij, A. Abrutis, and V. Plaušinaitiene, “Colossal He is currently a Senior Research Associate with the Semiconductor
magnetoresistive properties of La0.83 Sr0.17 MnO3 thin films grown by Physics Institute, Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius,
MOCVD on lucalox substrate,” J. Low. Temp. Phys., vol. 159, nos. 1–2, Lithuania, and an Associate Professor with Vilnius Gediminas Technical
pp. 64–67, Apr. 2010. University, Vilnius. He is the co-author of more than 40 scientific papers. His
[11] N. Žurauskiene, S. Balevicius, V. Stankevic, S. Keršulis, M. Schneider, current research interests include material engineering, semiconductor pres-
O. Liebfried, V. Plaušinaitiene, and A. Abrutis, “B-scalar sensor using sure sensors technology, design of various converters, manganites technology
CMR effect in thin polycrystalline manganite films,” IEEE Trans. and research, and development of magnetic field sensors.
Plasma Sci., vol. 396, no. 1, pp. 411–416, Jan. 2011.
[12] C. Israel, S. Kar-Narayan, and N. D. Mathur, “Eliminating the tem-
perature dependence of the response of magnetoelectric magnetic-field
sensors,” IEEE Sensors J., vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 914–917, May 2010. Skirmantas Keršulis received the Ph.D. degree in physics from Vilnius
[13] A. Baskys, V. Bleizgys, and V. Gobis, “The impact of output voltage Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius, Lithuania, in 2010.
modulation strategies on power losses in inverter,” Electron. Electr. Eng., He is currently a Researcher with the Semiconductor Physics Institute,
vol. 94, no. 6, pp. 47–50, Jun. 2009. Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius. He is the co-author
of ten scientific papers. His current research interests include investigation
of short high power electric and magnetic pulses influence on solid-state
materials.

Česlovas Šimkevičius received the Ph.D. degree in technological sciences

from Polytechnical Institute, Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1986. Algirdas Baškys received the Ph.D. degree in technological sciences from
He is currently a Senior Research Associate with the Semiconductor the Electronics Institute, Minsk, Belarus, in 1983.
Physics Institute, Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius, He is currently a Senior Research Associate with the Semiconductor
Lithuania, and an Associate Professor with Vilnius Gediminas Technical Physics Institute, Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius,
University, Vilnius. He is the co-author of more than 30 scientific papers. His Lithuania, and a Professor with Vilnius Gediminas Technical University,
current research interests include design of various sensors, semiconductor Vilnius. He is the co-author of more than 100 scientific papers. His current
pressure sensors technology, and research and development of magnetic field research interests include power electronics, control methods and controllers
sensors. for automatic control, and high current density analytic models of BJT.

Authorized licensed use limited to: University of South Florida. Downloaded on May 21,2020 at 02:32:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.