Application Note

Testing of Current Transformer Saturation Influence on

a Protection System with RelaySimTest

Author
Jens Baumeister | [email protected]

Date
Jan 28, 2016

Related OMICRON Product

CMC - RelaySimTest

Application Area
System-Based Testing taking Current Transformer (CT) Saturation into account

Keywords
RelaySimTest, System-Based Testing, CT Saturation

Version
v1.0

Document ID
ANS_16007_ENU

Abstract
This application note describes how to consider the influence of CT saturation in a system-based test with
RelaySimTest.
 General information

OMICRON electronics GmbH including all international branch offices is henceforth referred to as
OMICRON.
The product information, specifications, and technical data embodied in this application note represent the
technical status at the time of writing and are subject to change without prior notice.
We have done our best to ensure that the information given in this application note is useful, accurate and
entirely reliable. However, OMICRON does not assume responsibility for any inaccuracies which may be
present.
OMICRON translates this application note from the source language English into a number of other
languages. Any translation of this document is done for local requirements, and in the event of a dispute
between the English and a non-English version, the English version of this note shall govern.

All rights including translation reserved. Reproduction of any kind, for example, photocopying, microfilming,
optical character recognition and/or storage in electronic data processing systems, requires the explicit
consent of OMICRON. Reprinting, wholly or partly, is not permitted.
© OMICRON 2016. All rights reserved. This application note is a publication of OMICRON.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 2 of 20

 Table of content

1 Safety Instructions ...............................................................................................................................4

2 About this Application Note .................................................................................................................5
2.1 General Requirements....................................................................................................................5
2.2 What this Application Note describes .............................................................................................5
2.3 Current Transformer Saturation ......................................................................................................6
3 Consideration of CT Saturation in RelaySimTest ..............................................................................9
4 Application Example - Line Differential Protection Tests with CT Saturation ............................. 12
4.1 General Information ..................................................................................................................... 12
4.2 Suitable Tests .............................................................................................................................. 14
4.2.1 Test 1 – Real CT Data .................................................................................................................... 14
4.2.2 Test 2 – Variation of the Residual Magnetism ................................................................................ 14
4.2.3 Test 3 – Variation of the Operating Burden..................................................................................... 16
4.2.4 Test 4 – Nominal Burden, Variation of the Residual Magnetism ..................................................... 17
5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 18
6 List of Literature ................................................................................................................................. 19

© OMICRON 2016 Page 3 of 20

1 Safety Instructions
This application note may only be used in combination with the relevant product manuals which contain all
safety instructions. The user is fully responsibility for any application that makes use of OMICRON products.
Instructions are always characterized by a  symbol even if they are included to a safety instruction.

DANGER
Death or severe injury caused by high voltage or current if the respective
protective measures are not complied.

 Carefully read and understand the content of this application note as well as
the manuals of the involved systems before starting its practical application.
 Please contact OMICRON before you continue the process if you do not
understand the safety instructions, operating instructions, or parts of it.
 Follow each instruction mentioned there especially the safety instructions
since this is the only way to avoid danger that can occur when working at
high voltage or high current systems.
 Furthermore, only use the involved equipment according to its intended
purpose to guarantee a safe operation.
 Existing national safety standards for accident prevention and
environmental protection may supplement the equipment’s manual.

Only experienced and competent professionals that are trained for working in high voltage or high current
environments may perform this application note. Additional the following qualifications are required:
• authorized to work in environments of energy generation, transmission or distribution and familiar
with the approved operating practices in such environments.
• familiar with the five safety rules.
• good knowledge of the OMICRON CMC test sets and RelaySimTest

© OMICRON 2016 Page 4 of 20

2 About this Application Note

2.1 General Requirements

Before you get started with this application note, read the “Getting Started” manual [1] of RelaySimTest.
Please make sure that you also have a good knowledge about the CMC test system. Furthermore a good
knowledge about current transformer is required.

2.2 What this Application Note describes

The application note describes how to take CT saturation into account in system-based tests with
RelaySimTest. It covers the following content.

1. CT Saturation (General Information)

2. Consideration of CT Saturation in RelaySimTest
3. Application Example – Line Differential Protection Tests with CT Saturation

The application note does not describe wiring checks, parameter tests and current transformer tests. To
test a protection system thoroughly such tests are also recommended.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 5 of 20

2.3 Current Transformer Saturation

A lot of protection functions need for their operation the currents of the protected object. Current transformer
(CTs) transform these primary currents into secondary currents, which have to fit to the measurement range
of the corresponding protection relay input. Most relays are connected to conventional CTs with iron cores.

For the understanding of the phenomena of an iron core it is helpful to focus on its hysteresis loop shown in
Figure 1.

Figure 1: Hysteresis Loop

By applying a current through either the primary conductor (as during operation) or the secondary winding a
magnetic force H is the consequence. A value which is representing the magnetic effect of the field in the
core is the magnetic flux density B. It is directly linked with the magnetic force H in dependence of the
material of the core and causes an amplification of H. For iron the amplification is very high due to the
molecular structure.

However this amplification effect has its limit. If B=0 the molecular magnets compensate each other, hence
there is no magnetic effect. If the magnetic force increases (caused by a current) more and more molecular
magnets arrange in the same direction. This has the effect that magnetization increases. As soon as all
molecular magnets are arranged into the same direction the magnetization reaches its limit. This state is
then called saturation.
If the magnetic force H is now reduced again the flux density will not fall back to its origin value. This effect is
called remanence. A value which represents the effect of remanence is the residual magnetism for B
(H=0).

© OMICRON 2016 Page 6 of 20

 Figure 2: CT Model

Figure 2 shows a circuit diagram to model the behavior of a current transformer. The primary current I p is
transformed with the winding ratio Np/Ns to the current I’p. The following equation describes that:

𝐼𝑃 𝑁𝑆
=
𝐼′𝑃 𝑁𝑃

The current Is is the current flowing to the CT burden which is represented by the impedance ZB. This means
Is is the current flowing through the corresponding input of the connected protection relay. The excitation
current Iext distorts the current ratio. The higher Iext the higher the error of the current ratio.

𝐼𝑆 = 𝐼′𝑃 − 𝐼𝑒𝑥𝑡

Especially if the core is saturated Iext increases in a large scale. This is represented in the CT model by a
decrease of the main inductivity Lm. In that case the deviation between Is and I’p is very high. Figure 3
illustrates this.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 7 of 20

 Figure 3: Current deviation (absolute) between I’p and Is

The losses of the CT are represented by the winding resistance RCT and the core losses that are
represented by RH for hysteresis and Reddy for eddy losses. The following equation shows the relation
between the core voltage Vcore and the impedance of the burden ZB:

𝑉𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑒 = (𝑅𝐶𝑇 + 𝑍𝐵 ) ∗ 𝐼𝑆

That means a high burden impedance ZB leads to a high core voltage and therefore to a high magnetic flux,
which makes the occurrence of saturation effects more probable in comparison to a low burden.
Depending on the type and power of the CT and the connected burden (including the wiring between CT and
relay(s) and the burden of the relay input circuit), CT saturation may corrupt the transformed currents up to a
point where proper relay performance is impaired, especially during the first few cycles where fast and
reliable operation is expected. [2]
The question is: How will the connected relays cope with these non-ideal signals? Can a certain amount of
saturation be acceptable, i.e. will the relay still trip with acceptable trip time and reach tolerance under all
realistic fault conditions? [2]
To answer these questions RelaySimTest offers the possibility to simulate a conventional non-ideal CT
behavior, taking the CT data and the connected operational burden into consideration. The application note
describes how to realize such a test approach.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 8 of 20

3 Consideration of CT Saturation in RelaySimTest
As an example for this application note a line differential protection is used. The RelaySimTest line
differential protection template provides a comfortable test approach for such a system. The corresponding
application note [3] describes the template in detail. It explains different test cases using a power system
and line differential protection example that is also used now to show how to consider CT saturation effects.
Figure 4 illustrates the example.

Infeed 1 Infeed 2
Line Data
Source impedances: Source impedances:
50 Hz
Z: 28,868 Ω; 85° Solidly grounded system Z: 43,302 Ω; 85°
k-faktor: 0.6; 0° 110 kV k-faktor: 0.6; 0°
Solidly grounded 600 A Solidly grounded
A 32,5 km B
R‘ = 0.193 Ω/km
CB A X‘ = 0.4 Ω/km
3-pole RN/R = 0.6 CB B
trip time = 50 ms XN/X = 0.6 same as CB A
close time = 100 ms
CL‘ = 0.0013 µF/km
CN‘ = 0.005 µF/km

CT A CT B
Trip 110 V 600 A / 1 A
Trip 110 V
600 A / 1 A
5P10 5P10
Relay Relay
A communication connection B

Figure 4: Application Example - Power System

It is assumed that relay A and relay B are connected to CTs with a nominal ratio of 600 A / 1 A. The type of
both CTs is 5P10 and there nominal burden is 15 VA. Their actual data were measured with the OMICRON
CT Analyzer a test device to accurately measure all relevant CT parameters like CT ratio, hysteresis curve,
winding resistance, operational burden and more. For more information about the CT Analyzer see [4].

Figure 5: OMICRON CT Analyzer

To consider saturation effects the CT data have to be entered in the System under Test menu of
RelaySimTest. The Instrument transformers tab is available after a click on the corresponding Bay.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 9 of 20

 Figure 6: Instruments transformers tab

To enable the simulation of CT saturation effects it is necessary to activate the check box “Simulate
saturation” (see Figure 6) and to enter the CT data after a click on “Edit CT data…”. Figure 7 shows the
corresponding menus for CT A and B of the example.
These settings will only affect test cases in which saturation simulation is activated in its properties (see
chapter 4.1 ).

Figure 7: CT Data

© OMICRON 2016 Page 10 of 20

 It is also possible to import CT data measured with the CT Analyzer by using the “Import CT
Analyzer report:” option (see Figure 7).

The table below lists CT settings and respective correspondence on the CT Analyzer side.

RelaySimTest CT Analyzer result value

Rated burden (Sn) RV_OBJECT_NOM_BURDEN
Accuracy limit factor (n) In case of a protection CT:
RV_EXCITATION_VA_ALFI, RV_EXCITATION_BURDEN_ALFI
In case of a measurement CT:
RV_EXCITATION_VA_FSI, RV_EXCITATION_BURDEN_FSI
Winding resistance (Rct) RV_OBJECT_RCT, RV_BURDEN_VA
Unsaturated inductance (Lu) RV_EXCITATION_LU
Saturated inductance (Lm) RV_EXCITATION_LS
Remanent flux density (Br) RV_EXCITATION_KR
Eddy resistance RV_EXCITATION_EDDYRES
Residual Magnetism RV_RES_REMANENCE_PERCENT
Operating burden (% of Sn) RV_OBJECT_OP_BURDEN
R (RV_BURDEN_IMPEDANCE * RV_BURDEN_COSPHI)
X (RV_BURDEN_IMPEDANCE * sin(acos(RV_BURDEN_COSPHI))
Z RV_BURDEN_IMPEDANCE, RV_BURDEN_VA
φ acos(RV_BURDEN_COSPHI)

© OMICRON 2016 Page 11 of 20

4 Application Example - Line Differential Protection Tests with
CT Saturation

4.1 General Information

This chapter describes tests with the RelaySimTest line differential protection template using the application
example of chapter 3 . The focus is not on the test cases or on the template itself (which is described
in detail by the corresponding application note [3]), the focus is on testing with CT saturation effects.
The template can be selected after a click on the menu “File” -> “New Test Document” -> “Choose from
OMICRON template”.

Figure 8: Open an OMICRON template

To use the template it is necessary to adapt all settings e.g. line, bay, infeed data and so on to the real test
application. But due to the fact that the application example is the same as the example of the template this
step can be skipped now. Nevertheless test settings like the test current limits have to be adapted. Relay
manuals specify a voltage and a current that does not cause damage to the relay. The limits of
RelaySimTest have to be adapted according to the current and voltage limits of the relay manual.
Nevertheless it is important to do breaks between the tests to ensure that the relay is not stressed too much!
The menu Test Cases includes the different test scenarios. To consider CT saturation for a certain test case
it has to be activated in its properties as shown in Figure 9. It is necessary to do that for all tests described in
chapter 4.2 .

© OMICRON 2016 Page 12 of 20

 Figure 9: Test Case Properties

A Siemens 7SD610 relay system was used to perform the tests of this application note. The relays manual
[5] specifies requirements for current transformers:
1. It has to be ensured that the current transformers are not saturated stationary, even if the maximum
fault current occurs.
2. A non-saturated time of at least a quarter of a cycle (5 ms for a 50 Hz system) has to be ensured or
the operational accuracy limit factor n’ has to be at least 30.
3. The ratio between the primary currents of the CTs at the different ends of the protected area must
be less than 8.
Furthermore according to [5] the operational accuracy limit factor n’ can be calculated by the following
formula (n: rated accuracy limit factor, PN: rated CT burden, Pi: internal burden, P’: actually connected
burden):

𝑃𝑁 + 𝑃𝑖
𝑛′ = ( )∗𝑛
𝑃′ + 𝑃𝑖

The current transformers and there connected burden of the application example meet all three criteria if
there is no residual magnetism:
1. The highest fault currents are measured by CT A. They appear if a fault occurs at the beginning of
the line. The operational accuracy limit factor of CT A is n’ = 34,45 (For CT B it is about 38) . This
factor multiplied with the nominal primary current IPrim of the CTs is 20,67 kA. The maximum fault
current IF max is according to the RelaySimTest simulation of the example about 2,2 kA.

𝐼𝐹 𝑚𝑎𝑥 < 𝑛′ ∗ 𝐼𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑚

2. 𝑛′ > 30
3. The nominal primary CT currents are the same for both line ends (600 A/600 A = 1).
𝐼𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑚 1
<8
𝐼𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑚 2

© OMICRON 2016 Page 13 of 20

 The first test of chapter 4.2 should show that the behavior of the protection system is correct if it is tested
with the different test scenarios of the template and when the real CT data are taken into consideration. The
remaining tests should show the limits of the protection system concerning to CT saturation. To get
pronounced saturation effects different considerations have to be done:
For a fault inside the protected area, CT saturation may reduce the differential current in a way that the relay
system does not detect the fault on the protected line. The situation becomes worse if both CTs show
saturation effects. Test case 4 (Double Infeed, Fault on Line) of the RelaySimTest template offers a test
scenario with a fault on the line. For a fault that is located out of the protected area, CT saturation can be
critical, especially if one CT shows more pronounced saturation effects, because the protection system
detects a differential current due to the measurement errors. Infeed 1 of the application example has a
smaller source impedance compared to infeed 2, therefore a fault on busbar B (out of the protected area)
leads to more pronounced saturation effects compared to a fault on busbar A. Hence test case 3 (Single
Infeed, Fault on Busbar B) is suitable to test a fault out of the protected area for the given example.

The following tests show an approach of how to analyze the behavior of a line differential protection
system with respect to CT saturation. The presented test results are just examples, because they
depend on a lot of different conditions like the topology and data of the protection system and the
power system, the relay type, the relay settings, their hardware and firmware and so on.

4.2 Suitable Tests

4.2.1 Test 1 – Real CT Data

If the protection system is tested with the different tests of the template the results have to show that the
behaviour of the protection is correct even when the CT saturation simulation is active and the real CT data
are taken into account.

→ Tests where the fault is located out of the protected area should not lead to an active relay trip signal. On
the other hand tests where the fault is inside the protected area have to lead to a trip.

→ With the CT and burden data of the example the test currents do not show pronounced saturation effects.
The behaviour of the protection system used for the example (Siemens 7SD610, see chapter 4.1 ) was
correct.

Figure 10: Test currents

4.2.2 Test 2 – Variation of the Residual Magnetism

For this tests the real CT data are used and the residual magnetism is varied. It should show where the
border between a correct and a wrong relay behaviour is with respect to the residual magnetism.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 14 of 20

 → The saturation of the CT core depends on its premagnetization. If there is a high residual magnetism a
fault current leads to faster saturation compared to the situation if there is no remanent flux.

> Test Case 3 of the template is used (Single Infeed, Fault on Busbar B). The line differential protection
should not trip, because the fault is out of the protected area.

Figure 11: Test Case 3 (Single Infeed, Fault on Busbar B)

> The real CT and burden data of both CTs are taken into consideration.
> The residual magnetism of CT A is kept at 0%, while the residual magnetism of CT B is varied.

→ With the CT and burden data of the example the behaviour of the protection system was correct up to a
residual magnetism for CT B of about 95%. This result is not surprising, because for such a high
remanent flux number 2 of relay’s CT requirements is not met (see chapter 4.1 ) The non-saturated time
is less than 5 ms.

Figure 12: Saturation of CT B if a high residual magnetism is taken into consideration (red: IL1, yellow: IL2, blue: IL3)

> Now Test Case 4 of the template is used (Double Infeed, Fault on the Protected Line). The line
differential protection has to trip, because the fault is on the protected line.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 15 of 20

 Figure 13: Test Case 4 (Double Infeed, Fault on the Protected Line)

> The real CT data of both CTs are taken into consideration.
> The residual magnetism of both CTs is varied.

→ With the CT and burden data of the example the behaviour of the protection system was correct even if a
residual magnetism of 100 % was used.

Figure 14: CT Saturation of CT A and B

4.2.3 Test 3 – Variation of the Operating Burden

For this tests the real CT data are used and the residual magnetism is varied. It should show where the
border between a correct and a wrong relay behaviour is with respect to the connected operating burden.

→ According to chapter 2.3 a high burden impedance leads to a high core voltage and therefore to a high
magnetic flux, which makes the occurrence of saturation effects more probable in comparison to a low
burden.

> Test Case 3 of the template is used (Single Infeed, Fault on Busbar B). The line differential protection
should not trip, because the fault is out of the protected area.
> The real CT data of both CTs are taken into consideration.
> The residual magnetism of both CTs is kept at 0%.
> For CT A the burden of the example is used, for CT B the burden is varied.
© OMICRON 2016 Page 16 of 20
 Figure 15: Saturation of CT B if a high operational burden is simulated

→ The border between the a correct and a wrong relay behavior was found between 2,5 and 3 times the
nominal burden (about 2,75*15 VA = 41,25 VA). With such a high burden the operational accuracy limit
factor n’ of CT B is only 3,91 (see chapter 4.1 ). Even with this low factor number 1 of the relay’s CT
requirements is narrowly met, but it is pretty close to the limit.

> Afterwards Test Case 4 of the template is used (Double Infeed, Fault on the Protected Line). The
protection system has to trip, because the fault is on the protected line.
> Opposed to the previous test now the burden of both CTs are varied up to 3 times the nominal burden.

→ The behaviour of the protection system was correct even if an operational burden of 3 times the nominal
burden was simulated.

4.2.4 Test 4 – Nominal Burden, Variation of the Residual Magnetism

This test case should show the behaviour of the protection system if a nominal CT burden is simulated for
either only CT B (Test Case 3) or for both CTs (Test Case 4). The residual magnetism is varied.

> Test Case 3 of the template is used (Single Infeed, Fault on Busbar B). The line differential protection
should not trip, because the fault is out of the protected area.
> The real CT data of both CTs are taken into consideration.
> The real burden data of CT A are used, for CT B the nominal burden is simulated.
> The residual magnetism of CT A is kept at 0%, while the residual magnetism of CT B is varied.

→ With the conditions described above the behaviour of the protection system was correct up to a residual
magnetism for CT B of about 70%. Compared to Test 2 where the real burden data are used, the border
is now about 25% percent lower.

> Afterwards Test Case 4 of the template is used (Double Infeed, Fault on the Protected Line). The
protection system has to trip, because the fault is on the protected line.
> The real CT data and the nominal burden data are used for both CTs.

© OMICRON 2016 Page 17 of 20

 > The residual magnetism of both CTs is varied.

→ With the CT of the example and the nominal burden data of the behaviour of the protection system was
correct even if a residual magnetism of 100 % was used.

5 Conclusion
CT saturation can cause an unwanted and unexpected protection system behaviour. With RelaySimTest it
is possible to simulate such effects and to analyse the relay reaction. For this reason the CT data can be
specified manually or in a very comfortable way by importing them from a CT Analyzer report.
This application note describes a test approach using a line differential protection as an example.
Nevertheless RelaySimTest can also be used to find out how other protection functions deal with CT
saturation. Number [6] of the list of literature shows some considerations with respect to other functions like
distance protection, where saturation can cause problems, since the calculated impedance may result in a
wrong distance tripping zone due to current measurement errors. Figure 16 shows an impedance trajectory
calculated by a distance protection relay that measures test currents with high saturation effects. The
impedance moves from a point with a high resistive component (marked with 1) at the beginning of the fault
to the stationary impedance (marked with 2). The transient saturation leads to an increase of the impedance
magnitude and an angle shift towards the R axis. The reactive part at point 1 is below the stationary X-value
at point 2. If point 1 would be in an instantaneous tripping zone and point 2 in a zone with a trip time delay,
this could lead to an unwanted non-delayed relay trip.
To sum it up: The simulation of saturation effects can provide really worthwhile results. The CT simulation
feature of RelaySimTest offers a very powerful addition for simulation based testing approaches.

Figure 16: Calculated impedance trajectory of a distance protection relay that measures currents showing transient saturation effects

© OMICRON 2016 Page 18 of 20

6 List of Literature

[1] “RelaySimTest Getting Started”; OMICRON electronics GmbH; 2015

[2] “Introduction of an easy method to analyze the influence of CT saturation on the protection system”; Dr.
Peter Meinhardt, Boris Bastigkeit; CIRED 21st International Conference on Electricity Distribution;
Frankfurt; June 2011
[3] “Application-Oriented Testing of Line Differential Protection End to End in the Field Using the
Corresponding RelaySimTest Template”; Jens Baumeister; OMICRON electronics GmbH; 2015
[4] “CT Analyzer – Revolution in current transformer testing and calibration” (CT-Analyzer-Brochure);
OMICRON electronics GmbH; 2013
[5] “SIPROTEC Differential Protection 7SD610 V4.6“; SIEMENS, 2009
[6] “Virtual Primary Testing in action – relays exposed to CT saturation”; OMICRON electronics GmbH;
International Protection Testing Symposium; 2009

© OMICRON 2016 Page 19 of 20

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