1

Abstract A new technique for the correction of distorted

current waveforms in the secondary windings of current
transformers (CTs) when the magnetic core is saturated, is
presented. The technique is based on the integration of the
induced voltage in a tertiary winding. The exciting current is
determined using a function that describes the magnetization
process in the core, and by adding it to the distorted secondary
current, a more faithful reproduction of the primary current
wave is obtained. The initial magnetic flux in the core is
determined by analogical integration of the voltage across the
tertiary winding, from the pre-fault state up to the instant in
which the current reaches 150% of the load current. Due to the
large air gap length, the remnant flux in the core is ignored.

Index Terms Air-gapped CTs, current transformer,
distortions, power system protection, saturation, waveform
compensation.
I. INTRODUCTION
HE fault currents in electric power systems present a
sinusoidal component plus a dc decaying component. The
first produces a sinusoidal magnetic flux in the current
transformer (CT) core. The second produces an initially
increasing flux which may lead to a high saturation level in the
core. This may cause severe distortions in the secondary
currents supplied to protective relays. As consequences, the
following problems may arise [1]:
1) Relays can operate inadequately;
2) Relays may not be sensitive to the distortions that reduce
the root-mean-square value of the secondary current;
3) Relay operations may be delayed, for the reason cited in
the previous item.
4) Fault locators may not show the correct indication.
Those occurrences can cause thermal and electrodynamics
damages, loss of coordination in the protection relays, and
difficulty of location of the faulted point, or loss of system
stability. Then, it is necessary to develop techniques that
provide the best accuracy in the process of transformation, to
avoid such disturbances. This task has been accomplished by
several methods and mathematical tools used in the area of
digital signal processing, applicable to the field of power
system protection.
The initial works about the mitigation of the distortions in
secondary currents of CTs considered the problem by means of
hardware [2]-[3].
With the development of the microprocessors, numerical
techniques for detection the CT core saturation and correction
of the secondary current waveform were developed. Conrad
and Oeding [4] is the first reference about this matter. The
authors proposed a method in which the magnetic flux are
obtained by numerical integration of the secondary current; in
addition, a function that describes the minor hysteresis loops in
the iron core is used to obtain the excitation current; so, the
correction is performed adding this current to the distorted
secondary current. A similar method was proposed by [5].
Additionally, a method to calculate the core flux prior the fault
was presented, which was based on the periodicity of the flux
waveform in the steady state. The algorithm was tested in real
time using a DSP. The reported results were good. However,
this technique was not able to estimate the residual flux in the
CT core. The same authors presented a method to detect the
instants of the core saturation, which was based on third order
difference functions [6]. Later, this method was combined with
another based on second order difference functions to estimate
the residual flux in the CT core [7].
The discrete wavelet transform was proposed by Li et al. [8]
to detect the CT saturation, in conjunction with a regression
technique destined to correct the secondary current wave.
Methodologies based on least squares curve fitting were
presented by Pan et al. [9], El-Naggar and Gilany [10] and
Hooshyar and Sanaye-Pasand [11]. Despite the refined
mathematical treatment, these methods impose an intense
burden of computation to the relay.
Wiszniewski et al. [12] suggested a simple method to
reconstruct the primary current waveform. However, the
accuracy might degrade if the primary fault current contains
harmonics and noise.
Techniques based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) for
detection and correction were proposed by Yu et al. [13],
Khorashadi-Zadeh and Sanaye-Pasand [14], and Segatto and
Coury [15]. These methods might require a substantial amount
of network training.
Correction of Distorted Current Waveforms in
the Secondary of Current Transformers
Fagner A. Pereira, Francisco das Chagas F. Guerra, Edson G. da Costa, Member, IEEE, and Benemar
A. de Souza, Senior Member, IEEE
Universidade Federal de Campina Grande - UFCG
T
2

II. CURRENT TRANSFORMER MODEL
The CT equivalent electric circuit is shown in Fig. 1. A third
winding (tertiary) superimposed to the secondary is used,
which is made by a thin wire, with the purpose to provide the
voltage u
3
that will be integrated for determination of the
magnetic flux in the CT core.


Fig. 1. The current transformer equivalent circuit.

Fig. 1 shows the resistances and leakage inductances of the
wires and burden (R
w
, L
w
, R
r
, L
r
), as well as the nonlinear
magnetizing inductance of the iron core (L
m
) and the linear
inductance of the gap (L
g
). The magnetic core properties are
represented by the following expression, where is the flux
linkage in the secondary winding and is the electric
conductance related to the iron core losses:
) ( )] ( [
) (
)] ( [ ) (
3
t u t f
dt
t d
t f t i
e
+ =

+ = ( 1 )
The function i
e
(t) = f [(t)] describes the CT saturation
curve (in peak values). So, the trajectories in the phase plane
- i
e
determined by (1) describe asymmetric minor loops. The
parameter is determined by trial-and-error method, by
comparing dynamic loops - i
e
in 60 Hz obtained by computer
simulations with those registered in laboratory.
For the circuit of Fig. 1, it follows that:
dt t u t t
t
) ( ) ( ) (
3
0
0

+ = ( 2 )
) ( ] [ ) (
3
t u t f t i
e
+ ) ( = ( 3 )
) ( ) ( ) (
2 1
t i t i t i
e
+ = ( 4 )
The term (t
0
) of (2) is the remanent flux in the magnetic
core,
R
, plus the initial secondary flux linkage
0
imposed by
the primary current when it reaches 150% of the rated current.
The remanent flux in the magnetic core is reduced to a
negligible value by the air gap (CT class TPZ). However, 0
cannot be neglected because small increases of cause large
increases in i
e
when the core saturates.
III. THE PROPOSED METHOD
The correction of the secondary current waveform is
accomplished in accordance to the test setup block diagram
shown in Fig. 2. The interface system has three inputs (1,2,3)
and three corresponding outputs which are connected to supply
the IED (Intelligent Electronic Device). The current in the
secondary winding (N
2
turns) is applied in the input port 1 and
is converted in a proportional voltage. The tertiary winding (N
3

turns) is connected to the port 2 through an analogical
integrator. In this winding the current is negligible. Thus, the
voltage u
3
is also applied to the port 3.


Fig. 2. Test setup block diagram.

The proposed correction method of the secondary current
waveform is accomplished by the following way:
1) The voltage proportional to the current i
2
in secondary
winding and the induced voltage in tertiary winding, u
3,

are registered.
2) The integral of u
3
(t) is determined by an analogical
integrator connected to tertiary winding, which allows the
measuring of initial flux linkages, (t
0
). So, the initial
flux is measured, and not estimated using second order
differences as proposed by [7].
3) Evaluations of three successive current samples are
made. If they are larger than 150% of the maximum load
current, the secondary flux linkage is calculated by (2),
using the trapezoidal integration method.
4) Calculation of the exciting current, i
e
, using the saturation
curve and the constant , in accord to (3).
5) Calculation of the corrected secondary current, by
summing i
e
to the current i
2
, in accordance to (4).
The voltage u
3
applied to the port 3 is necessary to calculate
numerically, because the analogical integrator only gives
adequate values of only about 1/6 of cycle in 60 Hz, after the
fault occurrence.
IV. HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION
The electric circuit used to obtain the primary current is
shown in Fig. 3.


Fig. 3. Circuit used to obtain the primary current waveform.
3

The transmission line is reproduced by a series association
of three pairs of iron core reactors with non-magnetic gap to
assure linear properties up to 40 A. The time constant of the
artificial transmission line is 150 ms. In normal conditions, the
current is limited by a resistive load RL = 1.9 k.
The fault is simulated by closing the synchronous switch,
which consists in a triac controlled by a circuit based on a
microcontroller PIC16F877. So, the fault incidence angle may
be set in the range 0
o
-180
o
.
The CT used in the laboratory measurements has a core
made of grain oriented silicon steel, with the following data:
magnetic path length: 0.342 m; gap length: 0.001 m; core
cross-section area: 0.00132 m
2
; lamination thickness: 0.3 mm;
stacking factor: 0.95; core weight: 3 kg; turns ratio (primary /
secondary / tertiary): 240 / 240 / 240; rated primary current: 5
A; rated secondary current: 5 A; secondary winding resistance:
0.64 ; secondary winding leakage inductances: negligible;
core electric conductance, : 0.00083 S; rated burden: 1.2 .
The saturation curve and the major dynamic loop - i
e
(60
Hz), obtained in laboratory, are shown in Fig. 4.

0.00 4.00 8.00 12.00 16.00 20.00
Time ( s )
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
F
l
u
x

L
i
n
k
a
g
e

(

V
.
s

)

Fig. 4. Major dynamic loop and saturation curve measured in 60 Hz.
A way to fit the saturation curve is to use a sequence of
points with coordinates (i
e
, ) in an ordinate table [16]. A
value of i
e
corresponding to an intermediate value of is
obtained using a search routine and linear interpolation. So,
the parameter is used, as indicated in (3).
After computer simulation studies, the proposed algorithm
was implemented in laboratory, using a microcomputer and a
16-bit data acquisition board. The sampling rate was 333
samples/cycle.
V. RESULTS
Two different secondary burden are considered in the
laboratory measurements, whose impedances are 4.3 + j 0
and 2.6 + j 3.6 , in 60 Hz.
To evaluate the performance of the algorithm, the transient
error, T, is calculated at every sampling instant:
(%) 100 .
2
1
1 2
F
F N

I
i i K
=

(5)
where K
N
is the turns ratio of the CT, i
2

is the secondary
current, i
1F
is the primary current and I
1F
is the RMS value of
this current in symmetrical regime.
Fig. 5 and Fig. 8 show the primary and secondary currents.
Fig. 6 and Fig. 9 show the instantaneous RMS values of these
currents.
The transient errors are shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 10.
Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 show the current waves in symmetrical
regime.

0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10
Time ( s )
-20.00
-10.00
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(

A

)
PRIMARY
SECONDARY - DISTORTED
SECONDARY - CORRECTED

Fig. 5. Current waveforms Burden: 4.3 + j 0 .

0.00 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.20
Time ( s )
0.00
4.00
8.00
12.00
16.00
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

R
M
S

(

A

)

Fig. 6. Current RMS versus time Burden: 4.3 + j 0 .
4

0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50
Time ( s )
-20.00
0.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
T
r
a
n
s
i
e
n
t

E
r
r
o
r

(

%

)
CORRECTED
DISTORTED

Fig. 7. Transient error Burden: 4.3 + j 0 .

0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.30
Time ( s )
-20.00
-10.00
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(

A

)
PRIMARY
SECONDARY - DISTORTED
SECONDARY - CORRECTED

Fig. 8. Current waveforms Burden: 2.6 + j 3.6 .

0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50
Time ( s )
0.00
4.00
8.00
12.00
16.00
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

R
M
S

(

A

)

Fig. 9. Current RMS versus time Burden: 2.6 + j 3.6 .
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50
Time ( s )
-20.00
0.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
T
r
a
n
s
i
e
n
t

E
r
r
o
r

(

%

)
CORRECTED
DISTORTED

Fig. 10. Transient error Burden: 2.6 + j 3.6 .

0.48 0.48 0.48 0.49 0.49
Time ( s )
0.00
4.00
8.00
12.00
16.00
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(

A

)
PRIMARY
SECONDARY (CORRECTED)
SECONDARY ( DISTORTED)

Fig. 11. Current waveforms in symmetrical regime Burden: 4.3 + j 0 .

0.49 0.50 0.50 0.50
Time ( s )
0.00
4.00
8.00
12.00
16.00
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(

A

)
PRIMARY
SECONDARY (CORRECTED)
SECONDARY ( DISTORTED)

Fig. 12. Current waveforms in symmetrical regime Burden: 2.6 + j 3.6 .
5

Table I shows the maximum transient errors,
T
, that occur
in the correction processes.

TABLE I
MAXIMUM TRANSIENT ERRORS
BURDEN
()
T
DISTORTED
(%)
T
CORRECTED
(%)
4.3+j0.0

70.9

7.5
2.6+j3.6 52.1 4.0


Table II shows the magnitude error, S. and phase error, ,
of the secondary fault currents in symmetrical regime. The
magnitude error is calculated by the following expression, in
which the RMS values are considered:
(%) 100 .
1
1 2
F
F N
S
I
I I K
=

(6)

TABLE II
MAGNITUDE AND PHASE ERRORS IN SYMMETRICAL REGIME
BURDEN
()
S
DISTORTED
(%)
S
CORRECTED
(%)

DISTORTED
(
O
)

CORRECTED
(
O
)

4.3+j0.0

2.8

-0.03

8.7

0.01
2.6+j3.6 12.2 0.52 4.3 0.42


The magnetic trajectories in the phase plane - i
e
for the
resistive burden are shown in Fig. 13. These trajectories
describe asymmetric minor loops, because the inclusion of the
constant in (3).

-4.00 0.00 4.00 8.00 12.00
Excitation Current ( A )
-0.20
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
F
l
u
x

L
i
n
k
a
g
e

(

V
.
s

)

Fig. 13. Magnetic trajectories in phase plane - ie Burden: 4.3 + j 0.0 .
VI. CONCLUSION
The success of the secondary current correction is extremely
dependent of the accurate determination of the initial flux in
the instant of the fault occurrence. In other methods, the initial
flux is determined by estimation. However, such processes can
cause significant errors. In the proposed technique, the initial
flux imposed by the primary current is measured by an
analogical integrator, inside a time interval that result accurate
values. Moreover, the gap reduces the residual flux to a
negligible value.
The loss of accuracy caused by the increase of the exciting
current is compensated by the numeric processing performed
by the IED. In consequence, it is possible to use the same type
of CT in the protection and in the measurement.
The proposed correction method avoids the CT oversizing.
Thus, the magnetic core dimensions become smaller and the
ratio and phase errors are reduced. The inserted air gap allows
an additional reduction of the core, because the secondary time
constant, the remanence and the magnetic induction decrease.
Another advantage of this technique is that it is not
necessary the knowledge of the impedances of the load,
secondary winding and connection wires to calculate the
secondary excitation voltage. This practice causes significant
errors, because not always such impedances are precisely
known. Another problem is that any change of its values
requests modifications in the settings of the IED.
The CT must have a tertiary winding. However, this is not a
significant problem, because this type of CT is easily available
in the trade. Many CTs are manufactured with two or more
low current windings. Moreover, these characteristics can be
specified in the proposal of acquisition of those devices,
without practically to increase the cost of CT, because the
current in tertiary winding is very low. So, this winding can be
built with thin wire, which is used for measurement of the
induced voltage to calculate the magnetic flux in the iron core.
The presented results indicate that the proposed method
corrects the distorted secondary current in a satisfactory way
and the errors introduced by the iron core CTs are significantly
reduced.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank Prof. W. L. A. Neves of Federal
University of Campina Grande for his stimulating interest in
this work and his suggestions.
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Fagner de Araujo Pereira was born in Campina
Grande, Brazil, in 1982. He received the B.Sc. and
M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from the
Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG),
Campina Grande, Brazil, in 2010 and 2012,
respectively, where he is currently pursuing the D.Sc.
degree. Currently, he is teaching in the Escola Tcnica
Redentorista (ETER), Campina Grande, Brazil. His
research interests include electronic circuits and digital
signal processing.

Francisco das Chagas Fernandes Guerra was born
in Antenor Navarro, Brazil, in 1954. He received the
B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering
from the Universidade Federal da Paraiba (UFPB),
Campina Grande, Brazil, in 1977 and 1982,
respectively, and D.Sc. degree in Universidade
Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG), in 2007.
Currently, he is teaching in the Department of
Electrical Engineering, UFCG, Campina Grande,
Brazil. His research interests include magnetic
circuits, power quality and power system protection.


Edson G. da Costa (M03) was born in 1954 in
Ribeiro, Brazil and started his academic career in
Areia, Brazil. He obtained the B.Sc., M.Sc. and D.Sc.
degrees, all in electrical engineering, respectively in
1978, 1981 and 1999 (Federal University of Paraba).
Since 1978, he is teaching in the Federal University of
Campina Grande (UFCG), Brazil. His research
interests include high voltage equipments, electric field
mapping, partial discharges, finite element method,
surge arresters and insulation systems. Dr. Guedes is a
member of IEEE, CIGR and SBA.

Benemar Alencar de Souza (M02SM05)
received the B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in
electrical engineering from the Federal University
of Paraba, Campina Grande, Brazil, in 1977, 1981,
and 1995, respectively. Currently, he is an
Associate Professor with the Department of
Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of
Campina Grande. His main research activities are
on optimization methods applied to power systems,
electromagnetic transients, power quality and fault
diagnostic.