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Current Sensors: Dinesh Gopinath Department of Electrical Engineering College of Engineering Trivandrum Dinesh@cet - Ac.in

The document discusses different types of isolated current sensors, specifically current transformers, Hall-effect sensors, and Rogowski coils. It describes the limitations of current transformers in sensing DC currents and being prone to saturation from average current. Hall-effect current sensors are then covered, explaining how the Hall effect is used to sense current and the differences between open-loop and closed-loop measurement configurations. Finally, Rogowski coils are summarized, including how they work based on Faraday's law without a magnetic core and their advantages in being flexible, non-intrusive, and able to respond quickly to changing currents.

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88 views

Current Sensors: Dinesh Gopinath Department of Electrical Engineering College of Engineering Trivandrum Dinesh@cet - Ac.in

The document discusses different types of isolated current sensors, specifically current transformers, Hall-effect sensors, and Rogowski coils. It describes the limitations of current transformers in sensing DC currents and being prone to saturation from average current. Hall-effect current sensors are then covered, explaining how the Hall effect is used to sense current and the differences between open-loop and closed-loop measurement configurations. Finally, Rogowski coils are summarized, including how they work based on Faraday's law without a magnetic core and their advantages in being flexible, non-intrusive, and able to respond quickly to changing currents.

Uploaded by

akhilnandan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Current sensors

Dinesh Gopinath
Department of Electrical
Engineering
College of Engineering
Trivandrum
Isolated current sensors

◉ Current Transformers
◉ Hall-effect sensors
◉ Rogowski coils

2
Limitations of normal Current
Transformers

◉ Cannot sense DC currents.


◉ Average current can cause saturation of
core.
◉ Larger size for low frequencies.

3
Hall-effect current
1 sensor

4
Hall-effect current sensors

◉ Current to be sensed creates a magnetic field


around the wire.
◉ The magnetic field is detected by a Hall-
sensor.
◉ Hall-effect causes electrons/holes to be
deflected by any flux as they move across
the material. When the material is biased
with a voltage and subjected to the magnetic
field, a potential proportional to the local flux
is produced in a third terminal. 5
Hall-effect current sensor

The gap in the core


directs flux to the
sensor chip.

Image: Original concept from P. T. Krein, ‘Elements


of Power Electronics’, Artwork created by Dinesh
Gopinath 6
Hall-effect current sensor

The output voltage is,

This is open-loop
type
measurement. 7
Hall-effect current sensor:
Open-loop measurement
The signal from the Hall
generator is very low.

Hence, it is amplified to form


the sensor’s output.

Image: Original concept from P. T. Krein, ‘Elements


of Power Electronics’, Artwork created by Dinesh 8
Gopinath
Hall-effect current sensor: Open-loop
measurement

◉ Open-loop sensors
normally have circuitry
that provides temperature
compensation and
calibrated high-level
voltage output.
◉ Prone to saturation and
temperature drift.
9
Hall-effect current sensor: Closed-loop
measurement

◉ A closed-loop sensor uses a coil that is


actively driven by the current sensor IC
to produce a magnetic field that
opposes the field produced by the
current in the conductor.

10
Hall-effect current sensor: Closed-loop
measurement

◉ The core has a net zero magnetic field.


◉ Require ferromagnetic cores, a coil and
additional higher power amplifiers to
drive the coil.
◉ More complex than open loop
configuration.

11
Hall-effect current sensor: Closed-loop
measurement

◉ It avoids the sensitivity error associated


with the Hall sensor IC
○ The system is being operated at just a
single point at zero field.
◉ Open- and closed-loop sensor zero amp
detection accuracy are very similar.

12
Hall-effect current sensor: Closed-loop
measurement

◉ Closed-loop sensors are larger in size


and take up more PCB area than open-
loop solutions.
◉ Consume more power as they need to
drive the compensation coil
◉ More expensive
○ Additional coil and coil drive circuitry.
13
Hall-effect current sensor: Closed-loop
measurement

14
How do they look like?
Typically, there would be +
and - bias power terminals and
an output current terminal.
The primary is either
wound/passed through the
hole, or through the provided
primary terminals.

Shown in picture: LA 100 P and


LTS25-NP from LEM.

Image source: https://in.element14.com/lem/


15
Ratings
From a few tens of amps to
several hundreds of amps.
Good linearity and accuracy
within about 20% of Imax.

Limitations
Temperature sensitivity.
Both the gain (i/Imax) and the
offset voltage change with
temperature.
Image source: https://in.element14.com/lem/
16
Datasheet
LEM LA-55-P
Electrohms HE050T04-R04

Image source: https://in.element14.com/lem/


17
2 Rogowski coil current sensor

18
Rogowski coil

◉ Faraday’s law
based.
◉ No magnetic
metal core.
◉ Measures AC.

Image: By Luque alfredo - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,


https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?
curid=14135709 19
Rogowski coil

Image: By Luque alfredo - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,


https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?
curid=14135709 20
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ Linear Current Range


○ Extremely wide range
○ 30A full scale to more than 100kA full
scale.
○ Maximum current range is affected by
both the frequency and magnitude of the
measured current.
○ Limitations on the magnitude of the
integrated signal due to integrator circuit
also. 21
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ Current Linearity
○ +0.2% of reading to +0.5% of full scale.
○ Measurement head non-linearity is
determined by the reactance of the
sensor head (wire gauge, unit turns and
cross sectional area of the sensor head).
○ Integrator non-linearity is determined by
amplifier gain limitations.

22
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ Temperature sensitivity
◉ +0.03% / oC to +0.08% / oC (both head
and electronics).
◉ Temperature ranges for the
measurement head vary from (10oC -
80oC) to (-20oC - 90oC).

23
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ Sensitivity of the measurement head


will be affected by
○ thermal expansion of the turns
○ thermal expansion of the former
○ temperature coefficient of the wire

24
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ Temperature ranges for electronics


○ (10oC - 40oC) to (-20oC - 55oC).
○ due to zero drift and the change of
capacitance with temperature.

25
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ Response Time
○ Time required for a transducer to reach 10%
of full scale value when a step function
input is applied.
○ Response time is typically not specified for
commercially available Rogowski based
current probes.
○ 1mS response times can be realized.
○ Response time for Rogowski coils will be
determined by the reactance of the sensor
head 26
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ Bandwidth
○ From 1 kHz to 1.5 MHz.
○ Design tradeoff between bandwidth and
current range exists.
○ Some Rogowski based probes exhibit
significant phase shift as the frequency of
the measured current increases.

27
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ Maximum Voltage
○ Galvanic isolation between the conductor
being measured and the measurement
instrumentation.
○ 60 V to 1000 V.
○ Specialized coils are available with ranges of
more than 5 kV.

28
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ Maximum Current
○ 30 A to more than 100 kA.
○ The maximum current that can be
measured with a Rogowski based probe will
be limited by the integrator electronics
“clipping”.

29
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ Maximum Current
○ The maximum current a Rogowski coil can
measure will be a function of the frequency
and magnitude of the current to be
measured and is only limited by the
breakdown voltage of the sensor.

30
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ DC Offset
○ Function of the amplifier and circuit in the
integrator electronics.
○ Typically specified as a maximum offset,
(mV), evident on the output
○ From below 1mV to 50mV depending on
current range.

31
Rogowski coil: characteristics

◉ DC Offset
○ Low current measurement ranges and
relatively high output voltages require high
gain in the integrator electronics.
○ This can result in higher dc offset.
◉ Refer this document for more details.

32
Rogowski coil: Advantages

◉ Since it is not in a closed form, the coil


can be open-ended and flexible,
allowing it to be wrapped around a live
conductor without disturbing it.
◉ Due to its low inductance, it can
respond to fast-changing currents,
down to several nanoseconds.

33
Rogowski coil: Advantages

◉ No iron core to saturate:


○ Highly linear even when subjected to large
currents.
◉ The linearity enables a high-current
Rogowski coil to be calibrated using
much smaller reference currents.
◉ No danger of opening the secondary
winding.
◉ Lower construction costs.
34
Rogowski coil: Advantages

◉ Temperature compensation is simple.


◉ A Rogowski coil for large current is
smaller than an equivalent rating
current transformer.

35
Signal processing and scaling circuits

◉ Filters for noise reduction.


○ RC first order filters.
◉ Scaling amplifiers using opamps.
○ Offset and gain adjustments.

36
Summary

Current Hall Sensor Rogowski Coil


Transformers Can measure dc Can measure ac
Can measure and ac currents. and pulsed
pulsed and ac Galvanic currents.
currents. isolation. Galvanic isolation.
Galvanic Open-loop and No saturation
isolation. closed-loop problems.
Saturation configurations.
problem. Wide bandwidth.
Frequency
dependent. 37
References

1. P. T. Krein, Elements of Power


Electronics, Oxford University Press,
Indian Ed.
2. David E. Shepard and Donald W. Yauch,
An overview of Rogowski coil current
sensing technology,” LEM DynAmp Inc.
3. W.F. Ray & R.M. Davis (1993) Wide
Bandwidth Rogowski Current
Transducers, EPE Journal, 3:1, 51-59, 38
References

4. W.F. Ray (1993) Wide Bandwidth


Rogowski Current Transducers:, EPE
Journal, 3:2, 116-122, DOI:
10.1080/09398368.1993.11463318

39
Thanks!
For your patience.
◉ [email protected]

40
Credits

Special thanks to all the people who made


and released these awesome resources for
free:
◉ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival
◉ Images are used with fair usage policy
for academic use. Sources are
acknowledged wherever used.
41

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