Aim Dynamics: Indoor vs. Outdoor Protective Current Transformers

Monday, February 16, 2015

Indoor vs. Outdoor Protective Current Transformers

As the name implies, protection current transformers are used to protect electrical systems from damage. They reduce the high current flowing in a power system element to lower, manageable values ideal for relay operation. Protective CTs from power monitoring equipment providers can also isolate the relay circuit from the primary, while allowing for the use of standardized current rating for relays, which can either be 5 or 1 ampere.

Indoor Protective CTs

Indoor CTs are typically designed for high-current relaying and metering applications. They come in two types: the wound and the bar-primary type with secondary cores. Wound current transformers have a primary winding that’s physically connected in series to the conductor carrying the measured current flowing in a given circuit. Bar-types, on the other hand, use the main circuit’s actual cable as primary winding. Both employ the single-phase method.  

Outdoor Protective CTs

Outdoor CTs are generally used for metering and relaying circuits. They employ three-phase and single-phase method up to 33 kilovolts (kV), and are magnetic in nature. They usually come in three types: capacitor, oil-filled, and combined current and voltage transformer.

There are also outdoor CTs that exceed the 33 kV limit. All employ the single-phase method and come in two general types: magnetic and capacitor voltage transformer (CVT).

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