Technical information on Kappa products

Instrument transformers are used for measurement and

protective application, together with equipment such as
meters and relays. Their role in electrical systems is of
primary importance as they are a means of "stepping down"
the current or voltage of a system to measurable values,
such as 5A or 1A in the case of a current transformers or
110V or 100V in the case of a voltage transformer. This
offers the advantage that measurement and protective
equipment can be standardized on a few values of current
and voltage.

Voltage transformers

Current transformers

Kappa has published a reference manual on

instrument transformers

Voltage transformers

Principle of operation
Definitions
Standards
Tests
Typical Specifications

Principle of operation

The standards define a voltage transformer as one in which

"the secondary voltage is substantially proportional to the
primary voltage and differs in phase from it by an angle
which is approximately zero for an appropriate direction of
the connections."

This, in essence, means that the voltage transformer has to

be as close as possible to the "ideal" transformer. In an
"ideal" transformer, the secondary voltage vector is exactly
opposite and equal to the primary voltage vector, when
multiplied by the turns ratio.

In a "practical" transformer, errors are introduced because

some current is drawn for the magnetization of the core and
because of drops in the primary and secondary windings
due to leakage reactance and winding resistance. One can
thus talk of a voltage error,which is the amount by which
the voltage is less than the applied primary voltage ,and the
phase error, which is the phase angle by which the reversed
secondary voltage vector is displaced from the primary
voltage vector.

Kappa designs its VT's so that the resistance and reactance

drops are minimized. It also uses the best grades of cold
rolled grain oriented electrical steels which enables
operation at optimum levels of magnetic induction, thus
reducing both the size and the cost of the VT.

Definitions

Typical terms used for specifying a voltage transformer

(VT)

a. Rated primary voltage: This is the rated voltage of

the system whose voltage is required to be stepped
down for measurement and protective purposes.

b. Rated secondary voltage: This is the voltage at

which the meters and protective devices connected
to the secondary circuit of the voltage transformer
operate.

c. Rated burden: This is the load in terms of volt-

amperes (VA) posed by the devices in the secondary
circuit on the VT. This includes the burden imposed
by the connecting leads. The VT is required to be
accurate at both the rated burden and 25% of the
rated burden.

d. Accuracy class required: The transformation errors

that are permissible, including voltage (ratio) error
and phase angle error. Phase error is specified in
minutes. Typical accuracy classes are Class 0.5,
Class 1 and Class 3. Both metering and protection
classes of accuracy are specified. In a metering VT,
the VT is required to be within the specified errors
from 80% to 120% of the rated voltage. In a
protection VT, the VT is required to be accurate
from 5% upto the rated voltage factor times the
rated voltage.