Optical

Current
Transforme
r
(OCT)

OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

WORKING PRINCIPLE

CONVENTIONAL CURRENT TRANSFORMER

OPTICAL CURRENT TRANSFORMER

DESIGN OF OPTICAL CURRENT TRANSFORMER

APPLICATIONS

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

An accurate electric current transducer is a key component of any

power system instrumentation.

OCTs defined as sensors that directly or indirectly use optical sensing

methods to measure electric currents .

Different types of OCT

Based on Faraday effect
Based on interferometric principle
Based on Bragg Grating
Micromechanical sensors with optical readout

WORKING PRINCIPLE
Magnetic OCT measures the electric current by means of faraday effect.
Faraday effects comprises of two principles :
Polarization of light
Polarization is a property of certain types of waves that describes the
orientation of their oscillations.
Polarization of light are mainly of three types :
Linear polarization
Circular polarization
Elliptical polarization

Different Polarization Types

Linear polarization : when x and y
components of the electric field vector
E are in phase.

Circular polarization : when x and y

components of the field vector E have
same amplitude and are 900 phase
out.

Elliptical polarization: when phase

and amplitude of the x and y
components are different.

(a) Linear Polarization

(b) Circular polarization
(c) Elliptical polarization

Birefringerence (or Double Refraction)

It is the phenomenon of splitting up of a light ray into o-ray and e-ray
when passed through an anisotropic material.
Birefringerence are of two types :
1.
2.

Linear birefringerance
Circular birefringerance

FARADAY EFFECT :
Michael Faraday discovered that the
orientation of a linearly polarized light was rotated
under the influence of the magnetic field when the
light propagated in a piece of glass and the
rotation angle was proportional to the intensity of
the magnetic field
Intensity, I=I0 cos2 ( - 45)

By considering this property , Faradays mathematical equation is given by :

0 = the free-space permeability

I = current to be measured,
V=verdet constant,
P = permeability of the material,
N = number of turns of the optical path.

The Faraday effect outlined in equation is a better format to apply to an MOCT,

because the rotation angle in this case is directly related to the enclosed electric
current.

Conventional Current Transformer

The most used device for the measurement
of alternating current.
Construction consists of a ferromagnetic
core entirely enclosing the conductor.
The secondary winding has to be isolated
from high voltages to prevent short circuits.
Therefore the transformers are filled with
oils. It also helps in dissipating the heat.
The 10 current is translated to the 20
current by the turns ratio (n).
The 20 is measured with an ampere meter
in most of the cases.
The basic principle is the Amperes law.

Optical Current Transformer

MOCT s are another type of transducers
,which are highly immune to EMI
MOCT uses optical sensing methods to
measure electric currents.
In the sensors several properties of the
signal carrier(light) can be influenced
MOCTs are mainly based on Faraday
Effect.
The Optical Current transformer basically
consists of: light source, fibre optic cable,
polarizer, modulator and electronics part.

The MOCT consists mainly of electronic and optic part.

Light from a source enters an optical fibre polariser, which splits into two linear orthogonally
polarized light.
Light enters into the sensing head that includes a quarter wave plate .
Quarter wave plate splits the two linear orthogonal waves into right and left hand circularly
polarized waves.

Two waves travel at different speeds around the sensing fibre.

The difference in speed is proportional to the strength of the magnetic field.

Two waves reflects of a mirror and circular polarization of two waves gets reversed .

They travelled in the opposite direction of the magnetic field.

Finally ,two waves again reach the quarter wave plate and linear polarisation gets regained.

Design of Optical Current Transformer

Design is divided into two parts: the electronics part and the optical

Design of the electronics part again divided into analog model and digital model

The analog model of the electronics part is modelled with complex curve fitting method

This method is basically to obtain the transfer function model

The transfer function obtained is iterated by the Gauss-Newton method to increase the
accuracy

The above analog model is converted to the digital model by bilinear transformation

The bilinear transformation changes stable continuous time system to stable discrete time
system

Thus the digital model H(z) is obtained from the analog model H(s)

The optics model is developed using Jones Calculus method

E0 and Ei represents the output and input energy.

In Jones calculus method polarised light is represented by a corresponding Jones Vector

And the optical element is represented by a corresponding Jones Matrix

APPLICATIONS
The MOCT is designed to operate in a transparent manner with modern
electronic meters and digital relays, which have been adopted for a low energy
analog signal interface.
Makes the output signal insensitive to shock & vibration.
Most suited for outdoor type applications. Eg.substations
Accurate measurement of fault currents.

ADVANTAGES
No risks of fires & explosions.
High immunity to Electromagnetic interferences.
Wide frequency response.
Larger Dynamic Range.
Low voltage outputs-compatible with the inputs of digital to analog converters.
No need to use metallic wires to transfer the signal and so simpler insulation structure
than conventional current transformer.

OCT analog output may have significant white noise , but the white noise does not affect the
accuracy or protection performance.
Temperature up to 500c do not adversely affect the performance of the OCT.
No requirement for oil or gas insulation system , environmentally safe.
No magnetic core ferroresonance or saturation limits.
Total isolation from surges for microprocessor based meters and relays.

CONCLUSION
A new type of current transducer is introduced known as magneto optical
current transducer.
This magneto optical current transducer eliminates many of the drawbacks of
the conventional current transformers.
By applying Faradays principle this transducer provides an easier and more
accurate way of current measurements. This MOCT is widely used in power
systems and substations nowadays.

Thank you