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Self-Integrating Rogowski Coil for High-Impulse Current Measurement

Article in IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement · March 2010

DOI: 10.1109/TIM.2009.2023821 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 59, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010
Self-Integrating Rogowski Coil for
High-Impulse Current Measurement
Ibrahim A. Metwally, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—This paper presents the operating principle, the per-
formance under impulse condition, and the design of a self-
integrating Rogowski coil for measuring high-impulse currents.
Oscillatory and overdamped unidirectional impulse currents are
generated up to 10 kA and measured by different methods,
namely, two commercial impulse current transformers, a resistive
shunt, and the newly designed self-integrating Rogowski coil. For
the resistive method, the voltage drop across the shunt affects the
total voltage measured across the test object and causes distortion
in the case of simultaneous measurement by an impulse current
transformer having a small aperture. The Rogowski coil theory
under impulse current conditions is presented. The concept of
transmission lines is used, and the line parameters are optimized
to achieve a self-integrating mode and avoid spurious effects of re-
flections and stray capacitances. The output voltage linearity of the
designed self-integrating Rogowski coil is checked using different
linear and nonlinear loads and coil termination resistances. It is
found that at a termination resistance of 1 Ω, satisfactory impulse
current waveforms are measured by taking the commercial im-
pulse current transformer as a reference signal. Results reveal that
the measurement errors for the current peak and front and tail
times are ±2%, ≤6%, and ≤12%, respectively. Overdamped im-
pulse currents are generated by different generator capacitances,
where comparisons between the measured and calculated current
waveform parameters have shown good agreement.
Index Terms—Impulse current generator (ICG), impulse cur-
rent measurement, resistive current shunt, Rogowski coil, tran-
sient analysis, transient voltage surge suppressors (TVSSs).
I. I NTRODUCTION
H IGH-IMPULSE currents commonly occur in high-
voltage power systems and may arise from different
sources such as lightning strikes [1], switching operations
of circuit breakers [2], switching maneuvers in gas-insulated
switchgear, and electromagnetic pulses [1]. In high-voltage lab-
oratories, high-impulse currents can be produced using charged
RLC circuits or transmission lines [1], [2]. The combination of
high peak value (hundreds of kiloamperes) and fast rise times of
such currents makes the measurement particularly difficult [1].
There are three main methods that have been used to achieve
the measurements of high-impulse currents: 1) resistive [3], [4];
2) inductive [5]–[17]; and 3) optical [18], [19]. The B-dot probe
Manuscript received September 18, 2008; revised December 20, 2008.
First published August 25, 2009; current version published January 7, 2010.
This work was supported by Sultan Qaboos University. The Associate Editor
coordinating the review process for this paper was Dr. Subhas Mukhopadhyay.
The author is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat 123, Oman, on
leave from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt (e-mail: metwally@squ.edu.om;
metwally@mans.edu.eg).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIM.2009.2023821
0018-9456/$26.00 © 2009 IEEE
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353
is one of the inductive methods. Rogowski coils consist of B-dot
probes connected in series wound on a toroidal former [5]–[17].
The main idea behind B-dot probes is that when current flows
in a conductor, the magnetic field (B) is produced according to
Ampere’s law. If a single-turn conductor is placed parallel to
the magnetic field, magnetic flux is produced. Then, an induced
voltage will be produced according to Faraday’s law.
There are many advantages of Rogowski coils [5]–[17]:
1) they cause no damage by large overload; 2) they have the
capability to measure large currents (very wide range from
a few milliamperes to more than 1 MA) without saturating
because of its nonmagnetic core; 3) they are easy to use due
to their flexibility and light weight; 4) they have a low price;
5) they have a nonintrusive nature because they draw no power
from the main circuit carrying the current to be measured,
where the impedance injected into the main circuit due to the
presence of the transducer is only a few picohenries; 6) they
have a very wide bandwidth, extending from typically 0.1 Hz
to about 1 GHz, that enables the transducer to measure or
reproduce the waveform of very rapidly changing currents—as
fast as 40 kA/μs; 7) they have excellent transient response
capability; and 8) they are very safe because there is no direct
electrical connection to the main circuit.
Rogowski coils have been in use for more than 85 years. The
advantages offered by Rogowski technology are rapidly gen-
erating interest in a number of applications, namely, power and
power quality monitoring [14], rectifier monitoring [14], wiring
integrity [14], [15], fuse monitoring [14], [15], relay protection
[15]–[17], switchgear [15]–[17], and rotating plant [15].
In this paper, the operating principle, the performance un-
der impulse condition, and the design of a self-integrating
Rogowski coil for measuring high-impulse currents are pre-
sented. Oscillatory and overdamped unidirectional impulse
currents are generated and measured by different methods.
The linearity of a resistive shunt and a newly designed self-
integrating Rogowski coil output voltages are investigated us-
ing different linear and nonlinear loads and impulse generator
configurations.
II. S ELF -I NTEGRATING R OGOWSKI C OILS
A. Operating Principle
A Rogowski coil works by sensing the magnetic field in
the space around the conductor. Ampere’s law provides the
relationship between the current flowing on the conductor and
the magnetic field around it. If a single turn coil is placed
perpendicular to this magnetic field so that the flux lines can
link the coil, a voltage will be generated according to Faraday’s
354 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 59, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010

Fig. 1. Transmission-line equivalent circuit of the coil [8].

law [5]–[13]. Applying Ampere’s law for a coil wound on a and 3) avoid spurious effects of reflections by minimizing the
nonmagnetic former and having a cross-sectional area A yields stray capacitances.
 Rogowski coils under impulse conditions show a good self-
i(t) = H. 
 dl (1) integrating response for a current impulse of duration less than
twice the transit time of the coil [9]–[14]. To measure longer
The induced electromotive force (EMF), i.e., edl , in a differen- pulses, the transit time is optimized by increasing the coil
 is given by Faraday’s law as
tial length dl capacitance and/or the number of turns. Special techniques have
   been used for this purpose, among which are a special coaxial
dψm d  = −μo A dH cos θ
 ds cable winding with multilayer coils [11] and a strip-line coil
edl = − =− B. (2)
dt dt dt conductor wound on a disc-shaped insulating former [12].
Fig. 1 shows an equivalent transmission-line representation
where ψm is the magnetic flux linking the coil, assuming that of the coil. The electrical length of the coil is divided into n
the magnetic flux density is constant over the considered coil sections, where each section consists of a series impedance L =
cross-sectional surface area, B  and H are the magnetic flux
Lc /n that represents a portion of the coil inductance, a shunt
density and field vectors, respectively, and μo is the permeabil- capacitance C = Cc /n to account for the coil capacitance, a
ity of free space. For a coil of N  number of turns of dl along the portion of the resistance R = Rc /n, and a voltage source e =
length l and assuming that the coil is positioned perpendicular et /n [see (4)], which provides a forward-traveling wave e/2
to the current-carrying conductor (i.e., θ = 0), we have and a backward-traveling wave −e/2 [8].
l l Coil sensitivity and transit time and the rise time and
 d  pulsewidth of the current to be measured are the most important
et = edl N dl = −μo AN H cos θdl
dt parameters to be considered in the design of self-integrating
0 0 Rogowski coils, i.e., slow-wave coils with a long transit time. In
di(t) di(t) these coils, reflections associated to pulses having a width larger
= −μo AN  = −M (3)
dt dt than twice the transit time are avoided [10], [12]. Simulation
results reveal that the termination resistance should be kept as
where M is the mutual inductance, which is defined as the
low as possible to get a better response. Theoretically speaking,
ratio of the induced EMF in the coil (et ) and the change of
the ideal case is to short out the coil from both ends, but this
the primary current to be measured (i(t)). For a coil wound
is an impractical solution as the coil output voltage has to be
on a circular nonmagnetic former having area A = πr2 , with a
measured.
minor radius r, number of turns N (where N  = N/2πRo ), and
mean major radius Ro , the induced voltage will be [5]–[13]
III. D ESIGN OF A S ELF -I NTEGRATING R OGOWSKI C OIL
μo N r2 di(t)
et = − (4) Most of the published designs of slow-wave Rogowski coils
2Ro dt
have as main objectives the achievement of longer transit
At a low frequency, the coil transit time is much smaller than times and the minimization of stray capacitance and interturn
the rise time of the measured current. Therefore, the equivalent capacitance [5]–[13]. Longer transit times are usually achieved
circuit of the coil can be regarded as a voltage source in series by optimizing the shunt capacitance (capacitance between the
with the self-inductance Lc and resistance Rc of the coil [13]. coil and the return conductor). On the other hand, the interturn
The value of the termination resistance Rt will determine the capacitance is usually reduced by a larger pitch of the coil wind-
functioning mode of the coil. If Rt is much smaller than ωLc , ing. The present design goals of the Rogowski coil are: 1) the
the coil will operate in a current mode, where the coil output capability of measuring high-impulse currents, 2) having a self-
voltage is proportional to the measured current (self-integrated integrating nature by optimizing the shunt capacitance, and
coil). If Rt is much greater than ωLc , the coil will operate in its 3) avoiding reflection effects due to the interturn capacitances.
differential mode, where the coil output voltage is proportional Fig. 2(a) and (b) illustrates the construction details of the new
to the derivative of the measured current [13]. self-integrating Rogowski coil and the connection diagram at
both coil ends, respectively. In the present design, the shunt
capacitance is optimized by using the inner and outer shields
B. Rogowski Coil Under Impulse Condition
[1 in Fig. 2(a)], where they are used as a return conductor to
The concept of transmission-line modeling for the coil is optimize the shunt capacitance. An insulated conductor is used
used to: 1) optimize coil parameters, particularly the shunt to construct the main coil winding [2 in Fig. 2(a)]. The two
capacitance to get the self-integrating nature; 2) investigate the shields have longitudinal thin cuts [3 in Fig. 2(a)] to avoid
effect of the termination resistance on the coil output voltage; magnetic shielding of the coil and to prevent eddy current in

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METWALLY: SELF-INTEGRATING ROGOWSKI COIL FOR HIGH-IMPULSE CURRENT MEASUREMENT
Fig. 2. (a) Construction details of the new self-integrating Rogowski coil:
1—inner and outer aluminum shields (return conductor); 2—insulated coil
conductor (varnished wire); 3—longitudinal thin cuts on the return conductor
shields; 4—interturn capacitance shielding conductor, five-coil former (plastic),
and six- PVC protective tape. (b) Connection diagram at both coil ends.
TABLE I
DESIGN DATA OF THE COIL
the shield. The interturn capacitance is minimized by a second
coil [4 in Fig. 2(a)] parallel to the main winding. The conductor
of this coil is not insulated and is in direct contact with the two
shields [1 in Fig. 2(a)]; see Fig. 2(b). This ensures a complete
shorting of the interturn capacitance and, at the same time,
increases the shunt capacitance. Although some current will
flow in this conductor, it does not significantly magnetically
shield the main winding. A plastic former [5 in Fig. 2(a)]
was used as a core for the coil, and a polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) insulating tape [6 in Fig. 2(a)] was wound around the
coil for mechanical protection. Since a Rogowski coil has an
air core rather than an iron core, it has a low inductance
and can respond to fast-changing currents. Table I gives the
design data of the coil. A correctly formed Rogowski coil, with
equally spaced windings, is largely immune to electromagnetic
interference [8].
Shielding can be used to add extra protection. However,
shielding a magnetic field of frequency as low as the power-
line frequency requires thick shielding and/or high permeability
of the shielding material to be used. If care is taken when de-
signing and using the Rogowski coil, shielding can be avoided.
The connecting 50-Ω coaxial cable between the coil and the
oscilloscope is matched at the oscilloscope end by a 50-Ω
noninductive resistor.
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355
IV. E XPERIMENTAL S ETUP
The performance of the constructed coil was investigated
using the high-impulse current test circuit shown in Fig. 3. Only
three stages of the ten-stage 1000-kV 30-kJ impulse voltage
generator were used to generate the standard classification
impulse current (8/20 μs) [20] when using a 2.5-kV transient
voltage surge suppressor (TVSS) as a load [21]. Therefore,
the reconfigured impulse voltage generator acts as an impulse
current generator (ICG), where the output current waveform
can be controlled by changing the generator capacitance and/or
the value and the nature of the test object. The front and tail
times of the 8/20-μs current were within the tolerances of the
standard waveform. The voltage measurement was carried out
by means of a Tektronix high-voltage probe (Model # P6015A,
1000×, 75 MHz, 3 pF, 100 MΩ, 40-kV peak pulse, 100-ms
maximum duration, and 20-kV dc).
The discharge current through the TVSS or through any
load was measured by two impulse current transformers from
Pearson Electronics Ltd.: wide-band current monitor and wide-
band clamp-on current monitor. The sensitivity is equal to
0.1 V/A +1, −0% and 0.01 V/A ±1% for the first impulse cur-
rent transformer (ICT1) and the second impulse current trans-
former (ICT2), respectively. The other quantities for ICT1 and
ICT2 are, respectively, the maximum current time product =
0.5 and 1 A.s, the useable rise time = 25 and 150 ns, and the
low-/high-frequency 3-dB point = 5 Hz/15 MHz and 15 Hz/
3 MHz. Both the discharge current and the residual voltage
were recorded via a two-channel Tektronix oscilloscope (Model
# TDS 3032B, 300 MHz, and 2.5 GS/s). In the case of using
a resistive shunt of 99.5 mΩ, the Rogowski coil and the two
commercial impulse current transformers were located just
before the resistive shunt; see Fig. 3.
V. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
A. Shunt Resistor Performance
Most current transducers should be calibrated using a current
level similar to the one being measured to avoid any prob-
lems with nonlinearities. Therefore, both of them are used as
a reference transducer. Fig. 4 illustrates the impulse current
oscillograms measured by the resistive current shunt and the
two impulse current transformers (ICT1 and ICT2) for a 2.5-kV
TVSS load and a three-stage ICG at a peak current of ∼7.7 kA.
The shunt cable is matched at the oscilloscope end by a resis-
tance Rm = 75 Ω. It is clear that both current waveforms are
identical, and the classification current is generated within the
standard tolerances. In addition, a linear relationship is found
between the shunt output peak voltage and the peak current
measured by ICT1 and ICT2. The sensitivity of the shunt
system (resistive shunt, 75-Ω cable, matching resistance, and
a small attenuator) is found to be ∼0.193 V/kA.
The I–V characteristics for a 2.5-kV TVSS load are inves-
tigated using a three-stage ICG with and without the resistive
current shunt when considering the peak voltage and the peak
current. In fact, the maximum energy absorption capability
roughly occurs at the instant of peak current, and the actual
discharge voltage should be a rectangularlike waveform. In
356 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 59, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010
Fig. 3. High impulse-current test circuit.
Fig. 4. Current oscillograms measured by the resistive current shunt and the
impulse current transformers (ICT1 and ICT2) for a 2.5-kV TVSS load and a
three-stage ICG at a peak current of 7.7 kA.
these tests, the inductive overshoot disappears because of the
minimization of the length of the connecting leads. It is found
that the voltage drop across the shunt affects the total voltage
measured by the high-voltage probe. In addition, it causes
distortion in the impulse current measured by ICT2 because its
aperture is very small. Therefore, in the following sections, the
shunt is removed from the test circuit, and the test object is
connected directly to the common ground.
B. Termination Resistance
The termination resistance is a determining factor of the
coil output quality. This was experimentally verified, by ter-
minating the coil with different resistors (Rt = 0.27, 1, and
5 Ω). Fig. 5 compares the impulse current transformer and
the converted Rogowski coil output oscillograms for various
termination resistor values and when using a 2.5-kV TVSS
load and a three-stage ICG at a peak current of 7.5 kA. It can
clearly be seen that the coil has a better response with low-
value terminations. The combined effect of small reflections
and ohmic damping is the origin of the poor response with
higher termination resistances. On the other hand, a lower value
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Fig. 5. Impulse current transformer and the converted Rogowski coil output
oscillograms for various termination resistor values and when using a 2.5-kV
TVSS load and a three-stage ICG at a peak current of 7.5 kA.
of Rt is desirable, but a compromise must be found for a
satisfactory peak value of its output voltage. At Rt = 0.27 Ω,
the coil output voltage coincides with the ICT1 waveform up to
the peak value, contrary to the falling part, where the difference
in the tail times of the coil and the ICT1 output signals is about
1.3 μs. Moreover, it is found that the coil output signal is noisy
and needs filtering as a result of the high noise-to-signal ratio.
Indeed, the ideal case is to short out the coil from both ends, but
this is an impractical solution as the coil output voltage has to
be measured.
C. Coil Sensitivity
Large transient calibration is difficult because the current
levels may be much larger than any steady current that can
be generated for calibration purposes. Rogowski coils do not
suffer from this problem because they are linear. They may be
calibrated at any convenient current level, and the calibration
will be good for all currents, including very large currents. In
some transient measurements, the magnitude of the current is
not known in advance. A Rogowski coil may be fitted with the
confidence that it will be usable at any current level [14], [15].
METWALLY: SELF-INTEGRATING ROGOWSKI COIL FOR HIGH-IMPULSE CURRENT MEASUREMENT
Fig. 6. Rogowski coil output voltage for various termination resistor values
using a 2.5-kV TVSS load and a three-stage ICG.
To measure the sensitivity of the coil, the coil output voltage
peak is plotted against the peak current measured by ICT1 in
Fig. 6. These results are obtained when using a 2.5-kV TVSS
load and a three-stage ICG. In addition, the identical peak
current measured by ICT2 is added as a reference line with
a slope of 45◦ . It can be seen that a good linear relationship
is found between the coil output voltage peak and the current
peak measured by ICT1, where the coil sensitivity is 0.304,
0.849, and 1.732 V/kA for Rt = 0.27, 1, and 5 Ω, respectively.
The coil sensitivity increases as the termination resistance
increases.
D. Generator Capacitance
The ICG capacitor banks (Cg = C) are charged to a voltage
Vch and discharged when the spark gap is triggered, the current
i(t) of an underdamped RLC series circuit is given by [22]
Vch −αt
i(t) = e sin ωt
ωL
where R, L, and C are the total circuit resistance, inductance,
and capacitance, including the ICG, connecting leads, and the
test object, and ω is the angular frequency. The latter is given
by [22]
  2
1 R
ω= − (6)
LC 2L
The attenuation constant is defined as [22]
R 104 s−1 , respectively. Table II presents a comparison between
α=
2L
The current front time (t1 = tf) and the time for one half cycle
of the damped oscillatory wave (t2 ) are, respectively, given
by [22]
1 ω
t1 = tf = tan−1
ω α
π
t2 =
ω It can be noticed that when increasing the residual voltage of
Producing an impulse current of large value, a bank of capac-
itors connected in parallel are charged to a specific value. This
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357
Fig. 7. Impulse current transformer output oscillograms for various numbers
of ICG stages and using a 2.5-kV TVSS load at a peak current of 7.5 kA.
test is done by applying different ICG stages of specified values
using one stage (Cg = 2.4 μF), two stages (Cg = 4.8 μF), and
three stages (Cg = 7.2 μF). At the same time, the current peak
is kept constant at ∼7.5 kA by increasing the charging voltage,
while the coil is terminated by Rt = 1 Ω. The coil termination
resistance Rt = 1 Ω is used because of the less noise and the
satisfactory deviation, as can be seen in Fig. 5 and later in
Table III. Fig. 7 depicts the impulse current transformer output
oscillograms for various numbers of ICG stages and using a
2.5-kV TVSS load at a peak current of 7.5 kA. As the number
of stages increases (i.e., increasing Cg ), the fronts of the current
waves are shifted to the right because of the increase in the
current front time and in the time for one half cycle of the
damped oscillatory wave; see (8) and (9).
The resistance of the test circuit R (junctions of all connect-
ing leads ∼0.4 Ω), including the TVSS test object (∼0.5 Ω
(5)
at 7.5-kA peak discharge current), is found to be ∼0.9 Ω. On
the other hand, the inductance of the test circuit L (including
all connecting leads) is estimated based on the physical size of
the test loop and found to be ∼10 μH. For these two values
of R and L, when using one, two, and three stages of the
ICG (i.e., C = Cg = 2.4, 4.8, and 7.2 μF, respectively), the
calculated values of ω and α from (6) and (7) are the following:
1) for the one-stage ICG, 2 × 105 rad/s and 4.3 × 104 s−1 ; 2)
for the two-stage ICG, 1.36 × 105 rad/s and 4.7 × 104 s−1 ;
and 3) for the three-stage ICG, 1.09 × 105 rad/s and 4.56 ×
(7) the measured and the calculated current waveform parameters
[using (5), (8), and (9) for Imax , t1 = tf , and t2 , respectively]
when using a 2.5-kV TVSS as a test object. Good agreement is
found between both values for three different values of the ICG
capacitances.
Fig. 8 shows the impulse current and voltage oscillograms
(8)
using a 2.5-kV TVSS load and a three-stage ICG at two
(9) different current levels, where the current is measured by ICT1.
the TVSS by ∼50%, the discharge current increases to 650%
due to the high degree of nonlinearity of the ZnO material [21].
358 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 59, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010

TABLE II
COMPARISON BETWEEN MEASURED AND CALCULATED CURRENT WAVEFORM PARAMETERS
FOR D IFFERENT N UMBERS OF S TAGES (IGC C APACITANCES )

Fig. 8. Current and voltage oscillograms using a 2.5-kV TVSS load and a
three-stage ICG at two different current levels.

Fig. 10. Impulse current transformer and the converted Rogowski coil output
oscillograms for various high-voltage loads and using a one-stage ICG and a
Fig. 9. I–V characteristics for a 2.5-kV TVSS load for various numbers of coil termination resistor Rt = 1 Ω. (a) Pure resistive load. (b) Inductive load.
ICG stages. (c) Pure capacitive load.

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METWALLY: SELF-INTEGRATING ROGOWSKI COIL FOR HIGH-IMPULSE CURRENT MEASUREMENT
TABLE III
QUANTIFICATION OF MEASUREMENT ERRORS FOR THE CURRENT PEAK AND FRONT AND TAIL TIMES USING DIFFERENT LOADS
Fig. 9 shows the I–V characteristics for a 2.5-kV TVSS load
for various numbers of ICG stages. As the number of stages
increase, the electrostatic energy stored in the ICG capacitor
banks (W ) increases according to W = 0.5 Cg Vch 2
. Conse-
quently, the ICG is capable of delivering high current when
increasing Cg . This effect is clearly seen in the high-conduction
regime, i.e., in the kiloampere range. The linearity of the
Rogowski coil output for various numbers of ICG stages is also
checked using a 2.5-kV TVSS load and coil termination resistor
Rt = 1 Ω. It is found that for all tests using different numbers of
stages, the relationships are linear and coincide. This confirms
the repeatability check of the test results even with different
impulse current waveforms; see Table II and Fig. 7.
E. Linear RLC Loads
Different linear RLC loads (i.e., different impulse current
waveforms) are used to check the response of the coil versus
the measured waveform by ICT2. Fig. 10(a)–(c) illustrates the
impulse current transformer and the converted Rogowski coil
output oscillograms for various high-voltage loads and using a
one-stage ICG and Rt = 1 Ω for pure resistive (Rload = 5 Ω),
inductive (Lload = 163 mH and Rload = 1.13 Ω), and pure
capacitive (Cload = 1.2 μF) loads. In Fig. 10(a), a unidirec-
tional impulse current is generated because of the pure resistive
load. There is a slight shift in the front time and a satisfactory
difference in the tail time, but the current peak is the same; see
Table III. In Fig. 10(b) and (c), oscillatory impulse currents are
generated because of loading by an inductor and a capacitor,
respectively. It can be seen that the coil response for these slow
waves is excellent. Therefore, it is recommended to terminate
the coil by a lower resistance when measuring faster impulse
currents as that in Fig. 10(a). The frequency of the current
oscillations in Fig. 10(b) and (c) can be approximated by
1 errors can be reduced by using lower values of coil ter-
f≈ √ (10)
2π LC
The calculated frequencies of oscillation of these two cases
are 7.81 and 56 kHz, which yield to periodic times of 128
and 17.8 μs, respectively. The corresponding measured periodic
times are ∼130 and ∼18 μs, which confirm the accuracy of the
present measurements.
Table III gives the quantification of measurement errors
for the current peak and front and tail times using different
loads. The measurement errors are calculated as the difference
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359
between the ICT (reference) and the coil outputs divided by the
reference one. It can be seen that measurement errors for the
current peak, front time, and time to half values are ±2%, ≤6%,
and ≤12%, respectively. Further improvement in the measure-
ment errors can be achieved by using lower termination resis-
tance values, particularly when measuring a much faster rising
impulse current, but the noise-to-signal ratio will increase.
VI. C ONCLUSION
• Oscillatory and overdamped unidirectional impulse cur-
rents have been generated up to 10 kA and measured by
different methods, namely, two commercial impulse cur-
rent transformers, a resistive shunt, and a newly designed
self-integrating Rogowski coil.
• For the resistive method, to measure high-impulse cur-
rents, a small amount of resistance is needed. The skin
effect and thickness of the shunt resistive material signif-
icantly control its response. The voltage drop across the
shunt affects the total voltage measured across the test ob-
ject and causes distortion in the simultaneously measured
impulse current by an impulse current transformer having
a small aperture.
• For the inductive method, two commercial impulse current
transformers have been used to measure high-impulse
currents as reference transducers. A new self-integrating
Rogowski coil has been designed, and its output voltage
linearity has been investigated for a 2.5-kV TVSS, differ-
ent linear R, L, and C loads, and coil termination resis-
tances. It has been found that at a termination resistance of
1 Ω, satisfactory impulse current waveforms are measured
by taking the commercial impulse current transformer as
a reference signal. Results reveal that the measurement
errors for the current peak and front and tail times are
±2%, ≤6%, and ≤12%, respectively. These measurement
mination resistance, particularly when measuring a much
faster rising impulse current, but the noise-to-signal ratio
of the coil output voltage will increase.
• In addition, the overdamped impulse currents have been
generated by different generator capacitances. The com-
parison between the measured and the calculated current
waveform parameters (current front and tail times, time for
one half cycle of the damped oscillatory wave, and current
peak value) have shown good agreement. In addition, it
has been found that for all tests using different numbers
360 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 59, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010
of stages and a given coil termination resistance, the
relationships are linear and coincide. This confirms the
repeatability check of the test results even with different
impulse current waveforms.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to thank the technical staff of the High-
Voltage Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos Univer-
sity, for their valuable technical and logistic assistance.
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Ibrahim A. Metwally (M’93–SM’04) was born in
1963. He received the B.Eng.(Hons.) degree in elec-
trical engineering and the M.Eng. and Ph.D. de-
grees in high-voltage engineering from Mansoura
University, Mansoura, Egypt, in 1986, 1990, and
1994, respectively. The Ph.D. degree was received in
collaboration with Cardiff University, Cardiff, U.K.
He is a permanent Professor with the Department
of Electrical Engineering, Mansoura University,
Mansoura, Egypt. From 2000 to 2002, in the sum-
mers of 2003–2007, and in the summer of 2009, he
respectively joined the University of the Federal Armed Forces, Munich, and
Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany, as a Visiting Professor. Cur-
rently, he is on leave as a Professor with the Department of Electrical and Com-
puter Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat,
Oman since August 2002. He has completed 13 industrial projects in the
U.K., Egypt, Germany, and Oman, and eight support services (consultancies)
in Oman. He is the author of 117 papers, of which about half have appeared in
highly reputed international journals. He has been a regular Peer Reviewer for
the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON DIELECTRICS AND ELECTRICAL INSULATION,
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON
ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY, IET Generation, Transmission & Dis-
tribution, Journal of Electric Power Systems Research, European Transactions
on Electrical Power, International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Sys-
tems, and Journal of Electrostatics. His areas of research include oil- and
gas-flow electrification in both electric power apparatus and pipelines, mea-
surements of fast impulse voltages and currents, line insulators and zinc-oxide
surge arresters, coronas on overhead transmission lines, impulse voltage char-
acterization and modeling of electrical machines, particle-initiated breakdown
in gas-insulated switchgear and gas-insulated transmission lines, power quality,
stray-current corrosion in the oil industry, and hazards of lightning strikes to
buildings, overhead power lines, and aircraft.
Prof. Metwally is a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation,
Bonn, Germany, and a member of the International Electrotechnical Commis-
sion. He was the recipient of the First Rank of the National Prize in Engineering
Sciences in 1998 and 2004 and the Late Prof. Dr.-Ing. M. Khalifa’s Prize
in Electrical Engineering in 1999 and 2005 from the Egyptian Academy of
Scientific Research and Technology. His biographical profile was published in
Who’s Who in Science and Engineering in 2001.