A Wideband Current Transducer Based on an Array of Magnetic Field Sensors for Rectangular Busbar Current Measurement

Abstract

Recently, the current transducer based on an array of magnetic field sensors has attracted a lot of attention. For busbars of circular cross section, many studies have been conducted and many results have been obtained. However, for the rectangular cross section busbar, the skin effect causes the frequency response curve of the magnetic flux density $B$ generated by the current-carrying conductor to appear nonlinear, which brings challenges to the wideband current measurement of the rectangular busbar. This article presents a wideband current transducer based on the array of magnetic field sensors for the current measurement of the rectangular busbar. First, according to the rectangular busbar, select reasonable magnetic field detection points to arrange the sensor array. Then, the frequency response curve of the magnetic flux density $B$ at each detection point around the rectangular busbar is obtained by simulation. After that, all frequency response curves are averaged, and the proper digital filter is designed according to the averaged frequency response curve to perform frequency compensation. The compensated frequency response curve is basically flat, so the wideband current measurement of the rectangular busbar can be realized. The bandwidth and overall performance of the designed wideband current transducer are verified through experiments, and experimental results show that the designed transducer can meet the requirements of relevant standards for the class 0.5 current transducer.