The HSZG is pleased to present a new hardware emulator for non-conventional current and voltage transformers - these will help shape the future of electrical supply networks.
Various digitalization technologies are also being successfully tested in the field of recording electrical variables in distribution and transmission grids and are becoming increasingly popular with grid operators.
These technologies include so-called digital interfaces, the aim of which is to convert the measured variables in the immediate vicinity of the medium and high-voltage systems into a digital data stream and distribute it to all relevant measuring, protection and monitoring devices.
The advantage of these interfaces lies in the reduced wiring effort combined with a high degree of flexibility in data distribution, which also significantly expands the scope of application of the network monitoring algorithms.
In this context, it also makes sense to use innovative recording methods for electrical variables. One method is known as non-conventional instrument transformers. These convert high voltages and large currents into small signals and can be recorded almost directly via digital interfaces and distributed in systems. Compared to conventional transformers, these are material and space-saving as well as robust. From a metrological point of view, they offer a wide bandwidth and a linear conversion characteristic over a large measuring range.
In view of the fact that these technologies are becoming increasingly important and will represent the state of the art in electrical supply networks in the near future, it is important to take these modern technologies into account in the didactic concept of electrical power engineering courses.
Thanks to the cooperation between the Department of Protection and Control Technology of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Siemens AG Smart Infrastructure, it was possible to procure a hardware emulator developed by Siemens for non-conventional converters and thus offer this technology to students at the university as a further laboratory experiment and research equipment. The emulator is used in practice not only for testing purposes, but also for commissioning high-voltage systems. The emulator was handed over by Federico Canas (Siemens) on 27.02.2023. Mr. Canas - who has been working as a Senior Key Expert and Senior Hardware Developer at Siemens AG for many years - is involved in the development of assemblies for non-conventional current and voltage transformers and is the developer of this emulator.
During his visit, he not only put the emulator into operation with a digital interface, but also conveyed important features of this new technology and its influence on conventional protection and monitoring algorithms.
Many thanks to Siemens and Federico Canas for their support and the numerous discussions! The Zittau University of Applied Sciences can thus identify further fields of research in addition to an expanded range of courses.
