The study on the Mal-operation of the transformer current differential protection during external faults cause by CT saturation

This paper analyses the unusual mal-operation of the differential protection for transformer current differential protection during the external fault. The mal-operation reason is researched in detail, based on the mathematical analysis, the simulation, and the field recorded fault data analysis. It is disclosed that the CT saturation leads to the maloperation. Based on this, this paper analyses the improvement for the CT saturation identification method, and discusses the CT selection principles. This paper is aimed at attracting the attention on the problem of the CT saturation and proposing the reference of the analysis method the countermeasure for this problem.