Application of Rogowski Coils used for

Protective Relaying Purposes

Lj. A. Kojovic, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract This paper describes current technology and
application for Rogowski Coils, which serve in the role of current
transformers for measuring power system currents for protective
relaying or other measurement purposes. Rogowski coils have
low-energy outputs. They offer a number of application
advantages including compact size, light weight, and linearity (do
not saturate like conventional iron-core current transformers).
A forthcoming Guide PC37.235 from the IEEE PSRC will give
detailed information and help for users.
Index Terms Rogowski Coil, Current Transformer,
Protective Relaying.

thresholds increasing the sensitivity of the scheme without

affecting reliability of operation. This reduces the stress on
protected equipment during faults. The system is immune to
external magnetic fields, is simple, user friendly, requires less
wiring and space, and can provide metering class accuracy.
II.ROGOWSKI COIL DESIGNS AND CHARACTERISTICS
A. Theory of Operation
Rogowski coils consist of wire wound on a non-magnetic core
(Pr=1). The coil is placed around the conductors whose
currents are to be measured as shown in Figure 1 [1].
Rogowski coil equivalent circuit is shown in Figure 2.

I. INTRODUCTION

i(t)

raditional
electromechanical
and
microprocessor
protection relays process signals provided by iron core
voltage and current transformers (VTs and CTs), requiring a
number of protective and control devices, measuring
equipment and extensive wiring. These designs are inflexible
if adjustments are needed to accommodate load and power
system configuration changes. In addition, complex periodic
testing and maintenance procedures are necessary. In spite of
best engineering efforts, at times relay system misoperation
occurs due to the complexity of the protection scheme (e. g.,
wrong wiring after periodic testing, wrong relay setting), the
effects of external magnetic fields, and CT saturation,
especially in differential schemes. Even protection systems
using multifunction relays are susceptible to these problems.
When a protection device becomes inoperative and does not
initiate breaker tripping during the fault, backup protection is
provided locally by a redundant or breaker failure relay and
remotely by upstream protection devices. Traditional schemes
employ intentional time-delays to ensure the primary relay has
ample time to clear a fault before the backup relay operates.
This delay in fault removal causes higher equipment stress and
a power outage to larger areas, affecting more customers.
Advanced protection and control systems can be designed
using new Rogowski coils (RCs) and multifunction relays.
These schemes require fewer relays and current sensors than
conventional designs, response times to faults are faster, and
adjustments to load and/or power system configuration
changes can be easily made. Since RCs are very accurate and
do not saturate, protection levels can be set to lower

v(t)
Figure 1 Principle of Rogowski Coil Design
M
Rs

Ls

Ip

Cs

Rs, Ls
M
Cs
Zb

v(t)

Zb

secondary winding resistance and leakage inductance

mutual coupling
stray capacitance (for power applications can be neglected)
burden (>50 k:)
Figure 2 Rogowski Coil Equivalent Circuit

The voltage induced in the coil is defined by Equation 1.

v (t )

d\ (t )
dt

(1)

If the core has a constant cross-section S and the wire is

wound perpendicular on the middle line l with constant
density n, then the coil output voltage is defined by Equation
2.

 P 0nS

v (t )

di (t )
dt

M

di (t )
dt

(2)

, where
Lj. A. Kojovic is with Cooper Power Systems, Franksville, WI 53126 USA
(e-mail: lkojovic@cooperpower.com).

142440178X/06/$20.002006IEEE

538

P 0nS

PSCE2006

The Rogowski coil output voltage is proportional to the rate of

change of the measured current. Figure 3 shows nonintegrated signal for an asymmetrical current. The coil output
signal is obviously different than the original (measured)
signal. However, the integrated signal accurately reproduces
the measured waveform (Figure 4).
X

integration can be performed using a RC integrator or an

operational amplifier. The integrated voltage is proportional to
the sum of the measured currents as given by Equation 3.
X

M
i (t )
RiCi

v (t )

(3)

, where Ri and Ci are the integrating resistor and capacitor.

B

If the measurement is restricted to single frequency sinusoidal

currents (50 or 60 Hz), it is not necessary to integrate the coil
output voltage. This is because the differentiation of
sinusoidal currents results in sinusoidal waveforms shifted by
90q. This shift does not affect measurement results if only
currents are measured. The coil output voltage is given by
Equation 4.
X

Z M 2 IRMS

VRMS

(4)

Figure 6 compares V-I characteristics for conventional ironcore current transformers with and without gaps in the CT
core, linear couplers, and Rogowski coils. CTs without a gap
are very susceptible to the core saturation and remanence.
Gaps in the CT core improve the CT transient performance,
however, introduce phase errors. Linear couplers do not
saturate and do not have remanence, but are susceptible to
influences from the nearby electromagnetic fields. Rogowski
coils are linear and the impact from the nearby
electromagnetic fields is minimal. However, Rogowski coils
require specially designed relays that accept low-power
signals.
X

Voltage

Figure 3 Rogowski Coil Non-Integrated Signal for Asymmetrical Current

Non-Gapped
Iron-Core
Current Transformer

Saturation voltage
ANSI (C-class)

No Air-Gap

Figure 4 Rogowski Coil Integrated Signal for Asymmetrical Current

Increasing Air-Gap

1
ap
Air
-G

For an ideal Rogowski coil mutual coupling M is independent

of the conductor location inside the coil loop. To prevent the
influence of nearby conductors carrying high currents,
Rogowski coils must be designed with two wire loops
connected in the electrically opposite direction. This will
cancel all electromagnetic fields coming from outside the coil
loop. This other loop can be formed by returning the wire
through the center of the winding as shown in Figure 5 or by
adding an additional winding wound in the opposite direction
over the existing one.

ap
r-G
Ai

Line

ar C

oup

ler

Rogowski Coil

loop made by
wound wire

i(t)

Current

Figure 6 Comparison of Current Transformer, Linear Coupler, and Rogowski

Coil V-I Characteristics

B. Designs
loop made by
internal return wire

Papers [1]-[4] present conventional RC designs. Paper [5]

presents an innovative and patented design of RCs that use
PCBs. In that design both RC windings are imprinted on the
same printed circuit board (PCB). High precision Rogowski
coils presented in this paper consist of two PCBs located next
to each other as illustrated in Figure 7 [6]-[7]. Each PCB
contains one imprinted coil wound in opposite directions
(clockwise and counter-clockwise). The top and bottom sides
X

primary
conductor

v(t)
Figure 5 Rogowski Coil with the Return wire Through the Winding Center

To obtain a voltage proportional to the measured current, the

coil output voltage must be integrated. Output voltage

539

of each PCB are imprinted to form a coil around the center of

the board. The conductive imprints on the upper and lower
sides of the PCB are interconnected by conductive-plated
holes. High precision is obtained because the manufacturing
process is computer controlled, providing accurate geometry
of the coils. New RC designs use multi-layer PCBs, which
provides higher accuracy and more proficient manufacturing.
PCB2

PCB1

III. INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS

A. Shielding
Due to modest output signal levels (in the order of 150 mV at
nominal currents), Rogowski coils should be shielded to
prevent capacitive coupling to the high voltage primary
conductors, and minimize influence of high frequency
electromagnetic fields.
Rogowski coil secondary wiring will most often be placed in
the vicinity of primary high voltage apparatus and multiple
current carrying conductors. To minimize the impact from
external electromagnetic fields, it is necessary to use shielded
cables and connectors. Connectors also need to be dust proof
and have gold plated contacts to assure good connectivity over
time.

i(t)

PCB2 wound
in opposite direction
to PCB1
v(t)

B. Interface with Relays

Figure 7 Principle of the PCB Rogowski Coil Design

PCB Rogowski coils can be designed with different shapes to

adjust for the application and be designed in split-core styles
for installation without the need to disconnect primary
conductors. Figure 8 shows principle of design of oval shape
split-core style RC designed to embrace all three-phase
conductors (for measurement of residual currents) or to
embrace parallel conductors that carry heavy currents. The
split-core style RC consists of four PCB half loops. The first
two loops have imprinted windings in opposite directions,
located next to each other. The remaining two loops are
constructed in the same way, but wound in opposite directions
and interconnected.
X

Rogowski coil current sensors belong to a family of Electronic

Current Transformers (ECT) described in IEC 60044-8 [8].
Block diagram representing a generalized ECT is shown in
Figure 9. Rogowski coil may be directly connected to the
relay or to the primary converter.
X

Rogowski
Coil

Shielded cable
IED

Rogowski
Coil

Primary
Conductor
IP

Primary
Converter
Power
Supply

Transmitting
System

Secondary Converter
for use with a
Merging Unit

Secondary Converter
with an Analogue
Voltage Output

To IED via
Communication

IED

Power
Supply

Figure 9 Rogowski Coil Interface to Protective Relays

i(t)

v(t)

Figure 8 Principle of the Split-Core Style PCB Rogowski Coil Design

C. Characteristics
The PCB Rogowski coil has the following characteristics:
metering accuracy achievable; measurement range from 1 A to
over 100 kA; frequency response linear up to 700 kHz;
unlimited short-circuit withstand; galvanically isolated from
the primary conductors; can be installed around bushings or
cables, avoiding the need for high insulation. Rogowski coils
can be connected in series to increase output signal.
Linearity was tested from 1ARMS to 190 kApeak, representing
the extremes of RC applications. The coil has linear
characteristic over the whole current range.
B

Frequency response was estimated using computer

simulations. To verify the model, the coil impedance as a
function of frequency was measured. The same measurement
was then simulated. The estimated frequency response for
integrated output signals is linear up to 700 kHz.

Primary converter module represents signal processing

circuitry which may be placed in the immediate vicinity of the
Rogowski coil, and used to amplify, convert or encode low
level signals prior to transmission. Depending on the design,
primary converter may be located at the high voltage (line)
potential, and may use optical fibers for signal transmission
and HV insulation. also indicates the presence of Primary
Converter Power Supply which may need to be floated at the
HV potential (along with the primary converter). Actual point
of use of the Rogowski coil signal may be at or after the
secondary converter module. The link between primary and
the secondary converter remains proprietary. It falls outside of
the scope of most current standards.
Depending on the application and distances involved, primary
converter may be omitted allowing direct (galvanic)
connection between the sensor and the relay. In this case
transmitting system is implemented as a shielded twisted pair
cable. Secondary converter block can be implemented as a
protective relay (meter, IED) or merging unit input circuitry.
Secondary converter provides necessary galvanic isolation
(~1000V) and signal processing. It may also be used to
perform analog to digital conversion. Once processed,
measurement signals can, if desired, be forwarded (in digital

540

EAF Transformer Vault

or analog form) to other devices requiring the information.

Forwarding is indicated by the lines/arrows on the right hand
side of. Forwarding can be accomplished through point-to
point links, or Local Area Networks [9]-[10].
X

Arc Furnace
Transformer

RC1

RC2

I1P

I2P

Tap
Position

I1S

I2S
Water Cooled
Leads

IV. ROGOWSKI COIL APPLICATIONS

Rogowski coils may replace conventional current transformers
in all metering and protection applications. The next sections
illustrate some of applications.

EAF

Multifunction Relay

Figure 10 Principle of Arc Furnace Transformer Differential Protection

A. Differential Protection of EAF Transformers

Arc Furnace Side

High Voltage Side

In steel facilities that use electric arc furnaces (EAFs) to

manufacture steel from scrap, the EAF transformer is one of
the most critical pieces of electric power equipment in the
plant. Failures in the EAF transformer or its buswork
interrupt production and require costly and time-consuming
repairs. Traditional overcurrent protection is often applied at
the circuit breaker that supplies the cable serving the furnace
transformer. This protection is normally set to reach into the
furnace transformer primary winding for faults in the winding
but may not have sufficient sensitivity to reach through the
transformer into the secondary winding or into the secondary
leads. Faults that occur in the secondary buswork, water
cooled leads, or in the conducting arms above the furnace are
not detected by the upstream overcurrent protection and are
normally interrupted only after personnel manually open the
circuit breaker. The damage due to the extended fault
duration can result in long or costly outages.

A
B
Primary
Rogowski
Coils
(RC1)

C
Primary
Terminals
A

Secondary
Terminals

The differential protection system presented in this paper uses

Rogowski coils and multifunction relays (Figure 10 and
Figure 11). Two identical systems have been implemented for
two 90 MVA, 34.5/1 kV EAF transformers equipped with 33tap load tap changer (LTC).
Similar to conventional
solutions, the differential protection zone is defined by the
location of the Rogowski coils. Both the primary and
secondary Rogowski coils were located in the EAF vault. The
secondary system voltage can have different magnitudes
depending on the furnace regulator program with a maximum
magnitude of approximately 1 kV line-to-line and secondary
currents of approximately 60 kARMS.
X

Secondary
Rogowski
Coils
(RC2)

Figure 11 Installation of PCB Rogowski coils for Arc Furnace Transformer

Differential Protection

Rogowski coils installed on the primary side were designed as

non-split-core style. To provide the required dielectric
strength and the BIL at 34.5 kV voltage level, the coils were
mounted around air-air bushings. Figure 12 shows three
primary Rogowski coils installed in one of the EAF vaults.
X

Differential protection schemes are not typically applied on

EAF transformers due to the difficulty in providing
conventional CTs of sufficient rating for the secondary leads
carrying load currents of 60 kA or more. Some modern EAF
transformers are rated to deliver a steady state secondary
current of 80 kA. In some cases, a CT is built into the
transformer that monitors the current in only one secondary
winding (there are typically multiple secondary windings per
phase group). This current signal might be used for metering
or regulator control purposes, and the magnitude is calculated
externally with a scale factor assuming the current in each
winding is the same. The accuracy of this technique is not
sufficient for a reliable differential protection system.

to
EAF

Figure 12 EAF Transformer Primary Side Rogowski Coils

On the EAF transformer secondary side, the interconnection

assembly at the top of the transformer collects the current
from multiple secondary windings into 9-inch water-cooled
bus tubes, two per phase. The delta connection is closed
external to the vault so there are six of these bus tubes leaving
the vault through an insulating wall assembly. The bus tube
spacing for two outside phases is the same (10-inch spacing
between tube centers), and the middle phase has two tubes

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that are on 26-inch spacing. The Rogowski coils were

designed with two different sizes (instead of one, larger size),
which optimizes the installation design. Since the secondary
tubes cannot be opened, the Rogowski coils were designed in
a split-core style. The secondary coils were mounted on the
wall at the point where the secondary tubes leave the vault
(Figure 13).
X

3.9 kApeak

132 kApeak

Secondary Currents

Operate Signals

Restraint Signals

Before installation, this protection scheme was tested in the

high power laboratory using the actual Rogowski coils and
multifunction relays that were installed at the site. The tests
verified both the protection scheme sensitivity and stability.
The protection systems were commissioned one year after
installation.
Figure 14 shows a relays event record (manually triggered
during commissioning) capturing user programmable data
during operation of the EAFs mid period of a heating cycle.
The waveforms in the top two panels are the primary and
secondary EAF transformer currents. The next two panels are
the operating and restraining currents in the transformer
differential algorithm. The bottom panel in Figure 14 is the
status of the trip signals. The scale on the secondary current
panel is r300 kApeak. At the point of the cursor in Figure 22
the C-phase primary current peak value is 3900 A and the Cphase secondary current peak value is 132 kA. The relay
operating signal at that point shows a mismatch between the
primary and the secondary currents of less than 2% of
transformer rated current.
X

Primary Currents

Trip Signals
A-phase
B-phase
C-phase

Figure 14 Manually Triggered Event Record

B.Differential Protection of Mobile Substation Power

Transformers
In this project example the electric utility operates multiple
mobile substations and wanted to offer improved protection
and speed of installation by converting from fused high side
protection to relayed protection with a switching device on the
primary side. The mobile substation required that the
equipment tolerate the motion and vibration associated with
movement over the road on a trailer, which raised concern for
using conventional CTs. The Rogowski coil approach offered
much less weight and size in the sensor when compared to
conventional CTs along with improved protection system
performance.
The application included differential protection of a 20 MVA,
161/13.8 kV, delta/grounded-wye power transformer (Figure
15). The 161 kV side Rogowski coils were mounted at the
base of the primary bushings on the transformer. The 13.8 kV
side Rogowski coils were mounted on the front of the trailer
in the existing support structure. They were of similar design
as the primary Rogowski coils for the EAF transformer,
mounted around air-air bushings. This provided an easier
connection for the cables that normally travel with the trailer.
An additional Rogowski coil was mounted around the neutral
bushing on the secondary side of the transformer for
monitoring neutral current and for restricted earth fault
protection.
X

Figure 13 EAF Transformer Secondary Side Rogowski Coils

Figure 15 Primary Side Rogowski Coils

542

C. Differential Protection of Generators and Motors

V. CONCLUSIONS

Traditional differential protection schemes require

stabilization for external faults or disturbances that cause CT
saturation since it is not feasible to avoid CT saturation under
all circumstances. Even where CTs are of similar design and
the leads between each set of CTs and the differential relay are
balanced, the CTs will not saturate to the same degree at the
same time because of remanent flux. To avoid the unwanted
operation, differential protection schemes must be stabilized.
The primary system time constant near generators has a more
significant influence on the level of flux that the CT must
handle than the RMS level of the fault current. For generators,
the maximum RMS level of through fault current contribution
is limited to the order of 5 times rated current. However, the
generator circuit time constant could be of the order of 400 ms
with a slow decay of the DC component causing a significant
CT flux build-up even at low fault currents. Unless physically
impractical CT designs are applied, transient CT saturation for
close-up through fault conditions and some other external
disturbances cannot be avoided. Three basic methods of
stabilization have historically been applied for differential
protection: bias or percentage restraint stabilization, high
impedance stabilization, and hybrid combination of these two
methods. Bias restraint stabilization principle is based on
automatically adjusting the operating threshold as a function
of the RMS magnitudes of fault currents by maintaining
differential protection sensitivity under load conditions while
increasing stability for through fault conditions. High
impedance stabilization principle is based on implementing a
relatively high impedance circuit for differential current to
ensure that the secondary through fault current from an
unsaturated CT will mainly flow through the relatively low
impedance path of a saturated CT circuit. The part of current
that will flow through the differential circuit must be below
the operating threshold of the protection.
Rogowski Coils can provide superior differential protection of
large motors and generators since they are linear (do not
saturate), reject external electromagnetic fields, and are
accurate. The Rogowski Coil physical dimensions and weight
are much smaller than of conventional current transformers,
while providing simpler and more reliable protection (Figure
16).
X

RC1

Generator

IP

The Rogowski coil output voltage is proportional to the rate of

change of measured current. To obtain measured current, coil
output voltages may be integrated. Strict design criteria must
be followed to obtain a coil immune from nearby conductors
and independent of conductor location inside the coil loop.
The most important design criteria is to prevent the influence
from nearby conductors, which is achieved by designing the
coil with two-wire loops connected in electrically opposite
directions. This cancels the electro-magnetic fields coming
from outside the coil loop.
Rogowski coils with new multifunction relays and
communication may improve substation protection schemes
and make possible protection schemes that in the past could
not be implemented using conventional current transformers.
VI. REFERENCES
[1]

Lj. A. Kojovic, Rogowski Coils Suit Relay Protection and

Measurement, Computer Application in Power, IEEE Magazine, July
1997.
[2] J. M. Sohn, W. J. Choe, B. W. Lee, I. S. Oh, H. S. Kwon, Development
of current and voltage sensor for distribution switchgear, T&D
Conference and Exhibition 2003, Dallas, USA, 2003.
[3] G. Schet, F. Engler, F. Jaussi, K. Pettersson, A. Kaczkowski, The
Intelligent GIS - A Fundamental Change in the Combination of Primary
and Secondary Equipment, CIGRE 96, Paris, France, 1996.
[4] G. Reiter, T. Looser, D. Fischer, M. Ilar, Digital Protection and
Control Systems in Substations using Sensor Technology, CEPSI 2000,
The 13th Conference of the Electric Power Supply Industry, Manila,
Philippines, October 2327, 2000.
[5] E. Thuries, J. P. Dupraz, C. Baudart, J. P. Gris, Contribution of Digital
Signal Processing in the Field of Current Transformers, CIGRE 96,
Paris, France, 1996.
[6] Lj. A. Kojovic, V. Skendzic, S. E. Williams, High Precision Rogowski
Coil, Patent Number: 6,313,623; Date of Patent: November 6, 2001.
[7] Lj. A. Kojovic, Measuring Current Through An Electrical Conductor,
Patent Number: 6,680,608 B2; Date of Patent: January 20, 2004.
[8] International Standard IEC 60044-8, Instrument transformers Part 8:
Electronic current transformers.
[9] International Standard IEC 61850-9-1, Communication networks and
systems in substations Part 9-1: Specific communication system
mappings (SCSM) Serial unidirectional multidrop point-to-point link.
[10] International Standard IEC 61850-9-2, Communication networks and
systems in substations Part 9-2: Specific communication system
mappings (SCSM) Sampled analog values over ISO 8802-3.
[11] Lj. A. Kojovic, M. T. Bishop, S. E. Williams, D. Sharma, Applications
of Low-Energy Sensors for Differential Protection of Large Power
Transformers and Generators, the North American T&D Conference
and Expo, Toronto, Canada, May 11-19, 2005.
P

RC2

VII. BIOGRAPHIES

IP

IS

IS

Multifunction
Relay

Figure 16 Principle of Generator Differential Protection

Ljubomir A. Kojovic is a chief power systems engineer for Cooper Power

Systems at the Thomas A. Edison Technical Center. He has a Ph.D. in power
systems with specialties that include protective relaying, distributed
generation, testing, digital modeling, and systems analysis. He is an adjunct
assistant professor at Michigan Technological University. He is included on
the roster of experts for the United Nations Development Organization
(UNIDO) and is a registered professional engineer in Wisconsin. He is an
IEEE Senior Member, member of the System Protection subcommittee, and
member of several working groups of the IEEE Power System Relay
Committee. He has earned seven U.S. patents and authored more than 140
technical publications.

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