Weak Current Sensor Based on Tunneling Magnetoresistive Effect for Complex Power Conditions
摘要
Weak current sensors are crucial for monitoring the insulation status and leakage prediction of power cables and equipment, playing a significant role in the construction of a visible, measurable, and controllable new power system. Conventional weak current sensors based on current transformers and fluxgate technologies exhibit issues such as large size and narrow frequency band. Tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) chip-based sensor offers promising alternative, while it still struggles with low accuracy and poor anti-interference capability under complex power conditions. In this paper, we propose a non-invasive, high-precision, low-drift weak current sensor with mA-level resolution utilizing dual TMR symmetric structure to suppress the interference. When placed within a shielding box, it demonstrates a good linearity within the measurement range of ±300 mA, with an error of <1% and a resolution of <1 mA. Furthermore, a box-shaped shielding structure composed of three layers of silicon steel sheets is designed and optimized through finite element simulation, achieving excellent shielding effects in both simulation and actual measurements, with a relative error of <2% under geomagnetic interference. This TMR-based differential sensor, with its high accuracy, resolution, and strong anti-external magnetic interference capability, is suitable for real-time monitoring of weak currents in power, photovoltaic, and energy storage applications.